Bangkok

Monday, December 1, 2025

Not exactly the start to vacation we had in mind.

Sophon and I arrived at LAX early for our business class flight. While I’ve flown business before, this was my first time visiting the Polaris Lounge at LAX — and I was genuinely looking forward to it.

Big mistake.

The lounge looked impressive at first glance, but that’s where it ended. We struggled to find a table, and the food looked like it had been sitting out for hours. As we picked at a few items, I couldn’t help noticing that no one seemed to be clearing dishes or wiping down tables. The whole place felt sluggish and neglected.

After finishing, we actually moved to another area just so we wouldn’t have to stare at our own dirty plates. For United’s flagship business class lounge, it was underwhelming. I’ve had better food and noticeably better service at the Maple Leaf Lounge in Terminal 6, not to mention the Star Alliance Lounge in the International Terminal.

As boarding time approached, the lounge became packed. Guests were being redirected to the regular United Club. Not exactly the premium experience you expect when you’re paying for business class.

Then things got interesting.

After boarding, I noticed several people in bright vests labeled “Tech Ops” moving in and out of the cockpit. The captain told us we were waiting on security paperwork and some last-minute luggage, but it was obvious something wasn’t right.

We eventually pushed back and taxied out… only to sit on the runway. Finally, the announcement came: there was a radio issue, and we were heading back to the gate.

At the gate, the inevitable: the flight was cancelled. We were told customer service agents would assist us in the boarding area.

Here’s where it hurt.

We were scheduled to spend six hours in Bangkok before continuing on to Singapore. That onward flight was on a separate ticket. Which meant United wasn’t going to help rebook it. Any change fees? That was on me.

I knew the risk when I booked separate tickets. But in all my years of flying, I’ve only had one flight cancelled. I didn’t expect this to be number two — and certainly not at the start of a trip.

As we headed to the hotel, I already knew I wouldn’t be sleeping much. Vacation hadn’t even begun, and I was about to spend the night reworking an international itinerary from a hotel room at LAX.

Wat Rakhan Royal Temple

November 18th, 2024

We took the sky train to buy tickets to the Chao Phraya Tourist Boat Co. hop-on hop-off.  The boat goes up and down the river and allows people, like a hop-on hop-off bus, to get on and off at various tourist sites along the Chao Phraya River.  I have to admit, I enjoyed it more than I expected to. I have taken hop-on hop-off bus tours in other cities and ran into issues with the buses running late or being full.   These boats ran on a tight schedule and kept to it.  I was impressed.

I think the ticket was around $5, and we made full use of it.  After stopping at a temple, we had a snack at the Wang Lang Market and then went to ICONSIAM, a huge shopping mall with a huge food court.  We got Pho for lunch in one of the restaurants before heading to the hotel to take a break.

It was then on to the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun).  We wanted to get there around sunset knowing they were going to light it up right after sunset.   It was packed with both Thai people as well as foreigners.  Many of them dressed in traditional costumes.

I remember years ago, before social media, visiting Ukraine and noticing that people loved to dress up in different costumes and pose for picture.  As I watched the groups of people posing for pictures at Wat Arun, I couldn’t help but notice that they had gone all out with costumes, full hair and makeup and professional photographers.

We waited to see them light it up and then we fought to get on one of the last boats to Asiatique, a fun riverfront area with restaurants, clubs and shopping along with a Ferris wheel and haunted house ride.  Bangkok has a lot of malls, and each one tries to outdo the previous one. Continue reading →

Floating rafts for the Loy Krathong Festival

November 15th, 2024

As we approached the hotel, I noticed that there were vendors selling what looked like flower arrangements.  Sophon explained that it was the annual Loy Krathong festival, where you light a candle on a small raft and set it afloat.  It is supposed to wash away bad luck.  After checking in to our hotel, we set out to the park to purchase a couple of baskets and to set our lanterns afloat!

Afterwards we went to EmSphere and got bowl of Thai boat noodles. The soup is rich and flavorful.  It is made with pork, ginger green onion, garlic cilantro and five spice.  I have also noticed that it varies from place to place, and this bowl was very spicey.   I always think I can handle spice, which I can but Thai spice is an entirely different level!

Continue reading →

November 15th, 2024

It was time to go back to Bangkok.  We boarded VietJet Air flight VN 961 from Da Nang back to Bangkok.  It was my first time flying on VietJet Air which is considered a low-cost airline.  We purchased “Skyboss” tickets so that the airfare included the luggage and deluxe seats.  I don’t think the seats were any different from the economy seats but we were seated in the first row giving us extra legroom.

I thought the flight attendants’ uniforms were cute and snapped a picture of our flight attendant and she made her boarding announcements!

They offered us drinks and a meal.  I was surprised at the drink menu, they had an “Iced Orange Americano” which was a cold drink that combined coffee and orange juice and a drink .  It did not sound good.   I also noticed a drink called “Egg Coffee” which is popular in Vietnam.  It is made with egg yolks, sugar and condensed milk which is whipped together and then poured in to coffee.  I decided to go with a beer – “Bia Saigon”. Continue reading →