Aadhya’s Thailand Diaries – The time I shopped till I dropped and called it a vacation!

#ThrowbackStoryFrom2018

‘If you’re studying medicine, it’s high time you forget about vacations’ they said. But not for me. After an entire year of going to college for 6 days a week, I sure as heavens deserved a vacation and that’s when we chose Thailand.

Yes, I’m pretty sure half the population who goes abroad for vacation has been to Thailand, for the beaches and the adventure sports mainly, but we chose this place to shop. You read that right, we wanted to shop!

Oooo, but 7 days of shopping sounds super tiring so we did insert some interesting things. We decided to visit Pattaya, Phuket, and Bangkok because this was a last minute plan and we couldn’t try out the non-typical places of Thailand. Pickyourtrail tour guides helped us decide the places that were a must see in each of these places and that surely added to the beginning of our itinerary during the trip!

Chapter 1: The time we visited places just to click pictures – Pattaya Diaries

We landed in the Swarnabhumi International Airport (Bangkok) the first day and took a bus to Pattaya which was a 2 hours journey. We saved so much travelling by bus and honestly, it was super comfortable & inexpensive while a cab would’ve burnt a hole in our pockets.

We checked into Amari Ocean Hotel which had an amazing ambience and was situated facing the beach, so yes we had a spectacular beach view from our room.

That following night we attended this cabaret called ‘The Alcazar Show’.

It’s a show where transgenders are the stars and the costumes they wear, the stage set up, and everything about it is so eye-catchy. Thailand is known for these cabaret shows but I think this one is the best of them all!

The show got over by 11 pm (started at 9:30) and when we stepped out the place looked like it was 6 in the evening! I’m not even kidding, Thailand is alive and breathing almost throughout the nights. They have active street shops, markets, Thai massage parlours and what not! The city looked so vibrant and active, but we were too tired from all the travelling and walking so we needed a good night’s sleep.

The next morning we visited the Tiger Park. I’ve always wanted to play with the tiger cubs and I finally got the chance. So many people recommended this place and that’s the reason I went there. But I was super sad what I had to see. I imagined this to be a Tiger rescue centre but no, it wasn’t! The Tigers were shut in such tiny cages and it wasn’t a good sight at all. It was a mistake on my part to visit this place and to ‘support’ such a cause. So if someone suggests you to go to this place, please don’t.

By then it was 1 pm and we decided to go see something different and the hotel management suggested we checked out the Nong Nooch Garden.

This place was HUGE, like I can’t give you a better visual description of huge. This place had statues of animals in clusters (that’s the best description I can give you, trust me) and it was honestly such a great place to click pictures!

They had an elephant show in the end and I bought this cute T-shirt that one of the elephant’s painted right in front of us.

The next place that was suggested by a friend was ‘Art in Paradise’. This place was filled with around 100 paintings. Google gave the description as ‘A unique hands-on museum with dioramas, dinosaurs, 3-D safari & ocean-themed scenes & other exhibits’. And that’s half as explanatory to what we saw there.

It was a visual treat and a perfect place to click amazing pictures.

Chapter 2: The time I didn’t jump into the sea – Phuket Diaries

The next day started with a typical breakfast provided by the hotel and we started off to Phuket. It was a 2-hour flight and we reached Phuket at around 4 pm. We stayed in Graceland resorts, who’s exit gates lead us directly to the Patong Beach, the most famous beach in Phuket. We saw the most beautiful sunset ever.

Phuket didn’t have much adventure sports as Pattaya did, but we didn’t try them out on either of the places because we heard that there are high possibilities of the sources being non-genuine.

We walked in and around the streets nearby and discovered a tour agency which helped us plan our visit to Phi Phi islands the following day.

So, the next morning a minibus picked us up from our hotel and it was a 2-hour drive to a place which was closer to Phi Phi Island. They took us in a speedboat to 4 different islands.

The first one being the Koh Phi Phi Don, followed by the Monkey Island, Phi Phi Ley, and Viking Caves. We were allowed to do snorkelling but I did not go because I’ve never really jumped into a sea before and didn’t want to take any kind of risks. We were provided with Lunch at around 1 pm in one of the islands and then we were taken to Phi Phi Ley, our last stop but the best. It’s a typical beach that you see in these Hollywood movies with emerald green-blue waters and the sun shining so bright above your head. We were allowed to do snorkelling there as well and it was so much fun!

This was one of the best places we visited. Everything looked so clean and blue and fresh. I clicked random pictures while the boat was going haphazardly due to the strong currents but all the pictures turned out good, that just explains how beautiful the place looked on the whole.

We were dropped back to our hotel at around 6 pm after which we went on a stroll on the streets. We visited the ‘Walking Street’ which had so many nightclubs and just prayed that none of us gets lost in the crowd. People from these nightclubs/massage parlours might just snatch your hand and drag you along with them, so be careful about that!

We had shawarma from a street shop and had coconut ice cream for dessert (just my dad) who absolutely loved it. Coconut ice creams and banana pancakes are super famous in Thailand, you almost get it everywhere, all you have to do is go for a walk in the streets.

The sight of the beach in the night in the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The palm trees seemed to glow with a bluish hue.

Street shopping in Phuket is not advisable because it’s super expensive when compared to Bangkok so we tried as much as possible to not buy anything from there.

We got back to our rooms at around 12 pm, and I’m telling you, on a Wednesday night, I don’t think any city would be this alive. It felt so much like a weekend and it’s super safe to roam outside even past 12 (just be careful with pickpockets) in the night.

Chapter 3: The time I missed Dosa and changed 3 trains to go to a cafe – Bangkok Diaries

We began the next morning with the hotel’s breakfast which I was starting to hate by now because how many days can you survive with fried eggs and sausages? Come on. I deserve a dosa.

Leaving that aside, our next and last stop was Bangkok, the capital city, yesss!

Bangkok is known for shopping, Buddha temples, shopping, weekend markets, more shopping, street-food and shopping! The time had come for us to fulfill the true purpose of visiting Thailand.

We stayed in Baiyoke Suite Hotel which luckily was situated right above the most famous street market of Bangkok, The Pratunam market. The Pratunam market is more of a morning market so the shops would start to open only by 10 am the next day, but that didn’t stop us for the night. We walked down to see Baiyoke street’s night market which is open from 6 pm to 6 am every day with over 100 shops. They were divided into many lanes and divisions & rows and all those things we learnt in math while learning matrices.

We got some amazing deals on clothes/makeup there and started to pick up the ones that we loved the most (that’s almost everything there, trust me) oh and of course, we purchased some absolutely cute customized passport covers which were super, super, inexpensive! We tried out Pad Thai, a famous Thai food which tasted amazing. You can get it in any street shop. I’m pretty sure anybody would like the taste of Pad Thai, it’s just a fusion to our regular noodles but so much better. Oh and of course, their fried chicken. You can get them almost everywhere in the streets, and let me tell you they taste better than Kentucky Fried Chicken. We were lucky enough to shop before 10 pm after which it started to rain and all the shops were being closed.

The next day we visited Pratunam Market.

Pro tip: Carry your bags in the front, hold on to the people you have come with because it’s super easy to get lost and also to lose in things in a crowd like that.

I didn’t really click pictures of the market because it was a real big deal to even stand in a place for more than 3 seconds without being pushed aside by people. We had a steal in this market. We legit bought SO MANY CLOTHES, like so many! These markets in Thailand sell everything in bulk so you get great deals on clothes if you buy three or more, so now you know why I mentioned so many clothes in caps, hehe.

Our feet were sore after all the walking so we went to a nearby Indian restaurant called Madras Darbar which served us some amazing South Indian food that I haven’t even tasted in TamilNadu. Later that day I dragged my parents to the Siam Centre. It is basically the shopping district of Bangkok which has some crazy interconnected malls that we or even worse, Google maps didn’t understand. We took a Tuk Tuk to Siam Centre. It’s a local vehicle which can take in about 4-5 people maximum and has exteriors similar to an auto in India and the interiors resemble a bike.

We entered a random mall named Siam Paragon, and oh my heavens! It was such a site. It was so huge and all the shops there looked so fancy I could’ve spent all the 7 days of my vacation there. I was searching for this makeup store called Eve & Boy and a confused Google maps lead us to this place. Google kept leading us in the wrong direction and we hit a couple of trees during the journey.

In Siam, you get an option to shop from so many brands which are yet to be launched in India. I did some skincare/makeup shopping before we got back to our hotel. At around 11 pm, we decided to go to a nearby Thai Massage Parlour to receive a good foot massage which did put me to sleep because it was super relaxing. We purposely pushed this to the last day so that it helps cure all the foot sores due to walking. So, don’t forget to get yourself one if you ever go to Thailand.

And then, the last day had arrived. It was a Saturday which means it’s time for ‘Weekend Market’. These markets function only on the weekend as the name suggests and over 4000 shops are present. We went to the Chatuchak Market as that is what Google preferred. We took a Tuk Tuk on the way.

How many times have I said huge in this post? Nevermind, add one more to it. THIS PLACE WAS LEGIT HUGE! So many shops, so many people, but so little time. You get food, clothes, makeup, bags, accessories and what not! But you need at least an entire day to see 1/4th of the shops present. The prices were a little expensive than Pratunam Market but you get better quality products and you can definitely bargain.

So, next up we visited a place that I wanted to see ever since I stepped into Bangkok. It’s a cute little cafe called ‘The Unicorn Cafe’ which is basically unicorn themed.

We switched 3 trains to get to this place (thanks to my parents, they were super supportive) because train was the cheapest mode of transport and also it is faster than going by road.

We reached the place in about 30 mins and had a hot chocolate which tasted super yum and also clicked gazillion pictures because it was super cute.

Oh, and also I bought that t-shirt a day prior just to match with that place. (I take so much effort, I know) 😀

On our way back we shopped some snacks from 7-11, a famous mini supermarket and I absolutely loved the range of snacks they have. (I love buying Lays and Dairy Milk from every country I visit and hence I stepped into this place)

We reached the hotel by 4 and starting packing our suitcases vigorously because we had a flight to catch in a couple of hours.

We successfully managed to stuff the 7 million clothes that we purchased and felt super proud of our packing skills. B-)

What we missed due to lack of time was the famous Buddha Temples there which is supposed to be the most beautiful site of Bangkok and also ‘The Floating market’ which is supposed to be a great experience. So, if you go there for your vacation don’t forget to add these to your list.

While planning this trip we were clear that we didn’t want to go to monuments or museums or anything that was monotonous & boring. We wanted to get a thorough feel of the place that’s why we always chose to either walk or take the local transport instead of taking a cab. It was a much-needed break after over a year and we enjoyed every bit of these 7 days Thailand tour package. Hope this helped you decide the places you want to visit in Thailand and happy reading! 🙂

About the author

Aadhya is a medical student by day and a lifestyle/food blogger by night. She loves travelling and reviewing products! You can follow her on Instagram @aadhyeah