[DIARIES] 20150114 Day 4 Bangkok - Floating Market, Pharnakorn, Chinatown, Khao San Road

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Day 2: [DIARIES] 20150112 Day 2 Bangkok - Pratunam, Victory Monument, Siam

Day 3: [DIARIES] 20150113 Day 3 Bangkok - Pratunam, Siam, Asok, Thong Lor

Day 4: [DIARIES] 20150114 Day 4 Bangkok - Floating Market, Pharnakorn, Chinatown, Khao San Road

Day 5: [DIARIES] 20150115 Day 5 Bangkok - Pratunam

Today is more of a sight seeing day rather than foodie day as I have fully planned a whole day trip around Bangkok to visit those touristy spots. First stop, the well known ‎Damnoen Saduak Floating Market located outside of Bangkok, which is the only one available on a weekday as most of the other floating markets are only available on weekend. However, due to its popularity, it is also a well known tourist trap and many tourists fall prey to scams. 

Initially we thought of booking our tour at Victory Monument where most of the tour agencies are located, but we managed to booked it via our hotel which is more or less the same price and most of all it provides hotel pick up, saved us a lot of time and hassle. Besides, because it is booked from the hotel, we have peace of mind as we know we are "scam-proof".

Scam stories (it happens!!)

I have read online from forums and reviews as well as heard it from people around me that some bad tour agencies will charge exorbitant rates if you are unfamiliar with the price. Other than that, some might just send you to some where nearby the floating market and then insist you to take a boat to the floating market, again, comes at a very high price. You will end up paying double or triple of the original price and risk being threaten if not to pay.

OK, back to my story. We woke up early and had our breakfast and wait for our pick up at 7:30am. But the pick up was late and we were complaining to the receptionist. They were helpful enough to help us contact the tour agency and was told that the driver was delayed. After about half an hour, the driver finally came, along with some other tourists from other hotels and continue to pick up other tourists as well. We were also stuck in the busy traffic of Bangkok before finally arrived at Khao San Road, where the tour agency is located. We were way off the initial schedule.

Nevertheless, we were separated into groups according to our tour, some head off to other places while we board another van towards the floating market. After more than an hour drive, from the city down to the villages, finally we arrived at the ‎Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. The tour guide gave us clear instructions on what to do and what time to wait before we separate ourselves. We can opt for a boat ride instead of walking with a fee of 150 Baht per pax. We opt for walk to explore the market by foot.

To read in detail about Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, please refer to the separate post below:
[PLACE] 20150114 ‎Damnoen Saduak Floating Market @ ‎Damnoen Saduak, Ratchaburi

At first we were a bit underwhelmed by the number of boats available at the canal, probably it was a weekday morning and they were expecting less crowd. Once we walk further into the market then we started to see more boats, both vendor and passenger boats. It was very interesting to see what people can sell on a boat, after all, floating market was evolved from the locals who lived by the waterways and finding ways to make a living and to commute.

As we move in further, the canal became so congested that the boats are moving side by side with each other. Most of the boat vendors are selling fresh fruits and food item, suitable for tourists instead of daily items.

The floating market offers a very good photo spot to capture the life and colours of the floating market. The activity here is so abundant that every angle seems interesting. Unfortunately the water wasn't clean enough and the glare from the water surface gives some challenge in capturing a clean shot. The CPL filter is less effective here due to the direction of sun.

Spotted a boat vendor trying to sell the tourist some mangoes. He hesitated to buy. This is how it works here.

We arrived at the centre of the market, the junction between two canals, which is also the busiest spot as you can observe in the picture. While the boats are mainly selling food item, the stalls at the side of the canal are mostly selling souvenir and clothing. Prices are slightly above average due to tourist spot but you may find one or two unique items that you may not find in Bangkok.

I walked up the bridge to get an aerial view of the market, here, I'm able to get a different perspective of the market, which gives me a totally different angle to shoot with.

We walked towards the end of the short floating market and noticed we still have some time left before returning to the tour guide. We decided to have our lunch here to experience eating by the side of the canal and saw one particular boat which has many locals than tourists. We ordered boat noodles, literally from the boat!

At the same time, I bought a plate of fresh mango from the vendor right beside the noodle stall. It is slightly more expensive than Bangkok but it's all for the experience!

Spotted this cheerful lady nearby and managed to capture a good shot of her.

To be honest I don't really know what I ordered as the lady speaks limited English and all our orders are by pointing fingers at the simple menu. This bowl of noodle is different from the boat noodle I had in Bangkok, from the broth we knew that it is more spicy version, but overall taste good.

The mango I bought, looks nice, looks sweet? Yes indeed, but it was very full of fibre, making it harder to chew than normal mango. 

Come, don't forget to take a selfie, or wefie!

Too far to fetch your item? No worries, the pole basket is here. Don't forget to put your money back to me ok?

We went back to the meeting point to meet with our tour guide. Here, we will end our tour with a boat ride around the village to the meeting point where the van will pick us up and send us back to our hotels. After boarding the boat, one of the guide happily wave us good bye.


The boat was very shallow and we can almost touch the water. The boat brought us around the village and it was as if the roads were flooded but actually it is the "road" itself.


Instead of car park, they have boat park in front of their houses.


Happy old man waving at us when we pass by his house. People here have a really different lifestyle than the ones in the city. The boat finally brought us to the meeting spot where the van will pick us up. It was an experience to visit the floating market, albeit the various accusation of the tourist trap and scams, depending on what you are looking for in a trip.


Another hour plus journey back to Bangkok where the driver sent us back to our hotel. After a short break, we head towards the BTS station to our next destination. We arrived at the Saphan Takshin BTS station where the central pier is located, it is also the same place where we took the shuttle ferry towards Asiatique. We purchased the boat ticket from the counter and wait for boat.


The tourist boat arrived not long after that.


The tourist boat is equipped with a PA system to describe some point of interests along the river bank in English. However, the strong wind makes it harder to listen unless you are sitting real close to the speakers.


It was a sunny afternoon, perfect day for shooting. The Pier 8 is where the main attraction is where the palace, sleeping Buddha and Wat Arun is located.


We disembark at Pier 8 and walked out of the jetty. This area is full of tourist and not forgetting food!


We headed to Wat Pho, located at the right side after exiting the Pier. The sky was great with deep colour and the buildings/temples were well maintained. A small entrance fee is required for foreign tourist with a complementary mineral water provided. Short pants and skirts are not allowed to enter the temples and required to be covered with sarong.

Read more in detail about Wat Pho in my separate post below:
[PLACE] 20150114 Wat Pho - Sleeping Buddha @ Pranakorn, Bangkok


The sleeping Buddha is the longest in the world, hence taking a picture of it can be quite challenging. Besides the statue, the architecture details in the temple is also worth mentioning.


The back of the sleeping Buddha has 108 bronze pots (if not mistaken) for devotees to donate some coins.


Wat Pho itself is a very big temple compound with more than just the Sleeping Buddha to explore. The architecture of the temples offer more photo spot that you think of.



We spent about an hour around to explore and taking some pictures before moving on.

Read more in detail about Wat Pho in my separate post below if you are interested:
[PLACE] 20150114 Wat Pho - Sleeping Buddha @ Pranakorn, Bangkok


We are skipping the palace and heading to Wat Arun at the opposite river bank. We took the cross river barge that cost 3 Baht per trip only and made it on time before the temple closes. The weather was great and a small fee was required for foreigners like Wat Pho.

To read more about Wat Arun and its history, please visit my separate post:
[PLACE] 20150114 Temple of Dawn - Wat Arun @ Bangkok


The temple is made of of bricks and covered with pieces of porcelain. The temple was undergoing refurbishment, rendering some part of the temple inaccessible.


The temple consist of three main sections with two main floors connected via very steep stairs. Most of the visitors will only climb up to the first one where the more adventurous people will tend to go up higher.


On the way up, we often heard trembling voices of people who are afraid of heights. To be honest, it was not very high up but merely the stairs were very steep and requires you to hold on to the hand rail or the ropes.



If you would like to know how steep is the stairs just take a look at the pictures, one is from the bottom, another one is towards the top. It was a steep climb but not hard, just beware if you are wearing very short skirts, but unlikely you will be allowed to enter if you are wearing such short pants/skirts.


Once you are at the top, I can an unobstructed view of the Chao Phraya river, covered in the golden sun ray.


The top of the central prang, where the Hindu God, Indra riding on Erawan. Each of the details on the temple has its meanings that relates to Buddhism and Hinduism. It is an interest blend of both teachings.


The sky is turning dark and so is our tummy turning empty. We left Wat Pho and took the cross river barge back to the opposite pier to head to China town. Despite knowing that taking a cab is cheaper and Tuk Tuk are tourist scammers, we decided to take once anyway for the fun of it. We negotiated the price before we hop on and the 10-15 minute ride costs us about 200 Baht.


The Chinatown, or known as Yauwarat in the local is where most of the Chinese traders gathered in the earlier days, similar to any Chinatown in any country.

To read more in detail about Chinatown, please visit my separate posts:
[PLACE] 20150114 Chinatown @ Yaowarat, Bangkok


The streets reassembles a bit like in Hong Kong with the neon sign boards, but not as many as in Hong Kong. The streets were constantly busy with heavy traffic and both sides of the streets are full of food stalls and Chinese medical hall or shops.



Chinese food is definitely abundant here, but I'm not too sure about the taste! However, I'm here for the Thai food, Chinese food will leave it to China.


This is where we were heading for our dinner, which is the famous T&K Seafood, which serves good and yet affordable variety of seafood, be it cooked or grilled. It took us some time to locate it due to it's location and the "not so obvious" signboard. The green building is the one to look out for.


Opposite them is another restaurant who offers similar menu, their main competitor. Both restaurants are packed with patrons.


We briefly told the waitress on the number of pax and people here do speak limited English, thanks to the popularity of being a tourist spot. We were brought up a narrow stairs to a mezzanine floor where we basically had to bow down to enter.

To read more about my experience and the menu of T&K Seafood, please visit the link below:
[FOOD] 20150114 T&K Seafood @ Chinatown, Bangkok


Definitely a must order here but prices aren't as cheap as before but still very affordable. Grilled River Prawns!


First time having crab dish in Thailand and ordered their curry crab. The crab size comes in small, medium and large, but their large size, which comes in a higher price, isn't that large at all! Felt cheated and asked the waitress is this large? She said yes, big big. Looks like I overestimated the crab size in Thailand and expect them to be the same as Malaysia. LOL.


After a very satisfying meal, we left the restaurant to explore around Chinatown. Not forgetting some behind the scene photos of the grill counter.


There are more to just seafood around Chinatown. Hawker food and street food are everywhere with Thai food, Chinese cuisine or even bird's nests as dessert!


The fish maw stew cooked like shark fin's soup is also very tempting but our tummy is too full to accommodate anymore at the moment.


Traditional Chinese smoked duck and other smoked products are available here in Chinatown. We surveyed a few shops before deciding to buy some snacks as souvenirs back. Some traditional and unique snacks such as dried pork skin, pork floss, dried mango or longans.


This is the shop we end up buying from, although both having the same name, it is operated by two different owners. They have some outlets around Bangkok if you don't fancy coming all the way down to Chinatown.


To end our Chinatown trip, we decided to give the local bird's nest a try, but the problem is having too many choices with no idea which one to choose, afraid that we might not get the value for money. If we try the road side stalls might afraid that the portion is too little, but if we try at bigger restaurants then afraid then it will cost a bomb. At the end, we end up at Nam Sing Restaurant, which is a Chinese restaurant next to T&K. Overall, the bird's nest taste like what a bird's nest suppose to be with no idea whether what they served is a common or premium grade. Beats me!

If you want to know more about Nam Sing's Bird's Nest, please read my separate post below:
[FOOD] 20150114 Nam Sing Bird Nest 南星魚翅燕窩樓 @ Chinatown, Bangkok


We head on towards the end of the road to avoid all the jam before catching a cab to Khaosan Road., the place where we went earlier in the morning before the trip to floating market. The journey from Chinatown to Khaosan Road took less than 10 minutes, and it is a totally different culture there. Khaosan Road is also known as the backpacker's street where a huge crowd of foreigners especially from the western countries.

Read and know more about Khaosan Road via my separate post:
[PLACE] 20150114 Khaosan Road @ Phra Nakhon, Bangkok


There are more pubs and hipster places to cater for the different crowd here. Everyone is chilling with a beer, chatting with their partner with some good background music.


Khaosan Road is a rather short street but the fun doesn't end there as there's a passage way to a secret location via the Susie Walking Street! Jokes aside, it's an extension of the Khaosan Road at the other side where more restaurants and pubs are located with a less noisy environment.


Lots of massage parlours are available and almost each and everyone of it is full of patrons.


As we walk further inwards to the street, the crowd subsides and more locals are seen here. There are some flea market and also some very unique campervan bars with lots of neon and florescent. Khaosan road really gives a totally different perception of Bangkok and it is more lively and young.


We ended our Khaosan Road adventure and took a cab for supper. I had a tough time telling the cab driver our destination because based on online reviews, I just need to tell the driver "Pad Thai Thip Samai" and most likely they will know. I have to repeat a few times and say Pad Thai then only he understands. Perhaps my Thai pronunciation was not accurate. Geez..


Pad Thai Thip Samai is said to be the origin of Pad Thai, the national dish of Thailand that is well known. This particular stall operates like a factory with specific stations for each job.


The cooking station. Worth to mention that they cook with charcoal for the extra char flavour, but bad to mention that they cook in a big portion, hence quality control might be a miss.

The platting station. Once done, the big wok will be distributed into small portion on plate before serve or sent to the wrapping station.


The wrapping station. If you order the special Pad Thai, it will be wrapped in an egg omelette before serving.


Finally, the eating station. This is how it looks like when my special Pad Thai is served.


After opening up the omelette, this is how my pad thai looks. In comparison with the one I had the night before, this one looks underwhelmed with less ingredients served. Overall the taste is good but it's not as good as the one at Thong Lor. Perhaps due to the mass production.

There were many locals here having supper and less tourist spotted due to its location because we have to purposely come all the way here away from hot spots.


We headed back to hotel after our supper. It was our last night in Bangkok before heading home tomorrow. Day 5 will be just a shopping day to sum it up.