A year ago, I met up with sister dearest in Thailand. I was there from April 25 to May 4, 2025. It was a memorable vacay, filled with affordably delicious food, shopping galore, Bangkok traffic jams and sightseeing under extreme humid and hot conditions. This year 2026, sister dearest invited me again to go to Bangkok, I declined for various reasons including budget constraints and prior commitments.
So let me continue my series of posts on our Bangkok adventures.
April 29, 2025, we booked a private tour via Klook to visit prime landmarks which basically is a Temples Run. We opted for a private tour with a guide named Sam because we didn't want to be rushed from one attraction to another with limited time to actually enjoy the places. It was scorching hot so we needed recovery time to hydrate, wipe our sweaty selves and have enough leg room space in the private car. Pick up point was our hotel in the Siam district.
Our itinerary:
(1) The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Emerald Budda Temple),
(2) Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)
(3) Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn).
Let's begin and focus this post on the majestically enchanting Grand Palace. As you can see from the picture of the map below, the place is huge and it was already teeming with tourists even at 09:30 in the morning.
Entrance fee to the Grand Palace is 500 THB (Thai Baht).
The following attractions are included in the ticket with validity from 29/04/2025 - 05/05.2025:
The Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha
Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles (was not able to visit)
The Arts of the Kingdom Museum and the Masterpieces by Artisan of Queen Sirikit Institute (not visited) and Khon, Thai Classical masked dance. (there is a designated time so we missed it)
In 1782, King Rama the First decided to move the capital city to the left bank of the Chao Phraya River. It covers an area of 218,000 square meters, is enclosed by crenallated walls measuring 19,000 meters. It has a Hall of Residence, Throne Halls, administrative buildings, several chedi (Thai Buddhist bell shaped stupas which are basically towers which hold relics) and temples all within the sprawling complex.
The Phra Sri Rattana Chedi is a bell shaped chedi or stupa of brick and mortar that was constructed in 1855 during the reign of Rama IV to house relics of the Buddha. It was originally white washed but was later covered with gold mosaic tiles imported from Italy during the reign of Rama V to mark the centenary of Bangkok in 1882.
The Prasad Phra Thepdibon Royal Pantheon is a building that has a Prang or corncob spire surmounting its roof. Geometric patters of colored glass mosaics adorn its exterior walls and pillars that are interspersed with ceramic tiles. It was originally constructed with the intention of using it for royal ceremonies and to enshrine the Emerald Buddha at eye level. But upon completion it was deemed too small. Nowadays, life sized bronze statues of former sovereigns of the Royal House of Chakri, Rama I to Rama IX are ensconced in the original three wall niches and on gilt platforms so the Royal Family can pay their respects at appropriate times.
Phra Mondop is a traditional square building with mother of pearl inlay doors topped by a Thai mondop spired roof and was constructed by King Rama I to hold a large lacquered mother of pearl cabinet containing palm leaf Buddhist Tritaka Scriptures.
The famous Angkor Wat in Siem Reap was under Siamese (Thai) administration for periods between the 14 century until 1907 when the province was ceded back to Cambodia which was then a French protectorate. In 1871, King Rama IV attempted to dismantle the temple and move it to Thailand but the Khmers strongly resisted. So King Rama IV conceived a replica in concrete of the 12 century Angkor Wat, an inticate hand crafted miniature of a renowned architectural marvel and placed in within the Grand Palace compound.
Next, it was time to head to the Phra Ubosot, the Convocation Hall which houses the Emerald Buddha. Built in accordance with traditional Thai style architecture with multi-tiered roofs of colored tiles, roof ridges and lotus captal pillars, this building's base on the north and south is decorated with 112 gilded bronze Garuda seizing 2 Naga by their tails while clutching their heads. Pairs of bronze Singha lions guard the 6 east and west doors that have mother of pearl inlays of gods, demons and mythical animals.
It is forbidden to take pictures inside of the Emerald Buddha. You need to remove your shoes to enter the Wat Phra Kaew. The Emerald Buddha is an object of national veneration, carved in the attitude of meditation and is enshrined high up on a tiered base in an altar of glided wood designed to represent the aerial chariots of heavenly beings.
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| Merely a picture/poster of the Emerald Buddha |
It is carved from a block of jasper, because of its color it is called the Emerald Buddha and measures 66 cms, in height that includes the base and is 48.3 cms in width from knee to knee. It has three different raiments which are changed by the King on specified dates of the lunar calendar. The summer and rainy seasons raiment were dedicated by King Rama I while the winter raiment was dedicated by King Rama II. All of the raiments are crafted exquisitely from gold and embellished with diamonds and precious stones.
We proceeded to a section where the buildings were entirely different in design, structures and style from the temples. Here the prevailing colors were white, with gold tilt and orange roof tops.The Chakri Maha Prasad Throne Hall is a neo-classical stye building with a roof surmounted by three Thai-spired Prasad instead of the usual three domes. The ground floor has rooms used as offices for the King's own bodyguards. The upper floor can be accessed by outside staircases has private audience chambers and picture galleries. The top floor is reserved for the crematory relics in small urns of the previous kings from Rama IV to Rama IX.
Dusit Maha Prasad Throne Hall is a brick plastered throne hall with a spired roof with red Garuda clutching the heads and tails of two Naga serpent statues. It is a building for the lying in state of kings, queens and senior members of the royal family and for holding royal ceremonies of commemoration.
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