Bangkok - Wat Phra Kaeo ... dazzlingly beautiful and other Thailand Things to Do Tips

Wat Phra Kaeo is part of the Grand Palace Complex, which houses also the royal residence (not open for visitors) and some government buildings. It is surrounded by walls, 1900 metres in length.

After selling a rather expensive ticket (for Thailand) we entered the temple complex and were immediately surprised by a wealth of colours, striking architecture, statues, gold, mosaic tiles and demons. In two words: DAZZLINGLY BEAUTIFUL.

In front the most important temple of Thailand with the Emerald Buddha: the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, left of us the huge golden chedi and other fantastic temples. And everywhere statues of elephants and colourful demons, but also a simple earth ware pot with a lotus flower. The surrounding walls are painted with more than 175 beautiful murals.

We visited of course the inside of the temple of the Emerald Buddha, one of the most holy sites in Thailand. The statue of Buddha is just 75 centimetres high and stands on an enormous pedestal covered with gold. A spiritual place, when we were sitting there without our shoes and with our feet pointing away from the Buddha.

Some tips for visiting:
- entrance fee is 300 Baht (Sept. 2008), but the blue part of your ticket is valid for the Vimanmek Palace;
- be dressed properly and appropriately upon entering the grounds of the Grand Palace; it is possible to borrow decent clothes in an office just after the main gate;
- you will find some shops (craft, film/photo, money exchange) and ice cream parlour and a café-restaurant around the ticket office.
- don’t believe ‘helpful’ Thai outside the walls telling the temple and palace are closed for prayers or a special event; check always yourself;
- opening hours: every day from 8.30 am till 16.30; allow yourself enough time for the visit, once you leave Wat Phra Kaeo you are not allowed to go back.

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Directions: Grand Palace complex, Bangkok
Website: http://palaces.thai.net/night/index_gp.htm

After leaving Wat Phra Kaeo we came to the secular part of the complex with more interesting buildings. It was just a pity we could see the Palace (or Borom Phiman Mansion) just through a gate. But the Phra Thinang Amarin Winitchai (Throne Hall) was stunning with an overwhelming interior, which seemed to be made of just gold. The Dusit Maha Prasat Hall has a beautiful throne of pearl and a ‘strange’ nine-tiered canopy.
These halls are still in use for official audiences. Be aware the interiors of the buildings are not open in the weekends.

The buildings on this part of the complex are surrounded by well maintained gardens and gardeners were busy to ‘carve’ the trees and mowing the lawn.

This part of the complex can be visited free of charge.

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Directions: Grand Palace complex in Bangkok.
Website: http://www.palaces.thai.net/gp/

Due to the con-men and tuk-tuk drivers outside the Grand Palace we reached Wat Indraviharn after a crazy and dangerous tuk-tuk ride through busy Bangkok.

Wat In (another name for this temple) was our first Wat in Thailand and of course we were surprised by the beauty of the temple with a lot of gold and fantastic details around the doors and windows of the buildings.

But the main reason for visiting is the huge Buddha image with a height of 32 metres (the tallest in Bangkok). The construction of the statue started in 1867 by a monk, who used teak trunks to create the image of the Buddha. It was finished 100 years later and in 1984 it became a layer of gold. It is said that there is a Buddha relic inside the statue.

It is possible to climb the stairways at the back of the tower, which supports the statue. And even if the doors are not locked you may climb till the shoulder of the Buddha with views of the Wat and the city. In front of the huge statue is a much smaller Buddha, where Thai bring offerings, as they do on and around the toes of the huge Buddha-image.

Wat Indraviharn is opened daily from 7.00 am till 6.00 pm.
Entrance is free of charge.

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Address: Wisutkasat Road, Bangkok
Directions: Located in the northern part of Banglamphu (Bang Khun Phrom Sub-District), rather close to the Rama VIII bridge and the Plant Market at Thewes.

Wat Pho, also called Wat Phra Chetuphon, is famous for the reclining Buddha, but there is a lot more to see on the grounds of this oldest and largest temple complex of Bangkok. We liked the atmosphere in this Wat more than in the Grand Palace; less crowded and the temples, statues and chedis are surrounded by nice gardens.

Of course we started visiting the image of the reclining Buddha and it was really stunning to see this huge statue. It is made of brick and plaster and covered with gold leaf. The soles of the feet are made of nice mother-of-pearl, showing 108 symbols and attributes of the Buddha. With its 46 metres of length and a height of 15 metres it is the biggest reclining Buddha of Thailand and is illustrating the entering of nirvana by the Buddha.
On the ‘other’ side of the statue we saw a lot of bowls and we were told they will bring good luck if you throw some change in each of them.

Absolutely remarkable was the huge amount of chedis; some of them very small, others surrounded by well carved trees and four real impressive chedis, which towered high above the complex in the blue sky. These chedis are covered by colourful tiles and do show fantastic details, mostly flowers.

The main temple, in the eastern part of the complex, has stunning architecture and a beautiful interior. There is a wonderful altar with smaller statues and flowers with a golden Buddha image, which contains the ashes of King Rama I, the founder of Bangkok.

Some tips:
- ignore the tuk-tuk drivers who will tell you the Wat is closed for prayers or another special reason;
- entrance fee is 20 Baht; it is possible to have a guided tour;
- it is less strict regarding clothing and taking pictures;
- take your time to make a nice picture of the reclining Buddha; sometimes it is a little bit overcrowded in the small temple with people trying to make just that ONE picture;
- opening hours every day from 08.00am to 5.00pm, with a break from 12.00pm to 1.00pm;
- Wat Pho is close to the Grand Palace and you could visit both in one day.

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Address: Soi Chetuphon, Bangkok
Directions: The entrance to Wat Pho is on Chetuphon road, close to the Grand Palace and the Tha Tien Pier, Chao Phraya River, Bangkok

Wat Pho houses the ‘first university’ of Thailand and still is an important university in Bangkok. There is also a school for traditional Thai massage. On the grounds of the Wat are two smaller buildings were visitors can have a massage from one of the students.

There are some different kind of massages available, but my wife decided for a ½ hour massage (180 Baht). To be honest, she was not very satisfied, because such a traditional Thai massage looked and felt more like pulling and pushing on legs and arms (sometimes was rather painful), than a smooth and nice massage with some nice smelling oil.

But an experience you have to go through, while visiting Bangkok and Wat Pho.

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Address: Soi Chetuphon, Bangkok
Directions: The entrance to Wat Pho is on Chetuphon road, close to the Grand Palace and the Tha Tien Pier, Chao Phraya River, Bangkok

Vimanmek Palace was constructed on an island in the Gulf of Siam and in 1901 moved to Dusit Garden in Bangkok by King Rama V. It is the worlds biggest teak wood building, with 81 rooms and surrounded by a ‘royal garden’ with lots of trees, lawns and lotus ponds.

For visiting the palace we had to join a guided tourgroup, which was rather (too) big. It often happened that the guide had finished his explanation about a room and moved to another, when still other people arrived to see the first room. The guides always seemed to be in a hurry and were not very friendly.
We walked along about 30 rooms, mostly decorated with the original royal furniture, paintings, pictures, art and craft. Perhaps the most interesting was Thailands first bathroom.

In the Dusit Garden are a lot of smaller guesthouses, which nowadays are museums. We visited for instance the Princess Orathai Thepkanya Hall; it displays fabrics used in the court such as Shanghai brocade silk, gold brocade cloth and satin. The Princess Arun Wadi Hall shows photographs taken by King Rama V.
In the beautiful Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall is an exposition of traditional Thai handicrafts. Close to the entrance are a couple of buildings showing the royal carriages.

Tips for visiting:
- visiting the Vimanmek Palace is free of charge with (a part of) the ticket for the Grand Palace, which is valid for 30 days; otherwise the entrance fee for foreigners is 100 Baht;
- you have to be dressed very properly; we had to return to our hotel to change clothes, although we saw later visitors with borrowed clothing;
- it is not allowed to take pictures inside any of the buildings;
- we found a very good gift shop on the grounds;
- daily open from 9.30 am till 4.00 pm, last tour at 3.15 pm.
- one of the websites is still mentioning traditional Thai dancing, but these performances seem to be not any longer at the palace. If you are just interested in this dances better check beforehand.

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Phone: (662) 280-5928
Address: Rajavithi Road, Dusit, Bangkok
Directions: Behind Bangkok's National Assembly.
Website: http://palaces.thai.net/night/index_gp.htm
Other Contact: www.vimanmek.com

We reached the Golden Mount with the chedi of Wat Sakhet from our hotel Prince Palace after a boat trip with a longtail boat to the final station on Khlong Sen Seb (or Mahanak) and a short walk to the base of these artificial hill. In the older days it was a huge chedi, which collapsed and now makes the base for the hill with a height of 70 metres.

From there we started climbing a winding stairway of more than 300 steps, passing some small lovely waterfalls and about halfway a place with bells. It is said that one has to strike these bells for good luck. On the terrace is the new built gold coloured chedi with a tooth of Buddha as relic. Perhaps that was the reason why a lot of Thai people were profoundly praying inside a little temple to a small shrine and presenting (ready-made) offerings to the monks.

From the terrace we had some great views of our hotel, the sea of houses, offices and temples of Bangkok. We also visited nearby Wat Sakhet, without any foreign visitors, but with stunning murals inside the bot of the temple.

We didn't pay any entrance fee on top of the terrace, but I did read reviews telling there is a small entrance fee of 10 Baht.

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Directions: Close to the Democracy Monument and the final station of the longtail boats on Khlong Sen Seb.
Website: http://www.bangkoksite.com/temples/WatSrakes1.htm

We decided to make a guided tour through the khlongs of Bangkok and to discover that part of the city. The guide picked us up from our hotel and together with two other guests we went to the Thewet Pier (next to the flower market) at the Chao Phraya River and had some time to feed the (holy) fish.

We embarked on one of the express-boats en went to the north, first along the skyscrapers of the city, but rather soon along the outskirts of Bangkok, stopping on many piers. We disembarked at Nonthaburi, where we visited the local market with a whole bunch of food stalls and got some fried bananas from our guide. Clothes, watches, toys or whatever we saw, it was ridiculous cheap.

After lunch we went on a longtail boat for a ride through the ‘real’ khlongs. We passed houses, sometimes quite luxurious and others were just hovels. People were washing, taking a bath, washing their dogs and children were swimming in this filthy water. For us more or less unbelievable.

We stopped in a little village and looked around in two temples; one with another reclining Buddha, not as big as the one in Wat Pho, but also very impressive. The last part of the boat ride we had to embark in a very narrow longtail boat and we were sailing through some side canals. This boat was supposed to be a kind of ‘formula 1 boat', but we were ‘lucky’ the engine had several break downs, so we could see something of this green part of Bangkok with lots of fruit plantations, without being afraid to fall overboard.

This khlong tour was a real nice experience to see this part of Bangkok and made it clear why the city was called ‘Venice of the East’. We paid 1.000 Baht pp and booked this day tour at our travel agent (see General Tips).

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Khon Kaen was, after Bangkok, the first town in Thailand we visited. Although the 4th biggest city in the country it has just about 150.000 inhabitants and is absolutely not to compare with the capital. Walking around in town we didn’t see any other tourists and I think the city doesn’t get many of them.

The city has not much to offer than just the average way of living of Thai people in an average Thai city. With of course a lot noise, vibrant street life, busses, tuk-tuks (no taxis !!), local markets with their own colours and smells, some shopping malls and even a sidewalk café for a cup of coffee.
Khon Kaen is supposed to be the centre of the Isan silk industry, but in the city we didn’t find anything but a couple of gift shops, selling silk products and other local crafts.

Some remarks about the things we noticed:
- Tourist Information Centre of TAT: friendly, but couldn’t help us at all. Even on a simple question “what can we do and see in the city”, we didn’t get any useful answer;
- the most interesting sight is the National Museum;
- we saw a lot of ‘open air shops’ along the roads, trying to sell furniture, garden chairs, carpets and handkerchiefs; even tailors behind old fashioned sewing machines are working along the road;
- on the southern part of Khon Kaen is lake Beung Kaen Nakhon, nice for a walk;
- close to the lake is Wat That with a Buddhist university; we talked with some monks, who were eager to practise their English;
- few inhabitants of Khon Kaen do speak English;
- we had a perfect dinner in restaurant ’23 Steakhouse’.

Khon Kaen, an average Thai city, but we felt part of the real way of Thai living.

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Directions: Khon Kaen is located in Isaan, the northeastern part of Thailand, about 450 km's from Bangkok.
Website: www.tourismthailand.org/destinationguide/list.aspx?provinceid=28
Other Contact: www.khonkaen.com

Although in my opinion the most important tourist sight in Khon Kaen, the museum wasn’t signposted and even the staff at the TAT-Information Centre couldn’t tell us much about it.
But we found the museum in the northern part of the city, behind the government buildings. It is a two floor building in the middle of a withered garden and surrounded by ponds (don’t forget your insect repellent!!). According to the website the museum should have been closed on Mondays, but we were welcomed and the lights were turned on for us.

The National Museum shows a lot of historical and local artefacts. Displays are showing content about the history, geography, archaeology and culture of the Isan province. The most important attraction is a carved sema of Princess Bhimba, wiping Buddha’s feet. Outside, in the garden were a lot of border markers.
The museum has a small gift shop.

Opening hours: 9.00 am – 4.00 pm; closed on Monday (??), Tuesday and Public Holidays.
Entrance fee (for foreigners) 30 Baht

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Phone: (043) 246-170
Address: Lang Soon Rachakarn Rd, Khon Kaen
Directions: Northern part of Khon Kaen, behind the government buildings; see for map the website of the museum. It is in walkable distance of the centre, otherwise take a tuk-tuk.
Website: http://www.thailandmuseum.com/thaimuseum_eng/khonkaen/main.htm