Bangkok – 19 to 22 December 2006
We had booked an 11:00 AM flight from Singapore to Bangkok on Thai Asian Airways, a local discount carrier, on the internet and printed out the emailed vouchers at our hotel in Singapore. There was no detail on which terminal TAA left from, but the hotel told us it was the new budget terminal. We should have taken into consideration this was a training school, and the students were not yet fully proficient. Fortunately we decided to take a taxi to the airport and arrived at the budget terminal in plenty of time to find TAA left from Terminal 1 instead. The only way to get to Terminal 1 was to take a shuttle from the budget terminal to Terminal 2, then take the Skytrain from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1. We made it in plenty of time, and were even under the 15 kilogram weight limit for checked baggage. Of course we had unpacked our coats and had the pockets stuffed with the heaviest items we could get in them.
As noted, TAA is a budget airline and there were no seat assignments. Also, there were no snacks or drinks unless you paid for them. Fortunately we were aware of this and came prepared with some water and munchies. The flight was uneventful and we landed in Bangkok on schedule about 2 hours and 20 minutes later. The airport in Bangkok is brand new, and just opened in September 2006. We soon saw their pride and joy, the tallest air traffic control tower in the world. As we would soon find, the Thais appear to be obsessed with having the highest structures. (Note: A few days after arriving here we read in the Bangkok Newspaper parts of the new airport may be closed due to sub-standard construction materials. It seems there may have been a bit of fraud and corruption in awarding contracts and changing specifications.)
After clearing immigration and customs without incident, we looked around the terminal for an ATM and some information on how to get into town. We found the ATM, but it would not spit out any cash for us, so we had to change some of our meager dollar stash to get some of the local currency, the Baht. To get into town, you can take the express bus from the main terminal, or take a shuttle bus a few kilometers to another location where local busses and taxis depart from. We opted for the express bus as it went near our hotel, and arrived in downtown Bangkok about an hour later.
A word of warning for other travelers taking the express bus. It is wise to familiarize yourself with the area you are going to and the bus route in advance. We were the first to be dropped off, and it was on a major road through the Pratunam area of Bangkok with no other instructions on the location and distance to the hotel. Fortunately we had printed a general instruction map to the hotel when we booked it on-line in Singapore, so we were able to make our way there without any problem.
After checking in, we began our usual walkabout to get a feel for the area. We soon found the Baiyoke Sky Hotel that we had originally tried to book into, but there was no availability at the time. It is the highest building in Bangkok, and was once the highest hotel in the world. After a drink in the revolving bar on the 87th floor, we hit the streets again for dinner. We soon found a small street side kitchen where we each had a dinner of fried noodles and vegetables along with two Pepsis for a grand total of 90 Baht, or about $2.50. Over the next few days we tried to find similar small restaurants, and we were not disappointed with the food.
The next day we decided to visit the Grand Palace, so we took the Skytrain to the Taksin Bridge, then caught the river taxi north to the Grand Palace. The boat ride is well worth the experience just to see the other boats on the river along with the shoreline contrasts in buildings. The boarding method used on this river taxi would never be approved in the US. The boat stops at each pier just long enough for one boat hand to jump off, loop a rope to keep the stern close to the pier, and everyone else to either jump on or off if it is their stop. It’s then off to the next stop in a matter of only a few seconds. The lawyers would get rich in the US.
The first thing you run into when getting off at the river taxi are the touts who try and lure you away from the Palace to a side trip they can fleece you on. They will flat out lie to you with the story the Palace is closed until 3:00 PM because of a religious holiday or some other BS. The fact is the Palace is open until 3:30, and if you buy their spiel you will likely miss it that day. The Palace and grounds are incredible as some of the pictures on our web site will attest.
Our original plan was to spend three nights in Bangkok and then head to Chiang Mai, so after the Palace tour, we visited a local office of the Thai tourist assistance agency (TAT). They advised Chiang Mai was pretty much booked until after the New Year because of holiday visitors as well as the ongoing festival there. When we mentioned we would also be visiting Cambodia, they said they would be happy to book a trip to Cambodia for us for a week for the small fee of about $700 per person. And we thought their goal was to promote Thailand! We then excused ourselves and headed back to the hotel to plot or next strategy.
We soon decided if heading north to Chiang Mai wasn’t practical, we would head south to the eastern Thailand coast for a few days, and then into Cambodia. Because a visa is required for Cambodia, and not all border crossings issue visas, we decided to get it while in Bangkok. The next day we went to the Cambodian Embassy and left our visa applications, passports, visa photos, a copy of our passports and the $25/person fee. If you leave the application and required documents before 1:00 PM, you can pick up your passport complete with visa that same day between 5:00 and 6:00 PM. After leaving the embassy, we headed across the street to Lumphini Park to sit in the shade and read our travel guides to determine where to head next.
D was leaning towards Rayong on the eastern coast of Thailand because it sounded like a quiet beach area where we could just chill out for a few days. While sitting in the park reviewing options, an American gentleman saw us and asked if he could give us any information as he was very familiar with the area. It turns out he is a retired US Army officer who was in Special Operations during the time some of the local areas had “issues”. He said he has walked much of Cambodia and Vietnam, and has lived in Bangkok for a number of years. His suggestion was we take some time and visit Pattaya which is a hopping beach resort town not far to the west of Rayong.
The next morning we caught a taxi to the eastern Bangkok bus station (Ekamai) and arrived about 11:00 AM. It turns out there was a bus leaving for Pattaya at 11:15, so we bought our tickets and boarded the bus.
Next stop Pattaya.
