This trip involved three families in total: 5 elderly people, one 3.5-year-old child, and three adults.
Day 1
Flight at 6:50 AM. Booked a private car for 4:00 AM, departed on time at 4:00, arrived at Terminal 3 at 4:30 AM. Picked up the rented WiFi and queued for check-in. Finished check-in at 5:10, passed border control by 5:40. Remembered there was a power bank in the checked luggage, consulted staff who checked and confirmed it had been opened and removed. Started boarding at 6:30, took off at 7:10, arrived at 12:40. Had pre-booked a car. This was my third time in Thailand, but the first time in Bangkok.
Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3Arrived at the hotel and completed check-in at 1:40 PM local time.
Rested a bit, then set off at 2:30 PM for Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). Used the Grab app to call a car, equivalent to Didi in China, supports Alipay.
Visited Wat Pho. The temple houses a giant reclining Buddha. Ticket was 200 THB, children free.
Wat Pho, Thailand
Wat Pho, Thailand
Exited Wat Pho, queued opposite to take a boat across the river.
4 THB per person, small boat across the river to Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn).
Wat ArunTicket 50 THB per person. Very majestic, could only go up one level. Walked around, took the boat back to the other side, then took a car to the city center, Erawan Shrine (Four-Face Buddha).
Walked around it, then went to the shopping mall opposite for dinner and shopping. Afterwards, returned to the hotel to sleep.
Day 2
Departed promptly at 9 AM, first to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Hired a guide. Arrived at the temple - huge crowds, the child almost got lost, but was found in time - scared me to death. Stayed at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha for 40 minutes. I didn't dare wander around, just sat there watching the kid.
Temple of the Emerald BuddhaAt 10:30, went next door to walk around the Grand Palace. Also packed with people.
Grand Palace, Bangkok
After leaving the Grand Palace, went directly to Maeklong Railway Market. Drove for one and a half hours. Arrived at the train station too early, waited at the station for an hour before the train passed through. The station is right by the roadside, feels like it stops if you wave. There are also food stalls along the street.
Boarded the train on time at 2 PM, arrived at the terminal at 2:30. Still very crowded - an internet-famous spot, everyone comes to check in. The market operates right on the train tracks, truly zero distance. Everyone went to browse the market; I took the child to have a cold drink, sat and waited for them to return. Departed at 4 PM for the floating market.
Arrived at the pier in ten minutes.
Had a barbecue meal at a riverside restaurant. Everyone ate very satisfactorily.
After eating, took a boat for a river tour first. Boated for an hour, felt pretty good. After dark, went to see the fireflies in the trees along the riverbanks - didn't see many. Circled around and returned to the pier. Took another over-an-hour car ride back to the hotel. Packed up and went to sleep. The Bangkok itinerary concluded. Tomorrow morning at 8:30, heading to the airport to fly to Chiang Mai.
Day 3
Booked a car for 8:30 AM to the airport. Took off on time at 11:30 for Chiang Mai. Retrieved luggage by 1 PM, took a car to the hotel. Second time in Chiang Mai. These days coincided with haze in Thailand, didn't see blue skies and white clouds. Arrived at the hotel at 1:30 PM.
Had lunch at the hotel restaurant and rested for a while. At 4:30, took a Songthaew (red truck) to Tha Phae Gate.
First, went to Han Chiang Mai Travel Agency to book the itineraries for the next few days.
After booking the tours, took a night stroll through the old city, visited Wat Phan Tao.
Wat Phan Tao
Night view of the old city. There's a Saturday Night Market outside Chiang Mai Gate.
Ate at a large open-air food stall. The child got tired, so after eating, took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. Right downstairs from the hotel is a bar street, and there's also a night market nearby, very lively. The others continued shopping at the night market. Our family of three returned to the hotel first. When bringing a child, the schedule has to follow his lead.
Day 4
After breakfast at the hotel in the morning, called a car to go to a shooting club for live-fire shooting. Everyone had a blast. Each person got an AK-47 rifle and a handgun. The little kid also fired a few shots. Very exhilarating. The elderly said they wanted to come play again.
Returned to the hotel at 11:30, rested until 1:30 PM, then went to a nearby Chinese restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is on the 24th floor of a hotel, nice view.
After lunch, returned to the hotel to rest a bit. Set off at 4 PM for Chiang Mai Park to see the flower exhibition, also a flower parade.
After visiting the park, went to a nearby cafe to rest, then went to shop at the Sunday Walking Street night market in the old city. This market is only open on Sunday evenings and is the largest scale night market in Chiang Mai.
Shopped until 8:30 PM then returned to the hotel. Super crowded. The elderly were very happy, buying all sorts of things. We ate various snacks.
Day 5
Woke up at 7 AM, finished packing and had breakfast, left at 8 AM for Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (the temple on the mountain). Arrived at the destination at 9 AM. The drive was all mountain roads, everyone got carsick. The elderly rested down below for quite a while before coming up.
Came down the mountain at 11:30 and went to Chiang Mai University. Bought tickets to tour the campus by electric cart. Last time I visited on foot, but that's not allowed now. Also didn't get to eat at the university cafeteria. Chiang Mai University is a top institution in Thailand; former Prime Minister Yingluck graduated from Chiang Mai University.
After leaving the university, went to Nimmanhaemin Road (Nimman), found a restaurant to eat. The child had been sleeping since leaving Doi Suthep; I carried him, he slept until we reached the restaurant before waking up. After eating, shopped for a while then returned to the hotel to rest. On the way, stopped at a fruit market and bought a lot of fruit back to the hotel. This morning we chartered a Songthaew for the whole itinerary, cost only 1200 THB.
Went out at 6 PM to a restaurant for New Year's Eve dinner. Had pre-booked a private room in a Chinese restaurant, but found it occupied by others when we arrived. Argued for a long time but it didn't help, ended up eating in the main hall. Many dishes were already unavailable, ordered roast suckling pig but that was gone too, even the baijiu was sold out. Managed a bite. Finished eating at 9 PM, returned to the hotel to watch the Spring Festival Gala.
Day 6
No plans for the morning. Intended to sleep in, but was woken by my son at 8 AM. Had breakfast, took him out for a walk, went to the supermarket to buy some things, came back for lunch. Set off at 3 PM for the Night Safari. Drove half an hour to the zoo. First, toured the daytime area. Chiang Mai Night Safari has over 70 species of animals. Touring the daytime area takes about an hour. Missed the 5:20 animal show, watched the 6 PM tiger and lion show instead - very exciting, the child loved it. Just super crowded, need to go early to get seats. After the tiger show, queued for the Night Safari ride. There are two zones, the Herbivore Zone and the Carnivore Zone, need to queue separately for the tram rides. Each zone takes about half an hour to tour. The guide/commentator was very humorous, a real jokester, made everyone laugh happily, people applauded him after getting off. The Night Safari is highly recommended, especially for families with children. Couldn't take clear photos as flash photography wasn't allowed.
Returned from the zoo to the hotel at 8 PM. Dropped things off at the hotel, went out to eat at a large open-air food stall. After eating, shopped a bit more at the night market. The elderly are really addicted to shopping now. By 10:30 PM, the child was tired, so we returned to the hotel first. The elderly continued shopping and didn't return until 11:30 PM.
Day 7
Booked a day tour. Woke up at 6:30 AM, had breakfast, departed at 7:15 AM, first to the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun). Drove three hours to get there, stopped once on the way for a 20-minute break. Toured the White Temple for 40 minutes. Even on the second visit, it was still震撼. The White Temple is a must-see attraction. Had lunch at the White Temple scenic area.
After lunch, drove 15 minutes to the Black House Museum (Baan Dam). This was the first time here, also very good, worth recommending.
After the Black House, went to the Long Neck Karen Village.
After the Long Neck Village, drove 45 minutes to the Golden Triangle. Took a boat tour on the Mekong River, circled around Myanmar, didn't dare go ashore as it's quite unstable there. Afterwards, went to Laos, went ashore and shopped at a market for half an hour, various local goods available for purchase. Then took the boat back to the Thai side. Drove for four and a half hours to reach the hotel. Today's attractions were all quite good, just the journey was too long - over 500 km in total. At least it wasn't physically taxing, slept in the car most of the way.
Day 8
Woke up at 6:30 AM. Had packed all luggage last night. This morning, only kept one room until 2 PM, the other rooms had to be checked out because we were going to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in the morning and wouldn't return until after 12 PM. Upon arrival, first took photos with the baby elephants, then bathed the elephants, fed them milk and bananas. Watched the elephant show. The activity ended at 10:30 AM, returned to the hotel.
Returned to the hotel, packed luggage, checked out. Went out for a meal, then did the final activity - Thai massage. Everyone was very satisfied, felt relaxed all over. Shopped a bit more at the night market, returned to the hotel. The hotel provided a car to take us to the airport.
Arrived at the airport at 8 PM, checked luggage, passed security, bought things at the duty-free shop, boarded the flight back to Beijing. This trip concluded. Everyone had a great time, just felt it wasn't enough. This was my third time in Thailand: Chiang Mai in 2013, Krabi in 2016, Bangkok & Chiang Mai in 2019. Still really like this country. Hope to come back to play again in another three years.
