MATHILDE PATERSON, AUTHOR AND FOUNDER OF HEUREUX COMME ULYSSE, IN BANGKOK
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Mathilde Paterson's comic blog posts amuse and inform expats in Bangkok and beyond. Her blog, My tailor is an expat is THE reference website for those living abroad. We like her openness about taboos surrounding the expat life which is not always as glamorous as it seems.
The French mom started writing after a career in communication and the birth of her second son. Surfing on the success of her site, she decided to start a new one on kids and expatriation: Heureux comme Ulysse. The site follows the release of her first book for kids about expatriation Ulysse petit expat.
Mathilde does all her writing from her house in Bangkok. " The great thing about living here is being able to go from one world to another very easily. You can have trendy dinner on a rooftop one day and bike around rice fields the next," she explains. The blogger has been living in the capital of Thailand for six years and her three kids were born there. It would be hard to find a better guide to show us around a kid-friendly Bangkok.
IN BANGKOK WITH MATHILDE PATERSON
Eating out with the kids. It's much easier than in Europe to take the kids to a restaurant. Thai love children and are very helpful. If your little one is antsy and the waiters are not too busy, they'll pick him up and play with him. On the weekend we like to go for lunch to The Commons, a kind of organic and boho food court. Grabbing a snack with the kids. We usually go to one of these two famous bakeries Eric Kayser or Paul, we love french snacks! When I was pregnant with my third, I used to take the kids to a trendy local coffee shop called Caturday Cat Café. It's full of cats and we can pet them as we want!Having fun on a sunny day. Except during the monsoon, the sun shines every day in Bangkok. We're not really looking for sun here, especially with young children, so we go out mainly early in the morning or in the evening. We go to Lumpini park or Benjasiri to ride our scooters. We also like to go to the Snake Farm or to Dusit Zoo. For an indoor activity with AC we go to the Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World in Siam Paragon.Having fun on a rainy day. When it rains we're a little stuck at home. Traffic is a big problem in Bangkok and with the rains it's a nightmare.A cultural activity with the kids. There are not many museums in Bangkok and the ones around are not for kids. We look out for exhibitions suited for them and often check the calendar of the Alliance française or of the English speaking bookshop Neilson Hays who sometimes offer readings and activities for kids.It's naptime, where should we go? For a peaceful time, we like to bike to Thonburi, on the other side of the de l’autre Chao Praya river or on the little island of Pak Kret. Otherwise, we leave Bangkok for a weekend and head to Khao Yay park for a nice walk or to the beach around Rayong ou Hua-Hin.Shopping for the kids. There are not many pretty shops for the kids in Bangkok. I mainly buy clothes, books, and toys when I go to France in the summer. There is one French NGO, Isan Weaving, that sells cute kids clothes made by underprivileged Thai moms. A kid-friendly hotel. Bangkok is ultra touristic so there are a lot of very kid-friendly hotels. It's hard to pick one. All the big hotel chains (Accor, Sheraton, 4 Seasons…) have huge pools and that's the most important thing when you come here with kids.A trip outside the city. We like to go to Dolphin Bay Resort, it's a kid-friendly hotel a few hours outside of the capital, south of Hua-Hin. It is owned by French people and is a real paradise for families, the beach is gigantic! There is also the same type of hotel on the east towards Rayong, called Bird and Bees which is mainly visited by English speaking families.A trip outside of your country. Last year we did a road trip in Australia from Sydney to Melbourne. We often stopped on pristine empty beaches - the opposite of what we find in Thailand- and it was heaven on earth. That's the most family-friendly spot I know. The kids are free to run on the beach, jump in the waves and play in the sand as much as they want. It's great to give them total freedom. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]