Bustling Bangkok

A trip to Bangkok with kids.

Our experience of travel to Bangkok and travel to Bangkok with kids.

" Bustling & chaotic. Humid & hot. Stenches from the streets that linger on the nostrils. Smells of street food & moke flower shrines that delight. A melting pot of seedy & pious, extreme poverty & royal splendour. That’s Bangkok “. Fletch

I'm being all arty in the above quote. What I mean is that some parts absolutely whiff to high heaven and some are super posh. You'll never have dry clothes on. They'll always be wet. Forget looking nice, you'll look as hot as you are and you'll swell up if you hold water like I do. It has some shocking pervy areas. Yet it's so spiritual. How can a place have so many contradictions? But you know, there's something about this place that you just have to go to 'get it'. And when travelling with kids, you can censor them from notorious areas. Damn I censor myself from those areas.

Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand. Thailand is one of the most visited countries in South East Asia and it all starts with Bangkok. A must visit city in South East Asia and a fantastic cultural learning spot for kids. We don't stay long there, as we're Thailand beach bums, but we cram as much as we can into our time at the beginning and end of any island hopping that we do because it's extraordinary city that should be explored. (so 2-4 days in any trip)

Every time we’ve travelled to Bangkok it’s been from the West (usually Manchester Airport MAN -to– Dubai International Airport DXB -to– Bangkok International (Suvarnabhumi) BKK. From the West you can take a stop off in Dubai, where you could stay over in Dubai for a night or 2, or in our case we take a connecting flight within a few hours, as we just like to just get there. The kids are on board with this too. They’d rather feel sleepy but have arrived at their destination, rather than sleep over somewhere and still have a long stretch of journey to make. How you travel to Bangkok with kids will be a matter of preference. There are other destinations to stop off at on the way including Singapore (which we would stop overnight as we have friends there who we would like to catch up with). It’s all about preferences and what you feel comfortable doing with your kids.

We travel to Bangkok with Emirates every time and the experience is always a very comfortable one. The Emirates A380 (the worlds largest passenger plane: double decker) deserves a blog post all of it’s own as its big, really really big & a fab experience for the kids. We give the kids a pdf activity sheet on amazing facts about aeroplanes & the A380 airbus that we learn whilst we ooooh & ahhhh at it’s size. We always travel Emirates Economy Class to Thailand with the kids as it’s the cheapest way. And with 2 kids, the flights are always are biggest cost of our trips. We’ve not travelled by First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy to Thailand with the kids because we feel that’s an experience for if we’re child free. Plus when you’ve got kids you faff for a lot of the journey (mum my headphones don't work, mum Lilly is putting her arm on my arm rest, mummy... mummy....daddy…) and we want couples to be able to enjoy their flight peacefully without having kids peeking at them over the seat through glasses they’ve made with their fingers ;-). Although I’d definitely love to hear your thoughts on travelling to Bangkok with kids Business Class or First Class? Have you ever? And is it worth it in your experience?

The flight from the UK to Dubai takes around 7 hours. If you’re stopping off at Dubai Airport there are plenty of stores, shops, eateries there in the worlds busiest airports. It’s an impressive airport reminiscent of an insanely huge shopping mall. With palm tress & gold shops, as well as the full range of designer stores. This is Dubai! If shopping is your thing, you’ll enjoy Dubai airport. The connecting flight from Dubai to Bangkok takes a further 6-7 hours. British Airways do a direct flight from London to Bangkok which takes around 11-12 hours so this could be an option if you, like us just want to get there! We try to make the travel all part of the adventure. If we take the mindset that it's fun and realise how lucky we are getting to travel the world, you can overcome any temporary tiredness. We as a family never take for granted aviation and world travel.

We stagger our time on a long flight or sat waiting for a connecting flight at the Airport with the obvious meal times and snack times. We prepare educational learning tools beforehand with fun facts, the country’s flag & capital city info pdfs that we upload on the kids iPads before we go on any trip all about the particular country we are in. The kids also always take their own travel journals, that they fill in documenting each step of the journey. The airport is an ideal time to get the journals out. Taking time out to do this really helps ground us in the moment and take stock of how lucky we are and practice gratitude. Then of course, once the learnings done, they play on their devices and mum and dad get some alcohol or grab a coffee.

My top tip for airport travelling with kids is a practical one + underrated but: always travel with your yoga mats in hand luggage in case of any delays, you’ll always have a clean surface to bed down on with kids. They can get their little blankets, teddy & travel cushion out and they’re as snug as a bug where ever you have to lay your head ;-) & it's happened to us where we've been delayed for 12 hours on top of your travel time you'll be super glad of those yoga mats. You're welcome, I love you.

So, you made the long haul flight with kids and you've not killed each other (You're doing really great). You’ve arrived in Bangkok with kids, what now?

At first arrival, Bangkok feels stressy. After a long flight you’re feeling excited but tired. And it’s not just you. You’ve got little people that are tired and cranky. And probably sticky and needing a good wash.

The chaos, bustle and heat can really be felt. This is probably why people that travel business/first class say they’ll never go economy again ;-).

Don't get a taxi, you'll be stuck in insane traffic at most times of the day, despite only being around10 mins drive in real time & be able to see the city. Get the train from inside the airport terminal to the region where your hotel is. Public transport is the best way to see the city. Maybe you're travelling in the morning and you get to see the sunrise twinkling on the glass windows of all the sky scrapers and hotels from your elevated train line. That's an education in itself for kids. Meanwhile, in traffic you're stuck in 5 lane thick cars seeing the taxi drivers beads dangle and swing from side to side as he stop starts.

We always take the train (& it's cheaper). We never get taxi, or airport transfers or chauffer driven collection, private driver. We want to see the country we travelled to. With real people going about their day, travelling to work etc.

A well planned hotel booking before you arrive in Bangkok will help you out on your first few days. In the days where we backpacked child free, we’d just land in Bangkok and find somewhere cheap to bed down and get some sleep before heading off on our exploring. When you’re travelling to Bangkok with kids, you’re going to want a trusted and good quality hotel. Were you can get showered, use product, get a good nights sleep and eat well, without the hassle of deciding where to go.

Dad all fresh & clean planning tomorrow's itinerary in the complimentary kimono and slippers (Banyan Tree). You can't keep him away.

Thankfully Bangkok is the place to book beautiful luxury hotels, for very good prices. You’re literally spoilt for choice. You can get a 5* hotel from £80+ - £200 if you shop around which is amazing for true 5* quality. Of course suites will be more. And of course you can get bargain accommodation too.

Family fun in another rooftop pool Bangkok.

Our favourite booking sites for booking a good hotel before you arrive in Bangkok with kids are Booking.com and Agoda. I won't go into hotels here because there's just so many we've stayed in that we would recommend. Our favourite hotels to stay in Bangkok are: The Banyan Tree (our absolute fave and truly one of the best 5* hotels in Bangkok) The Banyan Tree Bangkok which we go back to time & time again, The Lebua (just because it’s big & dominates the skyline, and it was in the film Hangover2), The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok (because it sits directly on The Chao Phraya River and it’s location is great for boat / river excursions). All of these hotels are luxury 5* hotels offer a level of service that appeals to us. We love luxury, quality and we don't like it to be showy or flashy. Just impeccable unrivalled quality and we feel very comfortable every time we stay with kids. The Lebua is flashy and more suited to travelling without kids, but, well, when in Bangkok! Worth a stay for 1 night just to say you’ve stayed there. Check out my blog posts on The Banyan Tree | Staying At The Banyan Tree Bangkok With Kids | The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok | The Lebua Hotel Bangkok.

Dad + Kids take and early morning swim in rooftop pool The Banyan Tree Bangkok

Feeding the fish in The Banyan Tree

A very well priced good hotel is Dream Hotel (which is very well priced at around £80 and excellent in our option (they have blue light technology in the rooms for a super sleep and serve a good breakfast). You can get a Brand like Novotel for £50-£80, and as a family you may need to book a suite, which gets pricey or you could book 2 rooms and split the stay. This is not ideal if you’re planning on wooing your other half, but I'm guessing you've done all that successfully since you have little human evidence of such romance travelling with you! If you shop around on one of the booking sites above to see the wide choice.

We always justify a luxury first few nights as it sets us up after the long flight and a dream stay marks the start of your family trip of a lifetime. But you can budget too. Do what feels right and comfortable for you.

Thai people are beautiful, lovely, friendly and always helpful. It’s clear from the moment you land in Bangkok, why Thailand is known as ‘Land of smiles’. And their happiness is infectious. We love being around happy mindful people.

Bangkok is a huge city with so much to see and experience. There are many attractions to visit and places that will leave you surprised and wowed / or shocked depending on where you go. Check out my post Things To Do In Bangkok With Kids post, where I talk about all the attractions to do to educate and entertain the kids including: Bangkok Temples, Thai Traditions, A meal on The Chao Phraya River, Tuk Tuk rides, Eating Street Food, Visiting A Night Market, Visiting the River market, Bangkok Sights that imo are a must do. You may only make this trip once, so you must make it count. But that was our thought 5 trips ago. And there are still wonderful things that we want to see and do in Bangkok before our kids get too big.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and that it’s gone some way to inspire you to travel to Bangkok with kids. It can be done. In my option, travel is one of the most enriching things for kids. And Bangkok, on an educational & cultural level is quite amazing for kids. Ages 5+ and they will be wowed, exploring all the city has to offer and even just getting around the city and looking at free sights is an enriching experience for kids. One they'll remember forever & that will bind you together as a family.