Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keow
This is a huge walled compound, inside which there are many buildings, including those of Wat Phra Keow and the palace itself, one of the official homes of the Thai kings. The palace has an area of 218,400 sq metres and is surrounded by walls built in 1783. There are monastery buildings, government offices and the Chapel Royal of the Emerald Buddha as well as the royal residence. Monks do not live in the monastery in this compound. There are galleries of murals throughout, depicting the story of the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian Ramayana, a mythical battle between good and evil, written in verse.

photograph © [2007] Jupiterimages Corporation

One of the most important buildings is the Royal Temple housing the Emerald Buddha, a 75 cm high statue of Buddha carved from a single piece of jade. It is the holiest object in all of Thailand. Each year at the start of the cool season of the year, the King places a solid gold robe on the Buddha. In another building visitors can see the throne where Kings of Thailand are crowned.

Wat Po
One of the three most important temples in Bangkok, it is the oldest and largest temple complex in Thailand.The 2nd largest and most beautiful 'Reclining Buddha' statue can be seen here. It is 46m long and 15m high, made of plaster-covered brick covered with gold leaf. On the soles of the statue's feet are 108 small mother-of-pearl pictures of Buddha.

Wat Traimit : The Temple of the Golden Buddha
 This is another of the three most important temples in Bangkok, housing a huge solid gold statue of Buddha seated crosslegged. It is believed to be about 900 years old and is thought to have originally been in the city of Ayutthaya, once the capital city.

Wat Traimit is thought to have been built in the 13th century. In 1957 the huge Buddha statue was being moved to a new temple in Bangkok. It was being hoisted by a crane when he ropes broke and the statue fell to the ground. Large chunks of broken plaster revealed gold beneath. The monks removed the plaster, which had been moulded over the statue hundreds of years before by monks to disguise it and save it from an invading army. Somehow the plaster had remained, and the few who knew it was not just a plaster Buddha image never revealed its secret.

Snake Farm 
The Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, or the Pasteur Institute, more commonly called 'the snake farm', was established to develop antivenenes to treat the hundreds of people who suffer snakebite from the many venomous snakes in Thailand and other places in Southeast Asia. The snakes are 'milked' for venom, and the handlers demonstrate this activity and display some of the snakes, including cobras, kept at the Institute.

Kanchanaburi
Located 120 kilometres away from Bangkok, this is the site of a prisoner of war camp in the Second World War.  A famous bridge was built over the River Kwai by the prisoners, nine thousand of whom died in the process. There is also a war museum and cemetery.

 Ayutthaya  
Ruins at Ayutthaya

The capital of Siam from 1350-1767, Ayuttaya is located about 80 km north of Bangkok. Destroyed in 1767 during a war with Burma, the ruins remain of what was one of the great cities of the world in its day. Visitors can walk about the ruined city or hire bikes and ride.

Rose Garden Show 
The Rose Garden is a huge park about 32 km from Bangkok, in rural countryside near the Tha Chin River. At the Thai Cultural Village set in beautiful gardens, visitors can see a wide assortment of Thai activities such as the ancient art of Thai sword fighting, folk dances, a Thai orchestra, Thai kick boxing, trained elephants etc. Round trip by bus from Bangkok to see the show and walk through the village is about 3 1/2 hours.

 
Crocodile Farm 
One of the world's largest crocodile farms, Sumut Prakan is located at the mouth of the Chao Praya River, 30 kms from Bangkok. Over 30, 000 fresh and saltwater crocodiles are kept here. Visitors can see how the crocodiles are fed, raised and caught bare-handed. The handlers put on a crocodile wrestling display. Other animals are on display, such as trained elephants, gibbons, snakes and lions.

photograph © [2007] Jupiterimages Corporation

Click here for more about Crocodile Farming

Floating Markets 
Hundreds of people live on or beside a network of klongs,or canals. There are markets where small boats gather, loaded with produce and other goods to sell. Shoppers on land and in boats can buy fresh or cooked food, clothing and shoes, pots and bowls and many other goods from the floating shops. 

A floating market just outside Bangkok

If you use any part of this in your own work, acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Thomas, R. & Sydenham, S. A Trip toThailand [Online] Available: www.kidcyber.com.au (2010)

Updated March 2010 ©kidcyber

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