Thai Your Mother Down: Bangkok With Kids

Bangkok is famous for many things; however, you’d have to say that “family-friendly holiday location” isn’t one of them. For us, it was just a stage along the way to Myanmar (of which much more in future posts). Since our flight to Mandalay would have involved a stopover in Thailand’s capital, we decided to break the journey and have a couple of days looking around.

We stayed at the eccentric but lovable Atlanta Hotel, which was established in 1952 and preserves its original Art Deco interior. Maintaining its genteel status in Bangkok involves some strict rules, including a sign at the entrance proclaiming “No sex tourists!” Which, of course, led to our 10-year-old asking “What’s a sex tourist?” And they’re fussy about who they take. You don’t so much book a room at the Atlanta as apply for one, ideally recommended by someone who’s stayed there before, and wait to hear whether you’ve been deemed worthy.

On seeing the Atlanta’s rooms you may ask yourself who they think they are, to be so picky. The facilities would have a Spartan warrior writing to Tripadvisor and complaining of the lack of frills. While the rooms are clean and well-kept, only the air-conditioning seems to have been changed since the 1950s. Don’t expect a TV or a fridge (though the Wi-fi is adequate). On the other hand, the Atlanta is centrally located, and very cheap. And it’s the only hotel I’ve ever stayed at with a scriptorium.

Perhaps most importantly for us, it was the first hotel in Bangkok with a swimming pool, and this remains its crowning glory. We as a family are budget travelers, preferring to see the world than to sit around a posh hotel. However we have decided that a pool is essential for any city break with kids. Trailing around temples and museums will try the patience of the most studious of children, so unless you’re going to spend your time in a soft play center or theme park which could be anywhere, some compromise is necessary. For us this means “sightseeing in the morning, then you can swim after lunch.”

So we went easy on day one, with a stroll around Lumphini Park. This is the green heart of Bangkok, with a lake, paths for jogging and cycling, and statues and monuments dotted around. From there we headed up to Erawan, a Hindu holy shrine at the very center of the city. Here worshippers pay, and patiently wait their turn to pray while the dancers perform a ritual around them.

On the second day we had hoped to visit the Presidential Palace, but discovered too late that tickets need to be booked 24 hours in advance. Instead we decided to check out the National Museum. Surprisingly, Bangkok’s most important sites are not directly connected to its Skytrain/metro system. So we took the Silom Line to the river pier at Saphan Taksin, then a boat up the Chao Phraya.

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This turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Bangkok. First though we had to get past the touts around the pier, and negotiate the baffling profusion of lines and ticketing systems. In our confusion we nearly took the free shuttle boat to the mall across the river. The rule seemed to be that the further we walked the lower the price became, from the RMB 100 we were first quoted, to a mere RMB 20 each.

But the river is a great place from which to see the city, as well as being a fun trip in its own right. We landed at the Royal Palace after about 45 minutes, and from there it was a short walk to the museum. The Bangkok National Museum occupies what was once the “Front Palace”, the abode of Siam’s “deputy king”, at the time a very powerful office akin to a modern Prime Minister. The buildings and grounds are worth seeing in their own right.

When we visited some of the exhibitions were closed, but the museum is still home to extraordinary treasures, from musical instruments, to royal furnishings and chess sets, to robes and religious icons. My kids were particularly fascinated by the howdahs, seats for riding on elephants in war and peace. Even more spectacular were the vast golden chariots on which the Kings of Thailand are hauled to their coronation.

Bangkok is an attractive place, relatively undamaged by war, imperialist pillaging, and civil upheaval, which have robbed so many Asian cities of their glories. On our last night my wife and I went out for a drink, and stumbled into the red light district, which turned out to be right next to the city’s premier hotels (if you book into the Holiday Inn with your kids, be prepared to explain more than just signs…) People were wheeling strollers up the street and carrying toddlers past the ladyboys and ladies of the night, without any concern. So perhaps Bangkok is a family-friendly holiday location after all.

Photos: Andrew Killeen, www.cnn.com, Karen Killeen,Fodor's, zicasso.com

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