Bangkok in general seemed much quieter than I’ve always imagined. My previous viewpoint has been from the safe confines of the main rail station. Always in the past it’s proved unbelievably hectic, the roads chockablock and the pavements choked with shoulder to shoulder pedestrians. City traffic is renowned for being gridlocked, making travel around the city slow and laboriously. That seems to have changed, it’s diminished significantly. Traffic actually appears to move at a respectable pace, the pavements are easily negotiable, even fully laden with a rucksack. In fact the busiest area I’ve seen is Nana Plaza, where I’ve elected to stay while here. Koa San Road, the main backpacker haunt, is also said to be pretty much as busy as always; so it seems that tourist-ville maintains its hectic schedule while the rest of the city is more subdued. (Photo: Doing a roaring trade – Sumnavit Rd, Bangkok)
Maybe the recent floods helped reduce the overcrowded byways and highways, I know many people had to be evacuated. Where these people went and whether they’ve failed to return could explain the situation. Alongside the rail tracks there used to be extensive shanty town of corrugated iron hovels, stretching for miles from the centre way out into the suburbs. Most of that is gone, maybe the authorities have used the floods as an opportunity to move in and bulldoze flat the former squalor. It hasn’t all gone, but there is very little evidence of the haphazard shanties any more. Two other aspects I’ve never been aware of, so am unsure exactly how new they are, are the Skytrain and Metro systems. They both look new, everything looks newly constructed anyway. In itself this could explain a reduction in congestion, as could relocation of a sizable portion of the cities population. . (Photo: From yucky to yuppie – Bangkok cityscape)
Such observations and assumptions are only based on a fleeting glimpse, I wasn’t about to hang around any longer than necessary. However quiet the place is in comparison to previous insights, it still is not a place I relish. Despite brief thoughts of visiting some of the curiosities of the city, when confronted with the bars and clubs advertising ping-pong shows and such like I lost interest. Numerous bars, with numerous farang (the derogatory Thai term for foreigners) swilling beer almost 24hrs a day holds no interest for me. Maybe if in the company of a group of friends I could bring myself to visit some of these less savoury establishments, but only safe in the knowledge that their interest was purely mild curiosity, rather than actual sexual titillation. Blimey, it sounds as if I’m becoming a prude in my old age. But isn’t that better than becoming a desperate old man who prowls the worlds seedy joints for sexual satisfaction? (Photo: From Father to Son – Railroad siding , Bangkok)
For me the most relaxed way to travel in Thailand is by rail, it’s cheap and comfortable. Overnight sleepers save the cost of a hotel and, hey presto, you’re at your destination shortly after you awake. My only choice was to be my initial destination, would I take any time out in Thailand, or push on for the Malaysian border? The last couple of times I’ve come here it’s been the wrong time of year to reach the islands of the Tarutao National Park. In monsoon season regular boat services stop, you’re lucky if there is one boat a week out to the islands from Pak Barra. Having declared a reluctance to spend time in Thailand previously, my attitude hasn’t changed. I find those people involved in the tourist trade to be unreliable, saying and doing whatever is necessary to relieve you of your hard earned cash. And I’ve got to say that nothing has changed my mind on that level. Transit points are the worst, the touts and tuk-tuk drivers will lie through their hind teeth to get your over-priced custom. (Photo: Bird’s eye view of Koh Lipeh – Tarutao national park, Thailand)
And so it was when I reached Hat Yai, as soon as I set foot outside the train station. As one of the only couple of tourists on the train I was of course a prime target. I was also well versed in how to deal with it, respectfully but insistently refusing everything the touts tried suggesting. An interesting phenomenon in tourist Thailand is a refusal to give a reasonable price to farang, if you won’t pay the over inflated quote they simply won’t deal with you; there’s no question of getting the going rate. In the past I’ve gotten used to touts claiming there were no alternatives to what they had to offer, but never before have I been maliciously put on the wrong transport. Songtheaws are the cheap means of navigating cities here. They ply a set route and they generally cost pennies, rather than pounds, all you have to do is find the appropriate Songtheaw. In Hat Yai one guy hounded me for ages, quoting an extortionate price to take me to the bus station for a Pak Barra bus. I refused politely, stating clearly I knew it was far too much. The bastard then showed me a Songtheaw to use, which took me to the wrong station on the opposite side of town. (Photo: Monkey-ing around – Koh Adang, Tarutao National Park)
At first I wouldn’t believe people when they said there were no buses to Pak Barra, that I had to go 10km to the other side of town. Even when a police officer informed me of this I stared at him in disbelief. He was great though, taking me outside the station and making a correct Songtheaw stop and telling them where to drop me. We drove right past the train station and on for another 5km or so, it still only cost me 20p. The government minibus was half the price of the private ones from the station, and the cost of a boat ticket out to Koh Adang was also cheaper at the dock than in Hat Yai. But the Thais don’t miss a single trick, the boat only takes you to a floating dock off the island, then you have to pay another £1 for a long-tail to shore. And that is typical of the situation here; wherever possible you’ll be wrung dry of your very last cent, which is why I have so little time for Thailand. (Photo: Squirrel or tree rat – Koh Adang, Tarutao National Park)
Bangkok in general seemed much quieter than I’ve always imagined. My previous viewpoint has been from the safe confines of the main rail station. Always in the past it’s proved unbelievably hectic, the roads chockablock and the pavements choked with shoulder to shoulder pedestrians. City traffic is renowned for being gridlocked, making travel around the city slow and laboriously. That seems to have changed, it’s diminished significantly. Traffic actually appears to move at a respectable pace, the pavements are easily negotiable, even fully laden with a rucksack. In fact the busiest area I’ve seen is Nana Plaza, where I’ve elected to stay while here. Koa San Road, the main backpacker haunt, is also said to be pretty much as busy as always; so it seems that tourist-ville maintains its hectic schedule while the rest of the city is more subdued. (Photo: Doing a roaring trade – Sumnavit Rd, Bangkok)
Maybe the recent floods helped reduce the overcrowded byways and highways, I know many people had to be evacuated. Where these people went and whether they’ve failed to return could explain the situation. Alongside the rail tracks there used to be extensive shanty town of corrugated iron hovels, stretching for miles from the centre way out into the suburbs. Most of that is gone, maybe the authorities have used the floods as an opportunity to move in and bulldoze flat the former squalor. It hasn’t all gone, but there is very little evidence of the haphazard shanties any more. Two other aspects I’ve never been aware of, so am unsure exactly how new they are, are the Skytrain and Metro systems. They both look new, everything looks newly constructed anyway. In itself this could explain a reduction in congestion, as could relocation of a sizable portion of the cities population. . (Photo: From yucky to yuppie – Bangkok cityscape)
Such observations and assumptions are only based on a fleeting glimpse, I wasn’t about to hang around any longer than necessary. However quiet the place is in comparison to previous insights, it still is not a place I relish. Despite brief thoughts of visiting some of the curiosities of the city, when confronted with the bars and clubs advertising ping-pong shows and such like I lost interest. Numerous bars, with numerous farang (the derogatory Thai term for foreigners) swilling beer almost 24hrs a day holds no interest for me. Maybe if in the company of a group of friends I could bring myself to visit some of these less savoury establishments, but only safe in the knowledge that their interest was purely mild curiosity, rather than actual sexual titillation. Blimey, it sounds as if I’m becoming a prude in my old age. But isn’t that better than becoming a desperate old man who prowls the worlds seedy joints for sexual satisfaction? (Photo: From Father to Son – Railroad siding , Bangkok)
For me the most relaxed way to travel in Thailand is by rail, it’s cheap and comfortable. Overnight sleepers save the cost of a hotel and, hey presto, you’re at your destination shortly after you awake. My only choice was to be my initial destination, would I take any time out in Thailand, or push on for the Malaysian border? The last couple of times I’ve come here it’s been the wrong time of year to reach the islands of the Tarutao National Park. In monsoon season regular boat services stop, you’re lucky if there is one boat a week out to the islands from Pak Barra. Having declared a reluctance to spend time in Thailand previously, my attitude hasn’t changed. I find those people involved in the tourist trade to be unreliable, saying and doing whatever is necessary to relieve you of your hard earned cash. And I’ve got to say that nothing has changed my mind on that level. Transit points are the worst, the touts and tuk-tuk drivers will lie through their hind teeth to get your over-priced custom. (Photo: Bird’s eye view of Koh Lipeh – Tarutao national park, Thailand)
And so it was when I reached Hat Yai, as soon as I set foot outside the train station. As one of the only couple of tourists on the train I was of course a prime target. I was also well versed in how to deal with it, respectfully but insistently refusing everything the touts tried suggesting. An interesting phenomenon in tourist Thailand is a refusal to give a reasonable price to farang, if you won’t pay the over inflated quote they simply won’t deal with you; there’s no question of getting the going rate. In the past I’ve gotten used to touts claiming there were no alternatives to what they had to offer, but never before have I been maliciously put on the wrong transport. Songtheaws are the cheap means of navigating cities here. They ply a set route and they generally cost pennies, rather than pounds, all you have to do is find the appropriate Songtheaw. In Hat Yai one guy hounded me for ages, quoting an extortionate price to take me to the bus station for a Pak Barra bus. I refused politely, stating clearly I knew it was far too much. The bastard then showed me a Songtheaw to use, which took me to the wrong station on the opposite side of town. (Photo: Monkey-ing around – Koh Adang, Tarutao National Park)
At first I wouldn’t believe people when they said there were no buses to Pak Barra, that I had to go 10km to the other side of town. Even when a police officer informed me of this I stared at him in disbelief. He was great though, taking me outside the station and making a correct Songtheaw stop and telling them where to drop me. We drove right past the train station and on for another 5km or so, it still only cost me 20p. The government minibus was half the price of the private ones from the station, and the cost of a boat ticket out to Koh Adang was also cheaper at the dock than in Hat Yai. But the Thais don’t miss a single trick, the boat only takes you to a floating dock off the island, then you have to pay another £1 for a long-tail to shore. And that is typical of the situation here; wherever possible you’ll be wrung dry of your very last cent, which is why I have so little time for Thailand. (Photo: Squirrel or tree rat – Koh Adang, Tarutao National Park)
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