November 15th, 2023: Today is the penultimate day of our current travel to Thailand. We had one more sight to see before we left: the ICONSIAM. I awoke at 8:00 a.m., when Mum was already packing the luggage and cleaning the room. We had our usual home-cooked breakfast. She instructed me to call Mr. Pimon and inform him of our early checkout time of 9:30 a.m. The older man returned with another bag. He walked straight to the kitchen and checked all of the drawers to make sure nothing had been stolen. “What next?” he asked, to which Mum replied, “We’re going back home!” “Please return.” “Thank you,” he said coldly, slamming the door as soon as we stepped out.

Mum asked if we had missed anything in the room, and I said no. Anyway, we had to move forward with Mr. Pimon behind us. This is his apartment, thus his rules apply. (If this were a hotel in Bangkok, I bet the hotel industry would commit death.

I took the elevator down, exited “The Station Condo”, and walked to the next bus stop. A TSB bus bound for “Sanam Luang” was leaving. We rode an air-conditioned bus and got off at Robinson-Bangrak. We arrived at Sathorn Pier after a few more clicks (we soon realized this was where we spent all of our Bangkok mornings). We proceeded to the ICONSIAM area of the dock after paying 10 baht apiece. A ferry arrived, and a few passengers boarded. We arrived to the ICONSIAM pier about 10:00 a.m.

We needed to store our bags somewhere. Luckily, a luggage locker was available on the platform. We discovered that there are no options for depositing cash after testing with the system to load it. Only “PromptPay, Alipay, Visa/Mastercard, or Rabbit” were accepted. We didn’t leave our luggage here because using a credit card would result in a significant deduction from our country’s bank. Mum said she’d wait outside with the bags while I went shopping. I refused since ICONSIAM was her idea, not mine. After some investigation, we arrived at the AIRPORTEL on the B2 level, near ICONWASH, and left our luggage for 100 baht per hour. The lady asked whether we wanted our luggage sent directly to the airport, which we politely denied.

So we landed at ICONSIAM. This mall is also part of the SIAM group, and its proximity to the river makes it a popular destination. Except for the seventh story, which took an extra 30 minutes, we spent an hour and a half exploring this mall. The eighth floor (PINNACLE) was closed for maintenance. Mom visited Starbucks and ordered an almond croissant, which she ate. We went to the mall’s Napalai Terrace and admired the famous Bangkok skyline. (Even though I had planned to look at the skyline from the top of a skyscraper, Mahanakhon Skywalk, we abandoned that idea). One of the greatest options for rooftop dining. I sat in one of those seats, admiring and relaxing in its beauty. We proceeded to the Pimarn Terrace; there was nothing exceptional there, so we left shortly.

Dolce-Gabbana, DIOR, Gucci, Porsche, Birkenstock, and more luxury labels were on show at ICONSIAM. Aside from that, “ICON” places such as ICONCRAFT, ICONVILLE, ICON-CINECONIC (movie theaters), ICONACTIVE, and ICONLUXE sell things (other than the theatre) at a slightly reduced price. There is a tourist lounge on the first floor (I noticed that certain Chinese airlines provided complimentary services here).

While touring the mall, we saw that reasonable food is available on the main floor, and restaurants can be found on every storey, but especially on the fourth, fifth, and sixth levels. Mum stated that she will consume the food below, while I will return after eating alone on the top levels. I investigated the higher floors for a restaurant that fit my budget and specifications (no ajinomoto, no MSG, minimal salt, and vegetarian cuisine). The International Buffet restaurant charged 1,200 baht per person and offered no vegetarian options. Finally, I chose Unagi Toku (located in the mall’s Siam Takashimaya section, essentially the Japanese section of ICONSIAM) and ordered a Japanese vegetarian meal that took an hour to prepare. Three other elderly Japanese women were eating around the corner from me. To be honest, this is my first experience with Japanese cuisine.

The food was fantastic, and I strongly recommend this business. Mum ate street food on the ground floor, where the majority of the visitors and locals ate. This section of the bottom floor, known as Sook Siam Rose Food Avenue, is lined with food stalls and has the appearance of a night market. The return flight was set for 19:30, but it was already 14:30. It is time to move on. After some initial discussions (Mum preferred to travel via the pier and transfer to Saphan Taksin BTS Station, from where we could transfer to Don Mueang station via the MRT Blue Line and SRT Dark Red Line), I settled on my return route.

ICONSIAM was accessible via a connecting walkway from Charoen Nakhon Station on the BTS Golden Line. At 15:10 p.m., we arrived at the metro platform. I checked my watch to see what time we left for the airport. (We brought two pieces of luggage). At 15:30, the automated (driverless) train arrived and took us to Thonburi BTS station. We arrived at the Bang Wa BTS station around 15:55 (I kept track of time). After that, we went to the Bang Wa MRT Blue Line station, then to Tha Phra.

We had to proceed to platform 3 or 4 after arriving at 16:10 hours to catch the train to Bang Sue on the Bang Khun Non-Sirindhorn line. (Be aware that Platform 1 leads to Lak Song, whereas Platform 2 leads to Bang Sue via Si Lom-Sukhumvit-Lat Phrao). We boarded the train and arrived at Bang Sue MRT Station around 16:45. After paying 15 baht per passenger, we went to the Krung Thep Aphiwat terminal and boarded the SRT Dark Red Line. The train we needed to take was headed to Rangsit (the opposite end was intended for Taling Chan). At 17:15, we arrived at our last destination, Don Mueang Railway Station.

While heading back to the airport, I realized we’d returned to the same location where we had looked for our intended platform in Part II of our tour. The journey back to Don Mueang Airport was flawless. We had to walk a short distance between the domestic section (where the SRT Dark Red Line crosses) and the international section. Wow, there were so many people, mostly Indians and Malaysians. The lines were really long! I had an epiphany: self-check in at the kiosk and go to immigration because none of our luggage was supposed to be checked in. We elected to explore this area of the airport after a brief immigration check, arriving at our gates (gate number 4) 30 minutes before boarding time. There were a few duty-free shops around gates 21–23 before the hallway split into separate gates. I walked to the end of the hallway and back. I finished my final ‘pad thai’ at one of the eateries.

Don Mueang Airport received extensive upgrades to accommodate low-cost flights. Thai AirAsia is in charge of a significant number of the planes here. Don Mueang Airport serves domestic flights to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Phuket, as well as international flights to various Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian destinations.

We had another challenge to tackle. Having the luggage weighed, as AirAsia prohibits customers from carrying more than 7 kg without incurring additional penalties. The staff physically delivered the weighing machines. Because each of our bags weighed 19 kg (8+11), we needed to reduce the weight by:

• Dumping unnecessary items into trash cans.
• Some of the clothes should be redistributed into our travel bags.
• Wear some clothes over our current outfit. (Made us look weird).
• Place one of our travel bags inside the duty-free bag, making it appear as if the travel bag was purchased from a duty-free shop.
• Place yourself at the back of the long line. (It seemed to work because the staff moved the weighing machine to another gate; the lone staff member just subjectively weighed our luggage and found it to be light!)

The method we used was inappropriate. However, it misled the AirAsia employees, and we were able to load our luggage onto the plane without incurring any further fees. Mum’s boarding pass was scanned without difficulty, but mine encountered a technical snag. The staff had to manually code the number, and I observed three busses outside as soon as I arrived. I had no notion because I was the last passenger in the line. Mum was not to be found. I boarded a bus with ‘Bangalore’ written in Thai and Chinese, as well as the flight number (FD138). (I observed the name in Thai and Chinese on airport notice boards and recognized it for a brief moment; pattern recognition). We boarded the plane, and unlike the previous flight (Part II), I was pleased with an aisle seat. Mum sat across the aisle from me. A Thai couple sat beside me. I attempted to strike up a pleasant conversation, but they appeared indifferent. I asked if they were visiting Bengaluru for the first time, and they said yes.

The flight departed on time, at 19:45 local time. We had no appointments this time, but I did have a Thai cold coffee, which was horrible. I sat quietly for a while before falling asleep. Mum dozed out as well, till another Indian lady in the middle seat asked to swap seats with her. She refused since sitting in the middle seat is plainly equal to sitting in a restricted area. She inquired about others, including me, but in vain. What the hell is going on? I can’t comment to this because I made a big deal about it the last time we left for Bangkok. Despite the turbulence, the aircraft captain announced that the airplane had arrived 30 minutes sooner than anticipated. That was fantastic!

As a result, the flight arrived at Kempegowda International Airport Terminal 2 at approximately 22:20 local time. We had no bags to check in, so the exit was simple, and the immigration counters were nearly empty. We got out of the terminal and observed a Volvo bus (KIA-5) heading towards home. As the bus leaves Terminal 1, tourists boarding from Terminal 2 will notice that many seats are already taken. We were fortunate to find two available seats.

As the bus pulled away (at 22:50 p.m.), the man next to me inquired about nearby hotels. He was perplexed, given this was his first visit to the city. He was scheduled to travel to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and arrived with other passengers. His next flight departs at 10:00 a.m. the following day. He preferred to stay near the airport, so I offered a village (4 kilometers away). Mum asked Dad to leave home and meet us at the bus station.

We arrived at the bus station at 23:45 p.m., and after some difficulty finding our way, Dad arrived. While driving back from the bus terminal, AirBnB asked me to leave a review of the flat. I didn’t want to ruffle anyone’s feathers (she gave positive personal evaluations to those who gave her apartment an excellent rating and criticized those who gave negative ratings), so I gave it a polite five-star rating. Bee replied two days later, but the message’s content was ambiguous. A review on our AirBnB site stated that “Mariyappan and his mother were ok guests…”

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