Get Even More Visitors To Your Blog, Upgrade To A Business Listing >>

A Wander Around Victory Monument In Bangkok

Bangkok is a city that I constantly receive mixed views about. On the one hand you get the people who can’t wait to get out of the city and on the other hand are those that just love the place. However, whichever side you come down on you have to admit that Bangkok is supremely fascinating. I would go so far as to say that no other city in the world stirs all of your senses and emotions like the city of angels and I am lucky enough to have visited many cities.

Photo: Bangkok – city life

So, before you make your judgement about Bangkok, just make sure you allocate enough time to see and experience the city. I always find it highly amusing, when I see itinerary suggestions for 1 or 2 days only in Bangkok. I have 4 or 5 day’s down as the bare minimum, in fact you might want to follow the 5 day Bangkok Itinerary I put together a while ago.

The 5 day Bangkok itinerary post has been my most popular post ever on the Engaging Thailand Tips Blog.

Personally though, I love Bangkok and that includes warts and all.

Photo: Busy China Town, Bangkok

My plan for future travel posts is to bring to you my wanderings around Bangkok combined with some of the favourite places to see and visit. The posts will also include suggestions from our local inside knowledge.

My wanderings start with a visit to the area of Victory Monument.

I was recently in the area and managed to take a few photos and visit a few places that had been recommended to me by our local contact Khun Bussaba  Chumnumporn. The Victory Monument area is an area well known to Khun Bussaba who runs her own business near by.

Photo: Khun Bussaba  Chumnumporn

Welcome To Victory Monument

Photo: Victory Monument, Bangkok

If you are interested in only the main sight-seeing features of Bangkok then Victory Monument will probably not be your thing. You couldn’t say there were masses of attractions to visit or view. However those of you who like me enjoy the exact opposite and enjoy soaking up the local charm and culture of off the beaten – path places, you will love it.

The Monument

The monument itself was erected around 1941 as a tribute to the Thai servicemen and civilians that lost their lives during the 1940 – 1941 Franco – Thai war.

Photo: Victory Monument, Bangkok

Location

Ratchathewi District: North – East of Central Bangkok

The Transport Hub of Bangkok

Very importantly, Victory Monument is a major transport centre for reaching all areas of Bangkok by bus. Further still you can catch a mini bus to all destinations in Central Thailand as well. Buses and Mini buses can be accessed immediately beneath you as you come out from the BTS station.

The Victory Monument BTS platform is raised and is a great place to get a view of the monument and life in general as the photos here depict. It really is a great vantage point to watch local life in action.

Photo: Victory Monument

So I asked Khun Bussaba local resident and Engaging Thailand contact to give me 3 interesting things to see or do whilst visiting the area.

1) Thai Boat Noodles

Khun Bussaba: One thing you certainly must do is go and have a ” Thai boat noodle ” (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ – Guay diaw rua) at boat noodle alley. This of course used to be known as boat noodles because the noodles were served from boats in the canals. Nowadays you just get to look out over the canal from inside the canal based restaurants.

The noodles are served in small dishes and you can just keep on ordering them. The cost is 10 baht per 1 bowl of noodles. If I’m not hungry I will order only 2 bowls of noodles, but if I’m really hungry then I will order four bowls. My very favorite is; วุ้นเส้นหมูต้มยำ – wun sen moo tom yum.

The two main noodle choices are either pork or beef and the there are 3 types of noodle you can have with either meat choice.

Pork / หมู / Moo

ก๋วยเตี๋ยวหมูน้ำตก – Guay diaw moo nam dok

ก๋วยเตี๋ยวหมูต้มยำ – Guay diaw moo tom yum

ก๋วยเตี๋ยวหมูน้ำใส – Guay diaw moo nam sai

Beef / เนื้อ / Nua

ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเนื้อน้ำตก – Guay diaw nua nam dok

ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเนื้อต้มยำ – Guay diaw nua tom yum

ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเนื้อน้ำใส – Guay diaw nua nam sai

Photo: Thai Boat Noodle Alley

2) A Traditional Restaurant

Khun Bussaba: There is an excellent little restaurant right next to the BTS stop at Victory Monument called Pong Lee. The restaurant is a Chinese restaurant and has been open for more than 70 years.

It’s a real traditional family – run restaurant steeped in history and serves absolutely delicious Chinese and Thai food. You will also find the staff extremely friendly with great attention to service.

At The Restaurant

Trevor: I took the advice of Khun Bussaba whilst in Victory Monument recently and headed to Pong Lee with friends.

It took a long hard look at the menu before we made our minds up as to what to order. Everything looked so good and it t turned out to be a difficult choice. Finally we settled on ….

Photo: ผัด 5 อย่าง – Phat Haa Yaang – Chinese dish of fruits

Photo: ออส่วน – Aaw- Suan – Oysters

Photo: กุ้งอบวุ้นเส้น – Gung Ob Wun Sen – Baked prawns and glass noodles

Photo: Plus Thai rice of course

The food truly was excellent and the service superb and it certainly is a restaurant I would have no hesitation in recommending or returning to again.

More about Pong Lee Restaurant

3) The Park (Santiphap)

Khun Bussaba: A superb little park very close to the BTS station is called (Suan Santiphap – สวนสันติภาพ). it’s at ซอยราชวิถี – Soi Rachathewi.  This is a lovely little park to relax in.

Photo: Park: Suan Santiphap

Trevor: I am a huge admirer of Thailand parks and especially the parks of Bangkok so I went along to get a feel for the place. Once again i found myself in agreement with Khun Bussaba as it was a lovely place to spend an hour of time. To be perfectly honest, with the addition of a good book and a picnic lunch I could quite easily spend the day there.

Photo: Park: Suan Santiphap




This post first appeared on Engagingthailandtips, please read the originial post: here

Share the post

A Wander Around Victory Monument In Bangkok

×

Subscribe to Engagingthailandtips

Get updates delivered right to your inbox!

Thank you for your subscription

×