Exploring Thailand with Kids: A Memorable Adventure
Yes, it’s possible to enjoy Thailand with kids! Fortunately, Flois is feeling better. To celebrate this, we start the day by visiting Sea Life Bangkok, Ocean World. We take a tuktuk to Siam Paragon shopping mall, where Sea Life is located in the basement of this giant mall. As we enter Sea Life, the first thing we see is a cardboard Happy Feet penguin. Kids can take a photo with it, and Floris couldn’t be happier. The entrance fee is quite high, no wonder we don’t see any locals inside.
Experiencing the Underwater World
It’s a beautiful “aquarium” with all kinds of fish and marine mammals. Floris walks through tunnels with big sharks swimming above him. Looking down, he sees the depth of the ocean with lots of fish in a specially designed “walk over” aquarium. After two hours, we leave Sea Life to visit Siam Paragon for some shopping. After our little shopping spree, we cross the road to eat at MBK’s huge Asian food court.
Exploring Lumpini Park and Planning the Next Adventure
As Lotte falls asleep in the baby carrier, we take a tuktuk to Lumpini park, where Floris can enjoy the playgrounds. On our way back, we make a stop at Bangkok’s main railway station: Hua Lamphong Railway Station, to buy tickets for our train trip the next day. We plan to take the train to Surat Thani, making some stops along the way. It will take us about a week to get there. From Surat, we will take a bus to the harbour where we will board the ferry to Koh Samui. We leave for the hotel with our train tickets in our pocket. Back at the hotel, we book three hotels for our stops along the way to Surat. The kids go to bed early after a busy day. We enjoy a wonderful Thai dinner at our balcony when a very uncomfortable feeling about our holiday to Thailand with kids hits me…
Reconsidering Travel Plans
Before we had kids, we travelled the world together, visiting Thailand several times. We loved to backpack, staying in hostels, experiencing new adventures. Now that we visit Thailand with kids, we carry two big suitcases, which need to be unpacked every time in search for bottles, diapers, sleeping bags and so on… When I look at the coming week; packing/unpacking suitcases several times, thinking of what to put in the hand luggage and what to put in the suitcase during the train trips, trying to entertain the kids three times during our 5-7 hour train rides, I feel slightly unhappy. Hmmmm, after a year of 4-hour nights (Floris is a very bad sleeper), a holiday should be relaxing, right?! Maybe I didn’t think this through well enough.
Kevin looks at my face and sees something is wrong. I share my thoughts with him. Luckily, he feels the same. Especially as there are direct flights from Bangkok to Samui as well. Ok, change of plans: we book 3 (way too expensive) tickets from Bangkok to Samui that night, followed by a booking for a beautiful resort in Samui and 1 extra night in our Bangkok hotel. Financially, it kind of sucks as we had already paid for the train tickets, hotels and they aren’t refundable.
That night I go to bed relieved and slightly ashamed looking at the cost we made. But.. YES! In 2 days we will be on Samui, a beautiful tropical island with white beaches, palm trees, delicious Thai food and lots of sun!
Final Thoughts: Thailand with Kids is Great Fun!
All in all, Thailand with kids is great fun! Little warning from my side: if you have been a happy backpacker in the past, make sure to check if your wild travel plans are suitable for travelling with little kids as well 😉
TO BE CONTINUED
Tips & Tricks for Travelling in Thailand with Kids
- Nice to visit in Bangkok while travelling with kids: Sea Life
- Do you want to shop till you drop? Visit Siam Paragon & MBK
- If you are planning to take the train, you can find all info you need here: Seat61
- If you are planning your trip by yourself, make sure your travel plans are suitable for travelling with kids as well: don’t go too fast
- If you arrange your trip yourself, make sure all your bookings are refundable, it can save you a lot of money