March 16, 2016 – Bangkok, Thailand

Wow – there have been a lot of changes in Bangkok since Jim last visited here in 1970. Back then there were 3 million people living in the city and now there are 12 million, according to our tour guide, Liu. It’s a good example of “You can’t go home again.” Jim remembered it as a slow-moving, beautiful, happy place, with many canals intersecting throughout the city. Now many of those canals have been filled in with concrete to create roads for automobiles. Nonetheless, roads were choked with traffic today, and air pollution was heavy. The Thai people in Bangkok seem to have remained friendly, always smiling, and the ancient temples and palaces are still shiny and remarkable – although the skyline now has many high-rise buildings and skyscraper towers, to handle the huge population increase.

Crystal Serenity arrived at the very busy and enormous container port of Laem Chabang at 6:00 this morning. Our travel agent had arranged for a private guide and driver for us in Bangkok, through Signature Travel. We met them outside the terminal at 7:00 am and left immediately for the city. Unfortunately, it took 2 hours, 15 minutes to get there, even though we were on major highways the entire way. It wasn’t a pretty drive – smoggy and very industrialized most of the way, as we shared the road with hundreds of trucks into town. Of course, Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand, so there is a lot to see.

We started our tour at the Grand Palace, one of the most famous attractions in all of Thailand. As such, it was uncomfortably over-crowded (approaching mob-scene status) with numerous tour groups, many apparently from China. As we understand it, construction of this complex of buildings was started in 1782 by King Rama I and it was expanded and improved upon by subsequent rulers. It was the king’s official residence until 1946. Our walking tour of the Grand Palace grounds took several hours and included the Throne Hall, the Coronation Hall, the Reception Palace and the Funeral Palace.

Of special interest within the Grand Palace was the Emerald Buddha at the Wat Phra Kaew temple. The Emerald Buddha is a dark green statue, only 26 inches tall, carved from a single jade stone. We understand that “emerald" in the Thai language indicates the deep green color and not the specific emerald stone. Except for the Thai King and the Crown Prince, no one is allowed to touch the statue. The King personally changes the Buddha’s golden cloak three times a year, once for each of the seasons – summer, winter, and rainy season. Within the Grand Palace, there were many “proper clothing” restrictions for us to follow and, of course, it’s necessary to take off shoes to go into any of the temples. Photography is not permitted inside any of the temples.

After fighting the crowds within the Grand Palace, it was pleasant to visit Wat Pho, another Buddhist temple complex within a very short drive from the Palace. Wat Pho is most famous for the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (or Phra Buiddhasaiyas), a statue covered in gold leaf that is 150 feet long and stands 50 feet high. We were told that Thai and foreign Buddhists believe that worshiping this statue brings them peace and happiness. Indoor photos of the Reclining Buddha were allowed. Just an interesting note: Wat Pho is also considered the first center of public education in Thailand and reputedly the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. Therefore, the temple is sometimes referred to as “Thailand’s first university,” at least according to Liu (our tour guide).

After these two visits to very large temple complexes, we needed to relax and were driven to the Jim Thompson House and Museum where we enjoyed a nice Thai lunch at their restaurant. After lunch we walked through Jim Thompson’s attractive Thai-style house and garden. Thompson was an American military officer stationed in Bangkok during World War II. After the war, he moved to Bangkok and settled here permanently. Before the war he was a practicing architect, so he designed a complex of six old teak-wood houses that were moved here for his own home. Later, he was the founder of the silk company that bears his name, while helping to revive the local silk industry. Mr. Thompson disappeared in 1967 while on a visit to Malaysia, and his home is now a museum housing his collection of Asian antiques, pottery, and other curiosities. We took the tour and then made a minor purchase at the Jim Thompson Silk Shop, located on the premises.

That was all we had time for, as we had to return to the ship before it departed tonight. Once again, it was close to a 2½-hour drive back to the port. It was an 8-hour day, of which nearly five hours were spent driving to and from the city.

We saw a recent statement: “Time marches inevitably on to the betterment and detriment of all cities. Bangkok is no exception.” For Jim, most of the charm was gone; but, one day (five hours) is not enough time to do justice to a city with this much history and modern attractions. Clearly the best way to see Bangkok is to stay in a nice hotel downtown along the river for a few days and look around at leisure (without the long 4½-hour commute to & from the port every day).


Even though Jim’s birthday is March 17th, we celebrated it today (March 16), because one of the couples at our dining room table (Jerry & Karen) are leaving tomorrow morning from Sihanoukville for a 2-night extended excursion to visit Angkor Wat. Our maître d’ had set up a special dinner at our request – a chateaubriand steak, which was carved into eight pieces at the table, as well as a handmade Caesar Salad (also prepared at the table), and a Key Lime Pie (with birthday candle) for desert. Jim was very grateful for all the special attention.

As a follow-up to the above, in addition to Angkor Wat, there were other extended off-ship excursions offered from Bangkok, including a 3-night overland adventure in Laos, and a 4-night overland adventure to Bhutan (which we think is closer to Nepal and India than to Bangkok). Clearly we didn’t sign up for either of these.

We’re now on our way to Cambodia (Sihanoukville) with arrival scheduled for tomorrow morning (March 17) at 10:00 am.

Jim & Ginny