Travel: Trapped in Thailand

A colleague and I traveled to Bangkok on the Monday before Thanksgiving (24 November) for a quick two-day work trip. This quick trip promised to be productive but would still allow me nearly three weeks to finish up all I needed before I traveled back to the US for Christmas. But, like the folks on Gilligan’s Island, we were in for more than a three hour tour.

On Tuesday, 25 November, the People’s Alliance for Democracy Party (PAD) stormed Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok’s international airport. The PAD , the main opposition party in the government with strongholds among the urban population in and around Bangkok, had been waging a campaign of protest for several months, occupying the Government House and forcing the government to operate out of a remote site. The occupation of the airport was by far the boldest move, and they followed it up by occupying Don Muang, Bangkok’s former international airport that now served domestic flights. Thus, there was no way to leave Bangkok by air.

I had flown up on low costs Tiger Airways, which is fine if everything goes right. That means you get to the airport on time, there are no weather issues, you don’t have to change your flights, or protestors don’t shut down the airport. But, when things don’t go just as planned, it is good to have a flight on a full-service carrier, like my colleague did with Singapore Airlines.


On Wednesday the 26th, our initial return date, we both called our airlines. He got through in two minutes and was booked on another flight for the following day. I was on hold for 45 minutes before I gave up (at S$2.75 a minute, which meant the cost of that fruitless call nearly matched that of my ticket). Instead, I booked a ticket with a rival carrier, Air Asia.

Our flights did not take off, however, as the airport remained closed. It became apparent that this could be a prolonged closure, so a number of the carriers arranged with the government to fly “rescue” flights out of U-Tapao Air Force Base, 150 kilometres south of Suvarnabhumi and 200 kilometres south of Bangkok itself. My colleague was booked on a Saturday flight (29 November), but I was unable to get on the Air Asia flight, so I decided to extend my stay.

We actually got a lot of work done while we were there. Every morning, it was over to the Starbuck’s on Sukhumvit (in the shadow of the Sky Train) for a coffee and a 24 hour internet card. We would sit upstairs, drink our coffee, and work and email for 10 hours a day. Without the distractions of the office, it was a highly productive time. But, after a couple of days, I faced a different distraction – finding a way to get home.


I had contemplated a number of options – train down the peninsula to Butterworth just across the Thai-Malaysian border, then bus to KL and fly/bus back to Singapore. Or bus to Phuket and catch a flight to Singapore. Train/taxi/bus to the Cambodian border and then the same to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh. I even contemplated the Eastern and Orient Express, which would have taken me all the way to Singapore. But, the trains to Malaysia and flights out of Phuket were full, Cambodia looked less appealing the more I looked at it, and the E&OE went only once a week, so I ended up on an overnight train to Chiang Mai in the far north of Thailand, with a SilkAir flight direct to Singapore.

The train was scheduled for 6.00 pm on Monday, and I gave myself plenty of time to get to the station on the Sky Train and subway. On the way, I noticed that I was the only one wearing red. A saleswoman earlier had mentioned my red shirt (a t-shirt I had to buy off the street) and let me know that it was the color of “the other side”. Red is the color of the government’s supporters, which are located mainly in the north. Yellow was the color of the PAD, with its stronghold in Bangkok. So it did not surprise me that I was the only person wearing red in the entire city. I suppose it’s like wearing Crips colors in the Blood neighborhood. Fortunately, the political situation was not violent, and I made it to the train.

Just before the train pulled away, at 6.00 exactly, the Thai national anthem began playing over the loudspeaker. Every Thai in the station (even the man sleeping on the bench) rose and stood at respectful attention for the duration of the song. It was an interesting sight to close what may be my final stay in Bangkok.

I love traveling by train, and I met several interesting people on the way up. I was in a second-class sleeper, however, which meant I did not have my own room. Moreover, I had the top bunk, which is the smaller of the two. The lights never go off in the second-class sleeper, and you get to hear all the sleepers around you snoring away. With the train lurching and jerking during the four hour delay on the way, it made for a sleepless night. The delay also meant the 13 hour trip turned into 17 hours. Since I had given myself a buffer day, that was okay. And it actually meant I arrived at my hotel at 11.30, not 7.30, so I was able to check in immediately and take that long-awaited nap.


Chiang Mai is a beautiful town in the highlands in Thailand. It was uncrowded due to the airport closures (so many of the flights go through Bangkok), and it was nice to wander through the deserted streets enjoying the cool, dry weather. It was only in the 60s, but you would see locals all over the place wearing scarves and coats. What a nice break from the tropical weather I was used to!


The next day, I got on my flight and almost kissed the ground when I arrived back in Singapore. It was good to be back.
I did enjoy my quick visit to Chiang Mai. I met some nice British expats in the local pub, found some good small galleries and made some nice purchases at the night market. With this in mind, I canceled my planned trip there in February. I will go back to Chiang Mai – it seems like a fantastic place – but I am done with Thailand for a while.

Travel: Alex in Asia - Phuket

My brother Alex made his first visit to Asia this Fall (that being a not well-understood term here), wrapping his trip around the inaugural Formula One Singapore Grand Prix. We started the trip in Phuket, but not before Alex stepped into airports in Amarillo, Denver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Singapore. And my bad advice almost made his stay in Singapore a little longer. He flew Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines to Singapore, and Air Asia to Phuket. But, Air Asia does not have interline agreements with other airlines, so he couldn't check his bags through to Phuket. They also don't have a facilities inside security, so even if you fly two separate segments on Air Asia, you have to come out of security (which means Immigration and Customs on international flights), check in, and then go back through security to get to your next flight. And Alex had to do this. Fortunately, Changi Airport is incredibly efficient, especially when uncrowded mid-day on Friday. He was out, up, and back through in less than twenty minutes, and we were on our way to Phuket.

Phuket is an island off the west coast of Thailand, just south of the Phang Nga province peninsula in the Andaman Sea (more on Phang Nga later). It features miles of sandy beaches and all of the kinds of troublesome nightlife one would expect of a beach destination. After arriving at the provincial airport, our hotel car drove us the hour to our accommodations in Karon Beach (a friend of mine runs the Movenpick Karon Beach, and it is a wonderful place to stay - check with me for details). Alex noted the resemblance to hotels he has visited in Hawaii, with the open lobby and beautiful sights, which we took in over a Singha as our rooms were prepared.


We took a tuk-tuk into Patong Beach, the liveliest area on the island. After a look around and a stop for milk and cookies, we decided to call it a night. The next day we spent lazily around the pool - after all, Alex had just traveled nearly 30 hours to get here. No reason to overdo it. We were able to add Chang to the portfolio that afternoon. We opted for a night in the tamer Karon Beach on Saturday, ending at the Sand Bar, where we were the only audience for the band. This meant we could not only request every song, but we were also given singing duties. Good thing we both have jobs, because we'd probably have to go out on the road with these guys, given our stellar performances that night.


The next day was my last in Phuket. Alex would head to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on his way to Singapore, but I was flying directly back Sunday night. We spent the day on the water, heading up into Phang Nga Bay National Park to see the beautiful rock formations on the way to James Bond Island. This is the island with the iconic rock formation that served as Scaramanga's lair in The Man With The Golden Gun. Our vessel was a slow boat made to look like a junk. I think of it as a junk in the Western sense. The boat was fine, but it was slow, and the voyage was part of a typical tour I try to avoid.



The island isn't incredibly impressive (except THAT A JAMES BOND MOVIE WAS FILMED THERE), and the rock formation is tiny compared to others in the area (a sequence in Tomorrow Never Dies also was filmed in Phang Nga). Although I was glad to see the island, the trip itself is one of those all day ventures that includes a lunch at a far away destination (a "floating" Muslim fishing village that is built on stilts above the water; it survives almost exclusively on tourism) and a swim in the ocean. Now that we know, we would have rented a speedboat for half a day to take us to James Bond Island and back.





It had been a whirlwind weekend, but a good introduction to Asia for Alex. Especially as he was off to Bangkok and KL on his way to Singapore for the race.

Travel: Angkor Wat to Bangkok

Siem Reap means “The Defeat of Siam”. The city was the once the capital of Cambodia (now Phnom Penh). But, I didn't see much evidence of this (either a capital city or animosity towards Thailand) while I as there, as for many visiting tourists, the city is a location to unwind after a long day at the temples. So we headed out to the aptly-named Club Street in search of dinner. This after I took a swim in the pool, the temperature of which made it resemble more closely a bath. It wasn’t quite the refreshing dip I had hoped for, but it worked.

We found local cuisine at Khmer Family Restaurant (Khmer denoting the local people of Cambodia, who actually call their country Kampuchea). Like my lunch, the food was delicious.

While Club Street wasn’t the raucous place I had anticipated, we were drawn into one establishment, mainly from the strains of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” coming from the house band. It was fun, with a mix of old and new music, but it never quite lived up to the promise of the John Denver tune.


We had an early afternoon flight, so we had to leave around noon. That left us a couple of hours in the morning for one last trip to Angkor Wat. Guideless, we took a tuk-tuk to the temple complex and set out for our own bit of exploring. It is a different place in the morning (and I’ll bet even moreso at dawn – we arrived after 9 am). It was already hot in the sun, so I sought the shade, which is plentiful inside the temples. With fewer visitors at that time, it is nice to be able to explore nooks and crannies with little company. The complex really merits at least a full day and probably two or three for a proper visit. There are so many stories there just waiting to come out of the stones, if you just give them enough time. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough of it.





We sat in the quaint Siem Reap airport waiting for the bus to take us across the tarmac to our Bangkok Airways flight when the rain came down. We were lucky to avoid it during our temple visits, so I wasn’t going to complain. And the tarmac workers even set up a canopy with two umbrellas that allowed us to board without getting (too) wet.

Bangkok Airways (self-billed as Asia’s Boutique Airline) is the only carrier that offers direct service from Siem Reap to Bangkok. This seems odd, but they enjoy it, charging monopoly prices for the hour plus flight to the Thai capital. It was pleasant enough, and even with the interminable and packed bus ride from plane to terminal, journey through Immigration, baggage claim, and Customs, and ride to the hotel, we arrived while the sun was still up. We were beat, however, so after the nicest dinner of the trip, it was time to retire for the night.


There are a few things one has to do in Bangkok, and I have now done them three times with different visitors – ride on the Chao Phraya, visit Wat Arun, and tour the National Palace grounds. This time offered one difference, as Claire had to buy a new blouse to cover her shoulders in the National Palace, a requirement neither of us realized. I also took a different view of the detailed model of Angkor Wat, dated to 1922 and housed within the palace grounds. This shows the complex as it was in its heyday (or at least planned), with nine complete towers.




It had been a whirlwind five days - Singapore to KL to Siem Reap to Bangkok. We would get a few days back in Singapore (work for me, touring for her) before we were off to Hong Kong at the week's end.

Travel: Ko Samui

Thailand's third largest island, Ko Samui (alternatively, Koh Samui), is a sparkling gem in the Gulf of Thailand, just off the sliver of mainland resting between Myanmar and Malaysia. I was fortunate to travel there on business, and I stayed the weekend to see the island. Bangkok Airways, "Asia's Boutique Airline" (as it calls itself), offers the only non-stop service from Singapore, and the flight is just over an hour and a half. Upon arrival, however, you feel as if you could not be farther away from the urban environment of Singapore. The airport is entirely out of doors - you walk off the plane, across the tarmac to the open air arrival area, with Customs & Immigration, baggage claim, waiting and transport pick-up areas. The ride in the hotel van takes you through back streets and what appear to be dark alleys, and all of a sudden you pull onto a heavily trafficked commercial street, full of restaurants, bars, retail, and tourists.

I stayed in Chaweng, on the east coast of the island. It boasts (according to the guidebooks) of the most beautiful beaches on the island, and it did not disappoint. The island is also home to beautiful mountains and jungle, which in some areas rise directly up from the beaches. We experienced this first-hand with a round of golf at Santiburi, a picturesque course with extreme elevation changes. The course itself was a bit tricked-up, but the views were worth it. The only person who did not enjoy was my caddy, who spent a good number of the holes looking for my drives in jungle and ravine. Amazingly, she found nearly every one!


At the end of the conference, I stayed on and welcomed a friend from Singapore for the weekend. While the beaches were calling, we decided to tour the island and hired a van to drive us all over the place. As you go south from Chaweng, the road climbs up to some very nice vistas and sea views. Just as quickly, it descends back to sea level, to Hin Ta and Hin Yai, the Grandmother and Grandfather Rocks, two formations that remarkably resemble the male and female privates. As you can imagine, this attracts all kinds of tourists. I will leave it to you to find pictures (this is a family blog!). Coincidentally, I just read an article on the "fairy chimneys" of Turkey, which appear to be geological cousins, at least to Hin Ta!

Next, we went off the beaten path to check out a small Muslim fishing village on the southeastern portion of the island. This simple village is quite poor, and life is lived like it has been for years: small fishing boats are moored in the shallow water, with hundreds of fish from the day's catch drying in the sun, while the residents go about their daily routines, trying to stay out of the sun. The village is dominated by a mosque. As we were looking at it, we were approached by a man who told us of the needs of the community in funding the construction of the site. Relentless in his explanation (he essentially read from the board on the outer wall appealing for donations), he successfully procured twenty baht from me. It is not much, but now I am a real estate owner in Thailand, as well as Dallas. We took a quick walk around, but I felt as if we were infringing on someone's home; this was not a tourist site.



So, we headed back out to visit such sites, stopping next at the Wat Khunaram, home to the Mummified Monk. Luong Por Ruam was a wealthy resident who converted to Buddhism and gave up his earthly possession. He became an honored spiritual leader in Ko Samui, with legendary abilities. He reportedly even foretold the time of his death, which occurred in 1973. Normally, Buddhists are cremated, but he told his family to bury him sitting up. Before burial, his followers noticed that his body was not decaying. Believing this to be a miracle, they put his mummified remains on display, and they remain so today. He actually looks pretty good for a mummy! Pretty hip, too, in a pair of sunglasses.


Next, we experienced the biggest tourist rip-off on the island: elephant trekking. The interior of the island features a couple of waterfalls, and we thought we could ride an elephant to see them. Because of a lack of water, only one waterfall was actually worth seeing, and it was an hour ride on the back of the pachyderm. I misunderstood the handlers, however, and I thought we could do it. So, we hopped on our elephant and headed out. If you have ridden a horse, and you remember the first time when the saddle was swaying back and forth and you were terrified you were going to fall off - well, it was like that. Only the saddle was a bench big enough for two, and you were twice as high off the ground, and the elephant weighs three times as much as a horse. To make matters worse, our elephant did not want to follow the path at first. He lunged to the left, into some trees, and began to eat. His handler (who sits on his neck - we sit on the back) took his prod - a large hook - and jabbed it below the elephant's left ear to get him to go back right. Well, the creature wasn't pleased, and he let out a huge bellow. I imagined him rearing on his hind legs, which would have meant curtains for us! But, the handler got the beast back on the trail, and we were off. We followed several other elephants on what turned out to be a 30-minute circular route around a primitive zoo, never completely out of sight of our point of departure. I could have run the distance in less than two minutes. All in all, I wasn't displeased to get off the animal. Between the ride and the zoo, it really is sort of sad, and I think that was my first and last ride on an elephant.


We stopped in the main town of Nathon (a few blocks of restaurants, a post office, and administrative offices) for lunch (including a cup of Tom Yum soup, a yummy staple for me in Thailand). It was a good stop, as I ran into a colleague who has a house on the island, and she suggested a good place for dinner (more later). Then, to round out our tour, we were off to the Big Buddha. This statue of the sitting Buddha - 15 metres tall - sits on a small island just off the northeastern tip of Ko Samui. While surrounded by typical tourist shops, the statue and surrounding wat are quite peaceful, and it is a nice stop. The staircase leading up to the Buddha is a representation of the Naga, the legendary snake that was protector to the Buddha. I could have skipped the shops (one that makes strange, full-size statues of the Alien, Predator, and Terminator out of all kinds of metal - nails, bolts, rebar, you name it; this was quite bizarre, as I can't imagine who would buy these things!), but it was worth seeing the statue.




We were wrecked, so we went to the hotel to rest before our dinner. My colleague recommended Zazen, a nice restaurant set in a leafy resort on Bo Phut on the north end of the island. This was perfect, with a view out to the sea, soft breezes, and a great menu. I could have spent hours there, but we wanted to get an early start on the next day.

I wanted to see the sunrise on our eastern-facing beach, so we were up at 5.30 and down to the beach just a few minutes later. And the sun never came up. It was gray and overcast all day, so all we saw was a gradual lightening of a drab sky. I suppose a refreshing dip made up for some of the disappointment, but I will consult the forecast the next time. For the rest of our stay, we braved a steady and at times heavy rain to do some shopping - you can't get away without a trinket or two! Actually, my favorite shop there is the Jim Thompson store, with its famous silks. This company, headquartered in Bangkok, has stores in Singapore, but the Thailand shops seem so much more authentic.

As usual, we arrived at the airport two hours in advance of our international flight. Remember, the airport is outdoors. There was an overcrowded (but very heavily air-conditioned!) coffee shop, but we opted for the departures lounge, a sitting area under a thatched roof. It was enough to keep the heavy rain off of us, and the area was actually a nice, if crowded, place to wait for our flight back to reality.


One last thing - Thailand is a peaceful and polite country. Ninety percent of its citizens are Buddhist, and I have found it very pleasant to visit on the three occasions I have done so. Thais greet others by folding their hands together and bowing politely, and this practice is pervasive throughout the country. So much so that I even saw representations of the Michelin Man and Ronald McDonald doing so.

Travel: Bangkok, Part 3

On Saturday, I took a longboat up the Chao Phraya River to Nonthaburi, a neighborhood north of Bangkok. The longboat was the same kind James Bond commandeered in the river chase in The Man With the Golden Gun. Mine, thank goodness, had a roof, which was good in the brutally hot sun.

One can see a lot of Bangkok during this trip, floating by skyscrapers, under a modern Calatrava bridge, past a burned out high-rise, with shanty houses on stilts and beautiful wats (temples) lining both sides of the river. Nonthaburi is a cool little area, with a market selling all kinds of goods and food, including yummy fried bananas. I found a food stand that served an amazing pork and noodles dish, with little Vienna sausage balls.

During the ride back, I stopped at Wat Arun, the Temple of the Rising Sun (or Temple of Dawn). It is a beautiful structure in the style of Khmer (Cambodian) architecture. It has a main prang (tower) with four minor prangs at the corners. The artwork is beautiful - very intricate - and from the top, one gets a spectacular view of the river and back into Bangkok. The only issue is that the steps leading up are very, very steep. I have included a couple of pictures here.

Saturday night, I headed to an area called Khao San (I had visited a couple of other areas on Friday, one crowded with mainly expats, the other with young Thais out having a good time). Khao San is the backpacker destination in Bangkok, with its markets and cheap hotels and restaurants. And every backpacker who comes to Asia comes through Bangkok. It was packed with all kinds of adventurers from around the world, hanging out, buying cheap stuff, eating Thai food, and generally soaking in Asia. One of the street vendors was a dead ringer for Captain Jack Sparrow, down to his clothes, long hair, and eye shadow. Unfortunately, my camera battery had gone out by that time, and I couldn't get a picture.

One last thing about Bangkok - it is a city of dogs. There are dogs everywhere! Strays that just hang around and sleep on sidewalks. Often, you will see locals give them rice or some other food, and they do not look malnourished or mangy. But, there literally are thousands of dogs living in the streets - it really was wild!

Travel: Bangkok, Part 2

Bangkok is a city of contrasts. On one hand, you have extreme luxury and modern buildings and amenities. On the other, you have extreme poverty and ways of life that have not changed for hundreds of years. Glittering skyscrapers set above river houses on stilts, where clothes are hung out to dry and children spend hot afternoons swimming in the river. It really is a fascinating place.

I took the hotel shuttle boat across the river into downtown and headed toward an outdoor market. You could buy anything, from clothes to watches to food. The food looked good, but I wasn't sure what it was, and all the signs were in Thai, so I ended up buying a couple of apples. I passed up the fried grasshoppers and beetles. After a good look at the market, I decided to head to a more lively part of town and looked for a cab. Instead, I found a tuk-tuk. Or, it found me. Not only do I stand out, but I must have looked lost. This three-wheeled contraption honked at me, and I thought, "What the heck!" and got in. A tuk-tuk is essentially a tricycle with a two-stroke, sub-200 cc engine. The driver sits across it like a motorcycle and steers with handlebars. Passengers sit in back, under a canopy that (perhaps mercifully) obstructs the view of what is occuring outside the vehicle. The benefit of taking a tuk-tuk is that it can - depending on the skill and daring of the driver - navigate the worst of traffic jams and get you to your destination. The drawbacks are that the ride is extremely hot, and it feels like you've got a tailpipe blowing right in your face. But, the tuk-tuk drivers are good, and I got used them several times during my stay. I have attached a couple of pictures from my first ride. After that, I learned to hold on with both hands and keep the camera in my pocket. More later on my trip.