At the time I visited Bangkok, it was famous for shopping and one of the cheapest foreign destinations one could afford to visit. Visit to Bangkok involved trips to the MBK, Platinum and Central Malls. Of course, there are high-end Malls too. I stayed away from them after one round in the shopping frenzied crowd and the fact that my shopping got picked. The mad rush just put me off those aisles (besides, I would rather lose the shopping than the children), so off we went to Safari World and Marine Park instead.

The funny part of the trip was the entire amusement park cum zoo were full of Indians. I could have been in Mumbai for all I know. But the animals made up for the novelty. We went off on our own, armed with the Safari World map that made up the Marine Park and Safari Park. Being the peak summer season, one had to rush for seats for the numerous animal shows. The Dolphin show was so good that we stayed on for the next one as well, this time with better seats. The Safari World claims to have the largest herd of giraffes in a zoo, and one can really see them up close at the feeding platform.

Very common holiday photographs from Thailand used to be people feeding and holding tiger cubs. I am told that these cubs are not just held in captivity in tiny cages but also drugged so that they are in a sedated state for tourist photo ops. Knowing that we steered away from taking that photo and instead enjoyed the colourful macaws that we saw for the first time.

When in Bangkok, you must go on those tuk tuks around the city atleast once. And enjoy the street version of Cold coffee.

Somehow the Thais can eat carbs (rice and noodles) all day and still be tiny. I wish I could have shopped for their metabolism for myself. However,  with such limitations in availability of clothes for large sizes as myself, I did save on the shopping for self part.