Thailand Travel Blog

We were still in Samut Songkram province. We planned to go to King Rama II Park in the city of Samut Songkram. After we left the group of monkeys at Don Hoi Lord, we drove directly towards the King Rama II Park.

We drove across the bridge that crosses Klong Amphawa (Klong = canal) and saw an original atmosphere of the Thai village along the canal. Then we suddenly stopped the car and took my camera to the bridge. From my memory, I remember it is the location that I have seen in many Thai movies. Yes, it is this canal. This location is beautiful.

On the bridge, I looked around and stopped my eyes at a beautiful purple Thai and Chinese old style building. We agreed to visit that place. It was a primary school. We walked to the school and met the principle of the school, Mr. Sahut Deerod. We begged him to allow us to take pictures of the school atmosphere. This school is named “Lom Rak School”. The building is still made of wood in Thai and Chinese style. The building was original but newly painted with the purple colour. It was so cute. (more…)

Saphan Pra Ram Paed or Rama VIII Bridge is the lastest addition to the number of bridges of Bangkok that cross over Chao Phraya River. This bridge is near Banglampoo and can be seen from the Park near Pra-ar-thit Road. Aom , Nue, Umo and myself went to the Rama VIII Bridge by night.

The bridge is in the middle of Bangkok and it was built to commemorate King Rama VIll and is a prestigious part of the Bangkok transport system. This bridge is the brain child of our beloved King Rama IX who wants to help reduce the notorious traffic congestion of Bangkok.It crosses the Chao Phraya River and has the tower located on the river bank. The river side stays are arranged in double plane and the back side stays in a single plane. The total length including the approach spans is 2.45 km. (This paragraph information taken from the official site of Rama VIII Bridge )

I had heard that there was an elevator that could take tourists to the top of the bridge to see the bird eye’s view of Bangkok. We came up with the intention to go to the top of the bridge. When we reached at the base of the bridge, we found that the elevator is operated only on special occasions. So we had to change our destination and walked across the bridge by night instead. (more…)

Back in 1983 , it was my first time to see the real royal barge procession ceremony in the Chaophraya River. I stood among a huge crowd beside the river bank. Everything in the river seemed quiet. No boats sailing on the river. Only groups of Royal Barges with our Kng in the river. It was a really great experience for me. I was only 8 years old at that time.

Today, I went to the Royal Barge Meseum in Bangkok. This is the place where are kept the real royal barges of Thailand for education and also for use as a royal barge dock. These royal barges may be used again in the future. If there is a royal barge ceremony again, I will not miss it for sure.

The Royal Barge Museum is located near Bangkok Noi Railway Station. I paid 30 baht for 3 three of us , Nue, Aom and myself. I also paid a 100 baht fee for the use of still camera in the dock. If you want to bring your camera here, you have to pay an additional fee for the use of each type of the camera . The rough fee guide is 10 baht for the museum , 100 baht for a still camera, 200 baht for a video camera , and 300 for video camera with commercial purpose . It is so cheap, isn’t? (more…)