Fun things to do in Bangkok

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The Royal Thai Wood Carving Centre is only about 10 kilometres from Damnoen Saduak floating markets which we visited on our tour with Lets Tour Thailand. We asked our guide was there anywhere with nice wood carvings, not the mass produced souvenirs that were at the floating markets, so they took us to the wood carving centre.

This place is huge with so many beautiful carvings, there is a teak wood furniture factory, a wood carving factory plus furniture and souvenir showrooms. It was so nice to be able to watch master carvers and ask questions without being pressured to buy anything.

The Royal Thai Wood Carving Centre is instrumental in the development and conservation of authentic Thai arts and culture.

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The Maeklong markets had been around for a long time, so when a train line was planned to be built in the area in the early 1900’s the solution was simple; just let the train line run through the middle of the markets. So in 1905 this is exactly what happened and the two have been running smoothly ever since. Seven days a week the train passes through 8 times a day.

It is fantastic to watch the stall holders pulling back their awnings, moving their food stalls and people moving off the walkway through the centre of the markets, which just happens to be the railway line. A lot of the bigger stalls are on wheels, so they can be moved easily, some need to be lifted away from the tracks and small stalls that are set up on the ground are left there with the train passing just inches over the fruit and vegetables. Once the train has passed through it seems like a split second and the awnings and stalls are back in place and its back to business as normal.

We went to the Maeklong Railwaymarkets as part of a private tour with a company called We Tour Thailand they are a fantastic Bangkok based company and we will not hesitate to use them again. We had our own new minivan, driver and very knowledgeable guide called Bobbie.

As luck would have it we only had 3 days in Bangkok and it was right in the middle of bad weather and Bangkok was preparing to flood! We were picked up at 7am for the 75 kilometer drive to the markets and arrived there about 8.15am in time for the first train at 8.30am.

These markets are fantastic and it would have been easy to spend a couple of hours here looking around the town.

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There is the most extensive bookshop on the top floor of the Paragon shopping centre. I spent hours here - looking through every imaginable type of book. They also have a very extensive range of printed music - both sheet and albums. Travel is easy on the sky train.

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I decided that I really needed to extend my Thai Cooking skills. I did a two day course - two half days - at the Silom Thai Cooking School. They meet you in the morning - then you go on a tour of the local market to buy produce - then you go back to the school where you cook the most amazing things. They also teach you a great deal about the ingredients that you will be using.

Get away from the hustle and bustle of Khao San Rd and wander to the river and head towards where the river meets Banglampu canal and you will find this fortress. Best go when it is dark as it is lit up. The whitewashed octagonal fort was one of a series of forts that were constructed at the end of the 18th century to protect Rama from invaders penetrating his island. There is only one other fort surviving today. There is a small park next door where you can sit and watch the action on the river, usually one or two restaurant boats passing by, all lit up.

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BANGKOK
A great day out is a trip to Kanchanaburi. This city that is about an hour or so north of the capital is a very interesting place to visit..Great for the day out and also lots of military History here for the "Military history buffs".. Here you will find the Bridge over the River Kwai. which was made famous by a movie made on the building of the bridge by prisoners of war.

The history of this bridge is far more than was told by Hollywood..This bridge was the end for a lot of Allied prisoners of war who were transported here .Their fate was sealed by their harsh and brutal treatment. There were also many hundreds of local people forced to labour here along with those who were captured locally.This was a place of unbeleivable Japanese brutality perpetrated on the prisoners who were forced to labour building the bridge structure to the limits of their endurance.
There is a War Museum also located here with artefacts and vehicles etc from the era. Beside the museum is an Allied War Cemetery with the graves of so many Australians, English and Dutch prisoners and is truly worth the visit . So well kept by the local people for the Commonweath War Graves Commision.

Here by the river you can hire a fst boat for a river trip.. a little further north is the Tiger Temple where you can interact with tigers of all breeds , Sumatran, Siberian, Bengal,This was for me a really interesting experience.

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Now this market is just awesome. Awesome!
Not only that you'll find yourself the only tourist out there and that you'll see some great food all around, but all the market is set along one functional railway... And there is a train coming 2 times a day. We were there on the exact time and we saw all those people, in a very normal and in no hurry, taking their stuff out from the train's way in seconds before it passed. And everybody going back to normal activity imediatly after.

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The old teak wood house on the bank of Bangluang canal. This house have a long history more than 100 years. The owner renovated the house and established as Artist's House where have Thai puppet show, art gallery and art class plus coffee shop with nice area to view the canal scenery. Another interesting thing in the house is big stupa in the courtyard.
On the way to the house also located a long wooden house paralleled the canal line. Some houses open a space for old photo gallery, coffee stall and snack stall. Some temples nearby are also old and beautiful. You can take half day trip to this area.