Read this blog: The one where we discover that there is no alcohol available in Bangkok
Monday 10th to Wednesday 12th February 2025
Our second Asian adventure started in the Wetherspoons at Gatwick Airport where Robert opted for a pint and Matilda took in a cheeky decaffeinated latte while we waited for the gate for our 21:15 flight to be announced.
On arriving for our second stay in Bangkok, we initially planned to grab a Grab (the Asian equivalent of an Über) to take us from the airport to our hotel. There is a dedicated Grab pick up zone beyond the taxi drop off lane as you exit Suvarnabhumi Airport. This is so popular that it has two pick up points designated rather unimaginatively Grab A and Grab B.
We joined the throng of people all looking hopefully at their phones, waiting for a driver to accept their booking. After about a quarter of an hour we decided we would be better off getting the Airport Rail Link (ARL) into central Bangkok and then trying to get a Grab from there. The journey takes about half an hour to travel the 28km into the city and the train terminates at Phaya Thai Station where you can transfer to the BTS Skytrain if you wish.
A see-through barrier prevents people falling on the track although on our visit last year we had noticed that there were some stations without barriers. Sliding doors indicate where the train will stop and the local Thai passengers stand in two orderly rows on either side of this point. Westerners sometimes fail to follow this protocol.
We reached Phaya Thai Station in rush hour and we decided that a Grab would be preferable to changing trains. Traffic was particularly heavy which we put down to it being rush hour and it took some time for the Grab to actually reach us.
Matilda’s Health App informed her that she had slept for just two hours and two minutes on the 11 hour flight. She was not surprised. It is common knowledge that sleep deprivation is a form of torture. Her digestive system also decided to protest about something and stomach cramps combined with a seven hour time difference was making her quite grumpy. After checking in to our hotel, Robert’s solution [unsurprisingly] was to take her to a nearby bar for what he hoped would prove to be a self-fulfilling “happy hour”. Dr Robert’s solution seemed to do the trick [see Selfie of the day].
Our Grab driver had implied that the congestion on the roads was because of the holiday. Whilst absorbing the good mood generated by cheap beer, we chatted to the barmaid and discovered that Māgha Pūjā [Makha Bucha] falls on 12th February this year.
Māgha Pūjā is a Buddhist festival celebrated on the day of the full moon of the third lunar month in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Sri Lanka. It commemorates Buddha declaring the Ovadha Patimokha, the core principles of Buddhism and a key feature of the celebration is that no alcohol can be sold on this day. It was Robert’s turn to be grumpy.
As part of the Māgha Pūjā celebrations, people bring flowers and candles and walk clockwise round the temple with the monks in the evening. After completing three circuits the candles and flowers are placed on the altar.
The following morning, on the day of Māgha Pūjā, Matilda had an uncharacteristic lie-in and woke at 09:30 leaving us just half an hour to get up, washed, dressed and down for breakfast. From our bedroom we could see a heat haze hung over the city and the day promised to be hot.
We had decided to catch one of the high speed canal boats to Bobae Market. The walk to the canal took us past the MBK Center. Near one entrance [see also the feature photo] there is a large art installation entitled Breathing comprising a large pink lotus flower.
The motorised padded petals are made of waterproof fabric and move up and down repeatedly to mimic a heliotropic flower opening and closing with the sun [see video below].
From here we walked to the Phadung Krung Kasem Canal to the W1 stop for the Khlong Saen Saep [Saen Saep Canal] Boat Service. Originally built for military purposes some of the canals are now used as a high speed transport route. The boats only pause very briefly at the stops and passengers with young children are advised not to use them.
Two stops took us to W3 and the Bobae Market: the biggest wholesale clothing market in Thailand.
Robert was struck by the range of Hawaiian shirts on offer. As this is a wholesale market for bulk purchasing, we were pleased to discover that three shirts qualified as ‘bulk’ buying and earned us a discount.
In the end, after each of us trying a shirt on over the top of our clothes for size, we bought two each.
We walked along the canal back towards our hotel as the Khlong Saen Saep [Saen Saep Canal] Boat Service continued to make waves. In the UK the speed limit on the canal network is 4 miles per hour to prevent the wash from damaging the banks. On this stretch of canal, Robert noticed that the speed limit was a staggering 40 km per hour.
Next we went to the MKB Center, a vast shopping mall spread across seven air-conditioned floors. The eighth floor is reserved for admin offices. This was a very different retail experience to visiting Bobae Market.
Signs in food shops and restaurants explained the rules regarding the sale of alcohol.
Many of the products were fakes and we were advised that the quality was not the best. Even so, Robert was pleased to see that Aston Villa shirts were available.
Products are organised into ten zones so that customers can focus on the items they are looking for and easily compare prices although every floor also has food outlets to sustain shoppers. Level Four is more or less dedicated to technology.
On Level Four we discovered an Anime exhibition, which was largely photo opportunities with cardboard cutouts. Robert got into the spirit of things.
One floor focused on entertainment and as well as a cinema complex had an area which seemed to be the modern version of the amusement arcade at a seaside town in the UK.
Robert was rather disconcerted to find this sign in the gents toilet at the MBK Center on a floor which predominantly had restaurants offering a range of different cuisines.
Despite this, after rehydrating at our hotel . . .
. . . and watching the sun setting, we did decide to return to the MBK Center for an evening meal. Robert particularly enjoyed his Thai green curry soup [see Dish of the day].
As we walked back to our hotel we noticed that the art installation, Breathing, had taken its last gasp and was now just a flat pile of deflated material.
Video of the day:
Selfie of the day:
Dish of the day:
Route Map:
