It could be argued that, in Thailand, many foreigners have come and gone, and the number of people who are considered to be Thai have traveled abroad in a great number.
His Majesty King Rama IX (Bhumibol Adulyadej)
Thailand, the Land of Smiles, boasts a variety of attractions that never fail to delight visitors. Temples, friendly locals, diverse landscapes, shopping, and street cuisine. Many celebrities are well-versed in Thai culture. It is also famous for its nightlife and nightclubs. Since my journey to Russia, I’d been craving another international adventure. My recent journey gave me fresh perspectives on travel. Mum and I talked about coming to Thailand in August, when airfares from my hometown to Bangkok were cheap. After one month, the fares have dropped considerably more. To be honest, I didn’t want to travel to Thailand. Initially, I had different plans.
A serious plan was devised from scratch (you are aware that I am not a fastidious planner). This entailed visiting East Malaysia, notably Kota Kinabalu and Semporna. The latter is well-known for its scuba diving activities and is one of the world’s most prominent locations for the sport. This required a weeklong stay in Borneo’s natural beauty. However, it vanished when Mum found a potential threat to our life involving piracy (a slight concern now that the Sulu insurrection in the Philippines has subsided), as Semporna was close to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines.
Another idea was to visit Malaysia’s (West Malaysia) principal towns of Kuala Lumpur, George Town, and Malacca, however this was scrapped for the time being due to increased airfares. Mum was determined to see Thailand, so I chose the “Land of Smiles” since no other possibilities were available. Mum’s first idea for our trip was to see Bangkok and Pattaya. This is a popular option that many travelers worldwide will select. But, after reading portions of Lonely Planet Thailand, I had different expectations. I was granted a one-week leave and made plans to visit Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, and Ayutthaya. This was it.
- November 8-11: Bangkok — Explore the city, the shopping streets and street food.
- November 12-13: Kanchanaburi — Take a train to Kanchanaburi from Bangkok to explore the city, the Death Railway (Nam Tok railway station), the Erawan Waterfalls and Hellfire Pass Memorial.
- November 14-15: Ayutthaya — Take a bus to Ayutthaya to explore the ruined city and return back to the airport on 15th for the return trip.
This was the idea until Mum saw a travel map of malaria-risk areas in Thailand from the NHS. She was concerned that some of my destinations in Kanchanaburi province were at high danger of malaria. She convinced me to cancel my vacation to Kanchanaburi. Without Kanchanaburi, I had to hunt for other areas to stay in Thailand, including Phuket. Phitsanulok? Lopburi? Sukhothai? What about Chiang Mai? Chumphon? Krabi?
After canceling my vacation to Kanchanaburi for a week, I planned another plan. Why not do the same in Thailand as we did in Russia’s two biggest cities? As a result, Bangkok, Ayutthaya, and Chiang Mai. Mum was not a fan of Chiang Mai; she had never heard of it. The original idea was to fly from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, but I opted to take the SRT Northern Line instead. I reviewed this route and found it to be scenic and memorable, so I advocated for train travel, even if it meant giving up one day of our trip.
Dad studied the itinerary and proposed that the return trip from Chiang Mai be taken by train as well, as it would pass through Ayutthaya. With this in mind, we bought two tickets through the SRT D-Ticket website. The outbound trip will be in a second-class car (DRC Special Express), while the return trip will be in a first-class car (CNR Special Express). Guess what? The trip in the first-class automobile costs the same as a flight to Bangkok (as Mr. Pimon correctly said in Part IV).
That concluded the Chiang Mai section of our journey. As a result, we’ll spend the night on our return trip (November 10th) in the train’s first-class car (CNR Special Express). Tickets have to be acquired on time since seats on a given date become available on a specified day (approximately 15-16 days in advance).
- November 8: Reach Don Mueang Airport, and proceed to Chiang Mai through the DRC Special Express.
- November 9: Proceed to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle.
- November 10: Explore Chiang Mai Old City and exit the city.
- November 11: Reach Ayutthaya from Chiang Mai by CNR Special Express.
- November 12-15: Explore Bangkok. (Mum wanted to reserve one day for markets and shops).
ARMO Nimman (Hillside Condominium 1) in Suthep, Chiang Mai, was booked using Booking.com, while The Studio Condo Rooms in Bang Rak, Bangkok, was rented through AirBNB. The latter was convenient because it was close to Bangkok’s BTS Saphan Taksin station as well as the Chao Phraya River ferry’s Sathorn Pier. Days passed, Mum packed, and I reviewed the agenda for our trip. Dad sounded interested in joining us in Bangkok on November 12th if his office business went well (which it did not). Mum suggested that I go on a group tour for one day in Chiang Mai because, unlike Bangkok, public transportation is limited. Her idea seemed invaluable, so I went with the ‘Chiang Rai’ choice for the group tour. Meanwhile, I kept up with Thailand news on the Bangkok Post website, which is an English-language news site in Thailand.
We chose two aisle tickets on Thai AirAsia’s round-trip flight to Bangkok (Don Mueang Airport). The onward flight to Bangkok departs at 22:30 p.m. local time, while the return flight departs at 20:00 p.m. local time. We didn’t buy any pre-booked meals on the airline. I had a strong feeling that I needed to learn some basic Thai. In my spare time, I had completed eleven lessons of the Pimsleur Thai level-1 course (I didn’t bother learning the alphabet, but what distinguished Thai from the Indic languages was that it is a tonal language with more comprehensive vowels), but the five things I felt every tourist should know to converse with are:
- Sawatdee kha/khrap! (Welcome)
- Sabaidee mai kha/khrap? Phom/Di-chan sabaidee kha/khrap. (How are you? I’m fine.)
- Khun phut pasa Angrit dai mai kha/khrap? (Do you speak English?)
- An-nee raakhaa thao-rai? (How much is this?)
- Mai kha/khrap. (No, thanks. — Used this frequently to brush off the touts coming after me during our trip).
Even in Bangkok, the response to the third question was virtually “nittnoy,” or “a little.” So, unless you’re staying in a hotel with a tour guide, I propose that any visitor who visits Thailand learn some Thai. Our plan has two drawbacks: the Loy Krathong festival is held in the last week of November, and I believe we should have arranged our vacation around that time. The Thai government has liberalized the visa system for Indians; nonetheless, our trip took place two days before its elimination. Isn’t this a bit unfortunate?
As someone properly pointed out, the bulk of visitors visit temples during the day but wind up at go-go bars or pubs at night. We did not visit nightclubs or bars because our vacation was intended to be more about experiencing Thailand’s soul; we also did not support the objectification of women or the sex business. We have not visited any Thai beaches. While flying back from Bangkok, I wondered, “Have I explored the soul of Thailand?”
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