BSMT BLOG #12 : Travelling Solo to Bangkok 🇹🇭 with a toddler

May 6, 2024

Hello Everyone!

Last week, I brought my 3.5 yo toddler , Callum to Bangkok, Thailand 🇹🇭!

Yes, only both of us 😖 Initially the thought of travelling solo with a toddler was daunting but actually it was not as bad as what I had thought.

Perhaps, the big questions are:

Why only Callum and not the whole family? I had an unused flight voucher from Scoot and decided to just get Callum as my companion as it’s cheaper to purchase a child ticket. Besides, husband was unable to take leave and Isaac was just starting school and we did not want to disrupt his routine

Why Bangkok? Cos I feel that it is kids friendly with so many attractions for kids and places/ shopping malls are easily accessible by BTS, MRT, or grab.

Did I feel that Bangkok is safe for just a mother and a toddler? I have travelled to Bangkok a few times before, even with kids and I feel that as long as you keep your LOs under close supervision ( by close supervision, I mean not letting them run around on their own in public places, even shopping malls, I think it’s a pretty safe place - it’s better to be safe than sorry!)

So, let’s see what we did during our trip :)

25th April 2024, Thursday

We flew by Scoot and our flight was scheduled at 12.55 pm. It was bittersweet feelings cos usually I would bring Isaac with me too but I try to brush the emotions away.

I sent Isaac to school in the morning and showered him with kisses before leaving. Then I packed my luggage and together with Callum, headed to the airport ( husband sent us off 😆)

Isaac be like,”very good hor, never bring me along!”

I tried to pack light but some essential items were still necessary to bring. Before our trip, we were updated on how the heatwave hit Thailand and neighbouring countries. The temperature hit 39° at the time of checking. So I definitely had to bring along sunblock with Callum and me! On top of that, all the medicines, vitamins and water bottle!

This is the UV mist that both Callum and I used :)

Anyway, things that I prepared for the flight to keep Callum occupied:

1. Snacks ( I tried to keep it handy - just packed some snacks in a small ziplock bag)

2. Activity sheets ( that I downloaded from Kiddo worksheet)

3. IPad ( we subscribed to YouTube premium so that we could download Callum‘s favourite videos)

Once checked in, we cleared immigration and headed for a quick lunch. We reached our gate early, filled up Callum’s water bottle , brought him to the toilet , walked around for a bit and finally time for boarding!

It wasn’t surprising that it was a full flight as it was still Songkran period in Thailand.

One of the greatest things of travelling with young children is that we get priority boarding ( at times we board even earlier than business class passengers 🫣)

During the flight, Callum was busy munching his snacks, completed his activity sheets and watched some peppa pig shows ( Yes he is now into Peppa 😅).

He was a very cooperative kid overall and didn’t give me much headache or anxiety during the flight until….

He told me he wanna poop midflight 😖

I only had one backpack with me so I grabbed my backpack and brought Callum to the toilet ( for solo travellers with kids- it is advisable not to leave your belonging unattended , especially the ones underneath your front seat in a plane even for a toilet break)

I still remember vividly how eyes were on me when I was walking down the aisle carrying a backpack and ushering Callum to the nearest lavatory! Haha but good experience overall

We touched down in Bangkok almost close to 4 pm local time. We only had 1 big checked in luggage so after clearing immigration and collecting our baggage, we headed to meet our driver for the airport transfer. They sent me a text message beforehand to inform me of the meeting point

There are pros and cons of having airport transfer, especially in Bangkok

Pros

- Convenient

- Might not be too expensive

Cons

- Might take a longer travelling time if there is heavy jam

If you are travelling with LO, and get stuck in a jam, LO might get cranky and it can be a very stressful situation

My advice is if you want to choose airport transfer, make sure your arrival time is off peak hour. But even if your arrival time is during peak hour, it is still worth considering taking airport transfer
Alternatively, if you want to take public transport, you might still need to jostle with the peak hour crowd. Imagine with an extra luggage in hand and a toddler 🤯

( I would take airport transfer anytime - just my two cents)

anyway, yeah we got stuck in a jam for almost 2 hours ( a normal traffic condition would more than halve the journey)

Callum even took the opportunity to take A LOT of selfies of himself. This is one of them!

Reached Intercontinental Bangkok at 6 pm. Checked in and only got last room which was an accessible room ( which means it has no bathtub and the shower room was an open concept). We took it anyway, put our luggage down and headed to Centralworld ( which is a walking distance away from the hotel) for dinner

📍Intercontinental Bangkok ( Nearest BTS is Chit Lom Stn)

This picture was taken when we were on our way to Central world for dinner!

📍Dinner at Japanese Restaurant ‘FUJI’ at Centralworld Level 6

Right after dinner, we headed to the arcade at level 2. Changed 10 coins for THB 100.
Callum had the time of his life!

On our way back home we passed by Erawan Shrine and it’s crowded with people as usual

Good night Bangkok! 🌝

26th April 2024, Friday

Callum woke up as usual at 7 am SGT ( which is 6 am local time). On Day 2, we planned to visit ICONSIAM. It is said to be the largest Shopping Mall in Bangkok so we wanted to check it out.

But first, we had our brunch at a very nice cafe at Gaysorn village ( which is also a walking distance from the hotel)

Yum Matcha Latte 🍵

Mouth watering Coconut Croissant 🥥🥐

Soft and fluffy banana pancakes 🍌🍓🥞

📍 Boyy & Son Cafe

When we wanted to take BTS, my rabbit card expired so I got a replacement for THB 50 per card (exclusive of top up value) and each new card is valid for 7 years.

Here is a closer look at the BTS Map and our route. From Chit Lom Stn, we headed to Siam, changed train to Krung Thon Buri, then changed to Gold Line and alighted at Charoen Nakhon. The shopping mall is just directly opposite the BTS stn

The train is similar to LRT in Sg 🫣

ICONSIAM is HUGE! And it houses a lot of branded stores there

We headed to Mega Harborland at Level 6. We reached the playground quite early so there wasn’t any crowd yet. This, by far, has got to be one of the best indoor playgrounds I have ever visited in Bangkok! If you are bringing your LO to Bangkok, it is worth checking this place out!

The only downside is that we had to use their anti slip socks or socks from specified indoor playgrounds. So even if you bring your own anti slip socks but you purchased it elsewhere, it’s a no go 😖

If I remember correctly, a pair of socks costs THB 60

Once we had placed our belongings in the provided locker, we made our way into the playground.
( Head over to my IG and check out more of the videos on my Story highlight ‘🇹🇭Bkk w/ Cal’)

Within the playground itself, there is small cafe where you can have a quick bite. They would scan your bracelet tags upon check out and the final amount will be calculated and paid once we exit the playground

We spent almost the whole day in ICONSIAM.
There are lots of dining options at the basement level. I bought some bread and Thai snacks and quickly headed back to the hotel as Callum started to feel cranky as he was sooo tired.

Yes, he couldn’t fight the sleepiness anymore so I had to carry him most of the time 🫣

Tried this Thai crispy pancake with coconut shred. So so only la

When we reached hotel, Callum had a good nap. When he woke up, it was close to dinner time so I brought him to Centralworld AGAIN to look for food. We headed to Living space at level 7 ( if I’m not mistaken) at central world- it’s Kopitiam concept but the food was not that great.

It’s cashless concept. So you have to purchase a card and top up the amount you want BUT the card must be exchanged for cash ( for remaining / unused amount) ON THE SAME DAY itself.

Yeah, I made a mistake and thought that the same card could be used for the next day. When I went there on the next day, they said ,”sorry the card is invalid”. And they cannot refund me for the remaining amount. Luckily I only had THB 65 left. Otherwise I would have cried!

After dinner, we went to the children section, let Callum play with Lego before heading back to the hotel to call it a day!

Day 2 is gone! Good night! 🌝

27th April 2024, Saturday

I planned for a day trip to KhaoYai! Contacted a tour guide who used to bring me around Ayutthaya. Asked him to arrange for the transport and driver. He is a very nice gentleman with fluent English :)

Our tour guide was showing Callum what to expect in Khao Yai to get him excited ☺️

Traffic from Bkk to KhaoYai was not too bad on a Saturday morning ( we set off at 8.30 am local time from the hotel). The journey to Khao Yai was about 2-2.5 hrs

Our first stop was Primo Piazza

I would say this place is amazing ( if the weather was slightly cooler). Due to the super hot weather, there was not much crowd, which was a good thing for us.

Many beautiful phototaking spots and one of the activities that Callum had been looking forward to is feeding sheep and alpaca in the barn 🐑🐏

Well, there were donkeys too!

Next stop, we headed to the jungle house where we could feed elephants 🐘🐘

Purchased a basket of bananas for feeding for THB 50 per basket

By the time we were done with all the feeding, we headed for lunch at Krua Kampan.

It’s a nice little eating house which serves authentic Thai food! ( Only accept cash)

Our tour guide said that whenever he brought his customers here, they would ask him to bring them again the next day ( when they stay overnight in Khao Yai)

Right after lunch, we headed to the Chocolate Factory. They also hold chocolate making workshop for THB200 per pax which runs for 15-20 mins. Callum was only interested in the ice cream so we skipped the workshop

Then, our tour guide wanted us to experience how the locals cool themselves in a pool of spring water , especially during hot season

Here we are at Ban Tha Chang Spring Water. You can go for 2km kayaking for THB100

Next, this is one of my favourites cos I love mangoes! 🥭🥭🥭

Khao Yai the Mango Housefarm

Basically it’s a huge mango plantation and there is a quaint little cafe by the side of the plantation which serves mouth watering mango sticky rice, mango pudding , mango juice and smoothie

I would say, they are totally God-sent in such a searing heat!

Callum with our driver!

Next stop, we headed to see one of the biggest Buddhist statues in Khao Yai

(Luang Por Thuat)

And our final stop, we headed to the largest dairy farm in Asia Farm Chokchai

Over here, we were greeted by so many beautiful blooms!

You can also ride a horse, milk a cow, and spend an afternoon chilling here!

Overall, we had so much fun day tripping to Khao Yai and our tour guide recommended us to come again during cool season in Oct- Jan where we could see the beautiful blooms in Hokkaido Flower Farms and maybe stay 4D3N to explore the National Park!

We did a 10 hour trip and got back to hotel by 6.30 pm.

Ordered in room dining as we were too tired to even step out of the room.

We had an early night! 🌙

28th April 2024, Sunday

It’s our last day in BKK and I didn’t want to overtire Callum so we just went to nearby shopping malls

First Stop: Terminal 21 ( nearest BTS: Asok Stn)

Lunch at our all time favourite MK house

Went to the gourmet market at the basement and Callum spotted these nuts and he wanted to try it so I bought a small packet of these Macademia Nuts which cost like THB 300 💸

We also went to Platinum and Big C Center (which is also within walking distance from the hotel) but quickly went back to hotel cos Callum was very cranky

I tried to catch these for Isaac cos I know he loves elephants so much. At this point, I really missed Isaac miserably 💔 and I couldn’t wait to go back and hug him 🥹

Next, we walked all the way to Siam Paragon ( cos there was an overhead bridge) and we wanted to avoid peak hour crowd

Took one photo with Callum right in front of our hotel.

29th April 2024, Monday

A couple of dramas unfolded prior to our return flights

1. Our Scoot flight was cancelled ‘due to operational issues’ and I only found out the night before at around 8 pm that it was cancelled when I checked my Changi Airport app ( I always have the habit of saving my flights in changi app). It said that my flight was cancelled. But Scoot had not informed me even through email. I checked over and over again.

In the end, I looked for alternative flight and found Thai airways flight to be reasonably priced for such last minute booking. After booking, 4 hours later , at 12.20 am, I received an email from scoot stating this

Win Liao loh. Now I cannot claim insurance

So anyway I forgo the return ticket and went ahead with Thai airways instead

2. Our flight departed Bkk at around 1 pm so we had ample of time to pack and prepare.
Asked the hotel to book a taxi for us but what came was grab with such an errant driver.
Idk how he drove, zigzagging his way through that I felt sick in my stomach. Of course Callum did too and he vomitted!