Travel: Thailand - Bangkok

[spring]

//Moderator's note: Topics merged


Hi all,

i am thinking of bringing my 2yo to bangkok with my hubby,mil & sil. But i have some concerns....

Is it goin to be chalenging to travel e few hrs journey with her?
Wad r e necessity to prepare?
Which hotel wld u recommend? (i've been to arnoma n twin tower but tt was when im stil single)
Is it easy to find food tt is suitable for my gal to eat?
Is e water clean for young children? (need to prepare milk)

Hopefully anyone who had brought kids to bangkok wld give me some advices... TIA!

[boliau]

great i will be in bangkok too on 25nov. staying at amari watergate. now got promotion. go chk out thier website

[mckenzy]

. Is it goin to be chalenging to travel e few hrs journey with her?


not if you prepare her… drink water when there is cabin air pressure
etc etc

. Wad r e necessity to prepare?

the stuff you would bring on a normal trip overseas… milk powder, utensils, hotwater flask, bottled boiled water…

. Which hotel wld u recommend? (i’ve been to arnoma n twin tower but tt was when im stil single)

Amari Watergate is nice if you don’t plan to use the subway much


. Is it easy to find food tt is suitable for my gal to eat?

there is NO food for your daughter to eat.
unless she’s been trained to eat outside food, suggest bringing your own somehow

. Is e water clean for young children? (need to prepare milk)

nope



…


seriously, i wouldn’t bring my primary-schooling kids to BKK… nothing for them to see nor do.

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

I’ve been to Bangkok several times with my daughter when she was little. I stayed in Sheraton Sukhumvit (can’t remember the spelling). She was less than 2 years old.


For the long journey, highly depends on the child’s character. Do bring toys, books, things that will keep your child occupied in flight or things that they like to play.

What do I bring? Milk, medicine, ample change of clothing (light clothings that can be layered on), hot flask, wet tissue, things that you normally bring along when you bring your baby/toddler out.

I boil water in the hotel room and put them in a small hot flask when I go out. Food, she was less than 1 year old. I fed her cereal when we went out. I usually eat in the hotel, so, she will have broiled fish & mashed potatoes.

I brought her to the weekend market (Chaktuchat - dont know the spelling as well). Not the right place for a baby/toddler. It’s extremely hot & dusty. For shopping mall, not much of a problem.

Where to stay? Best to stay near the transit train or at the heart of the mall. I just came back from Bangkok about a month ago. I stayed in Centara Grand same building as the World Trade Centre.

Don’t worry too much about bringing a toddler/baby when travelling. I was out working 8am-6pm. My husband was the one looking after my daughter walking around in the city of Bangkok alone. He didn’t face any problem (except toilet issue) when he was alone with the baby. You have mil, hubby and sil with you.

By the way, what are your plans in Bangkok? You might want to list down as some places are really not meant for baby or toddler to enjoy.

[nani]

I NEVER use their tap water to boil, I ALWAYS use bottle water.

[ZacK]

spring:

//Moderator's note: Topics merged


Hi all,

i am thinking of bringing my 2yo to bangkok with my hubby,mil & sil. But i have some concerns....

Is it goin to be chalenging to travel e few hrs journey with her?
Wad r e necessity to prepare?
Which hotel wld u recommend? (i've been to arnoma n twin tower but tt was when im stil single)
Is it easy to find food tt is suitable for my gal to eat?
Is e water clean for young children? (need to prepare milk)

Hopefully anyone who had brought kids to bangkok wld give me some advices... TIA!

You may wish to try Novotel Siam Square... We stayed there when we visited BKK two yrs back. Basically my wife and I are not the adventurous type, when we visited, it was the hot season... So for us it was basically out of hotel straight to the shopping malls!

From the hotel side entrance, walk less than 10 min to the reach the stretch of upmarket shopping malls (Siam Paragon, Central World). They've food court, fast food, supermarket etc, so makes it easier in case you need to grab essentials for your kid.

The train station is just beside the shopping malls so that is within walking distance as well. Slightly further away but still within walking distance is MBK, which I liken to our Queensway shopping centre).

[autumnbronze]

Hi Spring,


I went to Bangkok 2x when my son was 1 yr and again at 1 and a half yrs. We stayed at the Novotel at Siam Square and Holiday Inn Silom, Bangkok. The latter is v child friendly. Please request to be accomodated at the new wing as it is more spacious. He is now 27 mths and I will be bringing him to one of the islands off Thailand soon. I will find my checklist done previously, update it and share in a day or so. In the meantime:

Is it goin to be challenging to travel e few hrs journey with her?
As EN mentioned. It depends on the character. I brought some lollipops for him to suck in case he felt the pressure in his ears, fortunately, it was smooth sailing also because we kept him occupied with colouring and let him play with the remote control. I prepared him in advance by showing him pix of bangkok on the internet, reading him a book abt a young boy travelling in a plane for the first time, identifying the plane, pilot etc.. and also assuring him that almost everybody feels the ear pressure and if you feel it, tell mommy so I will know what to do with you.

Wad r e necessity to prepare?
Will share with you soon

Which hotel wld u recommend? (i've been to arnoma n twin tower but tt was when im stil single)
As mentioned above. You may also want to consider surfing the websites of the hotels you have shortlisted to check if they provide child friendly services ie kids' pool, kids' activities, clinics nearby etc... We travelled by taxi where ever we went, just to be away and safe from the crowds. We walked too, if the destination was not far.

Is it easy to find food tt is suitable for my gal to eat?
Most hotels provide breakfast in their accomodation pkg. If your gal is not fussy, you can give her bread, porridge, fried rice, noodles, yogurt, cereal, full cream milk (tell them to warm it up first) etc.. I also stock up on yogurt pkt and fruits from the buffet bar to give him in between meals. At that time, I brought Nestle pkt cereal, biscuits and fruit bars from hm. So morn would be oats with prune, aftnoon rice with mixed vege and nite would be bottled food (eg heinze). This time, I will bring pkt cereal in case, but I will order plain rice with stir fried vege or fried rice or if he can eat what I am ordering for myself, I will share with him. If the hotel/restaurant is reputable, they will oblige your request for your toddler's food. But don't give her street food. It may not be necessary to bring hot water flask, utensils etc.. if you are able to arrange with the hotel to provide these items. Can be done via email or telephone.

Is e water clean for young children? (need to prepare milk)
You can give her bottled water from the hotel room, but boil it first.

Some children thrive on routines. You may want to consider bringing something to occupy her, like toys. These familiar things provide a source of comfort. My son would work on his puzzle once we return to the room aft breakfast and poo poo at the same time. It became a routine for him as we stayed for 1 week on both occasions.

I was initially worried when I travelled with him for the first time. For me, what helped was that I prepared him for it, so he wasn't overwhelmed or scared. Its a good thing that you are exposing your child to travel at a young age. Don't worry, you are going with family, so you will have support.

Have a good trip.

[autumnbronze]

Hi Spring,


Couldn't find my old list. So I made a new one as I am preparing for his trip as well. Some of the items may not be applicable to you and you may need to add on:

1.Pampers
2.Attire (abt 2 to 3 changes a day)
3.Pyjamas
4.Liquid detergent (small bottle)
5.Cotton buds
6.Body wash/body sponge
7.Shampoo
8.Moisturizer
9.Insect repellent
10.Vaselin (petroluem jelly)
11.Wet wipes (big and small pkt)
12.Snacks ie biscuits, fruit bars
13.Toys/books
14.Small napkins
15.Shoes/sandals
16.Socks
17.Comb/brush
18.Powder
19.Medication eg vicks, calamine lotion, panadol for kids, sea salt spray for runny nose, cough syrup
20.Underwear
21.Nestle cereal
22.Hand sanitizer
23.Cap
24.Sunscreen lotion
25.Swim trunks
26.Bathrobe
27.Cod liver oil

Thats all I can think of. If necessary, will keep on updating. BTW, you can check via phone/email if they have a toddler's cot/mattress, food warmer and as I have mentioned, if its child friendly and reputable, they can provide you with such items.

Hope this helps.

[buds]

spring:

Hi all,


i am thinking of bringing my 2yo to bangkok with my hubby,mil & sil. But i have some concerns....

Hi spring, i visited Bangkok when my girls were
2+ and 4+. My elder DD was down with stomach
flu the nite before some more. But no choice, we
had to bring her anyway..

With one kiddie down we definitely had to pack for
war. But it was definitely a challenging experience
but still a nice memorable one. :love:

Ours was early morning flight, so kiddies both slept
soundly. Bangkok traffic is a killer during peak
season. ie. holiday season. So children can be quite restless.
We brought some puzzles, books & games to keep them occupied.
Small whiteboard and colourful markers oso good and sticker books.
Depending on the age of your child can consider to bring some of the
stuff they like.

Bring a cap for head protection; be it rainy or sunny.

spring:

Is it goin to be chalenging to travel e few hrs journey with her?

For us DD1 was a travel baby, we have brought her
out for trips since very baby years. But cause she
fell ill, we brought all her medication from the GP and
we found out later part of the trip that the medication
were not enough. I had to use my lifeline.. hehee.. :lol:
a nurse friend in SG to find out what are the alternatives
we cud get off the shelf in Bangkok's pharmacies.

Panadol syrup should be easy to get there.
But for cough and runny nose may not find similar brands
we're used to. But for us it was the vomiting that was reali
bad from the stomach flu. So my nurse friend just advised
to keep her hydrated and it is normal not having appetite
to consume anything, but let her eat anything she feels like
even chips and down it with fizzy drinks. She explained that
the fizzy drinks like coke sprite and the likes will help with
the nausea and the gas in her tummy. Indeed, in our case it
definitely helped a lot. During our 5 days there, things started
to get better by the 3rd day. Phew! For the diarrhoea,
she told us that Smecta or Lacteolforte should be readily
available there too.

spring:

Wad r e necessity to prepare?

Lots of pull ups, cos not many places to get them to lie down
for nappy change. Lots of wet wipes. Gosh, i can never do
without these! :lol: Then, we needed those easy disposable
blue duckie plastic rolls for every nappy change and every
vomiting episode. The Mother care ones are greeeaaat cos
it sorta has a powdery scent that makes pull-ups with poop
smell like powder too. :lol:

We had to bring a pram as well cause DD1 was in no condition
to walk around, so we had to push her everywhere we went. As
we were with a group tour, the organisers were great as we had
help with our kiddies and our stuff. The drivers were also our
lifesavers. Kind married couple who helped us out all the time. :lol:
They always wanted to make sure the kiddies were okay, and
usually asked if there was anything we needed throughout our
trip.

Pillow and small blanket for coach rides. Or those neck pillows
will be good too. We also travelled to Pattaya for some beach
action @ Coral Island.

Clothes should preferably be pre-ironed and folded nicely. And
if you're planning to shop for clothes no need to bring so many
as Bangkok is a shopping haven. One disadvantage though...
their range caters more to the stick thins and slims. For ladies
wearing L and XL sizes not really easy to find similar fanciful ones
like those available for the stick thin people.

A few shops we passed by charged extra for large sizes. Same
brand. Same type. But priced higher.

spring:

Which hotel wld u recommend? (i've been to arnoma n twin tower but tt was when im stil single)

Baiyoke Sky was definitely thee largest place we stayed over at.
Complete with walk in wardrobes & all but yet still spacious enuff
to still play bowling inside. We were place somewhere around the
43rd floor. Corner unit. HUGE! The elevator ride up can be deafening
for some, who are placed on the higher floors. Breakfast is at the top
floor with a very nice morning view! Glass window panels surrounding
the top level, and tuk tuk exhibit for picture taking amongst the variety
of breakfast spread.

spring:

Is it easy to find food tt is suitable for my gal to eat?

Daily b'fast was right at the top of the hotel. Quite posh and lavish for
us already.. :drool: During our time there, they even had vegetarian
food. Kiddies can eat cereal or porridge/congee lah. There is
also a Japanese food station if you're into Jap food.

spring:

Is e water clean for young children? (need to prepare milk)

Best to use bottled water. Use up the complimentary ones from the
hotel and they will usually replenish when they see your counter empty.
We chilled 2 bottles of the complimentary bottled water for our outdoor
trips the following day. Their summer can be quite hot.

spring:

Hopefully anyone who had brought kids to bangkok wld give me some advices... TIA!

autumnbronze has provided quite a lot of the necessities liao. If i can
remember other stuff, will post it up again. When are you leaving btw?

[autumnbronze]

Hey Spring,


Additional items I have in my checklist:

28.Toothpaste
29.Toothbrush
30.Child's water bottle
31.Changing mat
32.Disposal bags (as suggested by Buds, the duckie ones from mothercare)

We don't use the pram. Son is used to walking and we are used to carrying him