We are staying in Chinatown at the Grand China Hotel, and after arriving we found our room on the 16th floor was directly below a very loud bar. Thankfully there was another room available on the 11th floor!  Our tours beginning early.  We have 2 full full days of sightseeing in Bangkok, so I will post reach section of sightseeing separately. 

First stop is the Temple for the Royal Palace.   Thailand is a constitutional monarchy since 1932, But had been ruled by 1 dynasty,  1 family of kings for over 200 years.  The queen mother passed away at 93 just 4 months ago.   The country will be in mourning for 1 year so there are pictures of her everywhere.

The Temple, or Wat has been built by the first king, of 10 kings, but especially by the 5th king.

All the gold is gold leaf, covering buildings and statues,  everywhere!  The Emerald Buddha is inside,  actually only about 26″ high and 19″ at the widest,  across his lap.

The 3rd long,  I believe it was,  built this reclining Buddha, 150′ long and 30′ high

After the temple,  we visited the public party of The Royal Palace.  It is not the Residence of the current king but the official home of the royal family.

Even in the Royal palace compound there are temples with Gold Buddha

Before we left the Royal Palace ground we were treated to a 30 minute Thai Massage.  I chose a for massage. Emmett got the whole Thai Massage.