Our last day in Bangkok was less busier than the previous four days. We ordered halal food for the kids and then walked to the Platinum Fashion mall some 1200 meters away. There, you can find all sort of clothing lines for sale at a pretty affordable price. Just a few hundred meters away is the Siam Paragon and Siam Center, another two well known malls in Bangkok. After much (window) shopping, we rushed back to the hotel because of the midday check out time. We did not check out until 12:40 PM but the hotel staff were kind enough to overlook that.
From the hotel, we took a Bolt to the Darul Aman mosque area again meaning to have lunch. The last place, Rotinies that we went to was already closing so we decided to try Farida Fatornee restaurant just next door. Sadly for me at least, the tom yam there did not taste as good as Yana or Samat and they were 180 baht each which is quite steep for my liking. I will give Farida Fatornee a pass if I ever go to Bangkok again. From there, we walked to the Phaya Thai BTS station to take the train to the airport. We learned from our lesson earlier and arrived 2 hours before departure this time. We walked through immigration only with our mineral bottles confiscated this time but no worries because we bought some more in the duty free area, including the customary chocolates.
The plane leaves 10 minutes early and we had a smooth journey back to KLIA 2. And that concludes our 5 days (actually 4) visit to Bangkok. I think we are pretty happy with our first overseas visit via air travel. We get to visit most of the places on our itinerary and we did many of them on a shoestring budget. Sure we splashed out a bit at Yana Restaurant and The Grand Palace but they were worth it. We tried to walk our way around Bangkok and our hotel is ideally located close to two BTS stations. But having a 4 years old in tow means having to take a stroller along and navigating Bangkok's busy streets, zebra crossings and overhead bridges to go to the other side of the road is no easy feat. That's why half the time we take Bolt or Grab rides to cover short distances in the city. Our Bolt rides cost on average 120 to 160 baht for a 6-seater car while Grab starts from 200 baht onwards.
Our first visit to Bangkok, like our first visit to Singapore was a rushed affair, if I want to summarise it. We rushed everywhere and simply did not have the time to soak in the attractions or atmosphere. That's mostly because we came for only four days (if you discount the late morning arrival). There's simply not enough time. Staying longer will naturally cost us more. Our return flight ticket already costed us over 4,800 ringgit so the rest of our itinerary had to be on a shoestring. That said, Bangkok, the capital of Thailand is a brand new experience for all of us. It's not as clean as Singapore or even Kuala Lumpur but it has its own unique charm. Everything feels a lot cheaper here, goods and services, except for the usual tourist (traps) attractions. For once I'm glad the exchange rate is more favourable here compared to down south. People there are generally more friendly, with more Asian warmth, compared to the cold, unfriendly folks in Singapore. Despite reading and feeling alarmed about the numerous scams that they warned about in Bangkok, we thankfully did not encounter a single one of them. Perhaps we've been vigilant or maybe they've been blown over proportions. Would we visit again? Sure and perhaps next time at a more leisurely pace.
One thing for sure, this is not going to be our only visit to Thailand. There so many more places to visit, including the popular beaches down south or the cool highlands up north in Chiangmai. With hotel prices and goods being so much cheaper there, it's little wonder that Malaysians and other tourists are flocking to the kingdom in droves.
Below is our carefully planned itinerary. We tried to save as much as possible apart from the plane ticket and attraction entrance which are out of our control.
