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Thomas Kramer’s Travel Blog 2013: Bangkok

Thomas Kramer’s Travel Blog 2013: Bangkok

 

OMG what an exciting trip!!

My dear friend Chettha Songthaveepol from Thailand organized the FANTASTIC TRIPLE Birthday WEEK to meet in BEAUTIFUL Bangkok for:

Nicolas Suley, France ~ Gary Nguyen,Vietnam ~ Sheik Jamaluddin bin Sheik Mohamed of Brunei.

Many happy returns!!

Thanks for having a good time: Mohammed Sani Sule, Nigeria ~ Mru Patel, India ~ Alexandra Posada, Columbia ~Tarek Al-Naqeeb, Kuwait ~ Tobby Tan, Malaysia .

…and not to forget the friendly help of local BEAUTY:

Nanakanittar Nuntakasate

Thanks for your hospitality, I’m slowly falling in love with Bangkok -I’ll be back!!

Cultural phenomenon, shopping heaven and tourist treasure. Welcome to Bangkok; one of the most cosmopolitan, contrasting and, above all, compelling of Asian cities. A steamy, pulsating, yet smiling metropolis of more than ten million – intense at first, but addictive as anything. Find your niche among dazzling temples, hotels of every breed and size, eclectic markets, gleaming palaces, ritzy shopping malls, a famous nightlife and the many things in between.

 

The St. Regis Hotel is a paean to timeless elegance, stately situated in Bangkok‘s most coveted address along Ratchadamri Road, have a look at my magnificent room:

Many tours through Thonburi’s backwaters include a visit to the so-called Thonburi Snake Farm. Besides a snake show performance, it is also a small zoo with a number of animals kept in cages for the purpose of entertaining tourists. Any animal lover or consciencious visitor can see that the animals in this snake farm live in very bad conditions. There is no information about the animals, their sole purposeis to entertainment. If you don’t want to visit the farm for these reasons, make sure you book a canal tour that does not include the farm. Or  alternatively, visit the animal friendly Queen Saovabha Institute Snake Farm in Silom.

There are no signs to inform the visitor, as the animals are only meant for the sole purpose of entertainment!

One of the best ways to explore Bangkok is by boat. A cruise along the Chao Phraya River and the canals of Thonburi on the west side of the river reveal scenes at odds with the bustling, modern inner city.

Nineteenth-century Bangkok was laced with canals, giving the capital the designation “Venice of the East”

The trip passes the Royal Barges Museum, housing the eight elaborately decked longboats used in the highly ceremonial and rare Royal Barge Procession. With the combined tour, experience the above plus a trip to the Grand Palace, which reveals the splendour of early Rattanakosin architecture as well as Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew).

Thonburi is a vast district, and getting around it is not easy. The area can hardly be explored on foot

It’s worth giving the Grand Palace and Wat Pho together a full day since the heat and glare are very wearing and there is a lot to take in.

A trip to Bangkok is not complete without a visit to some of Rattanakosin‘s prime sights. Bangkok counts hundreds of Buddhist temples, known in Thai as “wats”, with the most important ones in Rattanakosin. Temples are an essential part of the daily life of most Thais. Most of them have impressive architecture and much devotion has been given to the decoration. Every temple is unique — some of them are beautifully decorated with thousands of coloured glass pieces, while others portray massive Buddha statues of pure gold.

 

Additional info

If you are bitten by a snake in Thailand or anywhere in Southeast Asia, and you don’t KNOW that it is a non-venomous snake:

1. Find someone to help you get to the hospital immediately – don’t wait for symptoms and don’t drive yourself.

Emergency Numbers:

1155 – Tourist Police – English speaking; 191 – Thai police nationwide; 1669 – Ambulance nationwide; 1646 Bangkok ambulance.
More Info at http://www.thailandsnakes.com/tag/thailand-snake-bite/

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