South of Bangkok and in the province Samut Prakan that Ning comes from is Bang-Namphueng-floating-market. This market is very large with a lot of the vendors being under a roof. You will find plenty of places to sit and rest as you take in the sights.

Some of the floating kitchens at the market

You will want to be hungry when you go to this place. You will be able to find just about anything you would want to eat here. You can get snacks to meals. My favorite is the coconut ice cream. The one I had was served in a coconut half shell, very tasty.

ning and I with our Coconut ice crean

You can also hire a boat for a ride down the surrounding canals. This would make for a very nice ride to take in all the greenery that surrounds the market. You would not even know that you are so close to Bangkok.

Within the markets grounds is a traditional Thai house made of wood. Like most homes of this style, it is built on stilts. In the bottom area is a place to sit and just relax. You can go into the upper part, which would be the living area. Here too you can look around.

Thai style house

There is also a very nice selection of Thai orchids and other plants to buy.  There is a large arched bridge to get across one of the canals and you will find the plant stalls to the left right off the bridge going deeper into the market.

Thai Orchids and other plants for sale

Not only will you find food and plants at this market, but you can get all the different crafts also. I was even able to find some hand made soap for sale. We did get some and it was as good as any soap bought here in the US.

Thai hand made soap vendor

If you are ever in Bangkok and want to see a large market, Bang-Namphueng-floating-market would be worth your time. It is only open on the weekends though. It will be very busy but still a very good time.

One of the many food vendors

Written by Ning

Thailand Street Food Alley Kitchen

In Thailand, it’s easy for you to find food to eat. From early in the morning till midnight. Whenever you feel hungry, just walk out from your hotel or house you will find everything that you want. Like fast food, but better. Everything is fresh. You will fill full for just less than one dollar. Just look to see how clean the back alley kitchen is. Watch them in operation for awhile, if all looks good, you will have some of the best Thai food ever.

When my husband and I go to Thailand, we always have our meals from alley kitchens or street food better than eat in the restaurant because It’s cheaper and yummy!!

Thailand Street Food Chicken Feet Soup

My husband loves to have noodles with chicken feet. He told me that he never had eaten chicken feet before. He wanted to try and  he loves it! Yes, for someone new to Thailand, you will find food that you have never seen before. Do not let that stop you from at least trying some. You just might be missing out on some thing very good.

Thailand Street Food Grilled Prawn

Grilled Prawn on our way to Kanjanaburi….

When we go to travel  to the countryside, both sides on the way , lots of  food and fruits. Cheap and Fresh. If you have opportunity to go to Thailand, you should try street food…

Just remember to drink only bottled water, and check the seal before opening it to be sure it is fresh. Don’t use any ice either, unless it is the kind with the hole in the middle. this is bought from a government inspected ice house and should be good.

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Chang Erawan Museum in Samut Prakan Province

Three Headed Elephant

The Three Headed Elephant is 29 metres high and 39 metres long.  Add another 14.6 meters to count the building that it is standing on.  The elephants weight is around 250 tons. You can not miss seeing this from Sukhumwit Road on your way to Samut Prakan from Bangkok.

Construction started in 1994 and the finishing work still goes on today.  This was built by a very successful Mercedes Benz dealership owner named Khun Lek Viriyapant.  He wanted to preserve his collection of antiques as a contribution to Thai culture heritage.  Many pieces of his collection are priceless objects of art.  Most of these are in the basement and taking photograhs is not permitted.

Doug & Ning at the Three Headed Elephant

The size of the elephant is phenomenal.  If you look closely, you can see the people standing at the base of the building to the lower left in the photo.  On the inside, there are stairs or a lift leading up the rear legs.  The stairs are the small spiral type and the ceiling is very low.  Watch your head on the way up!

Tin Plated Pillar inside the Three Headed Elephant

On the ground floor there are four pillars with tin plated designs.  Each pillar represents one of the four major religions of the world:  Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.  This photo shows one of the pillars going up to the ceiling.  The ceiling is a stained glass window of a world map.  If you could look out of the window you would be looking straight up at the belly of the elephant.

Inside the Three Headed Elephant

Bowls and spoons are some of the things used to decorate the place inside on the main floor. As you can see by the photos, it was very labor intensive to put this together.  The bowls were broken up into pieces and then arranged in patterns.

Inside the Three Headed Elephant

Decorative bowls are visible here

The photo on the left clearly shows the spoons used for the ears on the elephant.  The rest of the elephant was decorated with pieces of broken bowls.

"Stairs to Heaven"

This photo contains the Stairs to Heaven.  If you climb the Stairs to Heaven,  you will arrive on the first landing which has access to the lift of the stairs leading up the inside of the elephant statues rear legs.

"Heaven"

Taken in the belly of the elephant, this photo depicts heaven to the Thai’s.  It is like entering a temple and there are celestial stars painted on the ceiling.

One of several Worship Gardens

Worship Gardens

These photos only give a small sense of the sights to see.  The museum is definitely worth the trip if you ever travel to Bangkok Thailand.

Phahurat Market

During our last trip to Thailand, we had our Thai wedding.  We went to Bangkok Chinatown Phahurat Market to purchse favors for the wedding.  This part of Chinatown is know for fabric and wedding stalls. There was a great selection.

Chinatown Wedding Stall

This photo shows some of the many stalls that were setup for everyone to shop at.  There was row after row of these.  Visit different parts of Chinatown to find many different things.  Shopping is only part of it. Sightseeing is prime as there are many historical buildings peppered throughout Chinatown.  14 % of the buildings are designated as historic buildings.

Chinatown Crowd

This photo gives you an idea of the size of the crowd that was there.  It was late December and everyone was out getting New Years gifts.  To say the crowd was large is really an understatement.  It was just jam-packed. Thai police were on bull horns warning everyone to watch out for pick pockets. We did not have any problems there at all. Really all one really needs to do is use some good common sense and you should be alright.

Crowd at Chinatown

The crowd at one of the cross roads wasn’t too bad.  It was the smaller streets that were packed with people.  It would get so packed that you had to really watch were you wanted to go.  If you did not watch you would get rushed past the place you wanted to stop at. It is only a very small part of Chinatown.

In the early 1780′s the Chinese merchants were originally moved to this area when Bangkok was settled. Chinatown is best seen on foot.  It really is the only way to see it because the street size is very small.  Sampaeng Lane used to be Chinatown’s main street.  It is not big enough for even a car to drive on.  When the vendors bring in their products by car or small van, everyone must get off of the road to let them pass.

While in Chinatown, you can visit Wat Traimit.  It is a small temple at one end of Chinatown.  The temple houses the worlds largest solid gold  Buddha image.  Weighing in at 5½ tons, the 15-foot tall seated image is worth,  in the neighborhood of,  US$14 Million.  The Golden Buddha is an excellent example of the gracious Sukhothai style that is still very much in favor to this day.  It was cast sometime in the 13th century. Chinatown is also one of the best places to go gold shopping.  Tang To Gung gold shop on Sampaeng Lane is also one of the many historic buildings in Chinatown.  Yaowarat Road is lined with many gold shops.

You can find just about anything you would like in Bangkok Chinatown.

Worlds largest Crocodile Farm and Home of Worlds Largest Crocodile (Yai)

During My first trip to Thailand Ning and I went to go see the largest crocodile farm in the world, Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm. It is just 10 km (7 miles) south of Bangkok. Here is their address if you would like to look them up if you are ever in Bangkok, Thailand.

Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo
555 Moo 7 Taiban Road Taiban Sub-District,
Amphur Muang, Samutprakarn
Bangkok, Thailand 10270
Phone +66 2 703 4891-5; 70

The hours of operation are from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily.  Admission: Adults THB300; children THB200 at the time of this writing.  The Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo was founded in 1950 by the famous Crocodile King, Mr. Utai Youngprapakorn.  Mr. Utai has been the pioneer not only to preserve the endangered species from extinction, but also to provide a continuing flow of crocodile skins to the world market.

Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm Crock

This is a photo of one of the 60,000 or so crocodiles on the farm.

Shop for memories, souvenirs or even for crocodile leather or fish skin handbags, belts,shoes, and more….

The Croc Shop means you can take it with you.  It is advisable to see if you will be permitted to bring any animal skins back into the USA.  I think, do not quote me on this, but you will not be allowed to in the USA.

Worlds Largest Crocodile

In the photo to the right is the Worlds Largest Crocodile (Yai).

According to the Guinness Book of Records 1989:

Yai is a Hybrid Crocodile. Body length 6 metres (19′ 8″)
Weight is 1114.27 kilos (2,645 lbs).
Birth date is June,10 1972.

Crocodiles Sunning Themselves

Here is a picture of a few more crocodiles sunning themselves.  At one point, Ning was talking with one of the Crocodile keepers while we were on one of the bridges over the crocodile waters and he made a call as they do to feed them.  Before you know it the waters below were filled with crocodiles ready to eat!

Samut Prakan Crocodile Show

This photo depicts a man with his arm in the crocodiles mouth.  They put on a show every hour.  You can also see Elephant shows and a monkey show.  There are many other animals to see at the Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm.  They have Australian Cassowary, Ostrich Hippopotamus, Deer and  Monitor lizard.  There is also a Dinosaur Museum with life-size exhibits showing 13 different species of dinosaurs and skeletons plus an audio-visual show narrating stories of animals that are now extinct.

My time spent at Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo was a very interesting time.  I would recommend it if you ever get the opportunity to visit.