Putting the ‘Tourism’ in ‘Bangkok Medical Tourism’
April 27, 2021 5:41 AM Subscribe
My girlfriend is having a major surgery in Bangkok in December. We’re looking for interesting and fun things to do both before and during her recovery!
We’ll be there for about a month starting in mid-December unless Covid protocols require a longer pre-surgery quarantine. Both of us will have had two shots of Moderna. Our accommodations and breakfasts are included in the surgery package. We can arrive a few days to a week early for touristy stuff, but she feels she will be too worried about her upcoming surgery to really enjoy this.
With that in mind, we are looking for experiences and activities in and around Bangkok that are wheelchair accessible/require minimal walking. We are staying at the Novotel Bangkok Bagna, in the southeastern part of the city. She will be able to walk after surgery, but not a lot. Car rides up to an hour or two will probably be okay as well after the first couple weeks.
We are both into flora and fauna, so botanical gardens, aquariums, vivariums, etc are very up our alley. She especially likes reptiles and invertebrates. I have been looking at some elephant sanctuaries outside of the city and would love specific recommendations if you have visited any. She thinks by the end of our trip she could do a one or two night stay outside the city if there is somewhere remarkable we should visit. We’re also interested in cultural and art museums, architecture, and I am very interested in traditional woodworking. We don’t speak any Thai. I’m trying to learn some basic words and phrases and would also welcome recommendations for books or online learning resources!
We both like to eat and try new foods, I am mostly vegetarian and shellfish and pork are both fully off the table but anything else goes. Street food recommendations I can bring back to our hotel would be great! We are Jewish and Muslim, respectively, and would love to learn about our religion’s histories in Thailand.
I think I can set aside about $1,000US for specifically fun expenses, including if we spend a couple nights outside of our hotel. I have never been outside of the Americas and she has never been outside of the US, so this is going to be a big new experience for both of us!
We’ll be there for about a month starting in mid-December unless Covid protocols require a longer pre-surgery quarantine. Both of us will have had two shots of Moderna. Our accommodations and breakfasts are included in the surgery package. We can arrive a few days to a week early for touristy stuff, but she feels she will be too worried about her upcoming surgery to really enjoy this.
With that in mind, we are looking for experiences and activities in and around Bangkok that are wheelchair accessible/require minimal walking. We are staying at the Novotel Bangkok Bagna, in the southeastern part of the city. She will be able to walk after surgery, but not a lot. Car rides up to an hour or two will probably be okay as well after the first couple weeks.
We are both into flora and fauna, so botanical gardens, aquariums, vivariums, etc are very up our alley. She especially likes reptiles and invertebrates. I have been looking at some elephant sanctuaries outside of the city and would love specific recommendations if you have visited any. She thinks by the end of our trip she could do a one or two night stay outside the city if there is somewhere remarkable we should visit. We’re also interested in cultural and art museums, architecture, and I am very interested in traditional woodworking. We don’t speak any Thai. I’m trying to learn some basic words and phrases and would also welcome recommendations for books or online learning resources!
We both like to eat and try new foods, I am mostly vegetarian and shellfish and pork are both fully off the table but anything else goes. Street food recommendations I can bring back to our hotel would be great! We are Jewish and Muslim, respectively, and would love to learn about our religion’s histories in Thailand.
I think I can set aside about $1,000US for specifically fun expenses, including if we spend a couple nights outside of our hotel. I have never been outside of the Americas and she has never been outside of the US, so this is going to be a big new experience for both of us!
Well, there’s a massive aquarium in the lowest level of Siam Paragon shopping mall. Haven’t been to it myself but the food court is huge and worth checking out. You might not think you want to see a movie (in English) but the cinemas on the top floor are probably the swankiest ones you’ll ever see.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:25 PM on April 27, 2021
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:25 PM on April 27, 2021
Taking a cooking class at Amita was a major highlight of my trip several years ago. This is a 1/2 day commitment and you won't need to eat anything after wards.
I also really loved going to the malls in Bangkok. The food courts are especially interesting and I got a lot of gifts there.
posted by brookeb at 9:46 PM on April 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
I also really loved going to the malls in Bangkok. The food courts are especially interesting and I got a lot of gifts there.
posted by brookeb at 9:46 PM on April 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Definitely get a good guide book soon, personally I'm quite fond of the Rough Guides and their Bangkok specific one was quite useful and not too bulky to carry around. It should help you get a sense of what areas you'll want to explore, as well as what things to watch out for and be careful of.
Oh man, Thai street food! I highly recommend picking up a book on the subject like this one, which gives a good overview and outlines a bit of the rich history of the different dishes and sub-cuisines. We found it useful when we went a few years ago, even if we didn't end up at a specifically mentioned stand. By the end of our trip we were compulsively trying places everywhere. So much unbelievably delicious and cheap food, it blew our minds. :)
Traffic in Bangkok is legendary, and you should try to avoid getting caught up in it if there is a limit to how long you can sit in a car. For example, one taxi ride back to our hotel had us stuck at a single intersection for at least a half hour, do to the over-abundance of cars and the extremely long light cycle. Major intersections are timed very differently from any place I've ever been, and you might find that the light won't change for more than 5 minutes one way, depending on the congestion, if at all. (Even the ground level trains get stuck in the traffic!)
Additionally, some larger highways might have a pedestrian crossing once every quarter mile or so which can make it hard to get around. The good thing is Bangkok is super flat, and while sidewalk conditions can be a bit rough, it is possible to see a lot things in the dense tourist friendly areas once you arrive there.
Hotels can be very affordable, so you might want to consider booking them in the neighborhoods you want to explore to help limit the travel time for your girlfriend, even if you have your main hotel booked for the entire time.
One last thing - December can be very hot! When we were there it was in the low 90s (33° Celsius) some days and extremely humid.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 8:34 AM on April 28, 2021
Oh man, Thai street food! I highly recommend picking up a book on the subject like this one, which gives a good overview and outlines a bit of the rich history of the different dishes and sub-cuisines. We found it useful when we went a few years ago, even if we didn't end up at a specifically mentioned stand. By the end of our trip we were compulsively trying places everywhere. So much unbelievably delicious and cheap food, it blew our minds. :)
Traffic in Bangkok is legendary, and you should try to avoid getting caught up in it if there is a limit to how long you can sit in a car. For example, one taxi ride back to our hotel had us stuck at a single intersection for at least a half hour, do to the over-abundance of cars and the extremely long light cycle. Major intersections are timed very differently from any place I've ever been, and you might find that the light won't change for more than 5 minutes one way, depending on the congestion, if at all. (Even the ground level trains get stuck in the traffic!)
Additionally, some larger highways might have a pedestrian crossing once every quarter mile or so which can make it hard to get around. The good thing is Bangkok is super flat, and while sidewalk conditions can be a bit rough, it is possible to see a lot things in the dense tourist friendly areas once you arrive there.
Hotels can be very affordable, so you might want to consider booking them in the neighborhoods you want to explore to help limit the travel time for your girlfriend, even if you have your main hotel booked for the entire time.
One last thing - December can be very hot! When we were there it was in the low 90s (33° Celsius) some days and extremely humid.
posted by rambling wanderlust at 8:34 AM on April 28, 2021
Bangna is a bit out of the way as far as tourism goes - most of the popular tourist attractions are more central, and it's probably a 30-45 minute taxi ride to reach them. However, you are very close to Suan Luang Rama IX, which is the largest park in Bangkok with botanic gardens, and they have an annual flower festival in early December which is worth catching if you are there in time. Not far from there is Nong Bon Lake Park, which has a lake path for jogging/biking but you could walk around it. Suan Luang is also relatively flat, I think you should be able to push a wheelchair around. Srinagarinda Night Market is also close and would be fun for shopping and eating. Bangkok is generally not very wheelchair friendly, the central malls will be more accessible, and they all have food courts for trying out a bunch of different food - it's not quite as much fun as picking what you want from a street stall but it does have air-conditioning.
There is the Sea Life Centre in the basement of Siam Paragon as suggested above, it has a few small reptile and amphibian exhibits as well. The Queen Saovabha Snake Farm will have more reptiles . The highest density of monitor lizards is probably in Lumpini Park, hang out there for the afternoon to people-watch joggers and see if any lizards are about. The excellent Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles is part of the Grand Palace complex, you can also visit separately. The Museum of Floral Culture is a small museum run by a floral designer that is inside a teak house in lovely grounds. The Suan Pakkad Palace is a historical museum set in some preserved traditional houses.
Elephants - you can see wild elephants at Kui Buri National Park, which is quite far south from Bangkok but doable as a two-day trip, or at Khao Yai National Park to the north. Elephant Nature Park is an elephant sanctuary who are up north in Chiang Mai, they have some tours which run from Kanchanaburi. I have only visited the Chiang Mai site but it's very good, however it does include a lot of walking on their standard tours.
posted by penguinliz at 8:55 PM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
There is the Sea Life Centre in the basement of Siam Paragon as suggested above, it has a few small reptile and amphibian exhibits as well. The Queen Saovabha Snake Farm will have more reptiles . The highest density of monitor lizards is probably in Lumpini Park, hang out there for the afternoon to people-watch joggers and see if any lizards are about. The excellent Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles is part of the Grand Palace complex, you can also visit separately. The Museum of Floral Culture is a small museum run by a floral designer that is inside a teak house in lovely grounds. The Suan Pakkad Palace is a historical museum set in some preserved traditional houses.
Elephants - you can see wild elephants at Kui Buri National Park, which is quite far south from Bangkok but doable as a two-day trip, or at Khao Yai National Park to the north. Elephant Nature Park is an elephant sanctuary who are up north in Chiang Mai, they have some tours which run from Kanchanaburi. I have only visited the Chiang Mai site but it's very good, however it does include a lot of walking on their standard tours.
posted by penguinliz at 8:55 PM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
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Will boat rides be a possibility? Or too strenuous? I greatly enjoyed doing a boat tour where they fed fish and took us to the floating market. Very touristy, but, you know, you’re tourists.
I also saw some big awesome monitor lizards just crawling around random public city parks. So taking some time to go to just walk (or get pushed around in a wheelchair) in a park might be good. You’d get to see lots of flora and fauna you probably aren’t used to.
posted by music for skeletons at 2:22 PM on April 27, 2021 [2 favorites]