Thailand with kids: Yes!! Fortunately Flois is feeling better. To celebrate this we start the day by visiting Sea Life Bangkok, Ocean World. We take a tuktuk to Siam Paragon shopping mall, Sea Life is located in the basement of this giant mall. As we enter Sea Life, first thing we see is a cardboard Happy Feet pinguin. Kids can take a photo with it, Floris couldnt be happier. The entrance fee is quite high, no wonder we dont see any locals inside.
Its a beautiful “aquarium” with all kinds of fish and marine mammals. Floris walks through tunnels with big sharks swimming above him, looking down he sees the depth of the ocean with lots of fish in a specially designed “walk over” aquarium. After 2 hours we leave Sea Life to visit Siam Paragon for some shopping. After our little shopping spree we cross the road to eat at MBKs huge Asian food court.
As Lotte falls a sleep in the baby carrier, we take a tuktuk to Lumpini park, where Floris can enjoy the playgrounds. On our way back we make a stop at Bangkoks main railway station: Hua Lamphong Railway Station, to buy tickets for our train trip the next day. We want to take the train to Surat Thani, making some stops along the way it will take us about a week to get there. From Surat we will take a bus to the harbour where we will board the ferry to Koh Samui. We leave for the hotel with our train tickets in da pocket. Back at the hotel we book three hotels for our stops along the way to Surat. The kids go to bed early after a busy day. We enjoy a wonderfull Thai dinner at our balcony when a very uncomfortable feeling about our holiday to Thailand with kids hits me…
Before we had kids we travelled the world together visiting Thailand several times. We loved to backpack, staying in hostels, experiencing new adventures. Now we visit Thailand with kids, we carry two big suitcases, which need to be unpacked every time in search for bottles, diapers, sleeping bags and so on… When I look at coming week; packing/ unpacking suitcases several times, thinking of what to put in the handluggage and what to put in the suitcase during the train trips, trying to entertain the kids 3 times during our 5-7 hour train rides, I feel slightly unhappy. Hmmmm after a year of 4 hour nights (Floris is a very bad sleeper) a holiday should be relaxing right?! Maybe I didnt think this through good enough.
Kevin looks at my face and sees something is wrong. I share my thoughts with him. Luckily he feels the same. Especially as there are direct flights from Bangkok to Samui as well. Ok, change of plans: we book 3 (way to expensive) tickets from Bangkok to Samui that night, followed by a booking for a beautiful resort in Samui and 1 extra night in our Bangkok hotel. Financially it kind of sucks as we had already paid for the train tickets, hotels and they arent refundable.
That night I go to bed relieved and slightly ashamed looking a the cost we made. But.. YES! In 2 days we will be on Samui, a beautiful tropical island with white beaches, palm trees, delicious Thai food and lots of sun!
All in all: thailand with kids is great fun! Little warning from my side: if you have been a happy backpacker in the past, make sure to check if your wild travel plans are suitable for travelling with little kids as well đŸ˜‰
TO BE CONTINUED
Tips & Tricks
Nice to visit in Bangkok while travelling with kids:Â Sea Life
Do you want to shop till you drop? Visit  Siam Paragon & MBK
If you are planning to taking the train, you can find all info you need here:Â Seat61
If you are planning your trip by yourself, make sure your travelplans are suitable for travelling with kids as well: dont go to fast
If you arrange your trip yourself make sure all your bookings are refundable, can save you a lot of money
