Day 4
On the second day of our Bangkok tour, we would be travelling further out of the Pratunam area for more shopping activities. But before that, we had breakfast at our First House Hotel first. The breakfast was buffet style and already included as part of our stay. They had a wide spread of food to choose from, including bread, sausages, ham, omelette, salad, fruits, and hot beverages, as well as local/Asian offerings like fried rice and noodles, Dim Sum and seasoned vegetables. Considering the price we paid for the hotel, the breakfast was well worth it.
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| Breakfast buffet at First House Hotel |
BTS Skytrain
After our sumptuous breakfast, we walked approximately 15 minutes to the Rachathewi BTS Station. We would be taking the BTS Skytrain on Sukhumvit Line to Mo Chit BTS Station, where Chatuchak Weekend Market (our destination) is located.
After our sumptuous breakfast, we walked approximately 15 minutes to the Rachathewi BTS Station. We would be taking the BTS Skytrain on Sukhumvit Line to Mo Chit BTS Station, where Chatuchak Weekend Market (our destination) is located.
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| Train platform at Rachathewi BTS Station |
BTS Skytrain is one of the rail systems within Bangkok city, with the other 2 main systems being the MRT and Airport Rail Line. Other serving different parts of the city, the main difference between BTS Skytrain and MRT is BTS Skytrain travels using the viaduct, while MRT is underground.
We purchased the Rabbit Card at the Rachathewi BTS Station, which is a rechargeable contactless store value card, like EZ-Link Card in Singapore and Oyster Card in London. Other than using it for rides on the BTS Skytrain, the Rabbit Card can also be used for payment at many retail outlets and fast-food restaurants. Do note that Rabbit Card cannot be used for MRT rides.
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| Adult Rabbit Card |
The BTS Skytrain is air-conditioned, spacious, and ride is cheap, which is a good option to beat the sweltering heat and the slow-moving road traffic in Bangkok.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
After we arrived at Mo Chit BTS Station, it was just a short distance walk to the eastern entrance of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Chatuchak Weekend Market is the World's largest weekend market, with more than 15,000 stalls selling a wide variety of the things, such as clothing and accessories, handicrafts, home decor, plants and gardening equipment, pets and accessories, and food and beverages. Over 200,000 visitors (both locals and tourists) visit the market every weekend, so you could image the crowd.
After we arrived at Mo Chit BTS Station, it was just a short distance walk to the eastern entrance of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Chatuchak Weekend Market is the World's largest weekend market, with more than 15,000 stalls selling a wide variety of the things, such as clothing and accessories, handicrafts, home decor, plants and gardening equipment, pets and accessories, and food and beverages. Over 200,000 visitors (both locals and tourists) visit the market every weekend, so you could image the crowd.
The stalls are organized into multiple lanes within large market, making it like a maze and visitor could easily get lost inside. There is a Clock Tower in the middle of the market and serves as a very prominent landmark to meet and gather. The main market is sheltered, but open concept with no air-conditioning. On a hot day, like the day we went, the interior of the market can become warm and stuffy.
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| Chatuchak Weekend Market |
Lunch @ Amulets Gallery & Coffee
We toured and shopped around the market for approximately 2.5 hours, we were tired and hungry by then. We eventually dropped by a small restaurant called Amulets Gallery & Coffee for our lunch, which was one of the few eateries that was air-conditioned.
We toured and shopped around the market for approximately 2.5 hours, we were tired and hungry by then. We eventually dropped by a small restaurant called Amulets Gallery & Coffee for our lunch, which was one of the few eateries that was air-conditioned.
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| Amulets Gallery & Coffee |
We ordered their shrimp and pork fried rice, which was tasty, reasonably priced, and nice looking in a "Heart-Shaped" presentation. Most importantly was we could enjoy our lunch in the air-conditioned cooling environment.
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| Shrimp Fried Rice |
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| Pork Fried Rice |
Terminal 21 Shopping Center
We departed Chatuchak Weekend Market after lunch and headed for our next destination, Terminal 21 Shopping Center. We returned to the Mo Chit BTS Station and took the Sukhumvit Line to Asok BTS Station, which has a direct link to Level 2 of the shopping center.
We departed Chatuchak Weekend Market after lunch and headed for our next destination, Terminal 21 Shopping Center. We returned to the Mo Chit BTS Station and took the Sukhumvit Line to Asok BTS Station, which has a direct link to Level 2 of the shopping center.
Terminal 21 Shopping Center is a popular lifestyle mall, which is themed as an airport terminal. Each level of the mall is decorated with a different travel destination theme, such as Caribbean, Tokyo, London, Paris, San Francisco, and Hollywood. This is where the mall stands out from other typical shopping centers in Bangkok.
We mainly window shopped around, taking photographs of the different "landmarks and icons", such as the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco.
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| The Golden Gate Bridge at Terminal 21 |
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| Mural of San Francisco |
Train Night Market Ratchada
As it nears the evening time, we departed the mall for our last destination of the day, Train Night Market Ratchada. We went to the nearby Sukhumvit MRT Station and took the Blue Line to Thailand Cultural Centre MRT Station, which is just 3 stops away. The market is located behind the Esplanade Mall, so we had to skirt around the mall from the MRT station exit.
As it nears the evening time, we departed the mall for our last destination of the day, Train Night Market Ratchada. We went to the nearby Sukhumvit MRT Station and took the Blue Line to Thailand Cultural Centre MRT Station, which is just 3 stops away. The market is located behind the Esplanade Mall, so we had to skirt around the mall from the MRT station exit.
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| Train platform at Sukhumvit MRT Station |
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| The plastic token used for MRT ride |
Train Night Market Ratchada. also known as Rot Fai Market Ratchada, is an outdoor market with rows of colourful tents selling clothes, fashion accessories, hand phone covers, toys, street food and beverages. The market is huge and took us a long time to cover all the rows of stalls. As it was dinner time too, we also took the chance to buy some of the street food, which included grilled pork, pork ribs, sweet potato balls, crispy crepes, and mango sticky rice.
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| Entrance to Train Night Market Ratchada |
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| Rows of colour tent stalls |
It had been a long day of walking and our legs were already sored and tired. We decided to call it a day and headed back to our hotel, retracing the same way we came by taking the MRT and BTS Skytrain.
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