The Trigger
Writing this in a single day, 2 December 2024, against the trip’s habit of weeks of revision. Reason: I am leaving my current job after nearly five years. The transition has been long-coming, and this trip was deliberately planned as the fifth and last international run before I take a break from foreign travel.
Booked discreetly, no leave logged. Strategically slotted across the long Diwali weekend — depart post-midnight Thursday 31 October from Kolkata, return before midnight Sunday. The Thailand visa-free window for Indian passports was active until end-of-year and this was the cheapest way to use it. Lots of last-minute calls, but the itinerary closed in time.
Played the points balance: expiring Dubai trip cashbacks plus ALL and ASR memberships got me five-star rooms across three Bangkok hotels for far below rack rate. That freed budget for the flight, some shopping, and a single planned wildlife tour. The rest of the days I ran like a Bangkok-based corporate professional — Michelin restaurants, malls, walking the streets solo.
The Plan
- Flight tickets. CCU → DMK on 31 October. DMK → CCU on 3 November.
- Health insurance. Not mandatory without a visa, but worth it. Premium: ₹457.
- Hotels. Kingston Suites Bangkok (Sukhumvit Soi 15) 30-31 Oct → Movenpick Hotel via ALL (Sukhumvit Soi 15) 31 Oct – 2 Nov → Oakwood Hotel & Residence via ASR (Sathorn) 2-3 Nov.
- Airport transfer. One-way DMK → Kingston Suites via Klook: ₹1619.
- eSIM (DTAC). 10 days, 50 GB with calls via Klook: ₹575.
- Currency. INR → THB at Orient Exchange.
- Sealife Bangkok Ocean World. 10-11am entry, 1 November via Klook: ₹2675.
- Car + driver. 6am pickup for 10 hours, Bangkok to Samut Sakhon return via Klook: ₹10,314.
- Wild Encounter Thailand. Whale-watching boat trip, 2 November: ~₹5000.
Day 1
Flight delayed 30 minutes; landed in Bangkok on schedule. Visa-free immigration cleared fast. Located the Klook driver at the meeting point and was paired within ten minutes. Her English was limited and we ran the conversation through a translator app. She was sounding me out: tour purpose, first-time visitor or not. To pre-empt any upsell on a discounted day-tour package, I played frequent-business-traveller with a flexible schedule.
Sukhumvit Soi 15 (Nana Plaza area) is not family-friendly. Defaulted to Grab rides for the rest of the trip wherever possible. At Kingston Hotel lobby before 6:30am. The receptionist upgraded me to a suite and offered a 2pm late-checkout, given my booking technically started the previous day.
Kingston is two buildings; I got a room in the rear one. Surprisingly large — full living room, kitchen, bedroom. Strong cigar smell on entry. Wall paint peeling in several places. Slept through the morning fine. Breakfast in the dining area was included for the first night; popular with international tourists, food was acceptable.
Checked out at 1:30pm and walked over to the next-door Movenpick. Grand entrance, big lounge foyer, the kind of service that earns the five stars.
Room was ready. Smaller than the Kingston suite but every detail was right.
Movenpick was running a complimentary chef’s tasting menu daily 2-5pm. The chef also sent chocolate-based desserts to the room.
Room had a numbered safe — perfect for stashing the camera gear and freeing up the backpack for the next two days.
First excursion: Grab to Mega Plaza near Chinatown. Even on the freeway, Bangkok traffic stretched the trip past an hour. The towers around here run advertisements as projection — moving billboards across glass.
Mega Plaza lived up to its reputation as the city’s pop-culture and gadgets hub. Five floors, camera stores up top, McDonald’s at the ground level.
From Dragonball to Disney, the Plaza covers it. The 4th floor is plushies and figurines; I spent 2.5 hours window-shopping. Picked up a Goku figurine and a Hot Wheels Porsche, both gifts.
Return ride was even slower in the traffic. Bangkok’s multiculturalism is real but not loud. From the cab window I caught a Bangladeshi restaurant with full Bengali signage, slotted in next to other-language storefronts on the same block.
Asked the driver to drop me at Terminal 21 Asok, a nearby mall known for affordable diverse dining and sized accordingly — apparently in Asia’s top-10 largest malls ever built.
Halloween night meant the central area was running themed celebrations. Gothic-and-Harry-Potter decor was the standout. By 6:30pm I prioritised dinner and committed to the mall before its closing window.
Thong Smith is the boat-noodle Thai chain everyone names. 15-minute wait, then a bar stool. Ordered mild-spice chicken boat noodles plus fried banana noodles with coconut ice cream. The portions were generous and the flavour was nothing like the version that exists in India. Non-negotiable stop in Bangkok.
Hotel runs a half-hourly shuttle to Asok. After waiting and not finding it at 7:30pm, I walked back instead.
Pre-bought breakfast at Gourmet Market, a premium grocery store. The fruit identification game was half the fun — Java apple, Thai mango, a large Japanese apple, cold-pressed yellow passionfruit juice.
Day 2
Early Grab to Siam Paragon mall, arriving before 10am. The mall was still closed; I waited at the entrance with the office crowd, since the upper floors above the fifth are corporate offices including Agoda. There is a currency exchange counter at the entrance, which is a useful detail for shopping days.
On descent to the lower ground, Big B (the local mascot) invited me to Madame Tussauds Bangkok. Politely declined and went straight to redeem the Klook coupon for Sea Life.
On entry, the staff hand you the day’s feeding schedule — first time I had encountered that at an aquarium. I waited for the penguin feeding before exploring further.
The aquarium runs five themed zones across marine life, reptiles, and birds. Beyond the standard clownfish, jellyfish, and seahorses, there are salamanders, green pythons, Gentoo penguins, and Arapaima — the largest freshwater fish on Earth. The Arapaima feeding is a spectacle: live crickets dropped from above, and the fish stack up to compete.
Feeding sessions cycled through. First, the world’s smallest otters — they came out from cover and swam in front of the glass.
Seadragons and seahorses next, with keepers pouring plankton from above.
Then the water tunnel: sharks, rays, and turtles being fed seaweed from below. Walking through with sharks circling overhead is the headline frame here.
Antarctic penguins were unusually bold — swimming right up to the glass and looking at the visitors. African penguins were being fed in a separate section.
There is a heat-vision photo screen showing how a python sees warm-blooded creatures. Decent novelty selfie.
Adjoining Siam Paragon: CentralWorld. Both malls are separated only by a shrine in between.
CentralWorld leads with a massive Apple Store at the entrance. I always check out an Apple Store; this one earns a look.
Primary mission was the official Pokémon pop-up tucked into a corner. Found it on the 4th floor — Pikachu and Eevee mascots, the works. Merchandise quality was below my expectations; no real high-end figurines.
CentralWorld has a glass capsule elevator running through the central atrium. Quick tour of the levels confirmed: each Bangkok mall is structurally distinct from the others.
The lower-ground gourmet section was a frame on its own. Tropical produce volume and variety like a market.
By 3pm I was at Nara, a Michelin-recommended Thai restaurant popular across the Asian community. Pricey, with a long waitlist. Got a table within 20 minutes.
Light meal, since another restaurant was on the day’s list. Pineapple fried rice with chicken floss and a mango juice.
The server offered the choice of having the rice scooped out or served inside the pineapple shell. I picked scooped-out for cleaner eating. The flavour delivered on the Michelin reputation. The mango slushie was the let-down — lesson: stick to the signature dishes.
Further down in the mall I found a floor dedicated entirely to luxury cars. Tesla, Porsche, the works, parked on the second floor. Genuinely surreal.
Found a high-quality Pokémon section on a different floor and grabbed a Garchomp. By 7pm it was time for dinner. Down to the next stop on the list: Jumbo, the Singapore chain known for its crab.
The blue crab tender meat at Jumbo earned the price. Slight sweetness in the flesh. The fried fish-egg side was over-salted for me.
Grab back through drizzle and slightly worse-than-expected traffic. Hotel by 9pm. Slept early and packed for the morning checkout — hotel switch the next day.
Day 3
Driver pulled up at 5:40am in a luxurious MG. She was confused about the early-morning Jeng Krua Pier plan; cleared up over translator app. Out of the city, the urban sprawl gave way to farmland and grassland. The pier had an attached restaurant; the area is a clean break from the Bangkok pulse.
She was generous with the camera — took some photos of me before sailing started at 7am, plus a few candid shots that I actually liked.
Predictably, I was the only brown guy on board in full sleeves and a camera bag, surrounded by a tour gang of Caucasians in shorts who were here for a sunbathing-on-deck day. The captain warned that the sea was rough and sightings might be sparse, and offered seasickness pills. Took one. Sailed at 7:30am.
First leg was an education stop in the cabin. Life vests on (protocol). The AC was a mercy in the open-water heat outside.
On deck, the rough sea kept knocking my balance. Most of the time I was bracing on a mast or pillar. One of the other tourists — a woman who asked if I shoot professionally — turned out to be helpful, calling out whales as they surfaced.
Strong currents kept the adults and calves from doing the signature filter-feeding stance. Wildlife tours don’t promise sightings; this one delivered the lesson again. Toward the end, a couple of Bryde’s whales appeared with more predictable movement and gave us better frames. Blowhole and body marks from the sideways feeding maneuver were the pickups of the day.
Onboard food (breakfast and lunch) was chicken, rice, fresh prawns, unlimited Tom Yum. Quality was fine. The combination of scorching heat and a rocky boat made the meal harder than it needed to be.
Departed at 2pm, port at 3pm. Photos with the driver, then return to Bangkok. Checked in at Oakwood Sathorn at 4pm. Japanese toilet, bathtub, the full setup.
Sathorn is a corporate district — quiet, no tourist crowd. Walking distance to Baan Somtum, another Michelin-recommended restaurant, this one famous for papaya salad and Thai spice work.
Started with the spicy crab papaya salad finished with ground red chilli. The trick is to eat slowly — the heat hits a beat after the bite. Followed with the minced duck salad and a sweet longan juice that kept the chilli’s Scoville reading manageable.
On the way back, I stopped into a 7-Eleven (they are everywhere in Bangkok) and grabbed a lime-flavoured Pepsi, which is not sold in India. Back at the hotel I got pulled into a Thai drama on TV. Ordered Pad Ka Prao and an egg omelette via Grab Food. Portions small, flavour basic, but it served the purpose.
Day 4
Checked out at 10:30am, hand luggage with reception. Final destination: ICONSIAM, another Asian-mega-mall. The interior reads more like a curated market — pop-up stores, street-food vendors.
Lower two floors are pop-ups and local chains; the main mall sits above on escalators. Each floor is a category, with flagship stores from premium brands. ICONSIAM is one of Bangkok’s most upscale malls; pricing reflects it.
A second iconic Apple store on the 2nd floor — same building, this one opens directly onto the riverfront, with the entrance tucked inside the mall.
Top floor holds the cinemas and restaurants. I had not booked a meal, so I scanned the dining options on foot.
Found Ginger Farm next to a large water fountain in the food court. Strong reviews, so I ordered the Chicken Khao Suey and longan immersed in cane-sugar coconut milk. Generous portions (a recurring theme in Thai food) and flavour landed.
Back at the hotel lobby by 3pm, awaiting the pre-booked Grab. At DMK by 4:30pm, immigration and check-in cleared by 6:30pm.
A couple of hours in the lounge: sushi, salads, chocolate-chip cookies. Spread was strong. The strawberry Fanta was over-syruped.
Boarded at 8:30pm. End of trip. Back to office grind.
Field Notes
- Skip Nana / Asok if your goal is the city. Both areas tilt heavily toward tourist traps and parties.
- Carry at least 15,000 THB in cash. Nobody is asking at entry now, but the pre-visa-waiver rule book required it and immigration may still spot-check.
- Plan around the sun, the rain, and the traffic. All three are ungenerous in Bangkok at different points of the day.
- Thai people are friendly and helpful even with broken English. The multicultural tilt of Bangkok keeps communication tractable.
- Some hotels ask for a 1000 THB cash deposit at check-in, refunded at checkout. Standard window: check-in at noon, check-out at 2pm.
- VAT refund kicks in for shopping above 2000 THB. Collect the bills. Refund happens at the airport before immigration.
One Recommendation
All the dining picks above earn the trip. Quick must-try shortlist:
- Thong Smith — boat noodles
- Nara — any of the Michelin-rated dishes
- Baan Somtum — crab papaya salad
Plus Thai mango from anywhere.
Taking a break from travelling now. We will see how it goes.
Sayantan