Trip to Bankok with a family
 

Hello can anyone give me advice about Bankok. I am travelling with my family and really want to get a taste of what Bankok is like. I have 3 children the youngest is 7. Is Bankok a good place for us with kids? What about vaccinations is it worth it for 4 days in Thailand? What are the must do things in the city?

thanks

Personally I would not bring children (under the age of 13)to BKK- they would have a much better time in Disneyworld (I'll get a lot of flack for saying this but its true)
However if you must then they will be fine- plenty of temples to visit, shopping is great- the only drawback might be the heat and humidity- if they are not used to that you will need to go SLOW as they adjust to the heat. Do a search on this forum there are dozens of posts about what to do. Where are you coming from? What are the ages of your children. If you have teens and pre-teens then their interests are very different so it may be a bit of a challenge keeping them all interested at one time- good luck!
P.S. 4 days - you can fill this amount of time in BKK -no problem. Be sure to allow pool time- probably mid day.

I once heard my son, who was then about nine years old, arguing with a friend as to which destination was "better", Disney or Bangkok. My son, who had been to Bangkok twice, argued that Bangkok was "way better and way cooler" than Disney ever could be, and that he'd rather go to Bangkok again than Disney. Part of his argument was that Bangkok was "real" and Disney was "just pretend".
Obviously, travel preferences depend upon the child, but both of my children love Bangkok, visiting the temples, the Royal Palace, eating everything that looks interesting from the street vendors, buying all kinds of trinkets for very little money, etc. Also, if you are considering Disney in the summer, Bangkok's heat is no worse than Florida's summer heat.

Chillipepper:
You know your children - so you can decide if they are the type that will enjoy such a trip. I know my children and they would definitely love Disneyworld (not in the summer of course) over BKK. They would find BKK interesting for a time then I think it would wear off- the food also might be a bit of a challenge -as you might find yourself hitting the fast food joints too often. Generally the younger the child the more risky it is to bring them to such destinations.

Chillipepper:
Many on this forum will advise against eating anything from the street vendors in BKK- you are risking your vacation if you do so. Sure there are people who have done this and nothing has happened but the Fodor veterans will advise against taking such risks. Stick to restaurants where the hygene is likely to be much better- not perfect - but clearly better than street vendors.

For us, Bangkok is great. We took our now 7 year old daughter to Bangkok for the first time when she was 3 years old. She's now been 3 times, and she loves it.

Plan your days so that you can have a nice afternoon break by the pool. It's very hot and very busy. Everyone will welcome the down time.

We stumbled upon a neat kids activity center in Emporium one day. For a really small fee, kids could select and make a craft project. She loved this. We still have the little thing she made (a mini flower pot, painted, filled with colored stones and some fabric flowers...cute).

Our daughter enjoyed the trip to the floating market south of the city, riding a boat through the canals in Bangkok, the Grand Palace, and the Vim...ak (spelling escapes me as does the exact name...it's the teak mansion place). We also had a nightly routine of riding the Peninsula's boat back and forth across the river right before bed. Lovely at night...well, daytime too. We also all really enjoyed a walk through Chinatown one morning, pretty early before it got really hot. Be sure you move on before you are too hot, tired and sick of it to keep it fun. You don't have to walk the whole neighborhood, just a bit. When you decide to call it quits, just hop into a taxi.

I would get your kids involved in picking what to see, and I'd try to limit it to one or maybe two sites per day. Be flexible and don't push too hard. So far, we've been successful in keeping our daughter interested in seeing various places and venturing out of the hotel pool by keeping the sightseeing light and flexible I think. We've met lots of other familiees in our travels with similar thinking whose kids are also great travelers.

Vaccines...check the CDC website and consult your family doctor/travel doctor.

I also suggest the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree (Kids to Go, I think) - lots of postings on travel to Thailand with young children (and everywhere else in the world). The national museum (fairly close to the Royal Palace) is interesting, and has good guided tours in English and other languages which our children found interesting. Our children also enjoyed Chinatown and Little India, taking in the sights and sounds of strolling the streets.
The physician-parent of our family has not been overly concerned about street food as long as we can see the food and utensils (checking for relative cleanliness and freshness) and we eat the street food piping hot, just after it has been cooked. Like many travelers, the only times that we have had upset stomachs have been after eating in hotel restaurants where we could not check the cleanliness of the kitchens or how long food has been left out in the heat. Fortunately, my children like Thai food (at least, if they are hungry enough), so finding something they will eat has never been a problem.