Bangkok Trip post Covid-19

Bangkok post Covid-19 2023

A short 4D3N shopping and eating trip to our favourite city – Bangkok, trip post-Covid-19. As the trip was essentially a “mommy and girls’ shopping trip, my personal plan was to do a solo exploration of some famed eateries around Bangkok. But the summer oppressive heat and humidity (33°C but feels like 44°C) melted my plan, resulting in much-reduced activities. Likewise, our accommodation in the heart of Pratunam meant that most of our Grab bookings were canceled by the drivers as they were unable to access the crowded lanes leading to our hotel. But scaled down as it was, no trips to Bangkok are bad. I adapted and enjoyed the experience in other ways, with photography as my constant companion.

Chatuchak – Hub of Bangkok street shopping

Our 1st stop was the Chatuchak Weekend Market after depositing our luggage at the Patra Boutique Hotel in Pratunam. Our Grab driver let us alight at an area we have never seen before, in all our previous trips here. We even thought the market was renovated. But it was just the fringe of the huge market where the pet section was.

Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Fanta Drinks having a roadshow promoting their new range of beverages. Fanta beverages are popular beverages among Thais. Are you aware more Fanta is now sold in Thailand than in the US or China?
Chatuchak Weekend Market
An ornamental fish shop staff setting up the bags of fish for sale.
All the ornamental fishes are packed in oxygenated plastic bags. The pet fish section stretches for hundreds of meters!
Coconut Ice cream
Coconut Ice cream right from our favourite stall, so much nicer than other places. I believe this shop added special sea salt to enhance their gorgeous ice cream.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
I always liked the presentation at the mugs and glassware shop. Their range of kitchen crockeries is pretty nice too.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
The cut-up grilled squid is drenched with green chili sauce, perfect for squid lovers.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
The passport case customisation shop. Good time to change mine as the fake leather has already worn out.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
Ice soda slushies are a godsend in the extreme summer heat. Just 40bht (S$1.50) per mug.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
The bags section. The perfect ladies’ trap area in the market.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
In the handbags section, my elder daughter is happy at last.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
My wife at a dilemma, where should she turn? left or right? in the Chatuchak labyrinth.

Wattana Panich – 50-year Beef Broth

After we completed our shopping at Chatuchak, we took a Grab to our next location, the 1st food stop for the trip – Wattana Panich Beef Broth. A 3rd Generation 50yo beef broth in the making.

Wattana Panich Beef Broth
It is certainly worth the Grab ride here just for their famed special dish.
Wattana Panich Beef Broth
The signature combo – Beef balls, braised beef, and tendons were superb, enough said.
Wattana Panich Beef Broth
Their Khao kha moo (stewed pork trotter) is equally stellar. Ah Roi Mak Khrub!
Wattana Panich Beef Broth
The beef wok rim edge is a thickened broth cake, made from generations of spilled beef broth layering.
Wattana Panich Beef Broth
3rd generation owner and staff preparing for the next batch of beef continuously. The beef broth stock must keep on simmering continuously.

Yaowarat – Bangkok’s Foodies Chinatown

After a short afternoon nap back at our hotel, we catch a Grab ride to Yaowarat as the following day, Monday, will be less vibrant. We were blissfully unaware there was an event ongoing.

Bangkok post Covid-19
It was a great experience shooting this cultural event. The funny thing is that I’m not motivated to shoot such events in Singapore. 
Bangkok post Covid-19
The long dragon train created a massive traffic jam at Yaowarat. Strange that a major event does not warrant a road closure.
Bangkok post Covid-19
Hordes of motorists waiting for the dragon contingent to move and clear the road ahead.
Event in Yaowarat, Bangkok Chinatown
An event performer in traditional garb looking out of sync.
Event in Yaowarat, Bangkok Chinatown
After the dragon contingent passed, the lion dance and big-headed dolls came. Big head dolls are lion dance members that wore a big head mask with a smiling face and holding a Chinese fan, playing a role of a clown to create some atmosphere in the event.

Street photography @ Pratunam and Ratchaprarop

Bangkok post Covid-19
Day 2 morning saw me failing to wake up at 5.30 am to head to Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen as planned. But I managed to crawl out of bed at 8.30 am, wash, and geared up for my solo pic adventure, while my family was still sound asleep. I started my photo adventure by shooting the street scene at Pratunam.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
A Moo Ping (Thai-styled Pork Skewer) vendor at the corner junction of Pratunam. Looking at the grease and soot-encrusted fan blowing at the BBQ tray, she must have been in business for a long time.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Maybe this fruit vendor saw me shooting her?
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, scooters, and humans compete for the right to use the cramped, narrow lanes of Pratunam. This pic showed relatively free-flow traffic still.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Street hawker tending to his packed food. Locals buy these packed items to eat with their rice.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
In June 2022, the Thai government legalised medical marijuana for medical and culinary uses. But according to the Central Narcotics Bureau in Singapore, it is against the law to supply or import products with hemp derivatives as an ingredient, such as CNB oil. Cannabis and its derivatives are classified as Class ‘A’ controlled drugs in the First Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
A hawker caught a rat in a cage and his fellow stall friend’s pet dog seems interested in the rodent.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Vegetable shopping Pratunam style. Quick and convenient.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Tuk Tuk driver waiting to pick up passengers. But he can only wait for a few seconds before being chased off by security guards.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Spotted a monk stationing himself at one of the lanes at Pratunam. I believe he is a regular “fixture” in the area, handing blessings to locals who approached him for “emotional release.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Thai Lottery tickets vendor taking a rest. The official national lottery is administered by The Government Lottery Office. The lottery is drawn on the 1st and the 16th of every month. It is 1 of only 2 forms of legalised gambling permitted in Thailand, the other being horse racing in Bangkok.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
A cute Terrier and its owner going for a ride.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
A Chang Beer consignment on delivery? Interesting motorized tricycle mode.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Spotted a London cab.. this is CABB – Premium taxis in Bangkok. This is the one and only dark blue taxi in Thailand. The fare starts at ฿60 for the first kilometre, ฿6 – ฿8 for the next, ฿2.5/minute during a jam, and ฿50 additional prices if visiting airports. CABB promotes a cashless society by ensuring payments can be made only via mobile banking, credit card, and debit card.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Looking at the bulk, I worry about the delivery guy and the goods.

Khao Moo Daeng Si Morakot – 50yo Roast Pork Rice

My 1st food stop on my own, was the Khao Moo Daeng Si Morakot. You can find this dish at all food courts and abundantly at street food stalls throughout Bangkok. But the only problem is, there are a lot of bad versions of it.

Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
So was honoured the shop’s senior staff invited me to go close to shoot the uncle cutting the meat.
This is one of the legendary restaurants, having served the dish for well over 50 years now. I ordered a plate that came with red BBQ pork, crispy pork belly, Chinese sausage, and a hard-boiled egg on the side, all lathered in their famous red-brown sauce. Plus a bottle of mineral water cost me 160bht (S$6.30).
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Their signature 3-in-1 is the combo to order. I didn’t try their boiled duck soup as I don’t think I can finish it all in 1 go. Check out the wooden glass meat cabinet, a beautiful antique.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
It’s one of those shops that I am sure looks exactly the same as it did when it opened 50 years ago. The signboard read “Morakot” or Emerald colour in Thai. Khao Moo Daeng Si Morakot means Khao (rice) Moo (pork) Daeng (red) Si (colour) Morakot (Emerald). That explains the shop facade colour.

Wat Paknam Charoen Bhasicharoen

Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Stunning view of Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen shot from Tha Phra Metro Station level 3, with a 200mm lens for the compressed view.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen is a 32,000 square meters (7.9 acres) temple complex, with a large number of buildings.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Managed to include a visitor at the corner right for a sense of the size.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
An abstract angle of the Buddha statue with the moon in the skies on a scorching hot cloudless afternoon.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
This compressed shot of the Buddha gives a sense of scale immediately.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
The Hands in the Cosmic Mudra meditation posture. The Cosmic Mudra is the hand gesture that is used for Zazen (seated meditation) in Zen Buddhism. (source – Unify Cosmo)
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
A stunning quantity of Buddha relics on display at the huge stupa at the temple, named Maharatchamongkhon” 
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Prayer hall at the Maharatchamongkhon. The usage of quality teak wood at the temple adds to the sense of longevity and timelessness.
The 80 meters high stupa has a twelve-sided polygon shape with five floors in it, including another 8-meter glass stupa, a room with relics, Buddha images, and images of respected monks, including that of Luang Pu Sodh.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
The temple became popular thanks to the meditation master Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro, who was its abbot during the first half of the 20th century. Mostly known to Thais, it has become more popular with tourists from social media postings of the giant Buddha.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Volunteer arts students put on the layers of colours stroke by stroke. Will take years to complete the winter project.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
The roof of the Phrarathchamongkhon Stupa in Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen. This is housed in the 5-story 12-sided polygon stupa’s highest floor with an 8m emerald glass stupa containing numerous Buddha relics.

Erawan Shrine – 4-Faced Buddha

Erawan Shrine
We also managed to get at Grab to the Erawan Shrine after we canceled a few drivers as their estimated arrival time kept fluctuating and then got canceled by a few as they could not enter Pratunam.
Erawan Shrine
You can select 2, 4, or 8 dancers, and there are fixed fees for each category. An official receipt will be given in your name and the revenue goes to the Foundation which manages the Shrine.
Erawan Shrine
A House Sparrow having a happy time rummaging through the floral offerings, hoping for the occasional worm.
Erawan Shrine
Supplicants at the Erawan Shrine, offering at each side of the 4-faced Buddha.
Erawan Shrine
Always buy ONLY the offerings from within the shrine. Those floral vendors at the shrine perimeter sell the same packages at a 200-300% markup.

IconSiam

After a superb lunch at Siam Paragon, we catch a train ride from Siam BTS to BTS Saphan Taksin, to access Sathon Pier for a free 10min ferry ride to Icon Siam, just across the Chao Phraya.

IconSiam ferry
The IconSiam complimentary ferry ride at the Sathorn Pier.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
Finally, a family shot for my girls on the trip. Still more shopping ahead, It’s our last day in Bangkok as we are flying off early next morning.
Raptor on the prowl at IconSiam. You know it’s just for fun, but when it comes near you, it feels quite scary. I pity the person within the Raptor skin, it’s like 44’C heat with 90% humidity.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
A final picture of my family as they rushed off for shopping after this.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
The dining section, Sook Siam at the IconSiam is amazing. A must revisit again in the future.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
The glitzy mall above the food court.
Bangkok Trip post Covid-19
There must be 2 football fields of Thai food stalls. Simply amazing.
IconSiam Sook Siam section
Indeed a very vibrant food mall and I have yet to explore the rest of the huge mall.

Conclusion

Bangkok Trip post Covid-19

I like to think of this Bangkok trip post Covid-19 vacation as a great “restart” venue after more than two years of the pandemic international borders closure. Although it was my 8th visit to Bangkok, it still felt like one can never get enough of the vibrant city. Exotic yet familiar, it was certainly an ideal destination for anyone thinking of resuming travel again. Do plan a visit to Bangkok soon.

Thanks for coming along with my pixels journey. For other travel inspiration please check out my other travelogues here. The Facebook link to the trip photo album can be referred here.

P.S. – All pictures used in this blog are all rights reserved and copyrighted to Jensen Chua Photography

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