Activities for babies & toddlers

[USNret]

Hi.  My family will be moving to Thailand later this year (wife is Thai; I've lived there before).  I'll be retired & living on investments & Navy retirement.  Our little girl will be two years old when we get there.  We're interested in finding groups and activities so our daughter can socialize with other kids.  It can be simply play time, or swim lessons, or story time (in Thai or English), or other activities suitable for babies.  This can be either Thai or English-speaking groups. 

Our first six months, we'll be living in the Onnut area off Sukhumvit.  After that, we will live in other parts of the country such as Hua Hin/Cha-Am, Chiang Mai and/or Chiang Rai.  So if you know of suitable activities or groups in any location, we'd be very interested. 
 

[USNret]

Nuthin?  

[janejira]

You might want to check out the BAMBI or BkkKids websites

 

The Little Pea at The Commons, Thonglor has lots of activities for little ones (some are classes and crafts with a fee, some are free play)

 

http://littlepeabkk.com/

 

Tiny Tots playgroup seems to be popular http://www.christchurchbangkok.org/Toddler.html

 

Neilson Hays library in Silom/Sathorn usually has kids activities/book readings/holiday celebrations 

 

http://neilsonhayslibrary.com/

 

Gateway Ekkamai  has an EduPlay zone with tons of classes

 

I believe Emporium has an indoor playground of sorts as well

 

We haven't joined any playgroups yet as our little one is quite young (10 weeks), but we have been looking around for when she gets a bit older. 

 

 

[USNret]

2 hours ago, janejira said:

You might want to check out the BAMBI or BkkKids websites

 

The Little Pea at The Commons, Thonglor has lots of activities for little ones (some are classes and crafts with a fee, some are free play)

 

http://littlepeabkk.com/

 

Tiny Tots playgroup seems to be popular http://www.christchurchbangkok.org/Toddler.html

 

Neilson Hays library in Silom/Sathorn usually has kids activities/book readings/holiday celebrations 

 

http://neilsonhayslibrary.com/

 

Gateway Ekkamai  has an EduPlay zone with tons of classes

 

I believe Emporium has an indoor playground of sorts as well

 

We haven't joined any playgroups yet as our little one is quite young (10 weeks), but we have been looking around for when she gets a bit older. 

 

 

 

Thank you, Janejira!  This is exactly what I needed to know.  I'll check out these sites. 

[seancbk]

22 hours ago, USNret said:

Nuthin?  

Start here - https://www.facebook.com/BAMBIBangkok/

This group whilst for people selling baby stuff might also help you find other parents looking for playdates etc for their kids https://www.facebook.com/groups/1471689686444284/?ref=nf_target&fref=nf

 

 

[SiSePuede419]

Your wife is Thai?

 

Odd that you're not interested in living with your family of your wife?  

 

Wouldn't there be tons of cousins around for your daughter to play with?  

 

Quite strange you wouldn't know that since you've "lived here before"???? ?

[Ondral]

The best activities for babies in Thailand I can recommend are sleeping and breast feeding. 

[Dumbastheycome]

 I must have deprived  my  children. I took them  for walks in  various parks, to  several  zoos, public entertainment  parks,  and from the  age of 5  camping for  a weekend  either in a forested area or  next to a safe  beach. 

Now i feel sorry I did  not  make them as  preschoolers regularly  or  daily attend a  "care  facility"  or  make them endure  hours in a  mind  numbing plasticized  playground and  feed them or have  them  fed  equally plasticized  burgers etc.

But I am  relieved  by the fact that  they are  all  now  well  matured  to become   successful  and  balanced  people.  

[USNret]

4 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Your wife is Thai?

 

Odd that you're not interested in living with your family of your wife?  

 

Wouldn't there be tons of cousins around for your daughter to play with?  

 

Quite strange you wouldn't know that since you've "lived here before"???? ?

Seriously? You have to look for conspiracy theories in a post about baby activities? In fact, I have lived with my in-laws previously (before the child was born). It's not a great environment for kid for a number of reasons, plus my wife & I both value our privacy.  Please don't try to put everyone into some sort of cookie-cutter pre-conceived notion of how you think other people should live their lives.

[USNret]

1 hour ago, Dumbastheycome said:

 I must have deprived  my  children. I took them  for walks in  various parks, to  several  zoos, public entertainment  parks,  and from the  age of 5  camping for  a weekend  either in a forested area or  next to a safe  beach. 

Now i feel sorry I did  not  make them as  preschoolers regularly  or  daily attend a  "care  facility"  or  make them endure  hours in a  mind  numbing plasticized  playground and  feed them or have  them  fed  equally plasticized  burgers etc.

But I am  relieved  by the fact that  they are  all  now  well  matured  to become   successful  and  balanced  people.  

One can only hope that your smug attitude of presumed superiority did not rub off on your child. :-) 

[seancbk]

12 hours ago, Ondral said:

The best activities for babies in Thailand I can recommend are sleeping and breast feeding. 

 

I'd happily do those all day long.  

 

[seancbk]

15 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Your wife is Thai?

 

Odd that you're not interested in living with your family of your wife?  

 

Wouldn't there be tons of cousins around for your daughter to play with?  

 

Quite strange you wouldn't know that since you've "lived here before"???? ?

 

Perhaps the OP wants to live in Bangkok rather than out in the boonies (apologies to the OP if his in-laws don't live in the boonies)

Perhaps he and his wife want to be away from the family, not everyone wants to have to deal with an extended Thai family, especially one out in the sticks.   

[USNret]

1 hour ago, seancbk said:

 

Perhaps the OP wants to live in Bangkok rather than out in the boonies (apologies to the OP if his in-laws don't live in the boonies)

Perhaps he and his wife want to be away from the family, not everyone wants to have to deal with an extended Thai family, especially one out in the sticks.   

That's closer to the truth. In fact, her parents live in Onnut and I like her family very much. But the house is run down, there is some manufacturing nearby and I don't want to subject the baby to the fumes.  The reality is, we will see her family every day & then retreat to our own home where we have some privacy, peace & quiet. A perfectly normal & harmless explanation, I hope.  

[seancbk]

41 minutes ago, USNret said:

The reality is, we will see her family every day & then retreat to our own home where we have some privacy, peace & quiet. A perfectly normal & harmless explanation, I hope.  

 

Not that you really need to explain your personal choices to anyone.

Sounds however like a nice arrangement and you are lucky to have in-laws you like, who also live in Bangkok.

 

[Dumbastheycome]

21 hours ago, USNret said:

One can only hope that your smug attitude of presumed superiority did not rub off on your child. :-) 

Where  is  the presumption  of   superiority  in defying the systematic expectations  of conformity  to  commercialized  child raising ? I early  on as a parent recognized the  dangers  of  such  facilities as  being  dangerous. Should  I  be  happy to  hand  my children over to an organization   run  by a  business  motivated operator  who  may  legally or  not oversee a  bunch  of   mostly  disinterested  bimbos applying and instituting  their  own  mindset?

I am  not  smug   at all.  Instead I   am  happy  I have  offspring  who  even though   they  do  not  often  or all together agree  with me at least  can  think as individuals  and  are aware of the  gambit involved  in insidious  social  engineering. As  such all  have achieved great success  in their individual professional  careers.

They have  achieved  more  than  myself. Honestly  and  with  social  compassion.