BANGKOK

With your expert guide visit Wat Suthat, one of Bangkok’s most important Buddhist temples, which was founded in 1807 by King Rama I. Witness the resident monks’ morning chanting or participate in the private blessing from Buddhist monk. Explore the architectural landmarks of Bangkok: Royal Grand Palace, Wat PhraKaew, Wat Pho or Wat Arun. These are highly visited sites, but for good reason.

Take a boat trip up the Chao Phraya River, the city’s main artery, to meet a curator at the National Museum, which houses three permanent galleries: the Thai History Gallery, the Archaeological and Art History Collections, and the Decorative Arts and Ethnological Collection. 

Visit Pak Klong Talaat, a market for fruit and vegetable whose busiest hours are between 02:00 and03:00 each morning. Boats on the Chao Phraya River and trucks from nearby provinces arrive with immense quantities of fresh cut flowers, vegetables, spices, and fruits, all piled high inside the market and along nearby streets. There are great photo opportunities as all the flowers, particularly the orchids, are sold under fluorescent lighting.

Discover the secrets of home-style Thai cuisine with a private cooking class at a renowned cooking school located beside the Chao Phraya River. You will have a chance to explore the school’s traditional herb and spice garden and select from its organic ingredients for your hands-on lesson, for which you will have your own cooking station and utensils.

Visit Bangkok’s Noi District where you can see how the locals live in greater Bangkok’sauthentic canal-side neighborhoods, with homes and gardens dotted along the waterfront of the klongs. Board a local “rocket boat” –long, canoe-like traditional vessels with outboard motors on the back – to zip up and down the canals.

Make your way to the Silpakorn University to meet with a local professor for a one-hour lecture about Thailand’s history. Being a Master of Arts, History and Archeology, the university professor can enhance your understanding of Thailand’s history and bring its culture to life through his lively presentation. Also the author of a couple of noted books on history and archaeology, the professor will take any questions you may have after his lecture. 

Being the descendant of a well-known music master during the reign of King Rama VI, it was written in the stars for this musician to follow his great grandfather’s footsteps. Nowadays, the house of this well know musician and musical instrument maker is well-known for making all kinds of traditional Thai musical instruments, such as the xylophone, drums, gongs, zithers, and others. The musician will discuss his passion for making instruments and his accomplishments in music before finishing with a performance of traditional music. 

Take a private Muay Thai kickboxing class.

Try your bargaining skills at Suanlum Night Market, which has over 3,000 stalls of everything from local crafts to antiques.

Try an activity far from the typical tourist path: visit a hospital devoted to convalescing Buddhist monks, where you will likely be the only non-Thai people. The monks love company and sometimes offer private blessings.

Meet a curator who will illuminate the exciting world of Thai contemporary art at the gallery Art Republic, which features mostly young contemporary artists from all over Asia.

Have a private tour of the Jim Thompson House, a living history of traditional Thai architecture assembled by the silk magnate and former American OSS officer who mysteriously disappeared in Malaysia in 1967.

Discovery of the pinnacle of traditional Thai archi¬tecture with a private tour of Suan Pakkad Palace Museum. This is a collection of homes bequeathed by Thai royalty and featuring a Prince and Princess’svast collection of art and antiquities.

Depart for a 1.5 hour drive through Bangkok’s rural outskirts to the Bang-Pa-In Summer Palace, an impressive architectural blend of East and West dating back to the 17th century. Continue to Ayutthaya, which was the capital of the Thai Kingdom for 417 years. Nowadays the ruins of the former city are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Enhance your trip with a special lecture and escort while touring the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya. A local historical expert, who has served as executive personal guide of Ayutthaya to many important state visits of the country such as the Queen & Crown Prince of the Netherlands, Prince Philip from England, Crown Prince of Japan, Prince & Princess from Morocco, Crown Prince of Bhutan and many major foreign countries ambassadors who visited Ayutthaya, will accompany you on your trip around the temples.

Visit a “Baan Khun Ya / grandmother home” for a hosted Thai set lunch and the house’s specialty. This old Thai house is located on the bank of Tha Chin River and is belongs to the grandmother who is the owner of the Rose Garden. After lunch, chance is for participating on Trails of Thai Ways. The expert from the Rose Garden will teach and advise you how to make agar land from flowers from the garden, try on weaving or making your own clay pottery.

During his career in the Civil Service, Mr. Kul Boonnok Mr. Saroj Boonnok used to teach handicrafts. With a special fascination for kites, he began making them after his retirement, and has invented several new types and designs. The procedure of kite-making is not simple. After slicing the bamboo for the kite frame, the sticks need to be soaked in water for a month to protect them from weevils. They are then dried in the sun and cut to size according to the types of kite to be made. Visit his workshop and see kites in various forms hang from racks, from butterfly, dragon, to folk characters. Mr. Kul is currently teaching kite-making to the younger in his village in a hope they will conserve this traditional craft for future generations. Try your hand making a small one. Certainly he will delight to help you have some of his colorful flying toys for souvenir.