Bangkok With Kids
What Bangkok with kids really looks like, from a family that plans these trips for a living.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Bangkok worth it with kids?
Yes. Give it three days. The boats, the temples and the street food make it one of the most fun cities in Asia for kids, once you plan around the heat.
How many days?
Three, four with Ayutthaya. Longer if you are using it as a base before flying to the islands or Chiang Mai.
Do we need to book anything ahead?
Nothing has to be booked far ahead. Buy Grand Palace tickets at the gate, and just aim for early mornings at the temples. A hotel with a pool is the one thing worth locking in.
Do we need a car?
No. The Skytrain, the subway and the river boats cover the city, and a tuk tuk or a taxi fills the gaps. Traffic makes a car the slowest way to move.
When should we go?
November through February for the cooler, drier weather. Skip April, the hottest month, and expect afternoon downpours in the summer rainy season.
The City That Wins Kids Over Fast
Bangkok scares a lot of parents off. Too big, too hot, too much traffic, not a kids’ city. I would tell them to give it a chance, because Bangkok wins children over faster than almost anywhere.
There are golden temples that look like something out of a story, boats that shoot down the river and the canals, markets the size of small towns, and street food a picky eater will actually eat. The heat is real and the traffic is real, and the trains and the boats skip right over both.
Getting Around
Do not rent a car, the traffic will eat your day. The BTS Skytrain and the MRT subway are fast, cheap and air conditioned, the river boats are half the fun, and a tuk tuk is a treat for a short hop. Get a Rabbit card for the Skytrain and use the river express boat like a bus.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
Riverside & the Old City
Along the river by the old city, walking distance to the Grand Palace and the temples, with the express boat at the pier. This is where I would base a first trip, right in the heart of it.
Sukhumvit
The modern side, malls and easy dinners and the Skytrain running overhead, calmer at night and simple to get around. A comfortable base for families who want the trains close.
Ari
A leafier local neighborhood, cafes and parks and space to breathe, a short train ride from the sights. A gentler, good value base away from the crowds.
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok
A legend on the river, over a hundred years old, with the service and the pool and the riverside calm that make a hot city feel easy. A real splurge, and a piece of Bangkok history.
Chatrium Riverside
Right on the river with big family rooms, a great pool and the hotel boat to the sights. Well priced for what you get, and the one I point most families to.
Ibis Bangkok Riverside
Clean, cheap and right by the river and the boat pier, with the space families need and none of the fuss. It does the job and puts you where you want to be.
The Three I Build Every Bangkok Trip Around
The Grand Palace and Wat Pho
Start at the Grand Palace early before the heat, all gold spires and guards and the Emerald Buddha, then walk to Wat Pho next door for the giant reclining Buddha, forty six meters of gold laid on its side. Cover shoulders and knees, both are working temples, and go at opening to beat the crowds and the sun.
The River and a Longtail Boat
Bangkok is a water city under all the concrete. Take the express boat down the river past the temples, then hire a longtail for half an hour into the khlongs, the old canals, where houses on stilts and floating vendors still line the water. It is the best hour you will spend, and the kids will not stop talking about the boat.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
One of the biggest markets on earth, thousands of stalls of everything, with a whole section of street food to graze through. Go on a Saturday or Sunday morning before it bakes, give the kids a small budget, and let them hunt.
Family Time, Built In: Bangkok With Kids
Bangkok gives kids more than parents expect. Boats and trains and tuk tuks, temples that look like treasure, markets to get happily lost in, and mango sticky rice on every corner. The trick is early mornings, a rest in the heat of the day, and evenings back out when it cools.
The harbor ferry to the beach
Sunday fish market
Paddle boats on the the river
Planten un Blomen
Chatuchak Market plaza
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
Lumphini Park, a big green lung in the middle of the city, with paddle boats, playgrounds, and monitor lizards sunning by the water that the kids will not believe are real. The reset when everyone is templed out.
Five Things To Eat In Bangkok
Pad thai
Mango sticky rice
Chicken satay
Boat noodles
Thai iced teaNicole’s Perspective
A river city you can read like a book
I taught social studies and the ancient world for eight years, and Thailand is a gift for that. Bangkok is only a couple of hundred years old as a capital, and just up the river sit the ruins of Ayutthaya, a city that once rivaled any in Europe. You can stand in front of a Buddha head wrapped in tree roots and watch the history click for a kid.
I have planned and priced a lot of Southeast Asia for families, and Bangkok is almost always the first stop I build a Thailand trip around. It is the easy, exciting front door, and then you fly south to the islands or north to Chiang Mai. When a family wants Thailand, this is where we start.
The Day Trip: Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya is about ninety minutes up the river and makes a wonderful day. It was the old capital, and its brick temple ruins and the famous Buddha head held in tree roots are the kind of thing that stays with a kid. Go by train or join a river cruise back down, and be home for dinner.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Three full days covers Bangkok well, four if you are adding Ayutthaya or a slower pace. That is the city as a real stop before the islands.
Day one, the Grand Palace and Wat Pho early, then the river boat and Wat Arun across the water. Day two, the canals by longtail in the morning, a rest, then a night market.
Day three, Chatuchak market or Lumphini Park, and whatever the kids voted for. Day four, the train up to Ayutthaya.
If all you have is a night on the way to the islands, do the Grand Palace and one longtail boat ride, and call it a strong taste.
Bangkok With Kids, Answered
Is Bangkok worth it with kids?
Yes. Give it three days. The boats, the temples and the street food make it one of the most fun cities in Asia for kids, once you plan around the heat.
How many days?
Three, four with Ayutthaya. Longer if you are using it as a base before flying to the islands or Chiang Mai.
Do we need to book anything ahead?
Nothing has to be booked far ahead. Buy Grand Palace tickets at the gate, and just aim for early mornings at the temples. A hotel with a pool is the one thing worth locking in.
Do we need a car?
No. The Skytrain, the subway and the river boats cover the city, and a tuk tuk or a taxi fills the gaps. Traffic makes a car the slowest way to move.
When should we go?
November through February for the cooler, drier weather. Skip April, the hottest month, and expect afternoon downpours in the summer rainy season.
Ready To Put Bangkok On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will tell you the three days that cover Bangkok, and if Ayutthaya or the islands is worth adding.
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