For someone who wants something "different"-- i.e. not the Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha etc

Gloria-this is exactly what our issue was last year when Bob and I planned a day with Tong. I E-mailed her numerous times and eventually we came up with the following plan:

1.Making merit with a procession of monks on a street north of the GP
going to a Wat.

2. Making a gift of pre-packaged goods and receiving a blessing from a monk.

3. Purchasing a fish at a market and releasing it into the Chao Phraya.

4. Visit the "secret place". A fishing village 1 hour and 15 minutes south of BKK. We went out in a boat, saw many monkeys and then onto a bay to view oyster beds, visit with fisherpersons (all men), and eat lunch on a bamboo house in the middle of the bay.

4. Visit an orphanage in Nothanburi. We had arrannged to make a donation of diapers and purchase lunch for a group of the children. We then got to play with the children in a playground.

It was a wonderful day. Perfect for BKK veterans. Very little of this could we have done on our own.

I suggest you E-mail Tong and work out your own "day".

I was wondering about this myself. Does anyone have iinformation about the "monk's bowl" alley where they handforge the steel monks' bowls?

I've been wondering for some years where this monk-bowl alley is and my Bangkok Thai friends don't know. Maybe I'll find it one day. Happy Travels!

My notes say Soi Banbat....does that help at all?? Happy travels to you, too!!!

The Monk Bowl village is a little south of the Golden Mount Temple. It's abou 2 blocks from the street on which all of the religous goods are sold.

We wandered around the area near the Golden Mount & found the Monk's Bowl village, which is not really a village but more like a small cul-de-sac at the end of a small street. Not much to see except for two people making metal monks bowls, which were being sold by a vendor right there. Far more interesting were some of the old buildings along an alley near the temple compound, including a very old small library. We also chatted with a lovely monk in the courtyard who gave us directions to the Monk's Bowl street, but we got lost anyway and enjoyed our meanderings until we found it.

The MB village is not really a destination, but a stopover. There are several other streets around that area that are interesting, e.g., a street with lots of woodworkers. The MBV visit should be a portion of a 1/2 day of wandering.

I actually did the MB with Ratt a couple of trips ago. Interesting but no need to repeat.