Baiyoke Tower

On my recent family trip to Thailand, I was allowed out on my own for a day while mum took the kids shopping! I decided to spend it revisiting the Baiyoke Tower and then onto Wat Traimit on the edge of Chinatown. More about Wat Traimit in my next post...

Now, I've been to the Baiyoke Tower before, but many years ago in the days of film camera. So I decided now was the time to go again and try to get some decent photos. Just my luck, it happened to be the smoggiest day in history! These photos may look overexposed and like they were shot directly at the sun....they aren't it's the pollution!

I travelled from my inlaws house on the 77 bus, which always draws a few looks from the locals. The Thai bus network is somewhat difficult to navigate with the little information there is being mostly in Thai and the conductors generally don't speak English. The trusty 77 got me to Surasak skytrain station for some aircon'd comfort. Then it was a 15 minute walk from Siam station upto the Baiyoke Tower entrance. Being Thailand's tallest building you'd expect a somewhat grander entrance, but it's tucked away at the end of a Soi surrounded by shops. You pay your fee at a booth in the hotel entrance then round the back to the one lift that takes you up. "Five minute wait Sir" said the security guard, and he wasn't wrong!

Once you've got past the tacky little musuem and up the stairs to the viewing deck it's all worth it. You're greeted fantastic views of Bangkok, right across the Chao Phraya and beyond. On a clear day you can spot many of Bangkok famous sights, mine though wasn't a clear day!