Amphawa Floating Market

Posted on September 11, 2013 by koomatzu

Bangkok To Amphawa

Amphawa Floating Market is located about an hour’s drive outside of Bangkok and can easily be reached direct by minibus. Out of all the many floating markets around the Bangkok area, Amphawa is perhaps one of the biggest and more popular markets among local and Thai tourists.

Amphawa Floating Market has a fantastic atmosphere: heaps of delicious food stalls and quirky clothes shops squeezed along the board walks, paddle boats parked along the sides of the canal with barbecues onboard brimming with fresh seafood, and visitors relaxing at small tables perched along the edges enjoying the cuisine… the whole environment of Amphawa is pretty relaxed and not at ally pushy or tourist trappy.

If you class yourself as a bit of a food connoisseur, or just plain love trying different regional foods and snacks, Amphawa is ideal for tasting and nibbling as you go. Whether you sample the steamed buns, roti pancakes and all the hundreds of other Thai desserts, or eat the freshly grilled choice of seafood, river prawns and Thai dishes; you will love the eating your way along the Thai canals!

Boat tours are available at various points along the river and typically sit between four and ten passengers. Khlong boat fares are a standard price of 60 baht per person or 400 baht per group for about an hour’s ride. The boat will stop whenever you ask so that you can have a taste of the freshly cooked Thai food along the way. Food and boats… who wouldn’t like these things?

Although the standard tours from Bangkok to Amphawa tend to take passengers to the floating market in the early hours or during the daytime, the market actually get’s at it’s most interesting during the evening time. A good time to get to Amphawa Floating market is around 3pm or 4pm, while the weather is a little more mild and the crowd a little less restless.

If you head to the market during the evening, you’ll find cosy fairy lights brightening the walkways and adding a charm and magic to the atmosphere. Live acoustic music will add to the chilled out atmosphere as it starts to sound from the hidden, laid back Thai bars. Amphawa floating market stays open until 10pm (the bars until later) so travellers can have fun cork shooting at random stalls for 10 baht; shop for hand made souvenirs, pretty clothing and quirky accessories; or relax with a beer in one of the canal-side bars and restaurants.

Amphawa, Samut Songkhran

The area of Amphawa is packed full of beautiful temples, markets* and parks and is definitely worthy of an overnight stay away from Bangkok. Transport around the town is rather lacking, however there are many boat tours available to take you to all the main sights and temples of Amphawa. Hotels can usually easily arrange these boat day tours for you.

Due to the lack of tuk tuks and songtaews, it’s best to stay close to the floating market and main hub of activity. A particularly good hotel in an ideal location right next to Amphawa floating market is Amphawa Nanon Hotel & Spa. Not only does staying overnight in a hotel Amphawa mean that you can relax in the bars along the floating market, but it also means that you can take a trip to watch the notorious fireflies of Samut Songkhran distict.

How To Get To Amphawa Floating Market

To get from Bangkok to Amphawa floating market, you can catch a mini bus from the Victory Monument station for around 100 baht one-way. The mini bus conveniently takes you directly to the market. It will drop you at a stop just next to a bridge which has steps down to the canal.

*My personal recommendation is to avoid Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. On the whole, the market is not as authentic or charming as many other floating markets and the canal is dirty, full of litter and lacking in atmosphere. In my experience, despite being quiet and less popular among tourists, Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is a pretty bad tourist trap full of unfriendly and pushy people.

Tae Chio Chinese Cemetery, Sathorn

Posted on May 26, 2013 by koomatzu

Tucked away amongst the backstreet sois and nestled within the multitude of Bangkok skyscrapers of Sathorn, you can find a peculiar and unconventional Chinese graveyard; it’s an all-in-one park, gym, temple and hangout for the locals. It’s off the beaten track and hard to find unless you know about it, you don’t tend to find it in the guide books and you won’t find tourists there. It has the beauty and evocative history of the Chinese temples only without the tuk tuks and sometimes tacky tourist charades that come with some of the other more popular tourist sites.

There is a lot more to this unheard of Bangkok park than just your traditional temples though – you’ll find everything from old geezers playing cards and drinking tea, to pensioners playing tunes on the harmonica or singing classic thai songs on random karaoke machines; locals jogging through the Chinese cemetery, pumping iron to the backdrop of a colourful temple, or youths playing lively Takraw matches.

It’s quite an odd mish mash of activity considering the solemn and spiritual mood that usually lingers in the atmosphere of a standard graveyard. But nonetheless, it’s refreshing and completely typical of Thai culture and it’s laid back, open minded approach to life. If you prefer to see culture and everyday life in an authentic and chilled out setting – basically if you’re bored of repetitive, somewhat sheltered tourist sights and displays – a trip to Tae Chio cemetery can make for a pleasant change.

If you drop by during the day, you’ll find it to be a peaceful, unique park to sit and snack on some of the street food and snacks from the outside Bangkok sois. If you head to the cemetery at sunset, you’ll find it to be a lively and entertaining hangout for the younger locals just finishing work and school. Next to the gym and main chinese temple is a Takraw court -Sepak Takraw is a popular Thai sport which I can only describe as being like a fusion of football, volleyball and acrobatics. It makes a really interesting sport to spectate and if you visit the cemetery in the evening, it’s likely you might be able to catch a game.

The gym at the cemetery is very much like the more well know outdoor gym in Lumpini Park, only I believe it to be a little more relaxed, less intimidating than the ‘beefcake feel’ of Lumpini park, and the Temple setting more distinctive and appealing to the eye. As a whole, the Tae Chio graveyard is a little rough around the edges – it’s not like the immaculately maintained, better known parks of Bangkok – but it has a spirit, creativity and vibe of a whole new level.

How to get there

Take the BTS to Surasak station in Sathorn and take exit 2. Continue with the direction of the traffic until you get to the main cross roads, continue left around the corner (soi 17) and follow the soi (Charoen 1) past the Seven Eleven. Head on into the soi, following left round the bend until the you see an apartment block called Sara Residence. Shortly after this the road forks straight ahead and right – Take the right turn and after about a hundred yards you’ll find the park on your left.

Surasak station is located next to Saphan Taksin station and just past Sala Deng BTS. Saphan Taksin is the main ferry hub to travel along the Chao Praya river and Sala Deng, Silom has many modern bars, shops and restaurants to hang out at. Sathorn and the Chinese Cemetery make for a convenient stop off if visiting these nearby Bangkok stations.

Lumpini Park

Posted on May 23, 2013 by koomatzu

Lumpini Park, Bangkok’s first public park, was opened by King Rama VI in 1925 – you can find his statue at the main gates. It was named after Lumbini, the famed birthplace of the Buddha in Nepal. The Bangkok park offers huge, natural open grounds of lush, shaded greenery and peaceful lakes.

You will find a serious amount of Bangkokians snoozing on the lawns and benches around Lumpini park but on the other hand, exercise is greatly encouraged within it’s walls – the sheer size of the park makes it very popular with runners and great for cycling in Bangkok (although cycling is only officially allowed between 10 am and 3pm). You can even find an outdoor gym full of hulking Bangkok locals benching tyres on rusty bars as well as other random exercise equipment throughout the park grounds.

The large old trees that line the paths in Lumpini park make it a refreshing stop in Bangkok to cool off in the shade. There are many open areas to stop and rest or have a picnic but there are also more interesting displays such as the Palm Garden – an array of gigantic, tropical trees; the Chinese pagoda – set amongst an arrangement of flowers, overlooking the stillness of the lake; the lake island hidden amongst it’s many palms and floral displays.

To the locals of Bangkok, Lumpini park is more than just a display of flora and fauna, it also has a library, school, social club, homeless centre and a youth centre which offers sports activities like tennis, swimming and basketball. On the last Sunday of every month from around 7.00 until 9.00am, local monks hold Buddhist Sermons; During February to April, the palm garden hosts live music from 16.30 every Sunday. Pedal boats and rowing boats are available for rent for 30 baht per half hour. If you can wake the boat guy up anyway.

There are currently, as of 2013, building works being undertaken around parts of Lumpini Park which make it a little less peaceful and calm as it could be. The maze-like roads that wind through the park are also used by a surprisingly large number of trucks, either construction related or just garden maintenance related (e.g. they use one fire engine-looking truck to water all the foliage around the Bangkok park). Lumpini park is so big though that it is possible to escape these disturbances – For a more calm and peaceful park in Bangkok though, it may be worth checking Benjakiti Park.

How to get to Lumpini Park

You can either take the MRT Subway to Lumpini and follow signs within the station to the park, or you can take the BTS Sky Train to Sala Deng and follow signs from there to the MRT.

Benjakiti Park

Posted on May 17, 2013 by koomatzu

Peace amongst the hustle and bustle of central Bangkok…

Benjakiti park lives in the shadow of the more famous and renowned Bangkok park, Lumpini Park. Benjakiti park is extremely quiet, maybe you’ll come across the odd jogger or cyclist, there seem to be an oddly large number of security officers and gardeners working there as well – and thats about it… It’s actually located close by Lumpini Park and in easy walking distance of Asoke’s Terminal 21 (you can read about Terminal 21 here) so makes a contrasting break from a day out shopping in Bangkok.

The man-made lake at Benjakiti park occupies the majority of the landscape, with decking and seating looking out over the water and the Bangkok sky scraper reflections. From the decking area running along side the rectangular lake, the view is a beautiful juxtaposition of the modern city scape and colourful natural beauty of the Bangkok park itself. By no means is it a natural, wild looking park though – the gardens are well maintained and the layout has a structured, methodical feel – uniform rows of bold, purple flower displays line the lake with constistancy and punch.

Some may not like the unnaturalness of Benjakiti Park, but I personally see it’s perfection as striking. Ironically, the lack of other people due to it’s underatedness make it incredibly more peaceful and the over-employment of gardeners there make it absolutely immaculately well kept! Benjakiti park is a little smaller than Lumpini park, so is maybe not as great a place to go long distance jogging in Bangkok (ideal if you run about 2km though), but it does have it’s own outdoor exercise equipment for a cheap workout. There are also peddle boats to take out on the lake – although I have never once seen anybody using these either.

You may also be interested to check out the nearby Retro Live Cafe – ideal for lunch with friends in Bangkok. It opens for lunch between 11am and 2.30pm and the international buffet costs 420 baht per person. On evenings, particularly Fridays, they boast live music performances from famous bands and singers.

How to get to Benjakiti Bangkok Park

The easiest way is to take the MRT to Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Take exit 3 to the Convention Centre and then carry on walking left up the road once outside the station. Benjakiti park is also about a 10 minute walk from Asoke BTS station.

Baiyoke Tower

Posted on May 14, 2013 by koomatzu

Baiyoke Tower is located in Bangkok and is the tallest building in Thailand with 84 floors of shopping, sky restaurants, exhibitions and it’s very own sky hotel. For 300 baht you can purchase a ticket to visit the revolving Bangkok rooftop on the 84th floor – the city views of Bangkok are pretty amazing, particularly at sunset (although it gets busiest at this time). It is a little uglier than some of the fancier Bangkok rooftop bars though – with wire surrounds that make you need to artfully peep your camera through one of the gaps to take a decent photo.

Bunny rabbit!

For the 300 baht entrance fee, you get a free drink on the Baiyoke Tower sky bar and a free visit to it’s small Thai exhibition – particularly good for photo taking in the set up photo corner scenes. The sky bar is somewhat shabby for the tallest building in Bangkok and also has a very random space/ sci-fi kind of theme; the staircase walls are painted with a starry pattern, lined with giant, model killer aliens and the cafe has it’s own waitresses dressed in silver spacemen suits. Just a little random. The Baiyoke Tower Sky bar has some nice cakes though and great views of Bangkok city to sit and take a break.

‘Ooooh I love a bit of cake!’ – Note the special, silver spaceman sprinklings

Baiyoke Buffet

Also in the Baiyoke Tower are many different sky restaurants and buffets with impressive Bangkok views to choose from throughout the different levels of the sky tower. For the cheapest, try the fruit Baiyoke buffet on the 18th floor – for 350 baht you can sample the many Thai fruits and get free entrance to the revolving observation deck on the rooftop included, so it only actually costs 50 baht extra than the standard ticket. Another one of the more interesting Baiyoke buffet sky restaurants is the themed Baiyoke Floating Market charging 560 baht for a buffet dinner and, again, entrance fee to the Bangkok rooftop.

Photo corner

Baiyoke Tower Shopping

Being located in Pratunam, there are absolutely tonnes of markets and malls to shop but there are also four floors of shopping at the bottom of Baiyoke Tower. The shops in Baiyoke Tower are especially ideal for men – I do believe Bangkok is a little lacking in men’s clothes shopping personally. The first few floors are a little boring, mainly wholesale shirts and t-shirts, but the fourth floor get’s a little more creative and indie.

You can find many alternative styles of clothing on the fourth floor of Baiyoke Tower such as custom made biker style shorts as well as some nerdy retro T-shirt designs (particular Star Wars parody designs). I do love a bit of retro nerdiness. The shops around Pratunam are mainly wholesale orientated, so it’s best not to haggle in many of the shops as they have set prices and discounts. T-shirts generally cost around 200 baht (you can check out more typical Thailand clothing prices here).

For people with more expensive tastes, a more sophisticated alternative to the Baiyoke Sky Tower in Bangkok is the State Tower, but Baiyoke Tower is still very reasonable for the price in my opinion. Although I would not recommend a visit to Baiyoke Tower as an attraction on it’s own, it is actually ideally loacted around the central area of Bangkok. Therefore it is not a bad detour to take combined with some cheap shopping around Pratunam, or maybe to explore the modern centre of Bangkok a little further afield (maybe a 20 minute walk), Central World, Amarin Shrine or the Phallic Shrine in Chit Lom.

How to get to Baiyoke Tower

Take the BTS to Phayathai station and then the airport link to Ratchaprop station. Make sure to catch the City Line train and get off at the first stop. From here, there are many sign posts to follow to the Baiyoke tower – you can even see it from the station.

Hangover 2 Hotel

Posted on May 7, 2013 by koomatzu

The Sky Bar at Lebua State Tower Hotel in Bangkok is more commonly known as the famous bar from Hangover 2. It has a highly sophisticated restaurant and bar 63 floors high above the city, reputedly the tallest rooftop bar in the world. In fact, visiting the ‘Hangover 2 hotel’ is one of the top ‘must do’ activities on most people’s bucket lists when they travel to Bangkok on holiday, so if you’re feeling stumped and overwhelmed about what to do on holiday in Bangkok, it may well be worth a visit.

And you know what? It’s not even that expensive – In many people’s home countries, an opulent, world famous hotel and bar sixty-three floors tall above the capital city would be far from their reach. The bar and restaurant can understandably be a little expensive by Bangkok’s standards, but to stay the night at the Hangover 2 Lebua hotel can actually cost from $100 a night. You can make bookings here.

Aside from the hotel’s popular association with Hangover 2, the views and atmosphere can be quite breath taking and there are many other equally impressive restaurants and bars within the tower to choose from.

Breeze restaurant serves world-class gourmet food with the choice of dining on a suspended glass sky-brige for a bird’s eye view of Bangkok city. Cafe Mozu is a colourful poolside cafe serving various world cuisines; Distil bar has it’s own nightly resident DJ and open-air cigar terrace; Lebua Lounge offers an extensive and high quality range of teas and pastries in a classic and cozy setting; the Sky Bar and Sirocco restaurant have amazing rooftop views, as seen in the Hangover 2 movie, and a live jazz band every night.

Cafe Mozu

If you are planning on visiting State Tower, it is highly recommended that you book at least seven days in advance to avoid disappointment.

How to get to the Hangover 2 Hotel

Head to the very western end of Silom Road and you will find it on the corner where the main road meets Charoen Krung Road. From BTS Saphan Taksin, head up Charoen Krung Road until you come to the next main intersection.

Hangover 2 Thailand, Hangover 2 Hotel Bangkok, Hangover 2 Bar, Rooftop bar Bangkok

Chao Mae Tuptim ‘Penis Shrine’, Bangkok

Posted on March 20, 2013 by koomatzu

Nestled away in a random and hidden spot of central Bangkok, you can find the very surreal Phallic shrine; a small site filled with numerous, large carvings and phallic statues. It is located within the grounds of the very posh, and maybe unfortunate, Swissotel Nai Lert hotel. Crossing over the small bridge leading into the typical Bangkok cityscape scene of the Swissotel grounds and it’s concrete car park, you will see a very small and overgrown-looking garden tucked away amongst some trees. If you were not actively looking for the penis shrine you may well easily miss it as it so hidden away, almost as if it has been conveniently shoved into the corner and out of people’s view.

A visit to the penis shrine in Bangkok can be a somewhat odd experience. Sometimes there may not be another visitor in sight, the only other signs of life around being a couple of stow away workers slacking off around the outskirts of the garden and a family of cats who have made their home underneath one of the many piles of phallic sculptures.

The Bangkok penis shrine is around 100 years years old and Chao Mae Tuptim is the name of the spirit or goddess believed to reside there. There seem to mixed feelings from the locals of Bangkok about the shrine, some apparently finding it to be embarrassing and perhaps vulgar (I have heard that if you mention it to a member of staff in the Swissotel, most of them will deny all knowledge of it’s existence). There are others throughout the region however, who regard the penis shrine as a place of good fortune, endowing fertility to visitors who worship Chao Mae Tuptim at the phallic shrine.

Visiting Chao Mae Tuptim

The phallic shrine is very small in size, it is literally like stepping into somebody’s back garden. It is not really something that would make a trip worthwhile on it’s own (particularly if you do not have a specific interest in phallic sculptures), but there are absolutely masses of shopping centres, malls and cafes around to explore nearby, and so the penis shrine can make an interesting stop off whilst wandering through the area of Chit Lom. Other places to visit in the area include Central Chit Lom (a department store with an impressive and high quality food court below), Central World, Amarin Plaza, Pratunam, Erawan shrine and the Baiyoke Tower. Every other person who’s been to Thailand has a picture of themselves in the Grand Palace and Wat Arun – the shrine can make for a more unconventional detour to the usual tourist sights.

And besides, who wouldn’t want a photo of themselves posing next to a giant pile of men’s oversized gooblies?

Directions to the Bangkok penis shrine

Take the BTS to Chit Lom and follow the exit signposted for Central Chit Lom. You should be walking in the direction towards Ploenchit, rather than back towards Central World. You can exit through the air conditioned Central Chit Lom and head back onto the main road with the BTS on. From here, carry on walking left along the main street until you come across a road turning left with a small canal running along the right-hand side of it.

Continue to the end of the street until you see a small bridge across the canal and a security guard booth just on the other side. Walk on through the car park and follow the road to the left. Straight ahead of you from here you will notice some trees and a small garden which is the penis shrine.

Erawan Elephant Museum, Bangkok

Posted on March 18, 2013 by koomatzu

Located just on the outskirts of the city of Bangkok, you can find the unmissable Erawan Museum- a unique museum in that it is enclosed within a 43 metre tall, giant elephant. It was built in 1967 by an eccentric multi-millionaire resident of Bangkok to preserve his collection of antique art and to showcase the four major religions of Asia. The grounds of the museum consist of beautiful gardens with carpe ponds, ornate statues surrounding the museum and a shrine built into the structure of the towering three-headed elephant above.

The main museum and shrine

Below the elephant building is the small museum dedicated to the history of Sukhothai and antique pottery of the region. The lobby-like area above this and under the shrine itself is very elaborately decorated with an extravagant and colourful circular staircase swirling around the dome shaped room up to the beautiful stained glass roof at the top. At the top of this level, you can either take the elevator or continue climbing yet more winding stairs which bring you into the body of the elephant itself.

Lobby area inside

Here, there is an interesting and unconventional shrine located at the very top of the structure, brightly decorated with a less traditional and modern edge to it than the more historical temples in Bangkok. There is also a small window at the top where you can view the scenery and gardens from above. Due to the actual size of the gardens and museum, a visit to Erawan Museum would need no more than an hour for many people. However the gardens, although small in size, have some intriguing sculptures and attractive flora for a little extra entertainment and relaxation.

Surrounding gardens

Entry to the Erawan Museum in Bangkok costs 300 baht for foreigners and 150 baht for Thais. It is open 8.00 am until 5.00 pm daily

How to get to Erawan Musem:

Take the BTS skytrain to the terminal station at Bearing. A taxi from here should only take 5 or 10 minutes and will cost around 55 baht depending on traffic. In thai, Erawan Museum is ‘peepeetapan erawan’.

Tip: Erawan Museum is a religious site, it is wise to try to dress a little more modestly to avoid the risk of being denied entrance to the actual museum and shrine. Avoid wearing short shorts or vests for example.

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Category: Sightseeing