Thethais that bind
Former wild backpacker Pippa Crerar is back in Asia with her kids
When I last visited Thailand I was a teenage backpacker, sleeping in 50p-a-night hostels, eating from street stalls and travelling the length and breadth of the country by bus.
So I was a bit apprehensive about returning two decades later with three children who were more used to spending holidays in Highland cottages and French campsites.
My husband and I wanted to introduce the kids to Asia – and with abiding memories of the friendliness of the people, richness of the culture and the beauty of the jungle and beaches, Thailand seemed the perfect place to do it.
But of course taking a young family – the kids were five, eight and 10 – required a different approach.
We had transfers to and from the airport, stayed in lovely pre-booked hotels and were more circumspect about what – and where – we ate.
But we were determined not to sanitise the experience too much.
We kicked off our trip with a weekend in Bangkok. The city was as colourful, noisy and fascinating as ever.
All five of us piled into the back of a tuk-tuk to tear through the streets to visit Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. If you only visit one temple complex, make it this one.
The children were in awe of the proud stone warriors, the parade of golden buddhas in ornately decorated buildings and the huge reclining buddha himself. Don’t miss his feet!
As the heavens opened (monsoon season) we dived into Ama cafe for
fried chicken and blue rice, octopus noodles and jasmine tea.
Later, to escape the blazing heat, we roamed happily around Chatuchak weekend market. We gave the children a few baht each to spend and they chose colourful embroidered elephants and brass trinkets, while we stocked up on tiger balm for mosquito bites.
The whole family had blissful back massages, with much giggling from the children as well as the masseuses. We all love a boat trip and the Bangkok canals were a great escape from the bustle of the city. We hired a long-tail boat from a pier near the Grand Palace and glided past temples, old Thai houses, huge water lizards and floating markets.
Our James Bond-mad son had great fun spotting sights from The Man With The Golden Gun.
At the end of each day our hotel – the Lit Bangkok – was a haven of calm in the midst of the frenzy, where the children had the pool to themselves and watched Thai boxing on TV before venturing out again for the evening.
We had large, modern bedrooms with hi-tech lighting and sleek furnishings, and at the end of the night, closed the connecting door between our rooms and enjoyed the quiet.
The welcoming staff didn’t bat an eyelid when the children, delighted to discover a buffet breakfast, each ate as much as a rather large adult.
After some discussion, we decided to introduce the kids to a tame version of Bangkok nightlife. We jumped on a river taxi to the
‘‘
A weekend in Bangkok was as colourful, noisy and fascinating as ever
modern Asiatique Riverfront market where we ate durian and mango ice-cream and then took the kids to the Calypso Cabaret drag show.
This was surprisingly family friendly, with catchy (though mimed, sadly) show tunes, energetic dancing and flamboyant costumes. The kids naturally had a few questions, then in their brilliantly accepting way, just sat back and enjoyed the show.
After an action-packed few days in Bangkok we were ready for the quieter side of Thai life so jumped on a propeller aircraft with Bangkok Airways down to Koh Samui.
My previous experience of the island was of Chaweng Beach, then a slightly seedy strip of bars and hotels along the stunning white beach – a stop-off on the way to the smaller Koh Phangan for the full-moon party and Koh Tao for diving.
This time we headed for the more peaceful Bophut beach where we stayed in the spectacular Bandara Resort and Spa. We spent the next couple of days splashing around the four pools, reading and sipping expensive (by Thai standards) cocktails and delicious milkshakes on our sun loungers and pottering on the quite gravelly beach and in the hotel’s lush gardens. Our family room was perfect, with a large screen separating the children’s triple bunk and play area from our bedroom. The children again made the most of the breakfast buffet. The hotel laid on various themed evening activities, including a pool party with half-price cocktails, dinner on the beach and a children’s arcade, but we chose to wander along the beach to the Fisherman’s Village. There we found everything from stylish beach bars pumping out dance music, to family-run traditional Thai restaurants and the sprawling street vendors market where our eldest sampled deep-fried locusts and grasshoppers. We had planned a long day-trip out to Koh Phangan to take the boys scuba-diving, while the five-year-old and I snorkelled, but the choppy seas meant the trip was cancelled, so we instead opted for snorkelling at Koh Tan.
While the boat trip and swimming were fun, the water was cloudy as a result of the rain, meaning the marine life was limited, so we should probably have cut our losses and gone for a forest walk or visited a temple instead.
On our way home we had one last night in Bangkok, staying in the Rembrandt Hotel, but by the time we’d made our way through the traffic we might as well have stayed at an airport hotel.
Our suite was large with a kitchenette – handy if you want to prepare your own breakfast – and a great view over the twinkly lights of Bangkok. But it felt more like somewhere you’d stay on a business trip.
On the long flight home I asked the children what their highlights of Thailand had been: the sea, street stalls and luscious fresh fruit.
We’ll make backpackers of them yet.