Thailand
I already went to Thailand last November so this will be my second time. I used Bangkok as my hub on this first leg of the trip. Since Bangkok is in the center between Cambodia and Myanmar I went to Cambodia from Bangkok as well as to and back from Myanmar. It’s the biggest city around so it’s really easy to find good deals and connections! The bad side is that I spent around 5 days all together in Bangkok which is way too much, but I met many cool and interesting people.
The first time I went with a Chinese tourist group and my friend…ohh I could write a novel about this experience!! Shortly…It was a one week trip for 300EUR with plain tickets and four star hotels. I knew there was something wrong with that! Well we first went to visit the royal palace in Bangkok, Pataya and another island close by. We took around 4 trips to different things every day, like the biggest Buddha on the wall, shopping centers, overpriced massage parlors, “fruit gardens”, and a bunch of other places I don’t know how to name. Sounds really good right, no imagine that after going to every one of these places you have a special place where they have a meeting for you and try to sell you something. They tried to sell food, pillows, jewelry, crocodile skin accessories, expensive gems, suits, magic pills... I couldn’t tell you how many people spent more than 1000EUR altogether buying magic pills, gems and I don’t what else kind of shit. Spending hours every day in these rooms listening to their sales pitches. We didn’t eat any local food and every meal was at a specific restaurant for Chinese tourists with TERRIBLE Chinese food. Of course we didn’t have any time to explore and by day 5 when I went all crazy I walked out of the shopping center and went for a massage, finally some local food and 3h later came back smiley again. If it wasn’t for that 3h walk around I would have probably exploded in one of those seminars and somehow I was the only person in the tour who gave terrible scores on her assessment cards, which should be anonymous! Let’s just say I’ll never travel with a tourist agency, especially a Chinese one!
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I hated all the animal shows, because some animals were treated really terribly and solely exploited for money!
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So getting back to my Thai trip, it consisted of the following 4 places: Bangkok, Pataya, North (Chiang mai and Chiang rai) and Koh tao. Let’s start with the most seen Bangkok :)
Bangkok
It is the biggest city in South East Asia and an excellent hub for traveling to other destinations around Asia. Not only is flying to Bangkok the cheapest in that area, there are also numerous budget airlines that fly to and from there. I was here probably around 5 times, since i came and went from there, handled my Myanmar visa and enjoyed some great parties.
I’m not the biggest fan of cities and in my opinion Bangkok isn’t an exception. The city has some really amazing places, which can either be seen by boat taxies or public transportation inside the city. The public transportation is well organized and you shouldn’t have any problems navigating around the city. I would say two, three days is totally enough to see the main parts of the city.
Different temples
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China town
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Cowboy street
Ghost tower Bangkok (unfortunately closed when I was there, at your own risk!)
Link: http://www.adventurizer.com/climbing-the-sathorn-unique-ghostsuicide-tower-an-impression-of-bangkok/
TIP: Bangkok is infested with numerous scams. Here are only some most common ones:
Tuk Tuk drivers will take you for a tour around the city for an incredibly cheap price, but in between he will take you to a couple of shops that tailor make your suits. Of course at the beginning I took at as interest and went in talked for 20 min and left. He took me to another tourist spot and then again to another store. While this time I didn’t go in and told him to drive me to my next destination, but of course he wasn’t too happy about that and instead took me to a tourist office. While I was starting to get annoyed I took this opportunity and went in and asked the big mama boss, what places around Thailand she would recommend. Big mama boss (I call her that, because she was something 150kg woman who was in charge of the place. I also came across a couple of other establishments that had the similar big mama boss) was cranky as hell, maybe she didn’t get her bacon, and I left ASAP. After that he wanted to take me to another shop and I loudly said to drop me off where he picked me up. On the way back he did explain that every time I go into one of these places they will get a coupon and with this they can earn some extra money.
At the train station they can tell you that all the trains are booked and take you to their own travel agent and charge you higher price! Be sure to check the counter at the train station first and check the prices for long haul buses, before booking any!
Here are some other scams you should be careful of:
But these are really small scams that actually paint a negative picture when in reality the city is really safe.
Food, alcohol and other everyday necessities are quite affordable and easily accessible usually. Street food is everywhere for around 2EUR, alcohol is only sold during certain hours so be careful to buy in advance just in case! I’m not a big fan of coffee, but what they do there is a miracle! The have many small vendors on the street and they put instant coffee, condensed milk, sugar and some sweet milk and out comes the taste of heaven. I probably had 2,3 coffees a day since no other drink came even close to that! Simply amazing
Coffee in a bag
Thai cuisine was my favorite in South East Asia and the tastes and flavors cannot compare to any other country in that region. The taste of the sweet sauce, lemon grass, grass noodles, curry, etc. is just mouthwatering!!
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Pattaya
Well can’t actually say much about Pattaya, except that is usually a day trip from Bangkok. It’s a place where all the parties, lady boy shows happen, prostitution, sex shows and much more happened. I did go to a lady boy show and a couple of sex shows. I do have to say that I was both extremely surprised and totally disgusted. The lady boy show was actually held on a cruise boat from the coast of Pattaya. We actually waited for a small boat to take us out to the show, where we were seated and had all you can drink and eat. The food and alcohol was not good and for Thai standards was below what I expected, but the main attraction were definitely the ladies. I have to say most of them look simply amazing and almost couldn’t recognize at all. The show was very elegant and their dance routine was not amateur and they showed their many talents. At the end you could take a photo with them for some extra money and they also wanted you to touch their boobs, which were 1. Very big and 2. By touch seemed real!
Hmmmm
I also heard that many lady boys didn’t actually have an option. Since Thailand is still a poor country many times it happens that kids’ parents have to give a child away to a camp where they become lady boys, so they are guaranteed a better and safer life. These camps are being ran by entertainment centers that don’t care too much about these kids and fill them up with drugs and other hormones, so actually their life expectancy is around 40 years. Therefor many entertainers are in the business until they die, since they don’t have an option and are under the workers’ contract. Actually the story goes much longer and sadder unfortunately!!
When it comes to the sex and trick shows there are numerous options out there. From very cheap ones to those more expensive. First I saw a really cheap trick show for around 5 EUR and the show was about 30 min long. It was cheap for a reason! There was a room and there were around 100 chairs around the stage, each row was slightly elevated so the view would be better. The show consisted of around 10 girls and a guy. All girls were topless and some had bottom part for around 5 seconds, until they took it off and performed a trick. The girls were obviously not happy, probably forced to do this and by the looks they didn’t enjoy it one bit! The guy was more excited and cheerful but after all his role was really short since he only came to the stage with a boner, put a condom on and fucked a girl 10 different positions! Doesn’t take a rocket scientist for that! Watching that the only thing that came to my head was…he has to have some sexual disease and that looks really boring and disgusting. While the women didn’t give a much better impression, but I saw a live bird entering and exiting her vagina, putting razor blades in, playing Ping-Pong, shooting ping pong balls out into the glass, putting in and out hundred flags, crushing a tennis ball with her vagina, etc. Basically things I could have never imagines possible!
The other more expensive show was completely different and professional for around 10 EUR. There was a huge line outside the stadium and when you got in the would seat you down and the show would begin. It was an 1h show with mostly lady boys and some other male and female performers. It was like an entertainment show with well-practiced shows. Each song had a lead performers and a lot of backup singers and dancers. Most of them were dressed and there were times where they would fling it out and you would be like…. WTF, where did he/she hide it?? AMAZING!! It was far from disgusting, but more an entertainment.
A lot of shows could be found in Patpong, Bangkok…Just go there and there will be signs everywhere! For these types of shows you do have to be slightly more open minded and hopefully you will enjoy the act and not judge the people in the process…
Chiang Rai/Chang Mai (North of Thailand)
Definitely my favorite two places in Thailand! Chiang Rai is a small town that hasn’t totally been corrupted by tourists and money needy people. Chiang Rai is famous for the White palace and the black palace on the opposing sides of the town. White palace is much more famous and it is the only thing I saw on the Chinese WeChat social network, whenever someone would to go Thailand! It’s a beautiful small park that has a bunch of shiny buildings that make you want to take a photo and of course post it everywhere. While it truly is a masterpiece by the artist, but for me the less popular Black palace that is made from wood is much more spectacular. I like the notion that there are two palaces with the opposite colors, which in my opinion represent the balance and equality of each (ying-yang, 阴阳). Have a look and you decided which one appeals better to your taste…
White palace
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Black palace
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I also like the feeling of the small town where you have to ride the local buses that fit 30 people, a goat and a large TV or an open pick-up truck where you sit on a stool in the back. Chiang rai really is a nice one-day getaway from Chiang Mai. It’s easily accessible from the Chiang Mai bus station as well as any other 1,2h places nearby. A single ride should not cost you more then 2,3 EUR and it is quite comfortable.
Chiang Mai is an actually city with an ancient city wall, narrow streets filled with local small eateries and foreigners roaming around trying to find the next interesting thing, small temples scattered around the town and kind locals that help you with anything you might need. Since the introduction of the direct flight connection between China and Chiang Mai you can see more Chinese than locals. For me that it is even better since now I can speak Chinese and I like to get to know the travelling Chinese a little better. I met an interesting Chinese girls that were traveling around Thailand for 3 weeks, we first met on the airplane towards Bangkok and now in Chiang Mai again. Had a great night together roaming around and hopping from one place to another. Even if she was an English major, luckily we were still communicating in Chinese. She showed me the real magic of Chiang Mai and that is getting lost in the small allays and looking for something new and surprisingly everyone is different with some art or local aspiration that surprises you. Simply one of those cities where you could imagine relaxing for a couple weeks, months and would always have some peace and quiet while also having a great chance to explore many places in and out of the city! Since I had some extra days in the north since I was waiting for my Myanmar visa I decided to visit the golden triangle in the north, which is the border or Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. I went with a person I met on couch surfing and later we spent the whole three days in the north relaxing. I guess I’m really lucky when it comes to meeting people online! Haven’t had a bad experience yet!
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Golden triangle
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Night market in Chiang Mai
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The three of us in Tuk Tuk
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The city plan
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TIP: Getting to Chiang Mai/ Chiang Rai is quite easy from Bangkok, the most popular way is by the night train, which is quite interesting and an experience by itself! You also have many buses that go both ways. I would prefer to take the train, it was really nice, you get to see the some really interesting views and sleep quite comfortable while the bus ride up I took was kind of uncomfortable and a big he/she stewardess was no the happiest! The train was around 800 baht and bus was 1200baht.
Koh Tao Island
Since I was in Thailand I wanted to go to an island and try not to get to bored at the same time. Once again I have to say I’m not a big beach buff, since I think they only look good on pictures! Anyways I knew I wanted to do an AOWD (Advanced open water diver licence) and after some research online I discovered the cheapest and most fun place would be Koh Tao. I took a bus/boat connection from Bangkok from 9 p.m. and would arrive the island at 9 a.m. Finding a place to dive is really not that hard, since disembarking the boat there are like 30 people screaming and trying to sell you their package (not what you are thinking dirty people!), I mean diving package! I found one for 8000 baht that were quite nice at first. I decided to take a look at their places and since the price was good, they offered a cheap place to stay and Australian girls working there was quite hot. Yeah I know what you are thinking…but yes I also checked if they were certified. After some paperwork I moved above the school and found out I was the only non-Chinese in the room of 6, that’s just faith! After getting to know a girl and a guy they nicely took me out for lunch and we spend the noon chatting and gossiping about the people working at the school. To skip every detail, over the next three days I took the course and I was quite happy with what I have learned. I had the basic buoyance, night dive, orientation in water, deep 32m dive and a ship wreck dive. I can truly say it’s a great place to do your AOWD. Especially the night and wreck dives were amazing and you could see things I never imagined I would! Truly blessed! I will however have to buy a GOPRO next time so I can share it with you, diving is an amazing experience and it lets you discover the other 75% of the world!! I love diving!!!Here are a couple of pictures from our night dive, unfortunately the outside part…I wish you could have seen the glowing plankton, or the huge stingray, a baby shark, fluorescent fishes, etc.
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Koh Tao is not only a diving island, but if you do some research and walk/ride around you will stumble upon some really nice beaches, snorkeling places (these had much more marine life and colors than in the dives I had, since with an increasing depth the colors fade away and so the corals and others things lost some of its charm), and some amazing viewpoints. You decide if it’s true.
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From Koh Tao I went south with a bus and It’s a Muslim area that is in “war” with those in Malaysia and there are quite some problems there! I did go down there and seeing soldiers caring guns everywhere and road blocks every 5km for the last 2h towards to southern border didn’t make me feel any better as well! But I still believe it’s quite safe and an interesting place to explore in the future and for those who are bold! So please be careful and check online if you are planning to go down South, especially South East!
