While uploading the photos of Dusit last night I realized that I had not posted our earlier trip to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was the residence of the royal family before they moved into Dusit Palace. It is probably the most visited attraction in Bangkok — if not all of Thailand. The easiest way to get to the Grand Palace is the Sky Train (BTS) to the commuter boats on the Chao Phraya River. The Grand Palace is directly off of the “N9” commuter boat stop (you won’t miss it because likely everyone on the boat is getting off at this stop).
The palace complex housed the royal residence, the court and most of the government until it was vacated and opened to the public in 1932. Construction of the palace began in 1782 when King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) moved the capital of the Kingdom of Thailand from Thonburi to Bangkok and established the royal residence along the Chao Phraya River. The sprawling palace complex also houses the Royal Temple, Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha).
On our way to the Grand Palace we stopped to have brunch at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The original Mandarin Oriental was the first hotel established in Bangkok and later Bangkok’s first five star hotel. From Wikipedia:
“When Siam opened to foreign trade after the signing of the Bowring Treaty the sailors that manned the ships which conveyed this trade though Bangkok required accommodation on shore. To meet this demand, Captain Dyers, an American and his partner J.E. Barnes opened a hotel called the Oriental Hotel. This burnt down in 1865. Several years later a partnership of Danish captains opened a replacement hotel. In the 1970s the board of the Oriental Hotel decided with the opening of the new River Wing, upon 1876 as the official establishment date of the Oriental Hotel.
The Mandarin has it’s own stop on the commuter boat route making it an easy break on the way to the Grand Palace.
Palace Complex:
Mandarin Oriental:
Will Travel with Toddlers 
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