Temple of the Dawn
	Temple of the Reclining Buddha
	Tuk-tuk convoy

The day started normally enough (well normal for some): arguing with my butler that I could (and wanted to) do my own ironing.

But as heavy warm rain fell on a long line of tuk-tuks emblazoned with Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) paraphernalia, led by police who stopped traffic for the very important people within (us), I had an out-of-tuk-tuk-experience.

In the business of business travel it is often easy to forget to experience the destination. And as I inspect the very luxe St. Regis Bangkok and tour IMPACT Arena, Exhibition and Convention Centre, I expect Thailand to reveal itself in the spare moments out of business hours.

How wrong I was, for TCEB organisers, with partners in Destination Asia and Hill and Knowlton, have a day of Thai luxury and surprises in store.

Our coach, complete with massage chairs, back of seat entertainment and a lot of legroom, drops us at the banks of Chao Phraya River. We cruise to Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) and climb the steep steps of its main prang (Khmer-style tower).

Then on to Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawihan. “Just call it Wat Pho”, our guide jokes. The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is a little bit amazing.

It’s nice to know that amid all the luxury on offer by TCEB, for MICE travellers sometimes luxury is more than a crazy, hilarious, city-stopping exhibition of a long line of tuk-tuks filled with foreign VIPs; luxury can be the sudden silence of a hidden corner in a busy temple or getting caught in an afternoon shower forcing you to stop and look around.