Siam Ocean World – Covering an area of the size of two football pitches Siam Ocean World is in the the basement level of the Siam Paragon shopping mall. This place has mixed reviews with some saying that, although one of the largest aquariums in Southeast Asia there is not much underwater creatures on offer and that the water clarity is not great. Other love the fact that its in a shopping mall so can enjoy a full day in an air-conditioned building. As yet I have not spoke to anyone who as tried diving with the sharks, but having tried that myself in the UK I’m not expecting huge things from it.

2) Ice Skating – This is something that is most definitely on my list to do the next time I’m in Bangkok with the kids. I was surprised to find out that there are 3 ice rinks in the city. Sub Zero Ice Skating Club brings out some laser lights and D.J’s as the sun goes down to turn into a nightclub with a difference, maybe not one for the kids! Open Ice Skate is a smaller rink located on the fourth floor of Imperial Lad Prao. Like the name suggests, this rink is open for viewing so you will become a spectacle to many of the local Thais to watch. Imperial World Ice Skating is the only Olympic-size rink in Thailand complete with skating facilities like first aid, training room, changing room, and Pro Shop. This rink is located 15mins outside Bangkok, on the top floor of Imperial World Samrong.

3) Ten Pin Bowling – Many of the large shopping centres in Bangkok will have a bowling ally. The main ones to consider would be MBK, Central world and Siam Peragon. Having spent a lot of time in MBK, this is one thing I would miss out until my children get older and I could leave them there unsupervised. The place is FULL of teenage kids hanging out with their friends, playing hundreds of game machines and generally acting like …. Teenagers!

4) Water Parks – Always a hit with the kids, Bangkok has some large water parks to spend the day at. Leoland Water Park is a little out from Bangkok centre but worth a visit if near that area. It’s on the roof of the Central City Bangna shopping mall so you can combine a shopping day with a something to do with the kids. Fantasia Lagoon is on the roof top of yet another shopping mall. With huge water slides and whirlpools this water park is popular at weekends and bank holidays, but the daddy of the all must be Siam Park. This place is again on the roof top of a large shopping mall but this time it’s the the 400-metre Super Spiral water-slide and giant man-made sea pool with artificial surf that are the star of the show. Shopping won’t really be on the cards at this place which boast swimming pools, water-slides, whirlpools and a lake, as well as playgrounds, botanical gardens, an open zoo and an aviary. A note of warning though with all these attractions it does get very busy so try to go on a weekday as weekends and public holidays gets pretty busy.

5) Dusit Zoo – Dusit Zoo or “Khao Din” is regarded as the most popular zoo in Thailand. Built by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) as his private garden adjacent to the royal palace was converted to a zoo in 1938. Today the zoo is run by the state Zoological Park Organization who control many of the other zoos around Thailand. Its distance from the city makes it a nice trip out of the heat and traffic and if you go there midweek you will find it even more quiet.

There are other things for children to do in Bangkok so if you think i’ve missed a good one then plaese leave a comment about.

All airlines use the same criteria when determining how much your child will be charged for flying with them, 0-2yo is an infant, 3-11yo is a child and 12yo upwards is a full adult when it comes to pricing. Infants will not be given a seat therefore the cost will be either zero or up to about 10% of the adult ticket. This will differ from one airline to the next so check what each has to offer you as a travelling parent of an infant. Children will be given there own seat and can be charged anywhere between 50-80% of the adult ticket, again this will change with airlines so check prices of a few different ones. Once your little ones reach 12 they will be paying full adult prices for them, so take advantage of their younger years and fly early.

I have travelled with children on long haul flights to Thailand when they were as young as 3 months and have learned something new on every trip but the overall piece of advice I can give is to prepare for your trip in advance and make it like a military operation, at some point it may feel like you are in a battle. Be early for everything! Be the first at check in, be the first at the departure gate, be the first to get on the aeroplane, be the first to get overhead luggage space near you.

If your child is in the infant bracket it’s best to book your flight early and make sure you get the bulk head seat to book your bassinette, or they will be on your lap the whole flight. They may be there anyway but should they fall asleep you have somewhere to put them.

Direct flights are always best if you can get them if not think about what time you will be stopping and what your little one will be like at that time. Now if your little one is an infant this is no problem but if they are older they will not thank you for that midnight stroll around some airport in the Middle East.

Taking off and landing will be the most stressful time for your children so plan for that. Make sure they have a dummy to chew on, a bottle to drink from or some lollies and sweets to suck on. This will help with equalising the pressure in the ears naturally. For younger children and infants it may be best to try and give them some Calpol to help with and ear pain but I’ve never found that to be necessary, yet!

During The Flight make sure you have a large pack of wipes for all those accidents and if with an infant ensure you have enough bottles, nappies and changes of clothing for a 24 hour period. If the child is young enough have them in baby grows the whole trip this will be the easiest way to change and it also protects them from the cold AC on flights. It may also be an idea to pack a light change of clothing for yourself as well, projectile vomit is not a very good ‘arrival loung’ look this year, or any year.

Infant food on airlines is a complicated issue these days so any advice given here is best checked first with the airline. When me and my wife travelled with our children we had with us a supply of ready made formula milk in cartons, some people have said they take the powder and get hot water while on the aeroplane to make up the bottles but we thought that would be a hassle. We found sterilised disposable bottles, so all we had to do was open the packet pour the milk into the bottle and get the stewardess to heat it for a few seconds, but as it was he was happy to have the milk without heating, so happy days.

I’ll stop now as this is getting a long post but in conclusion I would say you should really try and relax and prepare for your fight as much as you can. It will be stressful, especially if your little one cries a lot during the flight, but a crying baby is stressfull when not on a flight so do what you would do normally to sooth the baby. If the children are older then distraction works best but that is for another post.

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