McCauleys 2024

Many thanks to Brendan McNally and Mark Tuchmann who provided many useful
pre‐holiday recommendations. They'd both lived in Bangkok ‐ but long ago.

One of many shrines to the Buddha, a painting from a nearby museum, a map
of the river and an interesting painting of the distinct ancient palaces and forts of old Bangkok now completely surrounded and
swallowed up with modern buildings.

Ready to roll, this time on a day flight from Davao to Manila and a short wait
with a box of sandwiches before the flight to Bangkok.

Yellow badges for the connecting flight i.d. in Manila. A long long walk in the
Suvarnabhumi airport. Upsetting Marianne we took a speedy and scary taxi ride to the Nuovo City Hotel.

A luxurious Hotel and a large suite. Marianne (and m&m) loved the
cute Elephant Towels.

Lovely breakfast and Hotel views across the rooftops and the canal promenade.

Out for take‐away food. A Buddist Shrine and one of the ubiquitous
cannabis shops.

Daddy can we see the swimming pool on the roof? Yes indeed, I would
love to join you.

A model of a ornate and beautifully decorated Royal barge in the Hotel
Restaurant. ..Let's go sightseeing today.

The middle top picture taken outside our hotel shows the 'Chillax'
hotel along the road. It's a short trip to the Phra Arthit fort and gardens with a further even shorter walk to the Chao
Phraya (River of Eternal Prosperity) River Pier to catch the hop‐on hop‐off river boat.

"Room upstairs". There was a pleasant breeze on deck and we
were lucky it didn't rain.

The approach to the Wat Arun obelisk. The sequence here is out of order.
One of the pictures below is of the Rama IX Bridge, not far from our hotel.

We alight at the pier for the stunning Wat Arun Buddhist Temple. Never
smile at a crocodile.

With strict entry conditions to respect Buddhism, the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Arun" target="_blank">300 year‐old well maintained monument</a> looks fresh,
the vibrant colours in the exterior ceramics have lasted and show little weathering, the wear on the steps being from
countless visitors.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://360.kaenkaewontour.com/watarun" target="_blank">A virtual tour.</a>

We hopped on the boat ‐ next stop the HUGE Icon Siam retail paradise.

A vast food retail is on the ground floor. A shrine to Buddha is always included.

A tribute to Suthida Tidjai, the beautiful Queen of Thailand is ubiquitous in Bangkok,
not least in the mall.

A treat for Marianne. The Quayside is very nicely laid out.

More exploration snaps outside our hotel.

Out to the Post Office to send postcards en route to the Jim Thompson house.

The serene ambience and architecture of the Jim Thompson House.

He designed the silks for "The King and I" collecting many Thai
antiques.

We were given a fascinating tour of the house, which was designed by
Thompson and constructed in the 1950s using traditional Thai conventions.

Beautiful silk with designs based on Thompson originals.

Marianne has her souvenirs, two silk covered elephant toys.

Including beautiful water features, the house is adjacent to a canal.

Chinatown in Bangkok. You can hire a moped ride as the alleys are so long
‐ if you wanted to speed up your Chinatown shopping expedition.

We walked a long time before finding a little eatery following a downpour.
Really delicious Roast Duck, Pork, Chicken, Pak Choi and sauces.

Melanie relaxes after an expedition to the Paragon store. We set out for
the Khao San Street Market.

"Better in the evening" ‐ The Khao San street market is
full of cannabis shop signs. At the junction with the main road is this retailer of all kinds of creepy crawleys, probably
the supplier for the 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!' show. Look at Marianne's face ‐ she
loved it BUT we didn't try any.

Neither did we try anything from the Alligator Man.

Tattoos and Cannabis. I did buy a good belt at a very cheap price and
Melanie bought some outfits.

I somehow hauled myself into a TucTuc for the first time as we finished our
walk from one end to the other and back again.

Judging by his smile, I have my suspicions that the TucTuc driver on the
other side, enjoyed my efforts at mounting the TucTuc.

We booked tickets for an Immersive Disney Animation exhibit at the EM Tower.

En route, more postcards despatched at the Post Office.

An elevator not designed for those with vertigo.

Wonderful Maquettes for the Disney artists.

Interesting details on the artists and their methods.

Who and how it was done plus try it yourself.

Inside the main exhibit ‐ the interactive part can be seen in the
movie below.

After Disney ‐ Oh My Godmother! Delicious food in a fancy
schmancy restaurant.

Part of the Variety of breakfast fare in the hotel. Cool Melanie.

Today an outing to the Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo. A long taxi
ride out to the West of the City.

Crocodiles here there and everywhere. And snakes!

Along with about 200 school kids, Marianne and m&m enjoy the croc
show. The sound of the sharp snap of their jaws exceeded the volume of noise from the kids.

A completely miserable looking attendant took our Bhat for entry to the
exceedingly feeble labyrinthine house of horrors..

OOh look ‐ boats! m&m take a tour of the lake on a
pedalo.

A magic show and a magnificent 'Thai Elephants in History'
pageant. As per usual I was picked on by the conjurer roping me in on his steel hoops trick, who said hello and thanked
me when we met again as we were waiting for the taxi home.

An Ostrich and her eggs. Cafe refreshments.

I won a book on Ebay. Some of Melanie's favourite shopping venues.

Morning shopping. We set out for the Siam Paragon malls for
'Sea Life' and Madame Tussauds.

Glass floors and exotic sea horses. Sea Life 2 of 11.

Penguins and Pinecones. Sea Life 3 of 11.

Lunch time for tortoises. Sea Life 5 of 11.

A glass tunnel plus a trip in a glass bottomed boat (see movie
below). Sea Life 7 of 11.

Spiders, lizards and a walk through glass tube. Sea Life 8 of 11.

Swordfish and sharks. Sea Life 10 of 11.

A short 3d movie in a 4DX theatre before saying hi to Britney. Greeting
us at the entrance to Madame Tussauds.

Many Asian celebrities are featured. Guess who? First is General Prem
Tinsulanonda wearing formal chut Thai. I think the couple represent the beloved King Rama IX; His Majesty King Bhumibol
Adulyadej The Great and his wife Queen Sirikit; Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of HSH Prince Nakkhatra
Mangala Kitiyakara, the Thai ambassador to France and Mom Luang Bua Kitiyakara.

The seated monk is Buddhadasa. In 1932, he established Suan
Mokkhabalarama (The Garden of Liberation) to introduce Buddhism to people in the nuclear age. His emphasis on the
interdependence of all things made him a champion of peace and ecological thought. His writings have had considerable
influence on the renewal of Buddhist thinking. Buddhadasa is considered the most highly respected Thai Buddhist monk
worldwide.<br />
<br />
Next to Luciano Pavarotti is Co‐founder and a leader of Democrat Party, M.R. Seni Pramoj who served as
Prime Minister of Thailand for four terms. In his first term he became the youngest Prime Minister at the age of 40 in 1945.
During World War II, as Thai Ambassador to Washington D.C. in 1942, he refused to deliver the government's declaration of war
against the United States and Britain. He then organised the "Seri Thai" or Free Thai movement that later prevented the
United States from treating Thailand as a defeated enemy after the war. Apart from his role in Thai politics, M.R. Seni Pramoj
also worked as a university professor and a lawyer. One of the law books he wrote about civil and commercial law remains a
comprehensive book for law students in Thailand until today. Born M.R. Seni Pramoj on 26th May 1905 in Nakhon Sawan province,
Thailand. Died on 28th July 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Obamas and Lady Di, plus Thai Monarchs and the seated monk Mokkhabalarama.

Finest made likenesses of Albert, Pablo and Mark.

Mom Rajawongse (M.R.) Kukrit Pramoj (20 April 1911 ‐
9 October 1995) was a Thai politician and scholar. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives of
Thailand 1973‐1974. He was the thirteenth Prime Minister of Thailand, serving in office from 1975 to 1976
between Seni Pramoj, his brother's, terms. Being the great‐grandson of King Rama II, he was a member of the
Thai royal family.

More Katy Perry with Madonna, Lady Gaga and Arianne Grande. Plus, in
my opinion, a somewhat threadbare Michael Jackson.

Movie Superheroes; Hugh Jackman requires a manicure and Anthony
requires a glass of chianti, chopped liver and farber beans.

Until now, I thought I looked very much like Daniel Craig.

The hungry Marianne enjoys a Thai curry al fresco while we wait for
the Taxi to take us to The Grand Palace.

We set out for the Grand Palace, the taxi driver taking us to a rank of
Tuc Tucs outside the Palace. Two guys, one purporting to be a school teacher talked extensively to us saying that the Palace
was closed today and offering us a tour for 100thb of Buddhist monuments in the locality. He even provided a map. I'd
seen warnings about this in YouTube and I guessed that we were about to hoodwinked. Just as I suspected, the tuctuc driver
whizzed us to a Jewellery store which, in itself was quite interesting to me. We only stayed inside a few moments much to the
utter disappointment of the crestfallen driver, who then took us on to a lovely quiet shrine off the beaten track. I then
asked him to take us to the nearest pier on the river (Phra Arthit) where he left us to catch a boat returning to
The Chang pier and the Grand Palace.<br />
<br />
Snaps here of Melanie Earlier in the day before we departed in the taxi outside the hotel.

The many colourful murals and devotions to the Buddha decorate the temple.

Escaping our captors on the boat to The Chang Pier on a very hot morning.

The Grand Palace was inundated with tourists just like us on an extremely
hot day. The corner subway provided cooling shade. We decided not to take the long walk in the heat and, after buying a hat
for Marianne, headed back to the pier and the boat.

Marianne's hat, back at the start and the Grand Palace. We set out again
on the boat to the Sathon Pier for lunch.

After a short walk from the Sathon pier we took lunch
at a large market adjacent to the
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10157148917756128&set=pcb.10157148919016128" target="_blank">Bang Rak Shrine</a>,
one of the best decorated colourfully ornate roofs and courtyard I'd seen.

On the evening of our last day we were whizzed out to the airport by taxi.
This time we had a soft sleeping mask for Marianne so that she could relax. It was our turn to hold on for dear life. At
the Suvarnabhumi airport entrance was a tribute to the beautiful Queen of Thailand.

The check in halls are beautifully decorated with colourful sculptures of
Thai warriors and a huge mythical tug‐of‐war.

More of the ornate sculptures at the airport.

Our return journey took us directly back to Cebu airport with a short
additional flight to Davao City. We were met by our driver Rex and Melanie's nephew Jehro.

June 2024 Video Playlist:

Bangkok Thailand Holiday Playlist 8th to 19th June 2024
1. 8th Davao to Manila to Suvarnabhumi Airports 10:36
2. 9th Mariannecam around the hotel 18:45
3. 9th Hotel Room and Breakfast buffet 2:17
4. 9th A walk around and about the hotel vicinity 1:08
5. 9th Up on the Roof ‐ to the hotel gym and pool 3:36
6. 10th The Magnificent Wat Arun Obelisk ‐ Monument to Buddha 0:16
7. 10th From the Phra Arthit fort and garden to the Chao Phraya River Pier 0:39
8. 10th The Hop‐on Hop‐off Chao Phraya riverboat to Wat Arun 3:27
9. 10th The Wat Arun Obelisk ‐ jetty and pier 4:10
10. 10th Foods for sale in the vast ICONSIAM mall 4:02
11. 11th Melanie's Bangkok clothes spree 0:44
12. 12th Up on the roof ‐ the carp and the pool 3:04
13. 13th Delicious morsels at Khao San Road and a TucTuc home 4:11
14. 14th Immersive Disney Animation at the EM Tower, EMSPHERE 1 4:09
15. 14th Immersive Disney Animation at the EM Tower, EMSPHERE 2 3:48
16. 14th Immersive Disney Animation at the EM Tower, EMSPHERE 3 13:03
17. 14th Immersive Disney Animation at the EM Tower, EMSPHERE 4 13:26
18. 14th Up on the roof of the Nuovo City Hotel. A cooling swim 3:19
19. 15th The Samphran Elephant Grounds 1 ‐ Crocodiles 4:36
20. 15th The Samphran Elephant Grounds 2 ‐ Nellie and the Caribou 1:02
21. 15th The Samphran Elephant Grounds 3 ‐ Crocodile Show 8:41
22. 15th The Samphran Elephant Grounds 4 ‐ Huge fish and Boating 3:18
23. 15th The Samphran Elephant Grounds 5 ‐ pedalo 10:56
24. 15th The Samphran Elephant Grounds 6 ‐ More boating 3:18
25. 15th The Samphran Elephant Grounds 7 ‐ Pageant of Pachyderms 8:06
26. 17th The Siam Paragon Mall 1 ‐ Mariannecam breakfast and the Mall 1:00
27. 17th The Siam Paragon Mall 2 ‐ Ocean World 1 2:27
28. 17th The Siam Paragon Mall 3 ‐ Ocean World 2 4:46
29. 17th The Siam Paragon Mall 4 ‐ Ocean World 3 2:24
30. 17th The Siam Paragon Mall 5 ‐ Ocean World 4 2:47
31. 17th The Siam Paragon Mall 6 ‐ Madame Tussauds Waxworks 1:43
32. 18th The Royal Palace ‐ taken for a ride 0:28
33. 18th Last Day and a long long long walk in the Suvarnabhumi airport to our gate 0:32

June 2024 Video Playlist:

1. 1st "Off we go" ‐ Jetz Getz Los 1:10
2. 3rd Garfield movie 0:10
3. 5th Minecraft on Mariannecam 0:18
Our holiday in Bangkok 8th to the 19th
4. 20th Our 8 Mango trees 0:25
5. 23rd Bougainvillias in the garden 0:24
6. 24th School concert Scouts day too good to be true 4:41
7. 27th Mystery prize bead kit and little iron 1:53
8. 28th Family Anniversary and Birthday at Vales Beach 2:24