So the “Old City” on the West side remained a sprawling network of canals (called klongs in Thai). Where a lot of work was done on the East side of the Chao Phraya to support the building and maintenance of the Royal Palace, government departments, hotels and embassies with many canals filled up or built over for roads, the west side remained a “Venice of the East”, a network stretching hundreds of kilometres connecting homes, temples, floating markets, public parks.

Travel to Asia is now possible with Phuket re-opening to international tourists. Luxury holidays in Covid-free island in Thailand.

I have been lucky to have fallen in a job that allowed me to stay and experience most of the best hotels and resorts around Asia and the Pacific for the last 30 years. And that’s not only once but many times at the same hotels. I experienced in depth and witnessed the changes. And yes, I have a list, maybe 10-15 hotels and resorts spread all over the continent that remain, to this day, my favorites. The Siam is one of them. And believe me, I am picky.

I have seen a few palaces in my lifetime. From Buckingham Palace in London (outside the gates, obviously) to the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Potala in Lhasa, the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh and this one, The Grand Palace in Bangkok. The number one destination to see when in Bangkok, I find the palace grounds very interesting as there is always something going on…