Bangkok with Baby

Tons of people told me that Thailand is the perfect destination for a family vacation with a young one. We decided to check it out and started our Thailand trip in Bangkok! We stayed in Bangkok for 5 days, which to be honest was 2 days too many. It’s kind of like Las Vegas, where you only really need a couple of days!

One of my biggest tips for Bangkok with baby is to bring a carrier. There are barely any sidewalks and most places are super crowded. If you’re baby is small, then a Baby Bjorn or Ergo baby will do fine. However, if your baby is a slightly on the plump-side, like ours is, then a hiking carrier works great! It’s easy on your body and the baby is more comfortable. Also since it’s super hot in Thailand, baby won’t be all sweaty up against your body. We use a Phil and Ted’s Escape hiking carrier and love it!

We stayed at the Bangkok Avani Atrium, which was about 30 minutes from BKK airport. We took a taxi to the hotel which cost us 400 Baht (~$12). The hotel costs about $65 a night (super cheap!) and included breakfast and free wifi. They also provided us with a crib for the baby. This hotel is super family friendly and has a doctor on call 24/7, babysitting services, and a pool.

There were a handful of things I wanted to do while I was in Bangkok, and one of them was to take a cooking class. I ended up looking up a few classes on Tripadvisor and found Chef Leez. Her class is a bit far away from the city, it took us about an hour to get to her, but the drive is worth it.

Chef Leez is an awesome teacher who made us feel super welcome. It also helped that she was totally fine with the baby being with us! She even cleared up a space for Elara to play in.

Her mom entertained Elara while Rhut and I cooked! She easily accommodated her class to our dietary preference and had everything set up for our vegetarian Thai dishes.

What I loved about her class was that she touched on each ingredient and it’s purpose in the dish. We made 5 dishes total and the best dish hands down was the sticky rice and mango. I always see it on menus at Thai restaurants, but never ordered it because the idea of mango and rice didn’t sound appealing to me. I was SO wrong – it is now one of my most favorite desserts ever!

The next day we went to the Grand Palace. This was one of the most touristy places I have ever been. There were hundreds of people crowded around trying to get the perfect selfie. If you can get past that, I would say it’s definitely a visit there is a must!

The temples there are absolutely beautiful. Every inch of the walls were in colored glass mosaics. We spent about 2 hours walking around. It was extremely hot and humid (bring water and wear sunscreen!), so we took a break under some shade before we moved on.The Grand Palace is kind of hard to navigate since there aren’t many signs and almost everyone gave us different directions on how to get to certain museums. So be sure to be patient and go there early since most museums close up at 5. Although some closed much earlier, even though they’re supposed to be open until 5.

We also went to Wat Pho which was a beautiful Buddhist temple. It houses a giant reclining Buddha that you can walk around.

There are small alleyways into smaller temples as well. We walked around for about and hour before heading over to the riverfront to take a boat ride.

Bangkok is also the city of street markets. We really enjoyed the Train Night Market which had rows and rows of street food vendors and clothing stalls. I’d go there just for the food!

We also went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. You can get there by takingth BTS Subway system to the Mo Chit stop. The subway system in Bangkok is really nice and safe! Plus it’s cheap, only cost us 38 Baht person! Be sure to bring Thai money with you as the ticket machines don’t take card for payment.

Chatuchak Market is a giant labyrinth of street food vendors and shops. You can literally buy anything here from chickens to dinner plates.

Outside of Chatuchak park, there is a small park. We grabbed a bag of mangosteens (60 baht/$3) and sat down. Elara practiced walking while I fed her some mangosteen. It was fun people watching and cooling off under the shade.

Another item on my bucket list was to ride a tuk tuk! We hopped on a tuk tuk back to our hotel at night. Turns out most tuk tuks in Bangkok are lit up with colorful lights! Elara just zoned out staring at all the bright lights!

Overall Bangkok was a great city to explore with baby. She loved trying new food and looking at all the hustle and bustle around her. If you’re think about going with baby, go for it – there is lots to do!

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Bangkok Avani Atrium  for hosting me and my family for our stay, and as usual – all opinions are my own!