Off to Bangkok

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2019 Thailand Fly & Drive Blog Series – Part 2

It had been an exhausting 5 months for me from July to November, working 5 jobs simultaneously to pay the bills and to save up for this trip. I was really looking forward to this, to get an extended time to spend with my family, to make it up to them for not being around much. Especially to my kids. I do feel a sense of guilt sometimes, that I spend so much of my life and time and energy sowing into the lives of other people’s kids. Yet for my own, they always seem to get the short end of the stick from me. These long family vacations are my way of getting back close to them, to let them know that Daddy is around, Daddy cares.

This is also why I enjoy blogging about these travels, even though it takes up a lot of my time and brain power. Just last night in the hotel room, my kids begged me to read the blogs of our previous trips together. Seeing them read through what I’ve written and laughing and reminiscing about our past travels together, it gave me a great sense of satisfaction!

(Laughing) Daddy, you are very funny in writing your blogs…
Little Lioness

Up, Up and Away on Singapore Airlines

The kids were really looking forward to this trip, because it is rare that they get to go on an airplane ride. Additionally, we get to go on Singapore Airlines and not a budget carrier, so the kids really enjoyed having time on the in-flight entertainment system, while enjoying their tasty meals. The adults also enjoyed their time, because with the kids occupied, we get to watch what we want too!

Thank God for a smooth flight, save for an initial scare before we took off when the pilot announced that there were some technical issues that they were getting the maintenance guys to take a look at, causing a delay in our taking off. Thankfully, that issue, whatever it was, got resolved very quickly, and we experienced no discomfort during our flight.

We touched down at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, clear the immigration, pick up our luggage and head towards the taxi queue. The taxi queue system has become more organised through the years. There are now three lines: (1) Short-Distance Rides (2) Small Taxis (3) Large Taxis.

Take your queue ticket from this machine, which will tell you which lane to head towards.

We beat the long queues at the other two lines and head straight to the line for Large Taxis. With 5 people plus luggage, we really do need that extra space. As it was getting late, we were extremely grateful to quickly get our cab. Our destination for the night – Ibis Styles Sukhumvit 50.

Keep this print-out, in case you run into any problems with the ride.

The cab ride is not cheap, coming up to THB450 including the cab fare, maxicab surcharge, and highway tolls, especially considering our hotel isn’t exactly in the heart of the city. The most important thing though is safety, and so we are just grateful for a smooth journey, getting to our destination safely and swiftly, without any hiccups!