Tag Archives: bangkok

Pak Khlong Market

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Pak Khlong Market is a market in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, that is the primary flower market in the city. Located near the Chao Phraya River and the Memorial Bridge, this market had its history all the way to the reign of King Rama I (1782-1809). It started as a floating market, then later it turned into a fish market, and for the last 60 years it’s been a produce market (flower, fruits, vegetables). The market is open 24 hours a day, though it is busiest around dawn when the fresh shipment of produce arrives from other provinces of Thailand. The market serves mostly wholesale customers, though it also serves direct customers as well.

We visited the Pak Khlong Market during our night bike tour with the Grasshopper Adventures after we’re done riding through Thonburi and crossed the Chao Phraya River on the Memorial Bridge. We spent some time walking through the busy market, observing the various colors of flowers and smelling the fragrance. We also stopped at a couple of street vendors to taste fresh fruits and some local snacks. I think for photographers this is a fun place to visit as you get to see the various colors of flowers on display and the activities of vendors preparing bouquets of flowers and people looking to buy those.

The photo below was taken as we walked around the market to observe the variety of flower arrangements being sold. You can see my fellow tourists were quite fascinated with what they’re seeing around.

Pak Khlong Flower Market

Wat Arun

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Wat Arun is a temple located in Thonburi area on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The temple was named after Aruna, the Indian God of Dawn, because the first light of morning reflects off the surface of the temple and making it glow. The temple has been there since more than 300 years ago. During the time when Thonburi was the capital of the Thonburi Kingdom, the palace was located on the grounds of Wat Arun. It was the home for the Emerald Buddha statue until the capital was moved across the river to present day Bangkok and the Grand Palace in Bangkok was built. Today Wat Arun is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Bangkok as it can be seen prominently from the river.

During the night bike tour with the Grasshopper Adventures, we stopped at Wat Arun while riding in Thonburi area. The temple was closed at night, so we could only observe the architecture from outside. At night the temple was illuminated, so it still looked quite impressive. I thought it was interesting however, that the temple was located in a residential neighborhood, and there were many local residents hanging out around the temple. While we stopped and listened to our tour guide Tami telling us about the history of the temple, there were many local kids (5-10 year olds) playing around near us — some with their little bicycles even rode around with our group for a little bit. Many people were at the temple preparing floats and flower arrangements; apparently the following day was King Taksin’s birthday, so they were preparing for a ceremony to commemorate that. King Taksin was the Thai King when the capital was in Thonburi, and he was one who set up the royal palace near Wat Arun.

The photo below was taken from outside the temple. You can see the recognizable spires of the temple, and the area on the left was where the preparation for King Taksin’s birthday ceremony was taken place.

Wat Arun

Thonburi

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Thonburi is an area in Bangkok, Thailand. Located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, it is an area that has its place in the Thai history. From 1767 to 1782, it was the capital of the Thailand under King Taksin, after the previous capital Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese. In 1782, King Rama I took over power and moved the capital across the river to the present day Bangkok. Thonburi remained as an independent town and province until 1972, when it was merged into Bangkok metropolitan area.

During the night bike tour when we’re visiting Bangkok, we rode through Thonburi after crossing the river in a ferry. It was quite a contrast comparing the section of Thonburi that we visited to the Banglamphu area across the river. The Thonburi area was a quiet residential neighborhood that’s nothing close to the busy Khao San Road. The area that we passed reminded me to some residential area in Jakarta, Indonesia — small homes lining up on the sides of very narrow streets and alleys, some were not even wide enough to be accessible by cars. It was mostly quiet, in some homes we could see and hear residents watching TV, cooking dinners, or simply just enjoying the company of others — just a quiet night in a residential neighborhood.

I thought it was interesting to think about this place as the center of power at one point in Thailand history. I wonder if the present residents knew about that fact, and even if they did, if that really mattered much to them. Most of the neighborhoods we rode through seemed to be of a lower class economically, so I’m guessing thinking about the history was the last thing in their minds.

The photo below was taken when we stopped outside a temple in Thonburi. It was very quiet and somewhat dark in the area. Our guide Tami gave us a little history and culture lesson there.

Temple in Thonburi

Bangkok Night Bike Tour

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One of the unique ways to explore Bangkok is by participating in a bike tour at night. When my cousin Kristi and I visited Bangkok, Thailand during our Southeast Asia trip in 2010, we found out about this activity, offered by an outfitter called the Grasshopper Adventures, on TripAdvisor. It was listed as the top thing to do in Bangkok.

The Grasshopper Adventures is an outfitter that offers bicycle and unicycle tours in several countries in Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, India, Japan, etc.). Most of their tours span multiple days (for example, they have a multi-day tour traveling on bicycle from North to South Vietnam). The Bangkok Night Bike was one of the shortest ones; it’s a 4-5 hour ride around downtown Bangkok and Thonburi area, visiting some landmarks and neighborhoods.

We started the tour at the Grasshopper Adventures office, located near Khao San Road. Our tour group was led by our guide, Tami, and there were eight participants: Kristi and I, a mother and daughter from Australia, a couple from India, and another couple from Malaysia. Once we were fitted with the right size bike and helmet, Tami provided a short instruction on the hand signals she would give as she rides in front of all of us. We were supposed to follow with the same hand signal so other riders behind us see that as well.

I wasn’t sure what to expect before we started the trip, as the Grasshopper Adventures office was located at a major road near a very busy area around Khao San Road. I didn’t see any bicycle lane anywhere. After we started our ride, it became clear that we pretty much would ride on sidewalks, on the side of the street, through alley ways, etc. — anywhere we can squeeze in with our bicycles safely.

The trip started with a ride through the busy Banglamphu area near Khao San Road. We rode through some busy roads, small alleys near guest houses, restaurants, and clubs, until we reached the ferry pier on the bank of the Chao Phraya River. We embarked on a short ferry ride to cross the river to the Thonburi area across the river. We went through quiet residential neighborhood to visit Wat Arun, a majestic temple that looks beautiful especially at dawn and night time. Then we continued on through narrow alley ways in the neighborhood near the river bank, before crossing the bridge back to Bangkok area. We visited a busy flower market and then stopped at Wat Pho for a private tour at night when the temple was officially closed for the public. We finished with a ride back to the Khao San Road area, passing a night market on the street sidewalk between near the Khao San Road area. The trip took almost five hours.

It was another memorable part of our visit to Bangkok. The ride was not too strenuous — you can participate as long as you’re moderately fit. You do need to be careful if you’re not used to bicycling, as you need to be able to keep up with the group. Tami our tour guide was really good and keeping a reasonable pace for the group and ensuring we’re not leaving anyone behind, but with some crowded areas that we went through, I could see possibility that someone fell behind and got lost. Overall, it’s a highly recommended activity and I would love to do it again the next time I visit Bangkok.

The photo below was taken when we’re about to cross a busy intersection near Khao San Road at the beginning of our ride. You can see the crowded area; we just have to slowly inch forward across the busy intersection and follow the other bikes in front of us. I had my DSLR camera hanging on my neck while riding the bike, though in many places I used my little point-and-shoot camera instead. Since we were riding at night, it was a bit difficult to take photos with my Elph in low light. The DSLR with fast lens was definitely helpful in being able to take some photos.

Night bike tour

McCafe in Bangkok

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McDonald’s is one of the most well-known American fast food chain restaurants in the world, with more than 33,000 locations in 119 countries. In the United States, in the recent years McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants are getting bad rap because of the nutritious value of the items of their menu, and the tendency to promote large portion of the food (there was a documentary called Super Size Me few years ago following a person doing an experiment of eating nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 straight days and then observing the negative impact that had on his health). Along with that, as obesity is also becoming a big problem in the American society, there is more and more emphasis on eating healthier and, for many this means avoiding eating fast food altogether. I myself generally don’t eat at McDonald’s, except once in a while when I’m on the road, needing a break, and having local McDonald’s conveniently available somewhere as a rest stop.

One thing interesting is to see how different people in other countries view McDonald’s restaurant. Rather than being a common place restaurant that in many cases are being avoided, in other countries (at least I observed this in Indonesia and Thailand), McDonald’s is actually viewed as a foreign restaurant that is actually a cool and trendy place to visit. It’s an American thing — and for many, that’s different and actually valued (I guess it’s similar to Americans looking at ethnic restaurants as a cool thing because it’s a rarity — even though in the country of origin the food served there might be common place).

When we visited Bangkok, Thailand, after spending several hours walking in the hot and humid outdoors, we saw a McDonald’s with a McCafe in it near the touristy Khao San Road area. Though in most cases we would prefer going to local establishments and try something local, we couldn’t resist the thinking of going to an air-conditioned restaurant and getting nice, cold drinks from a menu that we somewhat knew already, and knowing that very likely it followed standard quality guidelines. So sometimes having something that’s of a known quantity is a good thing.

The McDonald’s and McCafe that we visited were pretty much like a standard restaurant setup I’ve seen in the United States. I didn’t pay much attention to the McDonald’s side of the restaurant to see its menu (in Indonesia the McDonald’s store has items not found in American McDonald’s and targeted towards the locals, like rice porridge or fried chicken with rice), but the McCafe side pretty much had similar menu like the American stores. As for clientele, it was pretty interesting to observe. Given its proximity to the backpacker/budget traveler area of Khao San Road, we noticed many westerners coming there — looked like folks who might’ve been homesick or craving familiar food from home. But more peculiar was to see so many teenage girls in school uniforms coming in and out; many seemed to just come in to hang out with their friends. The staff didn’t seem to mind even though many didn’t really purchase anything from the restaurant itself. Later on, when we continued our walk around the area, we found out that there was an all-girls school nearby — that’s why there were so many of them coming to this restaurant.

The photo below was taken inside the McDonald’s while we rested from our long walk and enjoyed our cold drinks. You can see that it looked like a typical McDonald’s elsewhere, though the clientele of the restaurant seen here included mostly the local schoolgirls from the nearby area.

McCafe