After our time in Langkawi, Malaysia, we flew back to Penang and then from Penang to Bangkok. This will be our first time returning to a place, specifically the same city, on our travels. So, let’s talk about our return to Thailand in 2024 and what might be different from our last visit.
Return to Thailand in 2024: Bangkok
When we were planning to return to Bangkok, one of the stipulations was to be closer to the city center. Sean didn’t have the best experience last time, and part of the reason was that he felt we were too far away from the areas we enjoyed. The funny thing is, we ended up even farther away from everything this time.
Our condo was very nice, with a gym and pool. But to get to the city, we had to walk 20 minutes to the bus (which was, thankfully, free) and then get on the BTS (Bangkok’s sky train). There was also not a lot around our area. There were very local restaurants, a 7/11, and a small mall where we could get groceries. It just made me laugh that we talked about being closer but ended up farther! Oh well… Anyway, here are some things we did in our return to Thailand in 2024.
Visit Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 as the second capital of the Siamese Kingdom. We booked a day trip there through Get Your Guide for around $40 USD per person, which included lunch. We had to meet the driver and van at CentralWorld Mall. On the tour, we visited four different sites around the ancient empire and then had lunch before returning to Bangkok.
The tour was enjoyable, though the guide talked a bit too much for us. We arrived at the first site and were some of the first people there. By the time he finished explaining the history, many more groups had arrived, and we were a bit frustrated. It was still a great time, though. Tell us all that after if you see nobody around. Read the room!
Make the Journey to Wat Sam Phran
This temple is famous for its large green dragon. It is pink and cylindrical. It’s beautiful, but it’s not exactly easy to get to if you don’t have a car or motorbike.
From our condo, we took the bus to Chong Nosi BTS station, then took that to Asok, where we transferred to the MRT. We took the MRT from Asok all the way to Lak Song station (the end of the line). From there, we called a Grab to take us the rest of the way. From the other blogs I read to prepare, you might want to ask the driver to wait and agree on a price for them to wait and return you to Bangkok. But we decided to just wing it and hope we could get a Grab or find a taxi (spoiler alert: we did!).
The temple is free to enter, but they recommend donating. It’s not as well maintained in recent years since the monk in charge was arrested for what, I don’t remember. But they haven’t had a monk oversee the property for several years, and it has only recently started to get renovated. Anyway, you can take an elevator to the top or walk inside the dragon’s body. It’s a steep walk.
Once you’re done taking your pictures at the top, walk around the grounds to see a giant Buddha statue and a turtle temple. You won’t need much time to visit – maybe an hour.
Asiatique The Riverfront
This is an open-air mall on the Chao Praya Riverfront. They have a Ferris wheel and some other attractions, including a truly awful haunted house. They have a ton of stores and restaurants, but they are along the higher price side because it’s a touristy area. It’s a beautiful area to walk around, especially at night. You can also take a river cruise from there, but we didn’t do that.
Take a Boat to ICONSIAM
ICONSIAM is an incredibly beautiful mall. It’s probably the most upscale mall in Bangkok. You could spend hours just walking around. As expected, there are plenty of food options, including a street food-style market on the bottom floor. We ended up seeing a movie at the theater there (Deadpool & Wolverine). The theater was brand new and beautiful.
Return to Thailand 2024: Chiang Mai
One of our favorite cities in the world, Chiang Mai! We took a short flight from Bangkok and returned to our beloved Hillside Plaza 4. Our Airbnb host offered to move our room to the top floor due to construction. The room looked a lot bigger and was very nice, but unfortunately, on our first night there, the air conditioner did not work well. Thankfully, she got it fixed the next day, but we were uncomfortable the first night, to say the least.
We honestly didn’t do a whole lot on our return to Chiang Mai since we did so much the first time we were there. This time around was more for relaxing, working, focusing on our health, and just enjoying ourselves.
Living Life in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Of course, we explored some of the temples and went to several night markets, including the famous Sunday Night walking street market. We also went to a digital nomad meet-up in the old town, which was fun but ended up hot since the area lost power.
We visited Central Chiang Mai Mall for some shopping and to eat at After You, an incredible dessert cafe that serves amazing Japanese Kakigōri. They had mango sticky rice and Thai tea flavors! So good. We also ate plenty of Khao Soi and Pad Kra Phrao, enjoyed delicious Mexican food at Salsa Kitchen, and found an amazing burger place at Smash Daddy’s Burgers CNX. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get our favorite pancakes in the world as the cafe Fresh Break seemed to be permanently closed (sad face). But we did find a surprisingly delicious Philly cheesesteak place called Cheesetober! Philly-native approved!
There isn’t much to say about our return to Thailand in 2024, especially Chiang Mai. Much of it looked the same. Unfortunately, there were places we enjoyed that were now closed, but many new restaurants opened. It was noticeably more busy this time around, with many more tourists. But mostly, our days were spent going to the gym, working at Camp in Maya Mall, getting lunch at the mall, and then going out for dinner. A few days before we left, we also met up with another couple we had met in Koh Samui the previous year. That was really fun and so nice to see them!
We absolutely adore Chiang Mai and Thailand in general. We could see ourselves living there full-time (or semi-full time at least). Anyway, that was our return to Thailand in 2024, not too exciting really.