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Trip to Thailand 2004
All travel reports are translated electronically although minor improvements are sometimes made.
Trip to Thailand 2004
My trip: Bangkok – Bazar on the river – Kanchanaburi – Hat Yai – Surat Thani – Ko Pha-ngan – Chiang Mai – Chiang Kong.
Bangkok – my first days
(In this reportage: impressions from the arrival, Khao San Road, thai boxing, Thai massage, Thai cuisine, several temples, “ladyboys”, hot Thai)
I landed at the airport in Bangkok early in the morning and was happy. At last I flew and I could not wait for the first clash with Thailand. Upon arriving at the immigration office I realized I was so excited that I forgot to make a visa. However, this was not a problem as I was able to make it at the airport which unfortunately was associated with long wait and cost.
Thai boxing, the national sport of Thailand.
When I finally got out of the airport I got an army of luxury hotel and taxi vendors, but I was not looking for it. I said I would rather use the cheaper version on what they kindly pointed me to the bus for 100 baht going to Khao San Road or the tourist ghetto in Bangkok where there are a lot of hotels of different colours and fun, eating local delicacies and once again the fun lasts until late. I dropped my big luggage to the bus, then adored and staring at the bus full of white men, the Thai sold all the tickets, and then we went on the road. The ride lasted about 40 minutes during which I had the opportunity to observe Bangkok. This crazy city I immediately liked although it is very crowded and very polluted. They all trumpeted and the scooters were racing each other, but the best are tuk tuk or motor rickshaws. The streets were full of people, not too clean and the local stalls sold their fried food everywhere they were to the place.
In many places portraits of the king and his family were also painted. Soon after, I came to Khao San Road and immediately liked it. There was a huge traffic, plenty of food stalls, lots of tuk tuk customers and at the same time it was very hot. I got out on the street and had a plan to find a room but after a while came to me a young Taj who worked for hotels and led me to a cheap and cosy place. On the way we also walked through the boxing club and the boxers laughed because my hotel manager was a faggot and he acted that way. Very nice girls at the reception gave me the key and the deal was settled. However, when I asked for a single room and so I got double because only they are here. The girls said I would soon understand why in Thailand I would rather not be alone. I got exactly what I was looking for, namely a bed, four walls and a ceiling and a shower outside.
I dropped my suitcase and ran out. I walked through the surrounding stalls where on the street Thai people were frying their delicacies and through a narrow street where on benches and hammocks people rested after breakfast on the floor. Many at this time did not do anything because it was probably too hot. Before I started to explore, I first went to the nearest Thai boxing club to ask if I could train with them and when is the nearest training. It turned out that the training was supposed to be in two hours, also after a long flight from Europe and settling the hotel I had little time to eat something because I was going to go to the first training. I did not go far because there was no time for it. I ate at the first frying pan I saw in one of the narrow streets. From what I’ve noticed, Thai people do not often cook, they just fry and the food is always so sharp that no Thai stomach is able to accept that food, in addition to the local climate. Fortunately, the Thai people are understanding and for Europeans they fry gently (as for their taste) though for me it was quite sharply.
With a Buddhist monk in Bangkok.
Soon afterwards I went to practice. Thai boxing is “muay thai” is a national sport of this country and is cultivated by many people. In many parts of the country you can see young boys practicing kicking in the street and for many it is the only way to break free and keep their families. Thais are willing to invite foreign players to train with them and it is a very good way to earn extra money from these very poor people. But it is always that no one comes to Thailand to win with the Thais but to learn from them because they are simply the best and the hardest. In them there is a true spirit of struggle, which in Europe is not so strong. I think if in Europe someone is a champion, then in Thailand, (without prior training) would certainly be able to recalculate. Here the sport has its own soul and it can be seen in the ring, on the face and on the music accompanying it. Here is not just a training session but an event that people expect and that watch with passion. I have been practicing karate kyokushin for many years, which is considered to be the hardest but what I had to experience in the ring in Thailand gave me a whole new perspective on how to train. The place I was practicing was in the air, under the roof because it is too hot to close in the room.
We had a ring in the middle, a couple of bags and mirrors, and powerful speakers with aggressive music to add to the tempo. It started quite simply. We made some slams, a normal warm-up followed by a few rounds on the bag and dials with an instructor. Around me were people from many parts of the world and we all treated thai boxing very seriously. After a few rounds and extrusion outside the ring finally entered the ring and for almost half an hour I worked hard kicking the shield. I noticed that here is not digging up high either from marketing because thai boxing does not look nice or filmed. It is physically and conditionally very heavy and very hard to use where only a few techniques are used. There are semi-circular kicks on the ribs and on the legs, straight kicks and knees, and blows with fists and elbows – and indeed enough. When I made the twine, I kicked high and the market, everyone liked it and the Thai were impressed because it looks spectacular and no one is so drunk, but their seemingly simple techniques are enough to beat many “acrobats.” After training I was exhausted but happy and adrenaline made it easier for me. It was hot all the time, the guy outside the ring gave me iced water in the breaks and the Taj and the tourists stood behind the ring and screamed and took pictures.
It was very hard and very good, I had fun and I was going to train every day. I got a very good first lesson. After training, I finally went to the hotel to sleep. I took a cold shower because it was so hot and so it would not be needed because it was too hot. Entering the hotel, the receptionist asked me if I liked it and started laughing. Then I lay down on my bunk and fell asleep. I woke up after dark but on Khao San Road life just started. When I entered this bustling and very busy street, first I had to deal with a whole row of tuk tuk drivers who pressed me to take pictures of naked girls in the bath, saying “very nice, very cheap, take you? “Unfortunately it was expensive service and I was not too picky because here it can happen many times.
That evening I was quite hungry but even more curious as I wanted to try as much. On both sides of the street were restaurants, and on the first floor disco and massage parlours. I did not go to any pub because the street was too much. There were vendors of skewers with small chunks of chicken in chillies and seafood. I tried everything a bit, but I ate the octopus most. They fried pasta in large frying pans with vegetables because they were throwing them up while making faces. Next to were all kinds of soups and fruit juices. Everything was very colourful, very good and ridiculously cheap and quite different from Europe.One woman was selling scorpions and preparing on the spot but I wanted something else. I ate a portion of fried worms with cinnamon, though I’m not sure about the cinnamon.
A street in Bangkok and a view of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
The worms were very good and tasted like very delicate meat just that it fired me under the teeth. Just like some kind of cereal on the milk. I think I tried something from every stall and every time I was very pleased, whether it was a small chicken, octopus with pasta or worms. At last I drank coconut milk, and there are many kinds here and I just walked. There was music all the time, and the people were having a good time and they ate all the time. At the corner of Khao San Road was Gulliver’s pub, which was a local disco where drinks drifted and beautiful and always hot Thai girls came to meet the boys from Europe.Some also came to make money but anyway it was a very happy place. After a few moments the girl came to me and started to ask me standard questions, or where I am, as my name and one of the most important or how much I intend to stay. So also very quickly wherever I went she followed me. When I went out to the hotel she also went with me. This is how it looks like the girl is approaching and reserving herself. When I went out with her from the pub, the Dutch at the exit wanted me a nice night and patted me on the shoulder. At the hotel reception of the Thai women cancelled me for another person and with a very wide smile they lent me a nice evening. I felt great, my friend snapped me and put me to bed. She did not take a penny. This was my first full day in Thailand and went excellent. I went to workout, tried local delicacies, saturated the charm of the area and met a very friendly friend from a new country for me.
In the morning, the Thai woman woke me up and then evaporated before I could wipe my eyes. On the way to the bathroom I saw that my hotel is a nice playground. Around me was an old Austrian who was about 80 years old and ran out of his room in the corridor, patting his butt. She just squealed and laughed and the old man was happy. Shortly afterwards I went to Khao San Road to buy breakfast for the crooked rice and come back to the area and see the wonders of the day. Then I went to Thai boxing. There was loud music again and again.They wanted to teach me because this time there was no shield anymore, this time I also got a few times after the mouth. I walked out of the ring and was happy again though finished. Every time is great. I also saw a sad thing about this club. The girl who dealt with organizational matters lived in a wooden barrack that was fixed over the cash register, and during the day the boxers had no place to go, so they rested on the hammocks and benches near the ring. They lived from training to training and as someone told me, once in a while they travelled to Bangkok to help their parents.
On my way back from training, this narrow, lazy street smiled happily again. I looked really bad, in the same shorts, dirty, sweaty and with a constricted eye but the girls called me to myself and when I came to them they fed me fruit and then the whole street was having fun. It took me a long time to get to the hotel and the Thai at the reception again made me joking and asked if it was hard at work. This afternoon I decided to go sightseeing too. I hired a tuk tuk and left for the streets of Bangkok. Tuk tuk is small but very fast and always enforces priority. Driving alone was a great adventure and I thought I would not get to the place. Bangkok was very busy at this time of the day, and all of us trumpeted and my tuk tuk crossed the smallest cracks at high speed. But before I got to where I wanted, my driver drove me to some expensive shops to show his face. It was a nice experience because the shops were decorated with splendor and gave a great show of Thai art. They were unfortunately very expensive though I did not have to buy. It is important that the driver took me there and got a lot more out of my course. We went to two such stores and finally drove me to Buddhist temples (90% of people in Thailand profess this religion). The temples throughout Bangkok are pretty much all beautiful and well worth seeing. I would like to describe a few of them.
A street in Bangkok and a view of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
The first I went to was the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Keo), something that should be on the plan of every traveller in Bangkok. The whole complex consists of a magnificent complex of buildings founded by King Rama I in 1782 and later expanded by successive rulers. No other temples in Thailand are so beautiful, so rich with the splendor of monuments like the Royal Palace. No other temples are so important historically and they do not have the same meaning as this place. At the Royal Palace there is also the temple and statue of the emerald Buddha, or the symbol of the king and of the whole nation. All the buildings in the Palace are beautifully built, preserving their characteristic Thai architecture and all are different. The decor of each one in the middle is different. Temples are usually set on high pillars and covered with intricately carved roofs with distinctive golden hooks upstairs. Others are very tall and built in the kind of towering towers with large, also gold blades, and the entire complex of temples is surrounded by ornate walls. In each temple there are many statues of the Buddha in different positions and in different stages of spiritual advancement. For example, I was in a temple where there were several hundred Buddha statues depicting him on the path to the light. In the middle you can also meet monks who are very willing to be photographed and welcome foreigners in Thailand. I spent a couple of hours in the Palace and was very impressed. Never before have I seen such beautiful architectural-cultural achievements of this part of Asia.
So far in Thailand I enjoyed it and enjoyed every moment. After leaving the facility I was looking for my tuk tuk but it was gone. Often it is that tuk tuk no longer depends on my money because it will get a lot more from the shops to which tourists will call and instead of waiting for me can take someone else. No problem, I took another tuk tuk that drove me to Khao San Road. Having been in the spot, when it was dark, I saw that as usual at this time the fun began. I walked through the main street full of shops and stalls, on the way of course I tried some small skewers and ate something I did not know the name. I walked into a smaller street and there I found a massage parlour. Actually the girls from the massage parlour found me because a lonely white man is always a potential client. The girls were very nice, they immediately took my hand and started talking to me. They stared at me as if they were watching TV and feeding me fruit, while massaging my neck and hands. I will mention that the official massage for a fee has not yet started. About Thai massage I heard a lot of good and thought it would be nice to try it. When I entered the living room, there was nothing I could have expected. I walked in, and there on the floor there were thick sheets and omnipresent scent of incense. I lay down on one of them and then the older man began to massage me.
At first I will say that Thai massage can be quite painful because it relieves joints and muscles by bending the massaged person in every, most uncomfortable way. In short, it is the way of oriental therapy and the healing method in which the masseur pressing the massages makes bodily manipulation of blood flow and energy channels of the massaged person. In massage therapists use more body parts than any other kind of medical manipulation. For this purpose, not only the hands and fingers, but also the elbows, knees, forearms, heels and other parts of the feet are used. The masseur first struck me so hard that it made me hot and then he grabbed my hands from behind, blocked my spine with his heel in the lower part and pulled slowly but strongly backwards and I felt like my circles were firing. At times, he also pulled on a shoulder blade, sometimes knitting my ankles, and leaning heavily on my spine, so that my bones were firing again. The same thing I did with many other parts of the body and sometimes it was quite painful. Sometimes it was nice, but Thai massage was very unpredictable as I did not know when to shoot something again. Often, too, bending me back so he moved his neck with his foot that he shot me too.
Royal Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Keo). Bangkok.
When it was over, I felt very rested and energetic although I thought it would be the opposite. I also spoke with this gentleman and I said that I was training here thai boxing and he said that he was also training when he was young and he started showing me the blows from the elbow. He said that actually everyone on this street used to train because that is their culture and sport they love. I paid off, said goodbye and went out to dinner. This time I went to a small, nice pub where I sat in the middle and the cooks were frying outside. The food was great as ever in Thailand. It was hard for me to convince them not to add chilies. Every meal here is a new, delicious adventure. It was late and I was walking toward the hotel but on the way I stopped for a while to the discotheque on the corner – Gulliver. The party was front as always but the girls looked weird. It turned out that this evening came a lot of “ladyboys” or transvestites, men dressed up as women and with strong makeup.
Thai men are rather small and thin, so they are easy to dress up as a woman and look convincing. Some of them look better than real women so being in Thailand you need to be very attentive and know how to not be fooled. Some of these women came to me and wanted me to take them to the hotel – obviously for free. Some had voices like the tube and too muscular hands but many were done perfectly. But one thing that betrayed them is Adam’s apple. If someone is not sure I would advise not to take what immediately throws a man on the neck and those high because mistake can cost many years of visiting a psychologist. I was alert and just had to go back to the room when the girl sat down, then said hello and took me. I just hoped it was not a pedal but it did not look like it. We waited for a moment in enigmatic silence until she finally began to question me about where I was and so on. When they closed the pub and they all had to go out she whistled for a cab and took me home to where other girls who were not there. It was just her, her sister and me. My friend first took me to the shower and bathed me thoroughly and her sister made me something to eat. We talked for a while but not too long and then we all went to sleep. I can see that the women here know how to take good care of a foreign guest. I’ve only been here a short time but I can already see that I like everything very much.
So I spent my first few days in Bangkok and it was really great though it was going to get better.
With Thai children in Bangkok, who showed me a few kicks.
Bangkok – continued
(More about thai boxing, temples, massage, life in this country and about Thai ways of seduction of white men)
The next few days I spent mostly training in boxing and I have to admit that I was getting better and better.I was getting better and I learned a new technique because this sport is different from karate. We did a lot of five and ten kicks on darts and bangs with elbows and knees. This is the sport. I also practiced with a bigger player than myself because in Thai boxing you can catch. There were also loose sparring parties and though it was very hard it made me so much pleasure and satisfaction. Also the boxers were kind to me and taught me to put my heart into it. Once in the evening when I was going out to Khao San Road they saw me and invited me to their table when they were having dinner. They said “Martin, come to us, Thai food is very good”. Actually it was very good but very spicy. They gave me rice with chilli and other sharp sauces and a cup of water.
They were very poor, lived in barracks or slept on hammocks but still they served me. This gesture on their part was a very good experience for me. He allowed me to get to know the Thais as they are, how they live and their attitude towards the newcomers. There are many tourists who land at the airport, they fly to the wonderful beach to the resort and they really do not know anything about the country and its people. I am on my travels especially the website of luxury to get to know the country and its people as realistically as possible. Thailand is also known through thai boxing and it’s on my own skin. I think it is a good lesson of humility because I can learn from people who have nothing and never got to go to college or make money and are very valuable.
One day I also went with boxers to a karaoke club at the other end of Bangkok. It was very nice. We took the last floor of a huge skyscraper and took the whole room for ourselves. They sang in Thai and I spoke English. Polish songs were not available. All of them drank but very carefully so as not to get drunk and I liked it very much. I met a girl from Ireland who lived in Thailand for a long time and also trained in boxing. She said she could not imagine living in Europe, now Thailand is her home. Actually, I met many people from all over Europe (also many women) who lived in Thailand and wanted to stay here forever. There were also those who had come for two weeks and they had been for five years. I spoke with one Belgian who boxed with me and said that he was much happier here than in Belgium. He said he teaches English in the province where he is completely different from the richer part of Bangkok. There is poverty, people live without luxury and work in rice fields all their lives.
Children who teach English are very poor and can only learn the basics because they will not understand the higher level. Although he is poorly paid here, he is very happy and no longer wants to return to Belgium. Here he teaches that because he can not afford anyone to pay him a European salary, he teaches him boxing and gets as much rice as he can eat. Once a week she also takes a girlfriend for a night out in Thailand which is normal even if she is a teacher. He also said that he believes that every girl in this country has a prostitute mentality. But I think that’s not the end because I have different experiences. (Here I will develop the topic of Tajek). I do not think they all have the mentality of a prostitute, this is the sentence of a lonely Belga living in Thailand, who is only suited to prostitutes.
Street food in Bangkok.
Women and Buddhist temples
The girls at the reception always talk to me normally, not like they want to get into bed with me. They always say they have their own men they want to marry. The girls in the photography shop where we laughed many times and had a great time but they would never let me do too much. I also took one out for dinner during which I could learn a lot of interesting things and the woman herself was very nice to talk to. On the other hand, I had to deal with many young women whose behaviour was simply unbelievable. It often happened to me that women simply wanted to take me and had many strategies to catch me and the more they tried the better the fun was. For example, one had a mania that everyone was following her and that’s why she wanted to spend the night at my place because she was afraid, and I kindly let her. Another didn’t say anything and just went with me as if nothing had happened. When I went to the nearest tourist office to get a visa for Laos, that same evening I took a girl working there for dinner and then to my place for the night. When she was already at my place she made a fuss about nothing and unfortunately I had to throw her out. Despite this she didn’t want to go right away, she kicked the door and wanted me to let her in. I thought that after that nothing would surprise me but for a while.
The next day I went to another office to get a visa to Cambodia and this lovely creature didn’t want to go to dinner. She simply handed me my passport personally, with the visa ready and stayed the night. After a while I could choose so much that I was tired of it because women started to come to me at the hotel and during training. Because of this I had to change hotels twice. I’m not even talking about transvestites who kept trying to talk to me and made me believe they were women. Many funny situations resulted from this but as it turned out later I was supposed to have a “ladyboy” show in the south of Thailand, on my way to Malaysia. There were also sad situations when women talked to me and then said they wanted to go to my room and that’s how much it costs. Once a prostitute came up to me and said that this is how she supported her family and also her sister and many friends. This is the dark side of Thailand, which shows the reality of this country, so different from those on postcards with beautiful beaches and temples. The funniest one was the “collector”. She was a real girl (not a transvestite) who had lived in Australia for a long time and bragged that she didn’t want any more Australians because she already had the most. Now she wanted to have all the Europeans and was over the moon when I told her I was from Poland. She still needed a few more to complete her collection but from what she said she was doing quite well. I had heard about prostitution in Thailand before but none of these girls took money from me.
On the other hand, it’s nice to have Thai friends. For example, once I was sick and one of my friends took very good care of me. She took me to a chemist’s where she bought me some powders and then gave them to me in my room. I didn’t even know what I was taking but I didn’t have the strength to think about it. She took me to the shower again, soaped me thoroughly and then put me to bed. When she woke me up in the morning I was much healthier. I noticed that it’s not about money but about someone close who can give them a good life and men from rich countries are very often their only chance to escape Thailand, this hell which for us is paradise. I often had the impression (other tourists too) that all they wanted was one thing – for us to put them on a plane to Europe or America and for that they would be able to do anything. The terrifying truth! I once took my bathing buddy, the one who cured me, for a nice dinner as a thank you. It was very nice but the seafood soup “tum yam kum” was so spicy that I could barely eat anything. It was a seafood soup that was indeed there but I could only taste the chili.
Time for exotic fruits of Asia. Bangkok, Thailand.
From what I’ve seen women from Europe have a long way to match the Thai women. Many Europeans are too noisy, vulgar, often too selfish, egotistical. The Thai feel like living for their men, although I do not have a long experience. I feel that there are still many surprises here.
The next day I decided to see some more temples so I hired a tuk tuk and went to the facility where there were several of them in one area. Again I had a very adventurous tuk tuk ride and again I had to visit two expensive shops until I got to the facility where I first saw a huge golden statue of a standing buddha and then went to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) from the 16th century which is considered one of the most beautiful . As the name implies, there is a great, because the 46m statue of the great Buddha, which symbolizes his transition to the state of nirvana. This is actually a beautiful temple where monks spend their time praying and taking care of this sacred place. There are always plenty of fresh flowers and fragrances that add to the mood. In addition to lying Buddha, I also saw the viharn, a building with a statue of Buddha, in which the king himself is. These are pointed, tall structures in which the ashes of the dead commemorating the first kings of the Chakri dynasty are often buried.
Then I went to the Temple of the Golden Buddha (Wat Traimit), which like all the palaces here are beautiful and also has its own mood. Worth mentioning here is the great statue of the golden Buddha which was made of 5.5 ton of pure gold and was probably made in the 18th century in the former capital of Thailand-Sukhothai. I learned that it was not until the mid-twentieth century that this statue was discovered. Several centuries ago the statue of the Golden Buddha was covered with cement so that it was not stolen during the wars with Burma. Under the statue are the ashes of King Rama V. As in all the other temples, also here was a beautiful mood. There were candles, incense and many other decorations. The whole complex of palaces and temples struck with its beauty and richness of art. The whole was not only the large temples I described, but also the smaller sacred buildings where there were always many Buddha statues. All were built in a very characteristic style for this region.
After leaving the facility I just walked the streets of Bangkok and watched the people and the surroundings. I watched tuk tuk and street vendors. I sat down for a while and chose something to eat at random hit because I did not know Thai and could not communicate. When I was almost finished, he parked my old car around me and the taxi driver jumped out of the center, who offered me to take me to the beautiful temple free of charge. That meant, of course, that I had to visit some very expensive shops first, but I agreed. On our way we talked about Thailand, the monarchy and the level of living in that country. He said that he is not as sweet as I think life is very hard for the Thai. Only for me is great here. He said that living here would never be able to do things that I do for example me. It was a sad conversation but once again capturing the realism of beautiful Thailand.
My driver drove me to the Marble Temple (Wat Benchamabophit). It was a beautiful experience and worth my previous visits to the shops. Marble Temple is an architecturally magnificent building dating back to the 19th century and marble to its construction was imported from Italy. In front of the entrance are stone lions and behind them on the pillars there is a main entrance. The red, decorated door is the center of the golden frame, although I liked the roofs the most. As always beautifully decorated and profiled with golden ends pointing up. In the middle was a large marble square where around me under a small roof was the statues of the Buddha depicting him in various forms. Throughout the facility, a river was flowing, where temples stood on either side. It was beautiful and the whole place was very well done and made with great craftsmanship. On the river there were also decorated bridges and small temples embedded on them. In the middle I met the children with whom I made a few photos and which made me laugh constantly. Upon leaving the temple I saw my driver waiting for me. So he took me to Khao San Road and there after breaking through people who wanted to sell me a Thai night and a tuk tuk ride, I went for a very good dinner and then for a massage.
The Marble Temple (Wat Benchamabophit). Bangkok, Thailand.
This time I was not massaged by the man who massaged me last time but by a young girl. I must say that he gave me a real and solid massage because the girl did it nicely but too gently to be effective. Either way it was nice. I also noticed that sometimes when I go out on the main street some merchants say that they saw me training and having sparring with “their boys” who are very good. They respect me for that and I feel good then. That evening I went back to the hotel by myself to play a game of pool and then go to sleep. However, a friend from one of the travel agencies visited me and we talked for a long time and I had another good massage that day. My life in Bangkok was going very well and so far I have fulfilled all my plans. However, it was time for me to leave because this country has much more to offer than just Bangkok, where I have been so far and where I still had a great time.
Floating market – Damnoen Saduak
After spending many days in Bangkok, I took a two-hour drive out of town to see one of the more popular tourist destinations, the river bazaar, which was a completely new experience for me. On the way, I had the opportunity to observe people working in rice fields and Thai nature, i.e. beautiful landscapes and banana trees growing along the roads. After arriving at the site, I first went through the bazaar on the mainland where the vendors showed me how to make local dishes and then I got on a long and very narrow boat, which I sailed at great speed towards the river bazaar. Sailing through the narrow channel, I saw people living in wooden huts built on wooden poles driven into the bottom of the river. People lived this way, fried their food and did their laundry. The means of transport were small, narrow, wooden boats attached to poles. I also managed to see a large lizard that did not run away when we slowed down. It was just basking in the sun and waiting for prey. This route was a very good way to get to know the living conditions of the local community.
After fifteen minutes of fast and interesting water ride I reached the bazaar. First I took everything in with my eyes and saw that the place was quite loud and crowded with people and goods. After a while I got on another, very slow boat and among the huge crowd of other boats selling everything possible and among the shops on the shore I sailed around the bazaar. From the huts standing on stilts, immersed in the water they sold hats, food, fruit, spices, fans, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves as a quick snack and all kinds of skewers with meat of unknown origin to me. The sellers on the boats had a harder task because many customers and sellers also sailed on boats. It was a very lively place and the trade in Thai products was flourishing. When I was sailing on one of these boats and if, for example, I wanted a coconut, souvenirs, grilled meat or some concoction wrapped in a banana leaf, I simply had to shout or whistle and the stall (boat with the goods) would come to me. I didn’t have to move anywhere because I was shopping from the boat, buying from other boats.
It is a very unusual place, so much so that you want to buy. Not so much for the goods, but for the pleasure of the transaction and the way the sellers came rushing towards me in their round, pointed leaf hats. So I bought little but often and every time I bought it was a pleasure. It was a good thing I took the time to take pictures because everyone was pushing something on me and I had a lot of new experiences.
Damnoen Saduak floating market.
After this nice trip I returned to Bangkok for an evening training and then I met up with a friend and we went to the river to see a show of richly lit royal barges. Most of them were golden in color and had a few dozen rowers and all were dressed in the same uniforms. The whole show was very spectacular, especially since it was accompanied by a fireworks show. Then after another delicious Thai dinner I went to bed because the next day I had another trip.
Kanchanaburi
(The Bridge on the River Kwai, Death Railway, a museum, a cemetery of fallen soldiers and prisoners, riding on an elephant through the jungle, raft trip on the River Kwai)
The next day I went with a group of people to Kanchanaburi. It is a very popular tourist destination not far from the border with Burma. Kanchanaburi is a small city, whose advantages are beautiful nature, jungle, omnipresent palm trees and fields of mango, papaya, tobacco and sugar cane. The whole town is also surrounded by mountains. Kanchanaburi is also a rather sad place reminding of the tragic history of the Second World War. Here is the famous bridge over the River Kwai, also known from the film of the same title. The bridge was built in 1942 by American and British prisoners of war who were in Japanese captivity. The bridge is 4.5 km long and was bombed and rebuilt many times. The Japanese planned that this bridge and the entire railway in this section, where the tracks were 425 km long, would be built in five to six years, but by sacrificing about 100,000 prisoners from America, Europe and many Asian countries, the entire undertaking was built in just one year.
I think the bridge is a great experience, especially for those who have seen the film. Interestingly, the film was based on a novel by a surviving prisoner of war from Kanchanaburi, who was not really a prisoner of war. Many facts have been changed or exaggerated, and the film was not even shot in Thailand but in Sri Lanka. Despite this, the trips to the “bridge on the river Kwai” advertised in Bangkok and around the world attract many tourists. When I entered this famous bridge and looked at the mountains of Myanmar (Burma) and watched the river and the entire bridge, I saw hanging bridges and people living on the river bank in wooden huts on logs. From the bridge there is a nice view of the jungle, you can hear singing birds and screeching parrots. I liked it very much, especially because this object has great historical value. However, the bridge is not the only thing worth seeing here. I have very fond memories of riding the death railway through the pass of breathing fire. This is a wartime railway, where the train travels on tracks set on an iron bridge over a river and a cliff, which had to be additionally grooved so that the train could fit around the bend. These were exceptionally difficult sections for slave labour. Some moments of the ride on this train seemed as if I was riding over a precipice and as if the train was about to fall off the tracks. That is probably why this railway is called the death railway. It was a very adventurous ride on an unusual train, unfortunately at the cost of thousands of human lives.
This short trip allowed me to see more of the River Kwai and how people live on its banks in their wooden log cabins. Some of these cabins are also well-equipped hotels for tourists. I was traveling with a South Korean couple the whole time, she was 26 and he was 47. They were very nice and we even went out for dinner together. The man told me that women in Korea are beautiful and he also showed me a picture of his beautiful young wife’s sister. He said that they were very good at home and with children and obedient. He gave me his phone number and said that when I was going to Korea, I should call him because his wife’s sister (one of the best I’ve seen) was looking for a husband. So I absolutely have to go to Korea because I see that this country can also be exceptionally beautiful.
The Bridge on the River Kwai and the Death Railway. Thailand.
After my ride on the Death Train, I went to the War Museum. It was a sad place that showed the suffering of prisoners of war building the bridge over the River Kwai. It was a collection of figures, commentary, and newspaper clippings from the period describing the construction of the bridge. But the most striking evidence was the torture of prisoners by Japanese soldiers and their hard labour in this murderous work.
The next and last sad place I visited was the Kanchanaburi cemetery. There were graves of almost 7,000 young men who died far from home working, sentenced to certain death by the Empire of Japan. They were young men and each gravestone told a different story of a lost life. Many did not even have the opportunity to be buried with dignity because most of those who died at work were buried under the foundations of the bridge and its surroundings.
While in Kanchanaburi I also went to an elephant breeding center. These elephants worked in the jungle cutting down and moving trees, but some worked in tourism. They were very nice and sociable giants. They always let me pet them and even hugged me with their trunks. I bought a bowl full of bananas and fed them and then I got on a bamboo scaffold from which I climbed onto the elephant. A trainer was also sitting with me and so the two of us rode on the elephant’s back into the jungle. We went over steep cliffs, across a river and under the famous bridge. It was very nice, especially because I was sitting on his neck and could see everything well, watch the elephant’s movements, its maneuvers and the beautiful nature around me. The trainer also let me hold the leash so I could control the elephant myself. It was beautiful and every moment spent on the elephant was fun. At the end of the ride I went back to the scaffold and then bought him a few more bananas. The trainer himself was a sad experience here. He was a very poor young boy who didn’t even have shoes and every now and then he asked me for a tip. I gave him 20 bhat which of course he was very happy about but once again the true face of this country was visible, which is great poverty.
Then the Thais took me through the jungle where I had the opportunity to admire several beautiful waterfalls. We crossed this short section quite quickly, then I entered a wooden, hanging bridge and there I met my Koreans again. Together we boarded a super fast boat and after a few minutes of crazy driving we sailed to the place where I was supposed to take the raft. Rafting in Kanchanaburi is also a big attraction and now I know why. The raft was attached with a long rope to a motorboat that pulled us and I was slowly carried across the river, observing nature and once again huts on logs, with more and more hanging bridges above me. It was beautiful. I was on a raft on the River Kwai and slowly headed towards the sunset. The raft was made of bamboo and therefore not watertight, which added flavour to the adventure. When the motorboat in front of me accelerated, my raft submerged gently under the water and I tried to get to a drier place.
The time I spent in Kanchanaburi was exceptional and I had a great time here. I had the opportunity to experience all these adventures and see another lovely part of Thailand. At the very end of my stay here I went to the local bazaar to buy a glass of local tea, got on the bus and went back to Bangkok. I also realized that the visa in my passport was expiring and I had to leave Thailand to get a visa again at the border when I came back. So I had to leave within the next three days and then come back and see some more places in this beautiful country and continue my training. So I bought a bus ticket to Malaysia for the next evening.
The Bridge on the River Kwai and the Death Railway. Thailand.
It was late that day but I went out for a moment to Khao San Road. This time I didn’t go to a restaurant but ate on the street. It always has its charm. I started with small skewers of seafood and cubes of sticky rice in mango juice and finished as usual with fruit. There is plenty to choose from and for convenience, everything is usually skewered on a stick. I also met my friend and then she took me to her place. It’s nice, I thought that so far from home I have someone to meet and I can talk to people from Thailand and from all over the world, who are always cheerful, nice to me and just like me fascinated by everything that surrounded us. Of course, it is a very poor country of poor people but I live very well here. When I talk about the people I interact with every day, I mean those with whom I train and go on trips, local sellers and beautiful and warm women that I meet on my way.
My next experiences of Thailand
(Crossing Thai borders, the town of Hat Yai which is a parade of transvestites and similar attractions, Surat Thani and beauty of the islands in Thailand, grilled squid, a trip to Chiang Mai and crossing to Laos)
In the following report I intend to describe my adventures from various parts of Thailand and unfortunately they will not be arranged in order because I have returned to Thailand many times and each time I had new experiences. I will describe what happened to me and what I saw on the way to and from Malaysia and from Myanmar (Burma) and on the way to Laos.
The next day as usual I went to training and once again to the river and in the evening I left most of my things in Bangkok and got on the coach to Malaysia. Although so far the Thais have been very well organized in everything this time the coach was late. The journey lasted all night and was not the most comfortable because I had to sit but in the morning I reached the city of Hat Yai. It is quite a large but not special city which is very hard to miss on the way to or from Malaysia. I was in Hat Yai for only about two hours. I had just enough time for a quick shower in the local bathhouse and for a walk around the city and cashing my traveller’s checks. I also stocked up on fruit for the rest of the journey and then the Thais threw me into another coach and we went to the border. Hat Yai was not a lost cause for me because I would be returning the same way anyway so I would see the city later. I was travelling here with a couple of Scots whose visas had expired three days ago but that was no problem. In Thailand you can buy anything for money so if a tourist overstays their visa, the Thai government has a rule that they have to pay 200 bhat more for each day. Being at the border I also bought some rice with bananas wrapped in banana leaves and then I crossed the border and I was already in Malaysia.
Elephants are closely associated with the culture of Thailand.
After return from Malaysia
Thai food
I had a lot of trouble entering Thailand from Malaysia because I needed 1000 bhat for a visa and I didn’t have any cash. So the Thai immigration office turned me back to Malaysia and said that if I didn’t have the money I could go back there because I didn’t need a visa there. So I walked back to Malaysia and luckily there was an ATM in the first building just after the border. So I went back to Thailand the same way and after a short while they issued me a visa. It showed me that although Thailand is beautiful and has so much to offer, a person without money is absolutely worthless and they don’t even want to talk to him. Despite everything I managed but I had one more problem. The border was about an hour’s drive from the nearest city, Hat Yai, but I had no way to get there. So I had to hitchhike.
After many failed attempts a truck driver took me and surprisingly he didn’t want any money. The driver himself didn’t speak any English but he understood where I wanted to go. He was very cheerful and a bit drunk, and on top of that, five minutes after leaving the border, he stopped at a roadside pub to eat and drink with other drivers. It was a very nice place by the road, consisting of a hut with a kitchen and two tables outside. We ordered a few chickens and the driver ordered a few beers, and we spent half an hour laughing and guessing what each other wanted. I think I was a kind of attraction because they looked at me, talked to each other, and then laughed and tried to make contact. After a while, we got into the truck and the driver dropped me off at the crossroads, and from there I had to hitchhike another car that went to Hat Yai.
After arriving at the place I thought that I would not go back to Bangkok right away but would spend the night here and look around a bit. I walked along the street of bazaars where they sold caged birds as well as aquarium fish and all the equipment. Next was the fruit market and the fish market. It was very noisy and quite dirty. Everyone was busy haggling or gutting fish. Although it was just a bazaar, everything was different than in Europe. Not only the people themselves but the way these people set up their stalls and above all the hygiene. They sold fruits that I had never seen before in my life, for example red dragon fruits, rose apples that resembled peppers rather than apples, many types of coconuts, durians that resembled balls with skin like a club with thorns but were very delicate inside, rambutans, another set of small balls covered with hairs and more delicate thorns than durians – also sweet inside.
There were also more accessible fruits in Europe such as mangoes, guavas and watermelons. Another interesting fruit was the pomelo, a Thai grapefruit variety. It is much larger than the grapefruits I know and also sweeter. It is also a very good fruit for longer storage without a refrigerator because it is covered with a very thick skin that protects it from drying out. I tried a little bit of everything and all the fruits were very good. This shows that although Thai cuisine is so good and rich in flavours and spices, you can really start your adventure with Thai food with fruits.
Traveling around Thailand is also a culinary trip. Thai cuisine is very rich.
There are many stalls selling chopped fruit in bags or mango or pineapple skewered on a stick for a few bhat. This is delicious and very healthy Thai “fast food”. The second part of the bazaar was also very interesting but different. They mainly sold fish swimming in plastic bowls. They were all different than I had seen before and many looked more like snakes than fish. The sad thing was that frogs and turtles, which I like so much, were also sold for meat, but alive and not on a plate. Thailand is a poor country where everything is eaten and rarely anything is wasted. After my visit to the bazaar I took a tuk tuk and went to one of the cheapest hotels in the whole of Hat Yai. The floor was made of concrete, there were bars on the windows and instead of a toilet there was a hole in the floor and one tap used both for cleaning the butt and for flushing with water. The room was large though and was opposite the hospital which was very convenient for me. Driving through Malaysia, at one of the stops I fell into a canal and probably broke my little toe. So I went to the hospital in Hat Yai where I was given very good care. They immediately x-rayed me, gave me vitamins and a compress and the doctor said that the toe was only swollen. As usual, I overdid it a bit.
After a nap at the hotel, I headed downtown in the evening where the social scene was thriving, and that was exactly what I was looking for. I sat down with a few guys from Malaysia and started chatting. It was nice, we ate vegetable skewers and drank chai tea prepared by a bearded Muslim. Chai tea is usually prepared on the Indian subcontinent, but also in southern Thailand and parts of Malaysia, and is based on condensed milk – at least the local version.
Shocking prostitution
The evening was just getting started and all sorts of creatures started to come out into the street. It was a real show of transvestites (“ladyboys”). There were quite a few of them that evening and they were all very funny. They walked dressed as women the whole length of the street acting like models on a catwalk. They had all their moves perfectly choreographed. Some of them stood next to me, looked me in the eye, threw their heads back and walked like models again. Most of them looked like real women too, they were so well made up. Only the chai tea vendor told me that they were men. We continued sitting there not giving them any hope but after a while real women came up. They didn’t speak English so I couldn’t communicate properly but it turned out they were prostitutes and wanted to make money. They sat down next to us and tried to put their hands down my shorts but they were so nasty that no one wanted them. I felt a bit trapped, on one side them and on the other the transvestites. So I finished my tea and went to the hotel. Passing the octopus and fruit sellers, I came across another transvestite who wanted to go to my room for free and tried to convince me that he was a woman. Seriously, I thought that not much would surprise me in this country. But I was very wrong.
Girls pole dancing. Thailand.
After a while, I was approached by a guy on the street who said that for just 30 baht he would take me to a nice Thai art place. So I went out of curiosity. At the entrance, a young girl took me by the hand and showed me the couch closest to the stage. After a while, actors started coming in and it turned out that it was a live porn show. They had sex in various forms and with many partners, but they were still fully focused. Men were pouring hot candle wax on each other and girls were giving them blowjobs, although I could count their ingenuity here. The best performances were the solo performances by women. I don’t know how it was possible, but they were inserting a pack of razor blades into their vaginas and only a string was sticking out. She came up to me and told me to pull it out. So I pulled the string and without a single scratch I pulled out about 20 razor blades. Another was inserting a trumpet into her vagina and playing it that way. There was also sex on nails and many other daredevil stunts. I understood then why the guy on the street said it was an art. Not everyone can do it.
When I got to the hotel, the manager asked me why I always come back to the hotel alone and whether I didn’t like the ladies from Hat Yai that much. It sounded like he was disappointed. I replied that so far I’ve only met weirdos and faggots pretending to be women, so I won’t advertise Hat Yai to my friends.
Thai islands
I also started planning my trip to one of the islands located in the south of Thailand. I thought it would be worth visiting at least one of them. Especially since they were on the way to Bangkok where I had to return anyway. The Thai islands are a separate, fabulous chapter of my journey through this country. These are islands with golden sand, transparent water, palm trees and settlements for tourists where cottages are built under palm trees. The most famous and most frequently visited islands are Phuket, Pi Pi islands, Ko Tao, Ko Samui and Ko Phang Ngan. I went to the latter. Heading north, I went for a while to the town of Surat Thani located in the eastern part of the Malay peninsula. For me, it was just a place from where I took the next bus to get to the nearest port where I boarded a ship to the islands.
First we sailed to Ko Tao and then after an hour of sailing we reached Ko Phang Ngan where I got off. This island hosts beach parties during the full moon, which is why it is most often visited during the full moon. I got there late in the afternoon and there were small buses with benches in the back instead of enclosed cars waiting for me on the shore. There were no tuk tuks here because they wouldn’t work in such a mountainous area. Since it was getting dark, the driver took me and a few other people to the nearest resort. It was a picturesquely situated settlement by the sea under coconut palms.
There was a restaurant with a bar there and everything was made only from natural materials available on the island. I lived in a wooden hut from which I could hear the waves crashing on the shore and coconuts falling to the ground. I went for a walk along the seaside and just watched the horizon and everything around me. It was beautiful… but exceptionally quiet for such a well-advertised island. Maybe it was a good thing that the moon wasn’t full because otherwise there would have been a crowd on the beach and people wouldn’t have sobered up for several days. After a few hours I returned to my hut and went to sleep. My hut, although modest, was very well equipped. I had a shower, a bed and a mosquito net. In the morning I wanted to change my place. So I went to the main road and hitchhiked, who took me to the port. I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go, but luckily the driver gave me an idea. So I took a jeep from the port, which took me through mountainous terrain to another part of the island, where I was supposed to take a boat to get to a supposedly beautiful place, but accessible only by boat. Driving through the island I noticed that the night was very restless. The storm had destroyed several roads, torn down high-voltage wires, and several jeeps were lying crashed low in the valleys, among palm trees and banana trees.
Exotic islands and picturesque beaches in the south of Thailand are another advantage of this country.
When I reached the shore, a small boat was waiting for me to take me to the more inaccessible part of the island. I swam between the rocks and the waves crashed against the boat, the sun was shining and I jumped into the warm, clear sea. After about half an hour of a pleasant cruise, we reached the shore. I stayed in a resort right by the sea, which was built entirely of palm trees. Every single thing was made only of palm trees and their leaves. I mean the tables, stairs and doors. The light bulb sockets were made of coconuts and the roof was made of braided palm leaves. The sleeping mats and plates were also made of the same material. Everything was very ecological and that’s what I liked. I wrote about this in my master’s thesis, among other things, about ecotourism. I lived on the first floor in a large room where instead of beds there were mats made of palm leaves and mosquito nets hung above them. This was completely enough for me, especially since it was very cheap and beautiful.
On this part of the island there were many huts built in this way, sometimes also made of clay. I stayed here for two days and did not do much. I only swam in the warm sea and ate fruit. However, I was alone here and when I am alone even the most beautiful places quickly become boring, so after two days of staying, on the same road and also through Surat Thani, rushing through the beautiful country of rice fields, I returned to Bangkok.
Return to Bangkok and flight to Burma
In Bangkok I trained in Thai boxing again, I could let off steam on the pads and tire myself out nicely. I ate local delicacies and met up with a friend who had healed me so well earlier. All the time I meet people who have some influence on me and show me this country in many ways. For example, the Irishman I train with came here for two weeks and wants to stay for at least two years. He said that they offered him a good job in Dublin but he would rather teach English in Thailand for a modest room, Thai boxing lessons and as much rice as he could eat. Thailand has a certain charm, beautiful scenery and a way of life that does not allow you to leave without regret.
While on Khao San Road I also bought a plane ticket to Myanmar (Burma) and flew there the next day. That evening in Bangkok I also tried something new. I ate grilled squid. This is another Thai “fast food” that looks like dried squid is attached with clothespins to strings on a cart pushed by a vendor. When I chose a specific item, the vendor pressed the squid several times between rollers to make it more tender and then threw it on the grill. I must admit that the squid was very tasty and like all seafood also healthy. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling in Thailand!
The next day I went to the airport to board a plane to Rangoon – the capital of Myanmar (Burma).
Port nad rzeką Chao Phraya, w Bangkoku. W tle świątynia Wat Arun.
After my return from Myanmar
After returning from Burma, I had a nightmare at the airport in Bangkok because I had no money for a visa and therefore could not enter Thailand. However, I see that white people in such places are like family. I got some money at the airport from a Pole and then from Americans and I sorted it out. I did not ask for money, they gave it to me themselves and I will give it to someone in the future when they need it. It was a really big problem, they wanted to send me back to Burma, without money, without anything, for a few pennies that I did not have, I would have been finished! I was convinced here for the second time that in Thailand without money I am worth nothing and no one even wants to talk to me. I also made a mistake because I took too little money to Burma. It was a country that had been thrown back in time by several centuries, where the only value was American dollars, which unfortunately I no longer had.
When I finally left the airport, I had to catch a bus to take me to the hotel, 20 km away. Of course I had no money, so I got some for the ticket from a Belgian, but again he gave it to me himself when I told him my story. I have had many adventures in recent times, nice and dark, but fortunately everything ended well. I learned a very important thing, even essential if I want to continue my travels in such countries. You always have to have more money than you need because things can be different and I had a very good lesson at the end of the world. After reaching Khao San Road I first went to collect my luggage to get my debit card and finally I got some cash. I felt saved. I went again to pay for the cheapest room in the area and then after the meal, I went to sleep peacefully.
In the morning I went to the last training and as usual I gave it my all. I learned a lot and it was a great pleasure. I had a great time in Thailand but I had to continue my journey and my next destination was Laos. On the last day on Khao San Road I also went with a friend to the bazaar to eat something and buy a bedspread, black with gold elephants. They are very popular here. However, my other friend (from the travel agency) put me on a bus in the evening to the capital of the north – Chiang Mai, from where I was waiting for the further journey towards the border with Laos. It was the last time I saw this unique place and the people I met here. I always wanted to go back but there are so many places to see and the world is so huge. I practically did not feel the trip to Chiang Mai because I drove all night and woke up already on the spot. Chiang Mai and the so-called “Golden Triangle” is a famous tourist destination in northern Thailand. This region is famous for mountain expeditions and elephant crossings through the jungle.
This time, however, I did not have time to see the north and spent only one day in Chiang Mai, which I devoted to refreshing and relaxing after the journey. I played a game of billiards and went to the local vegetable market, and then continued my journey. We drove uphill all the time. I observed nature and mountains of rice fields that were arranged like terraces – one on top of the other. To do this, farmers first had to dig out plains parallel to the sea level, which were arranged like stairs. Skinny Thai farmers in their round, pointed hats were either planting and watering their plots or harvesting rice. Driving for several hours I could realize how hard this work is. All day long these people have to stand bent over, barefoot and ankle-deep in water. No wonder when I ordered a chicken leg for a local dog during a stopover, the skinny, tired Thais looked at me in a very cold way. When I reached the border town of Chiang Khong on the Mekong River after dark, farmers were just coming down from the fields. I had a nice time on my last day in Thailand. The local children let me ride my bike and I went to an open-air karaoke concert. The terrace of the hotel where I slept that night faced the Mekong River. So I sat in Thailand watching what was happening in Laos on the other side of the river. Early the next morning, I went to immigration and then boarded one of the many boats waiting on the shore and in a few minutes I was in Laos.
View of the Mekong River from Thailand. On the other side Laos.
Summary of Thailand
Thailand was a wonderful experience and I had a wonderful time. I trained the national sport of this country, which taught me a lot, and I was able to get to know many Thai people as they are. I saw beautiful temples and oriental art. The people and especially the women were always very good to me and the kitchen was excellent. Whether it was the bustling Bangkok, elephant riding in the jungle, rafting or paradise, the tropical island, every time it was great. The only thing I can regret is that I had to leave, but here time is not enough.
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