On the morning of Apr 27, 2024 we docked at Laem Chabang, Thailand, the port for Bangkok, for a two-day visit of the capital city of Thailand. Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand with a metropolitan population of 11.2 million people. The city is known for its many ornate Buddhist shrines, its vibrant street life and traffic, and the boat-filled Chao Phraya River which feeds its network of canals.

On our first day we took an excursion into Bangkok where we initially visited the Rattanakosin royal district, home to the opulent Grand Palace and its sacred Wat Phra Kaew Temple, along with numerous other shrines and statues intricately designed and decorated.

The Grand Palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (now known as Thailand) since 1782. It was built to serve not only as the King’s residence but also as the site of administrative offices.

The Wat Phra Kaew Temple is located on the grounds of the Grand Palace. It is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. The figurine of the meditating Buddha is a 15th-century statue, made from one solid piece of green jade, clothed in gold and diamonds.

After our visit to the Royal Palace complex we took a boat ride on the Chao Phraya River where we passed a number of temples and then stopped at the former government complex (before the Royal Palace was built). Included in this area was Wat Arun (the “Temple of Dawn”), a Buddhist temple that has existed since at least the 17th century.

We returned to the ship that night and started planning for our excursion the next day which would take us back to Bangkok.

On the morning of Apr 28, 2024 we headed back into Bangkok to see some additional sights, which started wih a trip to Talat Noi, an historic neighborhood that was located next to Bangkok’s Chinatown. It is a maze of narrow lanes lined with old houses, fancy coffee shops, and mechanic workshops packed to the ceiling with greasy engine parts, which are used to service all of the tuk-tuk’s in the city. We enjoyed walking through some of the markets in this busy neighborhood.

Then we went to Wat Pho, one of the biggest temple complexes in Bangkok. One of the highlights is the Reclining Buddha that is 46 meters long and covered in gold leaf.

Among the other temples in the complex are four chapels that contain 394 gilded Buddha images, long lines of golden statues from different parts of Thailand sitting in the lotus position.

We also saw the Golden Buddha in the Temple of Wat Traimit. The Golden Buddha is a gold seated Buddha with a weight of 5.5 tons. At one point in its history this statue was covered with a layer of stucco and colored glass to conceal its true value, and was discovered only when the statue was moved to a new location and the stucco was cracked and fell off the golden statue.

After lunch we boarded our bus and drove around some of the government buildings in Bangkok before leaving the city and our two-hour drive back to Laem Chabang, our ship, and another beautiful sunset for our sailaway from Thailand.