‘The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.’ “• St. Augustine
BY NENY REGINO
RECENTLY, my group of ‘touring’ friends had the opportunity to once again travel out of the country. Our destination this time was Bangkok, the capital of the Kingdom of Thailand one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. Bangkok has almost universal appeal, with its beautiful beaches, Thai massage, ubiquitous tuktuk, incredible cuisine, dancing elephants and impressive Buddhist temples.
It would be almost impossible to experience all of the exciting if chaotic city of Bangkok in a five-day tour. But I must say our itinerary allowed us to sample some of the exceptional highlights.
It was unbearably hot in Bangkok so we wisely confined our sightseeing and explorations to the early mornings and late afternoons.
Having come at the peak of the hot season, we were just in time to participate in the observance of Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year festival.
Songkran Festival
Songkran marks the start of the new year in the Buddhist calendar and is celebrated after the rice harvest in mid-April. Family reunions are held and people pay their respects to older adults, ancestors and sacred Buddha images.
The festival involves a lot of water tossing and sprinkling, much of it in the irrepressible Thai spirit of fun (sanuk). The pouring of water is a significant act during Songkran, symbolizing cleansing, reverence and good fortune. But amid the feasting, games, music and “bathing” of Buddha images, monks and elders, a lot of water is tossed about for fun and to beat the heat.
We mostly hid out in our hotel as we did not want to be splashed (usually with water guns).
However, being “seniors,” we were generally respected, especially by the children, when we did venture out to the night market.
Wat Pho
A most impressive tour was our visit to the sprawling, lively Wat Pho (the ‘h’ is not pronounced in Thai) temple in central Bangkok, famous for its colossal Reclining Buddha which attracts hordes of tourists.
Wat Pho is Bangkok’s oldest temple, even older than the city itself, having been founded in the 17th century and named Wat Photaram (foreigners are responsible for the contraction of the name). The temple complex has the largest collection of Buddha images in the country, the biggest of which is the 46-meter long, gold leaf-finished Reclining Buddha. The temple, a center of public education in the 19th century, remains today a center for traditional Thai medicine, particularly Thai massage.
You can go for a massage in one of the buildings in the complex. For the Songkran Festival, guests were allowed to sprinkle water over the Buddha figures, saying a prayer while doing so.
Baiyoke Tower II
Baiyoke Tower II is an 88-story, 309 m skyscraper hotel in the Ratchathewi district. It is the third tallest completed building in the city, and includes the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel in Southeast Asia and the seventh tallest all-hotel structure in the world.
We booked a meal at the 360-degree revolving restaurant on the 85th floor which serves super delicious Thai food, but also other kinds of Asian and Western cuisine.
Being small eaters, we pronounced ourselves “lugi” as we hardly finished what was in our plates. We gorged, however, on the sticky rice with mango.
Floating Market
A trip to Bangkok would not be complete without a visit to its floating markets, the biggest of which is the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.
To be able to appreciate the richness of the floating market, one has to take a long-tail boat tour which brings you to a whole other world. Picture a narrow waterway crowded with paddle boats helmed by women and overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, souvenirs, apparel, cooked food, you name it, which they sell to each other, to the communities along the canal and mesmerized tourists.
There is even a floating market where Thai massage is offered.
Palladium World Shopping/Iconsiam Mall
Bangkok is arguably Asia’s shopping capital. Going to Bangkok is going shopping. Most of us were not really avid shoppers so we just browsed. The malls reminded me of our Greenhills shopping mall, particularly the Platinum Fashion Hall in Pratunam with its long alleys of stalls. The Palladium World Shopping is where one can buy clothes and accessories at wholesale prices. The Iconsiam Mall on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, boasts some 7,000 stores and a walkway where one gets a view of the Chao Phraya.
Chao Praya River Cruise
A cruise along the Chao Phraya River is an experience not to be missed. Dubbed the “River of Kings,” the Chao Phraya is truly the center of Thai life as it flows through Bangkok and many of the provinces. A night cruise, usually in one of the floating restaurants offering food and entertainment, takes you past Buddhist temples, gilded palaces, Christian churches and royal temples, towering skyscrapers and modern shopping malls, and the much more humble dwellings teetering on the river’s banks. The tour gives you a sense of how the Chao Phraya connects modern Bangkok with its historic past. Truly the Chao Phraya is the center of Bangkok.
This columnist was sent to Bangkok some 40 years ago for a seminar on governance at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) located 40 km north of Bangkok. The AIT is an international English-speaking postgraduate institution, specializing in engineering, environment, and management studies. Traffic at that time was horrendous especially when we travel to the city. But today, we breezed through traffic because of the modernized road network. From atop the Baiyoke Tower, I could see the intertwining of skyways plus smaller road network where vehicles could travel smoothly to their destination.
It was great to be back to Bangkok!!
