Out and about in Siam.

Community Highlights Asia Out and about in Siam.

Inside Wat Pathum Wanaram.

We began our first full day in Bangkok by going swimming in the hotel's kidney shaped pool which is located on the fourth floor. It's a pleasant pool, though a little bit shallow. There was very soothing music playing constantly as we swam which made the whole experience very peaceful.

Looking down on the pool from the sixteenth floor.

Looking up at the hotel.

Statue by the pool.

Us by the pool.

Peter with paintings at the pool.

Chinese ixora.

Peter in the pool.

There's a poolside bar here too and we were able to use our free drinks vouchers at it. I rather liked that the pool bar had a novelty table shaped like a tuk tuk. This was good for photos. We spent a relaxed morning and early afternoon just chilling by the pool.

Pool bar.

Peter with the tuk tuk.

Us by the bar.

Peter with the tuk tuk.

Me with my drink by the pool.

Peter with his beer.

Then I took Peter back to our room and I went out for a walk to explore some things around the hotel. I wanted to have a look at the wat we could see from our bedroom window. Its full name was Wat Pathum Wanaram Ratcha Wora Viharn, but thankfully it's normally called Wat Pathum Wanaram for short, a much more manageable name.

Looking down on the wat from our room.

When I went out, I noticed the street our hotel was on was full of massage parlours offering Thai massage or oil massage. They were everywhere.

Lots of Thai massage parlours next to our hotel.

To get to the wat I headed to Siam BTS Station. and got onto the BTS walkway. This walkway extends a long way and is really useful for getting around as it has a roof and provides some shelter from the sun and on wet days from the rain. Plus it takes away the need to constantly cross the road in the crazy Bangkok traffic.

Outside the wat there was a very elaborate shrine filled with golden statues.

Shrine outside the wat.

Wat Pathum Wanaram was founded by King Mongkut, also known as Rama IV, in 1857, so he could have a place to worship near his palace. It's an incredibly peaceful place which is amazing as it's next to a major road and surrounding by Siam Paragon and Central World Shopping Malls. In 2010 when the Thai government clamped down on the Red Shirts anti-government protesters, this temple was used as a safe zone for injured people. However, six people ended up being shot and killed here in the crossfire from the fighting outside the temple.

Plan of the temple.

There were four buildings that I could go inside and a large white stupa.

Temple building.

Stupa.

In the temple grounds.

I was amazed that I seemed to be the only tourist in the temple. Every one else either worked there or was a worshipper, but several people spoke to me and welcomed me to look around. Although this temple isn't famous like Wat Pho or Wat Arun, it is incredibly beautiful. Some buildings were guarded by golden elephants, others by Chinese lions.

Elephants guard the way.

Elephant guards.

Elephant guard.

Chinese lion guard.

The wall paintings inside the wat buildings were really beautiful. There was also lots of amazing details on the doors and on the inner and outer walls

Inside the temple building.

Inside the other hall of the wat.

Detail of door.

Detail on pillar.

Wall painting.

Paintings on the wall.

Painting.

There were golden statues of monks inside one building and a statue of a head monk in another.

Golden monk statues.

Monk statue.

There were also several statues on the temple grounds. I especially liked the obelisk with a face carved on each of its four sides.

Statue.

Carving.

Dharma chakra wheel.

Gong.

In addition to the more traditional temple buildings, there was a wooden building in European style inside the grounds of the wat. I believe Rama IV was very interested in European things

European style building.

Door of European style building.

The garden of the wat had some lovely flowers and a sacred tree.

Frangipani.

Bougainvillea

Waterlily.

Sacred tree.

The contrast between the old temple buildings and the modern shopping centres and high-rises all around them was striking.

Old and new.

I really enjoyed my visit here, but realised I had been in the sun too long, so I got back on the BTS walkway to get into the shade. I decided I would walk to the Erawan Shrine. We have been here many times. It's always an interesting place to visit.

On the way I passed another old building I could see from our hotel room and the Headquarters of the Thai Police Force. In addition to these old buildings there were many gleaming modern skyscrapers, hotels and malls. There was lots of traffic on the congested roads below and many many motorbikes.

Old building we could see from the hotel.

Thai police headquarters

Thai Police headquarters.

Modern buildings on route.

Busy traffic.

Parking for bikes.

The Erawan Shrine dates back to 1956 and is located next to the Erawan Hotel. It houses a statue of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. It's always busy here with worshippers queueing up to place offerings to the four faced deity at the centre of the shrine. There's a collection of elephants in one corner and a troupe of dancers in another. If someone has made a wish here and it has come true, they will come back and thank Brahma by paying for the dancers to sing and dance for the god. The dancers wear traditional Thai costumes and it is fun to watch them perform.

Erawan Hotel from the BTS walkway.

Erawan Shrine from the BTS walkway.

Four faced Brahma statue at the Erawan Shrine.

Garlands adorn the Erawan Shrine.

Placing offerings at the Erawan Shrine.

Elephants at the Erawan Shrine.

Dancers and worshippers at the Erawan Shrine.

Dancers and worshipper at the Erawan Shrine.

Drummer at the Erawan Shrine.

Stall at the Erawan Shrine.

The Erawan Shrine was built by the owners of the Erawan Hotel. They began constructing their hotel on an unlucky date and this was believed to cause lots of unfortunately events. There were several delays in the construction process, plus the hotel builders suffered several accidents, so the Erawan Shrine was created in an effort to cancel out the bad luck. However, there have been several unlucky incidents at the shrine, too.

In 2006 a young Thai man attacked the four faced Brahma statue with a hammer. Worshippers and passersby were so furious, they beat him to death. It turned out that this man was mentally ill. Then in 2015 a bomb was detonated at the shrine, killing twenty people and injuring one hundred and twenty-five others. This attack was apparently carried out by a terrorist group called the Grey Wolves in retaliation for Thailand deporting Uyghur separatists back to China.

I had a look at another nearby shrine. This one is called the Indra Shrine. Indra is the God of Thunder and lightning. I had a look then climbed back up to the BTS walkway.

Indra Shrine.

I was feeling really quite overheated by this stage so I went into the Central World Shopping Centre on my walk back to the hotel to cool down. This is a huge shopping mall, one of the biggest in Bangkok, located over several different floors. Near the mall there was a floral display called Blooming Legacies.

Blooming Legacies display near the mall.