Thailand - 2026: Does that year look wrong to anyone else?

ZivBnd · January 4, 2026, 12:45pm

Today was a walkabout day, started by walking to the subway but once I got up the escalator to Hua Lamphang it was pretty much all on foot. Beautiful day, 78 degrees/25c going up to 86/30. For Bangkok that is balmy.
I had to duck into sleepy old Hua Lamphang Railway Station for nostalgia purposes. Since the long distance trains moved to the huge new Bangsue/Krung Thep Aphiwat Station old Hua Lampang has less than half as many departures every day. The area we used to camp out in waiting for our night trains is completely empty. Time passes.

Nostalgia served, I was then off to Ek Teng Phu Ki, a Tea/Coffee/Breakfast place that serves a great Ceylon Milk Tea and an outstanding Coconut Egg Custard Toast in a tiny upstairs AC room. Very comfortable place to sit, drink iced tea/coffee and munch on a snack.

I spotted two artworks I did not remember from my other trips, very nice! Even the parking lot had a nice work on the wall to one side of it!

From there it was a short walk to Song Wat Road, a place I have heard was a hopping scene for years but every time I went it was quiet. Today I realized that going there at 8am was not exactly hitting it at its peak time. It was heaving with punters today. I was dumbstruck.

Then it was off to the wilds of Song Wat Selfie Street. Amazing. There was a little shopping and a lot of people taking photos, mostly of themselves.

I did run into a camera crew working on the makeup of a model, not sure what sort of shoot they were doing.

Construction is going on everywhere, even in front of my destination, Urai Braised Goose, unfortunately. Urai was not serving food today, so I guess that makes my quest a wild goose chase.
I will see myself to the door…

I was feeling a bit peckish by that point, but I did not starve for long. Rong Klan Nuea Noodle Shop is right next door so I ducked in and scanned the QR code for the menu, and waited. And waited. Using QR codes in brick buildings with no wifi signal is contraindicated. I eventually got my order into my phone and the positive aspect of the system showed up. Immediately. I had a Coke and a bowl of beef soup in minutes. And rather tasty beef soup, too. The broth was rich, the beef was just fatty enough to have good flavor, the noodles slightly al dente. Nice bowl of soup. Nice option on Song Wat Road!

I was fairly full after that meal, and I wanted to visit Mae’s Original for their Fishball Green Curry so I figured I would let the meal settle and drink iced coffee at the Hex Bar. So I walked up towards what I think of as Chinatown (it is a lot larger than what I take for granted) and ducked in to hang with my coffee companion antelope. Or goat. Anyway he sits with me everytime I come to visit Bangkok. I had a long comfortable read with an iced coffee to prep myself for the Green Curry to come.

And Mae’s was out of Green Curry. So I made a snap decision. Which means I am not sure what I ordered but I think it was minced pork with egg. And it was good! 30 baht and it was really good.

I walked a bit and hit the south end of Ong Ang Canal, a place I visited two years ago a bit further north when that part was just getting rebuilt and refurbed. The south portion looks like it has been a walking destination for a longer period of time, but again, I was surprised by development of cafes in an area that I used to walk in and that seemed to be so quiet then is so busy now. It is a very nice walking street. Which is really cool. No Monitor lizards in the canal. Sadness. They get huge, really impressive animals.

Fun artwork here, too.

Cute cat of the day goes to:

That is a bib overalls T shirt on the kitten. Someone has an odd sense of humor.
Finally at the north end of the canal I visited my old favorite tea house, Peyton Place, for a rootbeer float. Very nice place to relax and enjoy a cold drink. It is right oppo Ran Jay Fai/Thip Samai. I have to admit that the only thing I have enjoyed recently of those two places is the freshly squeezed orange juice from Thip Samai. I have not braved the line to get into Jay Fai since she got the Michelin award. But here is Peyton Place and my rootbeer float.

Just north of there I walked through a nicely updated/cared for Mahakan Fort Park. Very nice!

Then it was off to Phan Fa pier to get a khlong taxi boat back to SW University so I could walk the rest of my way home the Rembrandt Hotel. My feet are killing me but it was a great day!!

I walked just 18,000 steps but it felt like more. It was a nice day here in Bangkok!
I think I will do a Secret Foods Tour tomorrow. They usually take you to places you have never heard of plus the old favorites.

digga · January 4, 2026, 1:00pm

Awesome first dispatch! I love when things happen serendipitously while traveling—too much planning makes me batty.

The title of your post made me smile; I was reminded of the hilarious skit on Conan, “In the year 2000…” Remember when THAT sounded weird?!

Safe and fun travels to you!

klyeoh · January 4, 2026, 1:16pm

Good to hear that Ek Teng Phu Ki has an air-con room upstairs now. It was pretty much stuck in a time warp when I visited it in 2017. I was so worried then that it might not survive the onslaught of those generic modern cafes that young Thais flock to.

ZivBnd · January 4, 2026, 1:20pm

I really enjoy the place! But ETPK is still bedeviled by the ongoing construction in front of it. It has been dust and concrete blocks for over a year now. Hopefully the construction will get finished soon!

klyeoh · January 4, 2026, 1:25pm

@ZivBnd Do you also go to Eiah-Sae? It’s older, and the present owners of these two old coffee joints are third cousins.

ZivBnd · January 4, 2026, 1:27pm

I think they closed, if they are the one down the street from ETPK. The fears you had for ETPK are probably what did them in, if they truly are closed.

klyeoh · January 4, 2026, 1:28pm

How sad.

ZivBnd · January 4, 2026, 1:37pm

Unfortunately, Google Maps says they are permanently closed. Your fears for the older coffee/tea places appears to be well grounded.

klyeoh · January 4, 2026, 2:05pm

It was probably the only place with character along that street. What a loss!

GretchenS · January 4, 2026, 2:19pm

Great to hear from you! Sounds like a fun, interesting and tasty few days! Love the cat.

linguafood · January 4, 2026, 3:29pm

Fabulous trip so far! Would love to return to Thailand one fine day!

TheLibrarian28 · January 4, 2026, 6:19pm

Great report. The cat is definitely the cutest. Looking forward to more - cats and food.

ZivBnd · January 9, 2026, 5:30am

I only spent 4 days in Bangkok, but I had good food almost every time I sat down to eat. Almost. LOL! Bangkok is such an experience, much like Tokyo, you only learn it one slice at a time, but each slice is something you will remember forever.
My first meal in Bangkok was a snack at the mildly hip Maitria Coffee Club on Soi 18, Pad Krapao/Minced Pork with royal basil and a fried egg. Well prepared with layered seasoning and just enough heat for a bit of forehead sweat. This is one of my earliest favorite dishes in Thailand. The minced pork is a popular protein here and the royal basil takes it to another level.

Shortly thereafter I visited Northern, a Michelin Bib Issan (northern Thai) restaurant in a renovated old house just off Sukhumvit Road on Soi 33. I started with an excellent Chiang Rai Tulip Chicken. They seasoned the chicken legs beautifully and peeled the meat down a bit to make it easier to eat. Simply delicious with the merest hint of heat. Lovely dish! I went for the house specialty, Hang Lae w “omelet”, which is one of my favorite dishes when prepared well. This was a nice dish but underwhelming. They lightened up on the seasoning and while good, they kind of fell short of the mark.

Later I did some people watching at the Emsphere and grabbed a bite to eat at Tomchin. I had their rather good TanTan Ramen, not great but consistently good. Emsphere is a brand new, neon colored extravaganza. Love it, even though most of the cafes there are between mediocre and fairly good. Gordon Ramsay has 2 cafes there, if memory serves…

The next day I had a large lunch when I hit Sports on 20 for beer and pizza. Not great, but a nice change of pace. Cold beers and great service. Sweet but not over the top.

Then I was off to hit Wat Mangkon and walk up to Ram Buttri via Khao San Road. Subway was packed with morning commuters and students.

Hit Peyton Place for a cold drink but I have already posted one mention of them. Just a nice comfortable coffee joint. Walked by the Metal Castle/Wat Ratchanatdaram, beautiful work by the garden team.

The big road that goes by the Democracy Monument (name?) is torn up by a huge underground/subway being built. They disguised the water tanks as round townhouses which is kind of cool.

I walked through Khao San Road, one of the most well known spots on the old Gringo Trail and I saw that the police finally allowed Tin Can Man to rig a tent/shelter after 20 years of him living next to the Wat. Finally. He sells tin can hats and stuff, he has been on that sidewalk ever since 2004, if memory serves.

I like Ram Buttri, the street just north of Khao San Road better, it has really good restaurants and hang out places. I had a very good Massaman Curry at Tossakan on Ram Buttri and then went over to Madam Musur to relax with a beer on ice and watch the people drifting by. Beer on ice is kind of my Thai shandy. There is something comforting about going to a familiar place and your laptop remembers the password.

Then on my way home I stopped by Yuuyen Coffee near Samyan M station. I am a coffee novice and when I ordered Geisha coffee pourover they handed me a small cup of freshly ground coffee. I think I was supposed to smell it like they are coffee sommelier. I failed to do so and they got confused, I was thinking a mile a minute, “Am I supposed to load the pour-over container myself?” Funny now, but awkward at the time. Geisha is really mild, almost like they poured too much water over the grounds.

Oh wait, I forgot Jae Jiu Yentafo! Really good pink noodle soup with one shrimp ball and some other types of fish balls. Stingy on the shrimp balls though. Good dish regardless.

Hit the go kart track inbetween coffee and yentafo. I am not built for those carts, they are way too small. Girl came by after I ran out of time and just mac’ed the track, drifting like a pro. I need to go back and get lessons from her…

Last meal of my stay was another western meal, a single burger at Barney’s on Soi 23. And it was a pretty good burger! I have had mediocre burgers nearly every time I have had one in Thailand, to the point where I simply do not order them much, but it was rather good! Nice outdoor space with a stand off’ish cat who did not want me to photograph him. I honored his wishes.

So then it was home to Rembrandt for the night and off to Chiang Mai the day after.

GretchenS · January 9, 2026, 12:51pm

Another great installment of this travelogue! Can’t wait for the next!!

ZivBnd · January 15, 2026, 12:41pm

Chiang Mai is the perfect place to go to and do nothing but walk, drink coffee and eat. Love this city. It is almost too much of a good thing of late as we tourists become an ever larger part of life in the old town areas of Chiang Mai. I began my stay at a new to me inn just NE of the old town walls, Karinthip Village Hotel. Nice, a bit older but with a nice pool and slightly dated but comfortable rooms.

With no direct lighting at all. Reading after sunset was Kindle or nothing. I was in Chiang Mai for 8 days and had to move twice due to the hotels having different sold out dates. I have long been a person who refuses to plan ahead and just lucks into hotel and resort stays, and this past year or two my lack of prior planning has bit me on the butt more than once. I stayed at the ok Karinthip, the nice new 3 star Amora and the nicer Arun Khiri and all of them limited me to a 2 or 3 days stay with sold out periods on either side of my stays.
But breakfasts in CM have become some of my favorite meals anywhere I have traveled. I started with the the Bowl Spot which is highly recommended and mildly good. I had the breakfast bagel which had egg and the usual suspects but the bagel just failed completely, leaving the contents of the sandwich all over the plate, not bad, but the highlight of the meal was the Oolong tea. I hate to admit this, but I have never had oolong tea before, that was an eye opener.

My next breakfast was at Breakfast World where the staff seemed a bit overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of diners, and the pigeons just took over the place looking for bread crumbs. I was part of the problem, I ordered a Full English Breakfast in the North of Thailand, mea culpa. It was decent, but not great. Sausage was actually not that bad.

Coffee was next door at Ministry of Roasters where they have a slightly silly way of ordering coffee and they do not really seem to know the actual origin of their beans, but they do brew a good Thai cortado, so there is that.

Lunch was at a small sidewalk tin table place called the Blue Umbrella where I ordered the house special, a dark broth chicken soup that was meaty and rather good. Noodles were a bit soft but at a place like this that is par for the course. $1.40USD and worth returning for.

Street art in CM is not on the Song Wat level we see in Bangkok but it is interesting.

The thing that seemed different for me this trip is the amount of tourists taking photo ops of themselves. I walked by a basket shop every morning that was the scene of at least 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 people shooting photos of themselves with the baskets as a backdrop.

It just seemed odd, but part of that might be a cultural shift that I have noticed. Most of the tourists are no longer American/Brits/Aussies/Europeans, they are Japanese/Chinese/Korean and to some extent of late, Thai, which is kind of cool. Still a LOT of us Westerners but not to the same extent that I saw over the past 30 years.

My favorite two breakfast places were nearly neck and neck, Blue Diamond Breakfast Club in NE old city is a quiet charmer, with an outdoor garden dining area and a smaller sheltered area, plus a large shop for teas and flowers and all sorts of good stuff. I ordered their waffles with local fruit but added local sour sausage (I love so many varieties of these!) and 2 poached eggs. Simply a great breakie!

But the best breakfast of all for me in Chiang Mai was at Kati on Rachadamnoen Rd. Nice combo of outdoor and indoor tables, and at 7am it is a touch brisk in Chiang Mai, which is a welcome occurrence in Thailand. January is still clear air, no sign of the burning season smoke yet, but cool, just 57 degrees F/14 degrees C. Nicely brisk, and a perfect setting for a very nice French toast with fruit dish that I returned for 3 or 4 times. I love this dish, and the mango shake that goes with it is the perfect complement.

I also had the ham and cheese toasty which was good but not as good as the french toast.

Finally, I have to mention the cat of the week. The regal pose on the breakfast table of the Khun Luang Hotel was worth recording.

I just have to wonder, do most of the people that spend a decent amount of money to eat at that table know that the cat sat there bare minutes before?

The world wonders.
I spent as much time or more on Chedi Luang, sunsets, Hung Lae and Khao Soi, so I will talk about them separately.

GretchenS · January 15, 2026, 1:09pm

I love your posts!!

PedroPero · January 15, 2026, 4:07pm

Ya, the days of just showing up without hotel/resort reservations are pretty much over, especially in popular destinations like Thailand. When will you ever learn?!?!?

TheLibrarian28 · January 15, 2026, 4:29pm

Great post - love the cat!

linguafood · January 15, 2026, 5:36pm

Another wonderful installment of your trip reports! Thank you for taking us along for the ride

ZivBnd · January 16, 2026, 9:36am

Chiang Mai is something different to everyone that goes there, but to me, Chiang Mai is the Old City and the Old City is Wat Chedi Luang. Yes, that is a gross oversimplification, but it seems like it is the heart of the city. The age, the beauty, the structural failure and the partial re-construction. It is just an incredible place to visit with so much to see that I notice something new every time I go back. Love this place!

Back on a food related note, Jok Somphett on the north side of Old City has a wide ranging menu but my favorites here are the congees and the rice soups. I had a mixed congee this time, cheap and delicious!

Another inexpensive locals spot is known just as a Country Restaurant (on Sridonchai) in western script, not sure if it has a real name in English. The Yellow Curry w egg is very good, 50Baht.

Whoops, an out of order pic of a model of the original Chedi Luang.

Splurged on a Michelin Bib restaurant called Kiti Panit, ordered a Mekhong whiskey in a coconut shell, sai Oua Issan sausage and Hung Lae. The drink and the Sai Oua were outstanding, I ended up carving the inside of the coconut so I could get more of that delicious coconut meat. The Hang Lae was throttled back a bit, probably because I look pretty whitebread and spices might hurt me. LOL!

My next splurge did not go as well, I visited Tamarind Village and ate at their very nice restaurant, Ruen Tamarind. I got a nice Laab Muu with cabbage wrappers but the cabbage was so crisp it would not wrap. I think it is supposed to be dipped in hot water first? If so, they did not do so. I used the cabbage like a tortilla chip to dip up the laab muu which worked ok. The short ribs were a bit of a disaster. I am not sure if it is supposed to be 2/3 fat, but that is what I got, when I finished the ribs there was more fat left behind than rib meat that I had eaten.

Beautiful poolside dining area, though.

The next night I ate at a rooftop cafe more for the view than for the food and was pleasantly surprised. I ordered Yum Woon Sen/Glass noodles with seafood and a Mekhong in Coconut and both were rather good. As was the view.

I visited Huen Phen for Nam Ngiao noodle soup but it was a bit bland, the only flavor was from the blood pudding. I think I need to work a bit deeper into the menu there.

The mornings in CM tend to be cool this time of the year 57F/14C and the afternoons a bit warm at around 88F/31C, so a cold shake was welcome. Kat’s has been a favorite with travelers for years so I stopped by and tried their lemon with basil shake which is a great thirst quencher!

I did a Khao Soi comparison of 3 popular places and though all were good, 2 were grouped together above Mr. Kai. Mr. Kai was just too mild to be a serious Khao Soi in Chiang Mai, the competition is too tough for a Farang Khao Soi to be taken seriously. Great owner, but I think he has moderated his spice level a bit too far. But i did get to drink a purple Butterfly Pee Kombucha which was intriguing. I was thinking saffron harvesting techniques until i realized it was Pea. Not sure what a Butterfly Pea is other than purple.

Khao Soi Lung Prakit is hugely popular with a line out the door and a funky ordering system that I needed help to figure out. Their Khao Soi is worth a wait, nicely spicy and rich, a good meal indeed!

But my favorite remains Khao Soi Khun Yai. Not only is the Khao Soi just as rich and spicy as that at Lung Prakit, the service is faster and much more friendly and the whole experience reflects that warm welcome.

So the food options in Chiang Mai remain outstanding and the walking here is a pleasure as well. The architecture is an eclectic mix which keeps it interesting. And there are TWO good used bookstores in the Old City area alone! Woohoo!
Re-reading Burdett’s Bangkok 8 for obvious reasons. Reason being Bangkok, not the drug aspect.

As a final foody favorite, I have to mention Golden Bee for their Affogato. Consistently good espresso, excellent vanilla ice cream and table side honey containers to sweeten it up just a bit, simply a delicious way to gain a little caffeine with a sweet treat!

We just got word about the train disaster in Nakhon Ratchasima. 32 people gone, just tragic. The trains here are usually pretty safe so it was just out of the blue. Thailand is in most ways a very safe place. Late night bars are less so, but pretty much anywhere you go, Thailand or elsewhere, things get dicier after midnight.
On a lighter note.