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HoonTown
brings together artists from Thailand and around the
world to work with neighborhood groups in Bangkok to create performances
for public presentation. Usually about thirty puppeteers, street
performers, musicians and artists from all over the world work amongst
themselves and with the surrounding Thai community to produce this
unique festival. For more information visit:
www.hoontown.com
Jim Thompson's House
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For a place of quiet, calm and relatively clean air (due to the
jungle like setting) be sure to visit Jim Thompson's House located at 6
Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Road. His home isn't impressive like some of the Wats downtown - however it is quite appealing because of its simplicity and the location is clean and quiet. Jim Thompson was an American
OSS officer (precursor to today's CIA) and a businessman who moved to
Thailand and started a silk manufacturing empire.
He mysteriously disappeared in Malaysia in 1967. Speculation as
to what caused his disappearance can be found on his website
listed below. The tour guides are women - they all dress in
purple. I chose the English tour (tours were available in
English or Thai) but I thought I was accidentally assigned to
the
Thai tour. It was very difficult to understand my particular
tour guide; most of the other tour guides seemed to have a
better grasp of the English language. The tour winds its way
through the interior of Mr. Thompson's teak house.
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Businesses up on stilts along the Chao Praya River in Bangkok |
There is no
air-conditioning here except in one room which contains rare pieces of pottery and other
artwork given to him by royalty and other famous personalities. (Charlie
Chaplin visited here once!). The tour is informative and highlights many of Mr. Thompson's pieces of art and furniture. The tour ends in Mr. Thompson's personal bedroom. Note
the several inch high wood "bumps" in all the doorways. These
were originally put in to keep the rats and other animals from being able
to walk from room to room. Photographs are not allowed in the house,
but are allowed in the small homes outside the main house which you can
tour at your own convenience after the main tour.
After the tour you are free to walk around at your own pace in the
personal gardens. Note the many pots filled with water - usually covered
with lily pads. Upon closer inspection you will note that most of these
contain little colorful fish. Watch out for the big fish in a few of
the small pots - these tend to be cannibalistic and they will jump at your
finger if you put it in the water!
There is a clean well maintained store on the premises that sells replicas of artwork, clothes, and other knick knacks
as well as an excellent selection of silk items - the air conditioning is quite good here! Food is also available in a small cafe. If you are taking the
Sky Train you will want to get off on the National Stadium Station along the Silom Line.
For more information about Jim Thompson and his house please visit the official Jim Thompson web site:
www.jimthompsonhouse.com
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Koh Kred
is a small Island just north of Bangkok in the
middle of the Chao Phraya River. Only seasoned Bangkok tourists
or locals typically visit this island as it is not a major
tourist destination and usually is not listed in many of the
guidebooks. Saturday and Sunday are the big days to visit this
island - don't bother with the week days.
Mon tribes people from
Myanmar (Burma) settled on this Island several hundred years
ago. Today you can walk among the villages and temples. The
villages typically are shopping areas setup for tourists and
sell a variety of knick knacks including pottery and ceramics
which is this island's claim to fame. You can walk around the
island if you so choose - round trip distance is about 6
kilometers.
You can either get to this Island from Bangkok by taking the Koh
Kred Cruise every Sunday with the Chao Phraya Express Boat. This
is not the cheapest way to get there by any means but can be a
bit faster than other methods - takes about 30 minutes from
pier to pier and is 300 baht per person.
For more information about the Chao Phraya cruise option visit:
www.chaophrayaboat.co.th
You can also take a public AC or non AC bus for 7 to 18 baht one way -
catch bus number 32 along Samsen Road or along the bus route near the
Chao Phraya river. Depending on traffic this trip can take
between 60 and 120 minutes. |
You will get off the bus just after it turns around and
starts heading back. There is a bus stop where everyone who is left on
the bus gets out. Then you have to cross over the road toward the river
- and you can pay 15 or 20 baht for a bicycle rickshaw to take you to
the pier where you catch a boat for a few minute ride to the actual
island.
Lastly traffic depending you can take a taxi for probably around 200 to
300 baht one way - this will take about 35 minutes to 1 hour.
Also note on the weekend there is a tourist boat that gives trips all
the way around the island of Koh Kred. Click here for a
Map of Koh Kred
Lumpini Park
is best visited quite early in the morning - say from
4:30am until 6:30am and is located at the
junction of Rama IV and Ratchadamri roads. The reason for this is that these are the times
when the park is usually the busiest. People get up early to run around
the road on the inside of the park, to practice their Tai Chi, and other
exercises. Often you will see groups of people congregated around a
radio or other speakers all unanimously doing their exercises together.
One of the more interesting exercises you will is see is a group of
people simultaneously yelling quite loud. For "westerners" it may be a
bit of an unusual experience to watch this!
The
National Museum is located near the Chao Praya River only several blocks away
from Khao San Road - bordered by the following streets
- Mahathat, Phra Chan Road and Na Phra That. This museum is composed of many
separate buildings containing Thailand artifacts, works of art, and other treasured items.
It is worth visiting if you like museums, viewing historical artifacts,
and you are interested in Thai history and culture. Some of the buildings are air conditioned - most are not. There is a small very inexpensive cafe in the center of this museum.
At the ticket office be sure to pick up the "Brief Guide to the
National Museum Bangkok" brochure. This is very informative and
contains photos, a map and other directions for The National Museum. Note
backpacks need to be checked in at the main gate.
There are a lot of historical items contained within each of the buildings
at this museum. Compared to other Bangkok attractions there are few tourists here. If you do visit there
are a couple of highlights. Be sure to see the Royal Funeral Chariots
contained in building number 17. Some of these very old chariots were used
within the last 20 years for royal events. Another highlight for me at
this museum was the golden treasure display in building number 11 - the Wayusathan Amares Hall. This used to be the private residence of a the
Prince Successor to Rama II. Shoes must be taken off at the bottom of the
stairs leading up to this room.
Tickets are 40 baht (general admission) and are free to students in
uniform and priests. This museum is open from 9am to 4pm Wednesday through
Sunday. They are closed Monday & Tuesday and also on National
holidays. For more information call: (02) 224-1370
Pat Pong
is the somewhat risqué section of town located between Suriwong Street
and Silom Street. At night this is a mix of hawker stalls, scantily clad
women, night clubs, bars, bar girls, tourists and those trying to get
you to see the shows. We saw one note at a hotel that said, "Bangkok
Ping Pong show change my life". Not really, but women doing things with
ping pong balls commonly perform at any of a number of the nightclubs
here.
| The souvenirs
and other items sold here are extremely high priced and
after bargaining down some of the prices as low as the vendors
would go, we still found the prices too high in comparison to
other locations in the city. For example when asking about the
prices of
generic photos of Thailand (same photos sold by several
vendors), the price would start
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between 650 to 750 baht and
would end up around 100 baht before we walked away). |
Patravadi Theatre is located mere minutes from the banks of the
Chao Phraya River at 69/1 Soi Wat Rakang - Arun Amarin Road. This
theatre company was founded in 1992 by a famous Thai Actress. Besides
the theatre there is a nice restaurant, an art school, artists in
residence and the art galleries are open free to the public. Please
visit their website for the schedule of performances:
www.patravaditheatre.com
River Dinner Cruise - Chao Phraya River. This is something fun to
do in the evenings. Typically the cruise will last 2 hours and will
motor along the Chao Phraya river - dining is often on the upper deck so
you can see all the lighted up temples as you pass by.
One such company offering river cruises is appropriately named
Chaophraya Cruises - they offer nightly dinner cruises from 7pm to 9pm
leaving from the River City Pier just west of the Royal Orchid Sheraton
Hotel. They hold 290 passengers - top deck and downstairs dining
available. For more information and to reserve seats online visit:
www.chaophrayacruise.com or email:
sales@chaophrayacruise.com
or Phone:
(02) 541-5599
Another river dinner cruise lasting about 2 hours is the
Riverside Bangkok - visit their website at website
www.riversidebangkok.com (site is in Thai). We have been on this one
and its an open air dining deck - good food especially seafood, a very
relaxing river cruise.
Rare and Exotic Fresh Fruit
- Bangkok and Thailand is a mecca for rare and exotic fresh fruits. S.E. Asia seems to have a high proportion of the world's rare
fruit and if the fruit was originally from another part of the world,
chances are it has been imported and also grows in Thailand! I saw and sampled the following fruits in Bangkok;
Durian, Logans, Rambutan, Jak fruit, Mango, Green Papaya,
Dragon Fruit, Pineapple, Snake Fruit, Leechee Nuts, Watermelon, Custard Apple (Noina in Thai),
Mangosteen,
Salacca (snake-fruit), several varieties of Bananas, Guava,
and several other fruits that remain unidentified.
There are some markets in hard to find alleys tucked away in Bangkok
that have excellent varieties of fruit. I'm sure some of the vendors
thought it
was strange to see a westerner shopping solely for fruit! There are several places in which
are many fruit vendors; one was along Ratchadamri Road |
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near the World Trade Centre and the other place was along the Chao Phraya River at the numerous pier stations (the pier stations are where the river boats arrive and leave from - there tends to be quite a few fruit/vegetable vendors gathered around these areas).
Fruit out of season such as Mangosteens and Rambutans used to be priced
extremely high and found in only select parts of the city. These fruits
have come down in price significantly in the off season and can be found
in select high traffic areas of the city including parts of Sukhumvit
and near major shopping malls.
For poster photos of rare and exotic fruits visit this site: These posters are also available for sale here.
http://secure.cartsvr.net/catalogs/catalog.asp?prodid=278966&showprevnext=1
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Siam Ocean World
is located in the basement of one of South East Asia's largest shopping
malls, Siam Paragon. The Skytrain runs right in front of Siam Paragon
and you can either get off of Siam or the Chit Lom stops on the
Sukhumvit Line. A raised Skytrain pedestrian walkway connects you to
Siam Paragon from either stops (the walk fromthe Chitlom stop may be a
few minutes shorter than from Siam). Once inside the mall proceed down
the escalator or elevator to the basement and
head to the ticket counter.
A 4d movie experience plays every 30 minutes and is included with the
cost of the general admission. You wear special dark glasses to maximize
the effect - mist, air, seat movement and other special effects are part
of this movie experience. This is a great show for all ages.
Ocean World contains a plethora of marine exhibits which include
creatures from all the world's oceans. Each exhibit is organized by type
of marine life. The highlight is a glass tunnel in which you are
surrounded by water on all sides except the floor. Additional highlights
include common household appliances which are filled with water
containing fish - and even a car is full of water with fish
swimming inside! Ask about the "Walk with the Sharks" experience.
For an extra fee you can go on the glass bottom boat which involves the
guide pulling on a wire so that your boat moves around a large tank.
Several sharksm, sting rays and other fish tend to follow the boat
hoping for a handout. Total time in the boat is about 10 minutes. For
more information visit:
www.siamoceanworld.co.th
The
Snake Museum (Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute) is located on
Thanon Phr Ram IV near Thanon Henri Dunant PHONE: 252 0161. This is a
world class research facility - snake venom is used for snake-bite
antidotes which is provided for the entire country. Tourists can watch
the "milking" of the snakes for venom, slide shows about
individual snakes, and there are large snake skins contained in
displays (these make for great photo backdrops!). The Snake Museum is
open from 8:30am to 11:30am and then again from 1pm to 4pm on
weekdays. Feeding time is around 3pm and admission is 80 baht.
Thai Boxing is called Muy Thai and there are two main viewing
locations in Bangkok for this sport. Expect to pay somewhere between
200 and 1000 baht per eight fights of which there are 5 rounds each.
Never believe anyone but the actual ticket vendors if they try to tell
you the performance is sold out.
Sanam Muay Lumphini is located on Thanon Phra Ram IV ner Thanon
Sathon Ti - near Lumphini Park. Visit:
www.muaythai.com
for more information or call PHONE: 0-2252-8765
The other location is Sanm Muay Ratchadamnoen is located on
Thanon Ratchadamnoen Nok.
The Vimanmek Teak Mansion is located on the grounds of the
Royal Dusit Palace and is the world's largest golden teakwood building. It is 3 stories and contains 81 rooms.
It is not a particularly old building (constructed in 1868 moved to
current location in 1900) but it is
worth visiting not only for the ornate construction and beautiful teak
wood but
also for the art, jewelry, and other royal treasures contained within
- especially the fine china, glassware and ceramics.
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English and Thai tours are given. Because this is royal property you
must wear long pants to enter. Sandals are ok. No cameras are allowed
inside - although after the tour you can retrieve your camera from the
lock box (20baht fee for storing items). You must remove your shoes and
use the storage lockers before you enter. Foreigner entry price differs
from Thai entry price. Vimanmek closes at 3:30. It is easy to miss the
"royal gift shop" which is located near the storage lockers. All
proceeds from sales at this shop benefit the Royal Family's personal non
profit projects in Thailand.
The "Royal Honey" sold in containers that look like they should hold
Shampoo is worth a taste - as well as the "milk" tablets. Also
note the footspray sold here works wonderfully!
There are other things to do here besides tour the Vimanmek Teak
Mansion. There is a large marble building, another wood
building, a royal carriage museum (free) and a |
museum housing the current King's
photography.
Dusit Palace is located off of Thanon U-Thong
not too far from Khao San Road and the Banglampu district. For more info
call: (02)
628-6300-9 |
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