FEBRUARY 2004

Thailand has always been one of my favorite destinations. After a few years in the U.K. , my friend Enis and I finally decided to take a trip to Thailand.

We spent three weeks in Thailand to cover all the “must see” tourist attractions. After hours of flying with Royal Jordanian Airlines, stopping over in Jordan, we arrived to Bangkok International Airport. The extremely hot humid weather made the trip somewhat painful, but overall we really enjoyed Thailand.

Bangkok:

We spent our first three days in Bangkok. Except for the traffic, extreme heat and pollution, Bangkok is a great modern city. It is clearly the major city of Thailand, as 80% of the nation’s cars are there, and Bangkok’s population has 40 times that of the second largest city, Chang Mai.

Because of the dense population in Bangkok, the traffic is absolutely terrible most of the time. From the airport to the city centre we took an airport taxi. The driver asked for 550 Baht, but we managed to reduce it to 350 Baht.

Rule 1: Always bargain in Thailand!!!

As we were told by the guide books, most taxis claimed that their meters were not working, so they could negotiate higher fares to unknowing tourist. So, each time we used a taxi, we negotiated price based on our little knowledge. Often, we just closed the door and went to the next taxi that was typically stopped behind that one.

In the city centre, apart from taxis, there is Skytrain, very cheap (10 or 20 Baht) and useful. There are also lots of tuk-tuks, small two-seater carriers. Tuk-tuks are relatively cheaper, faster and very useful in heavy traffic.

In our first day, we booked a room in Samran Hotel in the city centre (1000 Baht a night for two; our first and last rip-off in Thailand.) This hotel was a 3 star hotel but most guesthouses in Bangkok are a lot cheaper.

First night, we had a traditional Thai food in one of the restaurants in Kaosan Road, the most popular road for backpackers. We had Pad Thai (traditional Thai noodle), red snapper fish (very hot!!) and a very nice fresh tropical fruit shake.

We spent the night in a night club called Gotcha where only Thai university students go to. There was live music and we even managed to get them sing “Kiss Kiss” from Tarkan.

Next morning we woke up at 6.00, had a very quick shower and breakfast (toast, egg and mango juice), because our guide was already in the reception to take us to a tour including the famous floating market, snake farm, coconut farm, Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Thai Massage school.

Floating Market:

Floating market is one of the world’s famous fruit and vegetable markets.

We arrived there at 10am and spent about two hours in the market, trying to taste every single fruit such as banana, pineapple, mango, papaya, rambutant and my favourite mangosteen (a garlic shaped fruit with a black shell, very sweet and tasty!!)

Snake Farm:

So, you want to pet a King Kobra? Kiss a Python?

Bangkok’s snake farms offer all these forms of excitement and a bit more. Fighting cobras and pythons, Thai boys playing with these venomous creatures, demonstrating the skill involved in catching one of these snakes with their mouth, feeding and milking them for venom. The snake farm in Bangkok is not just a place to show snakes to awed tourists, but is in fact one of the premier snake anti-venom research facilities in the world. They also educate people on the true dangers of snakes. For the record, I have personally seen a python, Siamese cobra fight and I even had one of those cobras around my neck. So the snakes are indeed here..

Wat Pho and The Grand Palace:

The Grand Palace is simply the country’s most visited sight, incorporating its holiest and most beautiful temples and its most important image, The Emerald Budha. Photography is forbidden inside the building housing the Emerald Budha, but of course I have taken one for you to see!!! Wat Pho is the largest Wat in Bangkok, and is technically the oldest too, as it was built around 200 years before Bangkok became Thai capital. It holds the dual honours of having both Thailand’s largest reclining Budha image and the most number of Budha images in Thailand.

The best part of the day was the traditional Thai massage we had in the famous massage school in Wat Pho. We paid 400 Baht for an hour painful herbal oil massage, but after all day walking it is definitely worth it.

Kanchanaburi and The River Kwai:

Next morning we took a bus from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi (2 hours 30 minutes, costs 62 Baht) to see the Infamous Death Railway that crosses the River Kwai, built in World War II, which I knew about mostly from the movie The Bridge On The River Kwai.

The Story:

After Japan conquered Thailand, they wanted a railway to connect Thailand to Burma as a supply line. Japanese engineers said it would take 5 years to build the 500 km railway, but the officials wanted it completed in 18 months.

The Japanese enslaved 200,000-300,000 prisoners of war and local Thais. This captive labour force, working three shifts a day, in terrible conditions, finished the bridge in 16 months. The railway is called the “Death Railway” because between 50,000 and 150,000 people died building the bridge. Soon after it was completed, the Allied forces bombed the bridge on to break the supply line. The bridge that was bombed is gone, but there is a new one 50 meters away from the old one.

After the bridge, we went to the museum next to bridge, full of pictures of the effort, and especially of the suffering of the workers. Many stories from survivors explained the terrible conditions, the constant torturing and the death of so many. The pictures showed the torture, dysentery, cholera and deaths. It was quite depressing..

Chatuchak Market:

Although there are many markets around Bangkok, Chatuchak Weekend Market is the biggest one. It contains more than 15,000 shops and stalls, and has over 200,000 visitors each day.

Chatuchak is a particularly good place to buy all sorts of Thai handicrafts. The quality is high and the intense competition keeps the prices down.

Prices are generally cheaper than the shopping centres and street stalls in Patpong and Sukhumvit. Bargaining is expected, but if you want a real bargain, visit around three or four in the afternoon, when prices are relatively lower.

South of Thailand

We took a train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, south of Thailand. Although road travel is well organized in Thailand, train travel is still the most common way to get around for those who do not like to fly. Train travel is cheap, fast, punctual but not very comfortable.

We paid 580 Baht for train to Surat Thani and bus from there to the harbour and the boat from the harbour to Koh Samui.

Koh Samui:

Koh Samui is on the east coast in the Gulf of Thailand. It is the third largest island. It was once a backpackers’ heaven but is now becoming and international resort. The main beaches Chaweng and Lamai have a great night life with clubs, discos, live music, cool bars and restaurants. Chaweng beach is full of tourists, very crowded and noisy. Therefore, we stayed in Lamai Chalet Bungalows, paid 200 Baht for a single bungalow with fan, private toilet and bathroom.

Rule 2: Do not forget your vaccination and medication because there are mosquitoes there!! 

Next day we took a tour around the island, including snorkelling, canoeing, elephant trekking, and the beautiful national marine park.

At night, before going to bars, we had a really nice dinner with barbecued big red snapper with fried vegetables, calamari, mix salad, french fries and local Singha beer for only 320 Baht, delicious...

Koh Phangan:

Mainly cheap backpackers’ accommodation is available in Koh Phangan, but more upmarket accommodation is starting to appear. There are beautiful beaches with good diving and snorkelling places, great pubs and clubs open till morning and nice restaurants showing latest movies (pirate!) free of charge.

First night, we stayed in Leila Beach Bungalows (200 B per night, but it was horrible, a lot of mosquitoes and almost open toilet and a shower in the room). The best beach on the island is the famous Had Rin Beach where the full moon parties take place. We had a big party on the beach, between “Drop In” bar and “Cactus” bar.

The party started at dusk when the moon makes its appearance over the white sandy beach. As the night progresses, the beach become an outdoor club as different DJs playing in different bars. The crowd is also entertained by jugglers, fireworks, fire-eaters and the party goes on well into the morning…

Rule 3: Stay away from drugs if you don’t want to spend rest of your holiday in prison!! Giant spliffs, mushrooms, amphetamines and many other illegal substances are freely passed around during the night and there are undercover cops out there!!

Koh Tao:

Next morning, we took a boat from Koh Phangan to Koh Tao. It takes 2 hours and costs about 500 Bahts.

Koh Tao is a very small and quiet island, becoming very popular for divers as accommodation is almost overrun with divers.

We stayed in P.J. Resort (the best hotel we had in Thailand!) and took and island hopping tour in the morning to four different islands. The first three islands were not really impressive but the last one, Nang Yuan Island, is the best island I have ever seen.

Nang Yuan is a group of three small islands interconnected by beautiful white sandy beaches. It is also a diving resort with beautiful deep water coral reefs and marine life.

The stunning view of the islands and sandy beaches can be reached by a 50 meters staircase on one of the islands. It was an amazing experience!!!

On our way back to hotel, one of the locals let us pick a papaya fruit from his garden. Of course I did not say no and Enis took another one from one of the other gardens. At the hotel, we washed them to have a fresh fruit shake, but our worst two hours in Thailand was about to start. First Enis started jumping around and screaming. It was so funny for me until my hands started itching!!!  Fresh papaya milk is really irritating and makes your skin terribly itchy. We had to go to a local nursery, spent 2 hours there and paid 250 Baht for the cream and antihistaminic tablets. We could have had 25 papaya shakes with that money!!!

Rule 5: Eat papaya only in the restaurants..!

Krabi, Ao Nang and Railay Beaches:

We took a boat at 9 pm. from Koh Tao back to Surat Thani. It was a night boat and we had to sleep together with 50 other travellers in the same room. Finally we arrived Surat Thani at 5.30 am. next morning and took a bus to Krabi. (2.5 hours)

Ao Nang and Railay beaches are the best beaches in Krabi area, offering beautiful long sandy beaches, limestone cliffs, tropical vegetation, plus crystal clear seawater. Ideal for swimming, snorkelling and diving.

In  our first day here, we took a full day island hopping tour, visiting small tropical islands including Koh Poda, Koh Thab, Koh Hua Khwaan (Chicken Island) and James Bond Island.

We spent the next day in Railay beach. Railay beach contains enough activities for the most adventurous while allowing those who just want to chill out. It never gets crowded as there are a limited amount of hotel rooms available. Therefore, many people choose to stay in Ao Nang, a short boat ride away.

Railay offers activities such as swimming, snorkelling, kayaking, canoeing, white water rafting, waterfalls, elephant riding, caving and rock climbing.

At the end of Railay beach, there is a small mountain. Well, actually a crater with a fully enclosed lagoon at the top. It takes about 45 minutes of extreme rock climbing over slippery mud slopes, holding onto guide ropes, roots and small holes in the rock face.

None of us had done much rock-climbing before, it was difficult but enough to get our adrenalin pumping. Climb on a mountain like that and you feel like a hero!!

Not much to see in the lagoon, a bit disappointed. Then of course, the trip back. Lowering yourself down a rope to the lagoon is one thing, but climbing back up that rope is quite different job. Yes, definitely one of the greatest adventures for me!!!

Next day another tour to Parivat Wildlife Sanctuary Station where you can enjoy elephant trekking, swimming in an ice cold waterfall and white water rafting. We started with rafting adventure through the gorgeous valley. It took approximately 1 hour and although I was expecting fun while rafting, it was the wildest and wettest ride for me. Then we ended up in freezing cold waters of the hidden waterfall in the local village.

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