Zephyrous Travels: Bangkok Day 1 (6 Nov 14) - Soaking in the festive mood of Loy Krathong in the Land of Smiles

We planned this trip some months ago as a birthday trip for one of my friends. Coincidentally, his birthday falls on the same day as the Loy Krathong festival in Thailand. Loy Krathong festival is known as the "Festival of Lights" to the Thais and is celebrated on the 12th Lunar Month on the Thai calendar. Loy Krathong literally translates to mean floating basket.

The bird that took us to the Land of Smiles

Arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport

We took the first flight out of Singapore to Bangkok, cleared custom in relatively fast timing. Soon we found ourselves heading towards the hotel that we called home for the next 3 nights. The hotel we put up during our trip here is centrally located. We opted this hotel mainly for its centralised location and we were not surprised at the convenience of the location of the hotel when we arrived. As our rooms are yet to be ready (we were way earlier for the staff to check us in), hence we left our luggage at the concierge and headed for the nearest supermarket to stock up on drinks for the next 4 days. Before heading for Siam Square, we stopped by the famous 4-faced buddha shrine - Erawan Shrine to offer our prayers to the buddha and seek his blessings for a safe trip. This Shrine, located just in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, has continued to attract hordes of locals and tourists alike for its ability to grant wishes. It was 11am when we arrived at the shrine and already it was jam packed with people seeking blessings from the buddha. After offering our prayers, we continued to head for Siam Square.

Taking a wefie at the hotel lounge

The famous Erawan Shrine at downtown Bangkok

Praying at Erawan Shrine is believed to bring good luck

Wefie at the shrine

As we were walking towards the supermarket, since there are some time for us to kill, I proposed to my friends that we head over to Siam Square, where the Hello Kitty House is located. One of my friends is an ardent Hello Kitty fan, hence the trip to the "pink house". As Siam Square is not far from our hotel, we went there by foot. To reach Siam Square, there are a series of shopping malls that we had to cut through. The first mall that we walked past and into is the Central World Shopping Mall. As we were through the mall, we bumped into a foreigner distributing samples of the cakes that the cafe is selling. Maxim's Bistro is a French cafe, mainly sells cakes and is famous for their chocolate cake. I joking lyinformed the staff that it was my friend's birthday, the staff immediately invited us into the cafe and offered my friend a slice of their signature cake on the house for his birthday with no obligations from us. That is great service there. We chatted with the manager of the store whom invited us back the next day for complementary drinks.

Pastries at the cafe

Picture with the birthday boy

The cafe is rather contemporary and is a great place to chill

We continued our journey towards Siam Square, passing by Siam Paragon and finally reached Siam Square opposite Siam Paragon. We did not quite know where the Hello Kitty House is located. All we know is that it is in Siam Square. We searched abit around and finally found it. As it is a Friday afternoon, there is no crowd here (I was told that this place is packed during weekends). At first I thought we are going into some Hello Kitty Museum, but we were soon disappointed. This place is actually a shop with cafe selling Hello Kitty item, ranging from notepads to body lotions to cakes and coffee. The constant "Hello Kitty.... Hello Hello Hello Hello..... Hello Kitty" playing over and over again like a broken record soon started to annoy us. We hurried our ardent Hello Kitty Fan friend and got out as soon as we can. My verdict, this place is not worth visiting at all. After getting out of the cafe, we headed to the supermarket to get some food stuffs and drinks, in case we are thirsty or hungry at nights. By the time we were done, it is nearly 4pm, we headed back to the hotel for checking in and settle down. After checking in, we rest in our rooms for a bit before heading back out to Asiatique for Loy Krathong. (The staff at the hotel recommended for us to head out at around 6pm before the place gets crowded.)

My friend at Hello Kitty House

My friends at Hello Kitty House

We must have overslept. By the time we woke up, it is already nearly 8pm. We quickly readied ourselves and headed out for Asiatique, which is along Chao Praya River. To get there we took the BTS and then transfer onto the ferry for Asiatique. I love to travel via BTS in Bangkok as it is the fastest way to travel in relatively comfortable environment (Bangkok is infamous known for its horrendous traffic situation). We had to transfer to another BTS at Siam Square Station, as we were heading down to the next platform where another BTS will take us to Chao Praya River, we were shocked at what was in front of us. The platform was crowded! Despite the crowd, the Thais are still patiently and orderly standing in their queue awaiting to board the BTS (and so did we). As the BTS pulled into the station, we were being pushed into the train. Instead of finally it disturbing, my friends and I actually found it fun! This is something that we had not experienced before. The BTS was so jam packed that one will not fall from the jerking motion of the train, as there will be another person around you cushioning the fall. Despite the crowded BTS, people still manage to alight the train as the locals will alight for those further in to alight before boarding again. This is what I love about the Thais, patient and considerate.

Queuing up to board the crowded BTS

Boarding the BTS

The crowd onto the BTS is just amazing

We arrived at the BTS near Chao Praya River (Saphan Taksin). It is really crowded here, with most people going up the river towards Wat Arun for Loy Krathong or down towards Asiatique. As we alighted the BTS station, we saw numerous stalls selling mainly food and the floating lantern (or Krathong) for the festival. I told my friends to buy our Krathongs here instead of Asiatique, which is likely to be more expensive. And so we shopped for our Krathongs. There are basically 2 types on sale, on with the base made up of styrofoam, the type made with banana tree trunk. I read that the one made of the banana tree trunk is more traditional and urged my friends to find one that is made of that material. To choose a Krathong, opt for the ones that are made out of banana tree trunk as it is more traditional, the top of the Krathong is based on individual's liking on the type of flowers and the design the local vendor has on their Krathongs for sale. There are several design of the Krathongs with lots of stalls selling Krathong, other then the base (which to me is more important), the rest is really up to one's preference on what flower they want on their Krathong. A Krathong usually has a base and is wrapped by a banana leaves, flowers, a candle and and incense. The Thais believe that floating a Krathong on this day symbolises letting go of anger and bad luck. A strand of hair, a clipping of finger nail, or a coin is usually being placed in the Krathong before floating it down the river.

Various Krathongs on sale

Shopping for Krathongs

Wefie with our Krathongs

My friends choosing their Krathongs

Shopping for Krathongs

It took us quite awhile to find a Krathong each to our liking. After picking our Krathong, it is another waiting game. As the crowd going to Asiatique is huge, we had to wait for the ferry that would send us there. We must have waited for around 1 hour before managing to board on towards Asiatique. Initially, I was a little puzzled at how we are going to release our Krathong, as there is quite a bit of height from at the harbourside in Asiatique, I have only read of people releasing Krathongs and not throwing them over. Are we going to throw our Krathongs over the edge of the river or what???!! Soon the mystery was solved. Upon alighting from the ferry, we followed the crowd to the edge of the river. There is a long pole with a basket at the end for people to lower their Krathongs onto Chao Praya River. Despite the crowd, there were absolutely no pushing or chaos or anyone jumping queue. This is one thing I like about the Thais, people were generally patiently waiting for their turn to use the pole, and there is no need for any form of crowd or queue. Soon it was our turn to use the pole, before lowering the Krathong, I reminded my friend to put a coin into our Krathongs, symbolising good luck. Using the pole to lower our Krathong into the river is harder than it looked. The pole was rather heavy and one would have to stretch, while balancing the Krathong on the pole and hoping that the flame on the candle do not extinguish. It is a mixture of strength, balance and more importantly luck lowering the Krathong into the river. Of the four of us, my Krathong is the only one where the flame on the candle did not extinguish. It must have been a tough job for one of my friends, whose Krathong toppled when she was lowering hers.

Boarding the ferry to Asiatique

My friend with her Krathong

Nearing Asiatique

The huge crowd at Asiatique

Asiatique at night

Krathongs that were lowered into the river

Me at Asiatique

Getting ready to lower our Krathongs

First have to light up the incense and then the candle

My Krathong ready to be lowered onto the river

Lowering Krathong

It takes strength and balance to lower the Krathong into the river

My friend trying her best to lower her Krathong

Posing for the camera while lowering her Krathong

My turn lowering my Krathong

After releasing our Krathong, we walked around Asiatique looking for some street food. I visited Asiatique last December and remembered there were street food. However not this time round. I generally find Asiatique to be boring. The food is expensive (comparable to restaurant in an upscale hotel in Bangkok) and the merchandise for sale are a tad more than what one will be able to find elsewhere. There are, however, several local designer clothing up for sale. As we planned to head to Chaktuchak Market in 2 days time, we thought it is not worth the time to do any shopping here. As Asiatique was very crowded, we left Asiatique and headed for Patpong for the night market. We managed to get a Tuk-tuk at a reasonable price. It was the first time experience on a Tuk-tuk for some of my friends, they were certainly excited over this popular mode of transport in Bangkok.

Walking around Asiatique

Asiatique at night

On a Tuk-tuk to Patpong

We bumped our friend onto the floor of the Tuk-tuk

It did not take us very long to reach Patpong night market. This is one of the few night markets in Bangkok. Generally the prices of the goods here is rather reasonable. I thought it is a good thing that I can speak Thai, we managed to obtained some good bargains here. After walking for a good hour or two, it is time for us to settle down for dinner (or is it supper, as it was already nearly midnight). We headed for one of the road side stalls for dinner. The food was great and inexpensive. After dinner, we hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel to rest for the night.