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Photo: Bangkok one day after the 20th September 2006 military coup. Even military coups are fun activities in Thailand. What's On This Page? |
Thailand - My Travels Page 3
Up until the early 80's the main activities in Phuket were fishing, tin mining and cultivating rubber, coconuts and pineapples. It's a very large island but because of its size and proximity to the mainland it doesn't have that real island feel in the same way that Samui or Phi Phi has. Indeed if you approach by land and close your eyes for a couple of minutes at the right time you'll miss going over the causeway. At some point in the 80's tourism arrived in Phuket and changed the landscape forever. I remember years ago in the UK when people started to hear about this new destination. It may have been because of the funny name, pronounced incorrectly by most English speakers, but whatever it was, when talking about where to go in Thailand it was somewhere that people had begun to hear about. I first went in 1992 on my second trip to Thailand and it was great. I have an abiding memory of walking along the beach at Patong and thinking to myself, "this is paradise". It had all the perfect ingredients of a tropical paradise - the beach, sea, palm trees - but in addition there were sweet girls everywhere smiling at me and eager to make my acquaintance. In 1992 Patong was fairly quiet. There was one main road parallel to the beach with an assortment of shops, restaurants and bungalows and a few Sois running off it away from the beach. The evening entertainment was fun without being brash and if you read my comments about Pattaya above it seemed true that a lot of girls had moved from there to Phuket. I stayed in Patong for a while and then moved down to Kata Beach. At Kata there was very little. The beach was almost deserted and even though there was a large Club Med the guests there seemed to stay within the resort. At the end of the beach was the Kata Beach Dive Shop. At the time I did not dive but hung out with a group of people who did and the people who worked at the shop. It was pretty idyllic. In the evenings we would either go to a venue in Kata or get tuk-tuks to Patong. I went back to Phuket in 1996 and stayed at the same place I stayed at before in Kata Beach. I hung out at the same dive shop but this time I had got my diving certificate so could join in with the diving. Kata hadn't changed much in four years and although Patong had got a bit more developed it wasn't a crazy place. I still enjoyed my time there. During the 90's I went to the US many times for business and pleasure, spending lots of time there and also travelling to other countries. It wasn't until 2001 that I returned to Thailand. Since my last visit there had been enormous changes. The Asian financial crisis had happened - in 1997 - with long lasting effects. One piece of good news was that my pound was now worth about Bt60 instead of Bt40 as had been the case before. I got the feeling though a lot of Thais had been hurt by the crisis. The economy had been going up very quickly and they probably thought it would never stop but the bubble always bursts eventually.
One of the worst sights I saw were a bunch of young American males who had hired a jeep and were cruising up and down the beach road shouting at people (especially Thai girls) and whooping like only Americans do. The phrase 'Ugly American' sprung immediately to mind. It was the typical behaviour of young Americans on Spring Break and if you've ever been unfortunate enough to have come across young Americans on Spring Break elsewhere on the planet you will know exactly what I mean. Something else that I didn't like were the rip offs. It seemed that any Thai in Phuket thought they had a license to rip off foreigners. They get away with it because a lot of tourists don't know any better. The tourists assume that what the Thai is telling them is correct (a bad mistake) or they do a quick conversion in their head and compare prices to Stuttgart or Frankfurt and think they are reasonable. I got fed up with the constantly aggravation from touts and started to hate the island. And to think, less than ten years earlier I though of it as a paradise. All of my comments, as you may have noticed, are about just two beaches on Phuket - Patong and Kata. In between them is another beach called Karon which for a long time was very quiet but is now being seriously developed. As I said before, Phuket is a large island, so there is a lot more to it than these beaches but those three beaches are where a lot of people go. There exists on Phuket a lot of inclusive resorts - some even have their own private beach. People staying at such a resort can find everything they need within the resort without having to go outside, if that is what you want. In November 2003 my brother arranged to leave on a diving trip to the Similan Islands from Patong. I was in Thailand at the time and met him in Patong for a few days. Before this I never imagined that I would ever stay in Patong again. It was an interesting few days. After staying in a very quiet place there was a certain appeal to all the activity and neon lights of Patong. I was quite familiar with prices in Thailand by then and couldn't believe some of the prices. Asking directions to a restaurant one night, some guy told us that to get there the tuk-tuk fare should only be Bt150. Only Bt150? Are you joking? It should have been Bt20. My brother gave him Bt100 which was far too much but he didn't know any better and besides, money isn't an object for him. The tuk-tuk driver gave us his mobile phone number and told us to call him when we wanted to go back. I could understand why he was so keen to get our business again. We ventured out to the nightlife area and Soi Bangla where lots of girlie bars are located but I found it to be a complete turn off. The cacophony of sound as each bar competes with the others to see who can play music loudest is annoying and the sad spectacle of the bar girls, who I now see through completely, was quite depressing. As we walked around the streets we were hassled continually by forceful Thais and Indians trying to get us into restaurants and tailor shops. The Thais working in Patong manage to force a smile when they have to but when I looked at their faces without them realising I was looking it made me think they are probably the unhappiest Thais I've seen.
I was intrigued and went to his shop. Once inside he wanted me and my brother to sit down and wanted to get us drinks to keep us in there - the usual tricks. I wasn't interested and just kept asking where the shirts were. At first he ignored me but when I persisted he pointed at the wall .... to various rolls of fabric hanging up. Yes, we can make your shirt, he said. I had a good laugh with my brother, got up and left. These guys really irritate me.
Patong has a chronic water shortage. The area has become so developed that the water supply cannot cope with the amount of people living and visiting there. The system to supply water on Phuket can produce 30,000 cubic metres per day but on some days the demand reaches 40,000 cubic metres. During my last visit the taps in the bathroom would suddenly run dry. The hotel had a system where they could switch to using water from the swimming pool when the mains water stopped flowing but it always took them a while to switch over. Because of the drought conditions that affected all of Thailand in 2004/2005 there was talk of water rationing in Phuket commencing 1st May 2005. If the situation did not improve water distribution was going to be restricted between the hours of 5am-10am and 5pm-10pm and water pressure was to be reduced by 40%. I don't know if this plan went ahead or not but it underlines the problem with fresh water on the island. There are still many people who love Phuket. I almost came to blows with a German working there as a divemaster who asked why I didn't stay in Phuket and didn't like my answer when I told him. I see it on Internet sites too. Some people love the place, but then again some people love Blackpool. There is no accounting for taste. Phuket has changed to the extent where it is no longer for me. I am pleased I saw it in the early days but I have no plans to go back there. I am constantly amazed when I speak to Thais in other parts of Thailand about Phuket. As far as they are concerned all farangs love Phuket and as I am a farang so should I. When I tell them I hate the place they look surprised and confused. A lot of them tell me they want to go to Phuket. Their reasons for wanting to go remind me of the story about Dick Whittington - just replace London with Phuket. They seem to think that the streets of Phuket are paved with gold and it is a place where they can make their fortune from all the rich foreign tourists who go there. Sad but true. There was a report in The Nation about how discontented Phuket residents have become with the quality of life on the island. The main complaints are over-development and noise. Some foreigners who have bought quite expensive properties are being driven crazy by Karaoke bars that start up at 6pm and blare out noise until 2 or 3 in the morning. Most people who spoke to the newspaper wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. Karaoke bars are supposed to have glass doors for sound insulation but many don't. When a resident was asked why they didn't report this to the police the person said it was because the police were in the bars most nights. Karaoke bars aren't the only source of noise. Another resident said that loudspeakers had been attached to telephone poles in the neighbourhood to blast out local news, announcements and advertisements from 5pm onward. The authorities want to build a casino on Phuket as a money-spinner and to attract a 'better class' of tourist to the island. The residents were consulted as to where it should be built. 90% of residents voted for a village called Tha Chat Chai which is right up on the north coast, near the causeway and away from where most people live. Only 8% voted for Saphan Hin. The government announced later it had considered the matter and the casino was to be built at Saphan Hin. No doubt someone's pockets were lined very nicely by making that decision. The situation now in Phuket is getting to the point where it is almost completely out of hand. Visiting tourists to Thailand are finding alternative resorts, such as Khaolak, where they can get the kind of peaceful, relaxing holiday in Thailand they want and residents on the island are getting frustrated and angry. The latest proposal to fix the issues is to introduce zoning laws. This is currently Thailand's answer to any problem. Zones are designated for certain activities so you have a food vendor area, a Karaoke area, etc., etc. Presumably the working girls and massage parlours will get their own area too. Personally I don't like this philosophy. If there is a problem, fix it, don't just move it somewhere else. I can understand that the authorities see this as a way of being able to more easily regulate activities but I believe that Thailand will become a less fun place if everything gets 'zoned'. Trying to turn Thailand into a larger version of Singapore is not going to work.
A thin strip of water separates Ranong from Myanmar and there are lots of Burmese influences in town including a large chunk of the population. It's a small province, the smallest in Thailand I believe. Coming into Ranong from Khaolak on the bus I noticed several waterfalls cascading down small mountains and in town there were signs for hot springs. As I left Ranong to go to Chumpon is was a very pretty ride going through some gorgeous scenery. Ranong town itself is small and appears to be located on a small section of just one street, Thanon Ruangrat. Farangs staying on the Andaman coast as far down as Phuket go to Ranong so they can cross the border into Myanmar and return to Thailand in order to get another 30 day stamp in their passport. Foreigners also come down from Hua Hin and from the islands in the Gulf of Thailand via Chumpon for the same purpose. As usual, I was the exception. I think I was the only foreigner in town who didn't need a passport stamp and was there just to look around. I would assume that few of the visiting foreigners understand any Thai judging by the amount of times I heard the locals speaking about me quite openly as I walked around. The tourist infrastructure is geared up for one night stays and visa runs across to Myanmar as this is the service most in demand. A couple of restaurants with English menus and English speaking staff exist to make life easy for foreigners. The prices are at least double that in local Thai-speaking restaurants selling the same things but that is normal. Hotels in town are not exactly luxurious but for Bt300 you can get a fairly comfortable place to stay until your boat leaves for Myanmar in the morning. The Thai authorities in the area are very strict regarding illegal immigrants from Myanmar and several roadside checkpoints exist going into and out of Ranong where armed police and immigration staff climb on board buses to check passengers' ID cards. I had a weird experience checking into a hotel. The receptionist asked to see my passport and at first I couldn't be bothered to get it out so said I didn't have it on me. After all, I have stayed at plenty of cheap hotels in Thailand and have never needed to show my passport. He said in that case he couldn't let me have a room so I 'found' my missing passport. He then proceeded to go through my passport with a fine-tooth comb looking at all my entry and exit stamps. Why? He was just a hotel clerk, why was he so interested in this information? Surely, if he wanted to see my passport it was only for security purposes in case I stole one of the urine stained sheets or left without paying, and all he needed was my name, nationality and passport number. He couldn't work out my visa extension and got quite excited when he found the original visa which by then had expired. I had an idea what might be going on and made sure he understood I was not an overstayer to avoid any surprises in the middle of the night. It seemed to be very strange behaviour at the time but I have a theory why this happened and wouldn't be surprised if foreigners staying at that hotel who have overstayed in Thailand receive 'random' visits from immigration officials while they are there. Of course, they can then probably apologise profusely and make a 'donation' to get themselves out of a potentially serious overstay situation, in which case the immigration official and the hotel receptionist both get a nice tax-free bonus. If foreigners overstay in Thailand but manage to get to the border it is just a case of paying the Bt200 fine for each day overstayed and nothing more is said. However, if a foreigner gets caught in Thailand and has overstayed (even a day or two) it can be fairly serious. The person can be detained, fined and deported. Under normal circumstances the chances of getting caught overstaying are quite remote ... unless immigration have hotel receptionists helping them out who can make a little money for themselves by passing on information. Maybe I am just being cynical again but if anyone else can explain why a humble receptionist in a Bt300 a night hotel wanted to go through all the immigration details in my passport, please let me know. It had never happened before and because of Ranong's proximity to the Myanmar border, where immigration is a hot topic, it just makes me very suspicious. I was told before I went that there is nothing worth seeing in Ranong but I wanted to go anyway. That advice was probably right but it might have been nice to have taken a closer look at the waterfalls and visited the hot springs. Unless you need to go there for a passport stamp there is probably not much point.
If you enjoy lakes, mountains, beautiful scenery and meeting friendly people it is a 'Must See' destination in Thailand. If you're in Thailand for cheap sex, a badly made suit from an Indian tailor and a fake Rolex, don't bother. Sangkhlaburi made such an impression on me that I have created a separate page where you will find photos and more of my thoughts.
It's not an exciting place but it has a very different feel to Hat Yai and makes a pleasant change. Being the provincial capital there are a number of administrative buildings and offices. For Thais needing a passport they have to go to the appropriate government department in Songkhla (Sala-Glung) and foreigners need to go to the same building to get their work permits. There are also a lot of schools and colleges, judging from the number of young Thais walking around in school uniform. There is a fairly large oil industry in the area and consequently you will find quite a few expats working for multinational oil companies living in Songkhla. Unocal (now ChevronTexaco) is the main operator but of course there are many oil services companies supporting the industry. Americans walking around one of Hat Yai's big superstores (they're the ones wearing very long shorts, reversed baseball caps and chewing gum) are probably employed in Songkhla's oil industry. There is the normal Thai wet market and near the market is a museum of minimal interest that takes an hour (maximum) to visit. In town are a number of Wats which are more attractive than those in Hat Yai. One of Thailand's previous Prime Ministers came from Songkhla, Prem Tininsulonda, and the house he lived in has been turned into a small museum. I mentioned a beach and a beach does indeed exist. If you are familiar with the Essex coastline it sure beats Southend-on-Sea but it is a very long way from being as beautiful as Koh Phi Phi or Koh Similan. However, if you are staying in Hat Yai it can be nice to walk on the beach at Songkhla and at night to hear the sound of crashing waves. Some of the roads leading down to the beach are very nicely laid out with lots of flower beds and there is a small park with a resident colony of monkeys. They are cute to look at but I never trust monkeys. As a tourist, if you have a lot of time to spare and are in the area it might be worth visiting for a day but other than that I wouldn't bother. If living in Thailand long term though, there are far worse places to live. After about 18 months of living in Hat Yai, Songkhla is really growing on me. When I first arrived in Hat Yai there was a buzz which was quite exciting and which didn't exist in Songkhla. However, Hat Yai starts to get a bit tedious after a while. Watching the arrival of thousands of Malaysian sex tourists week after week gets boring and the town, to be quite honest, is a mess. Unlike Hat Yai, Songkhla actually looks as if it has been planned. There are some very nice buildings, lots of nice Wats, wide streets (many of which have been planted with flowers) and of course the sea. It's a clean city and doesn't have the constant roar of traffic noise that Hat Yai has, especially young hooligans on motorbikes. It is possible to eat at a restaurant on the roadside and be in a relatively peaceful environment. There is no doubt in my mind that the quality of life in Songkhla is far higher than Hat Yai and it is a place that I would certainly contemplate moving to in the future. After over two years in Hat Yai I have heard quite a few snippets of information about Songkhla. The southern Thais are extremely conservative and Songkhla is probably the most conservative place I have been to in Thailand. I know this may come as a bit of a revelation to Patong Beach dwellers but you really need to get out more. There are no superstores or cinemas. I was told these were vetoed by the local population who would much rather have these facilities located in Hat Yai and visit whenever the need arises. Because of the expat oil-worker population there is the inevitable strip of bars (some with bar girls) but it is quite low key. Wherever there are farangs in Thailand there are prostitutes. The fact that Songkhla is Prem's birthplace is no coincidence. Not only is he one of Thailand's most respected former Prime Ministers, he is also the Privy Council chairman which, because of Thailand's reverence to the King, is one of the most respected positions in the land. Home towns of Thai Prime Ministers benefit as a result and it is no coincidence that Chiang Mai has done very well in recent years.
I enjoyed Ayuthaya very much and was keen to see Sukhothai for the same reasons. It also happened to be a convenient place to stop for a couple of nights on my way up to Chiang Rai. The area is beautiful with lots of rice fields and mountains in the background. The old city is quite magnificent even though it is not as well preserved as Ayuthaya due to the fact it is older. For photos, personal impressions and some basic tourist information please visit the page I have written about my visit to Sukhothai.
I wandered around in the evening looking for something to eat but didn't fancy anything I saw from the street vendors. To cap off a lousy evening I witnessed a serious motorcycle accident which may actually have been a fatality. The rider lay in the road not moving with blood pouring from his head. I don't know if he survived as I didn't want to hang around to find out. Most people going to or coming from Samui via Surat Thani go through Surat Thani as quickly as possible. It's probably the best thing. Unless you know of something I don't I can't think of many reasons to stay there.
While staying in Khaolak I took the bus up a couple of times just to look around. There are a few temples in town and a small market, all of which aren't very exciting. With no tourists around prices for goods aren't over inflated so it may be a good place to buy things cheaply. Not a lot to say really.
I guess because it is a well-known landmark and because there is a lot of history attached. The Pagodas aren't very impressive in themselves but very symbolic of what has happened here in the past. During the Ayuthaya period (1350-1767) this was a favoured Burmese invasion route and this is where the infamous Death Railway built by the Japanese using allied POW slave labour crossed the Thai/Burmese border. The setting in Kanchanaburi province is very pretty but there isn't much there apart from a small market. Tourists can take day trips into Myanmar if they have the necessary paperwork and pay a 10 US dollar charge. However, Thai immigration won't issue new stamps or extend visas when coming back into Thailand apparently so it is no good for visa runs.
There are various signs posted at the border. One is to remind drivers that vehicles drive on the right in Myanmar, unlike Thailand where vehicles drive on the right or the left depending on what is the quickest route. Another sign advises that video recorders are not allowed into Myanmar. Obviously the military junta don't want any undercover foreign journalists going in taking uncensored footage of life in the country. There are also a few remnants of the Death Railway.
I have written a separate page about Trang which has my usual observations and biased views as well as a few photos.
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