S̄wạs̄dī khrxbkhrạw læa pheụ̄̀xn
Hello family & friends (in Thai),
It was toward the end of 2006, the year that I ‘graduated’ from Boeing at the age of 61 and received a call from our friend, Pam, wanting to enhance my retirement. Her enticement was to have Maggie and me to join her and her husband, Karl Heinz (KH), in the Andaman Sea off the west coast of Thailand for 10 days aboard a catamaran, celebrating his 50th birthday. Maggie was still gainfully employed, so I turned to her to see what she thought. It took her about 30 seconds to say, “Tell Pam we’re in!” This would be our first major international adventure travel since we took our son Jordan, at age 12, to Jamaica in 1993, driving on the left hand side of the road in a rental car for 12 days, with no accommodation reservations, meeting some crazy characters and visiting Bob Marley’s burial site in Nine Mile. So we were really ready for this invitation!!
The adventure began when Maggie and I flew out of SeaTac at 2:55 AM, late February, 2007 on EVA Air to Taipei, then on to Bangkok. We survived the 16+ hours of flying through sitting in exit seats with their infinite leg room. Of course things had to break down somewhere, which turned out to be at our Sofitel Hotel on Silom Road in Bangkok. After some misunderstandings at the front desk, we were upgraded to an Executive Suite on the 21st floor. We added $35/day to receive free breakfasts, evening cocktails and free internet use. In the meantime, we had made reservations for a 6:00-8:00 PM dinner cruise on a rustic looking, antique teakwood rice barge to traverse the magnificent Chao Phraya River (River of Kings), the 200 mile long lifeblood of Bangkok, which cost us 2,500 Thai Baht ($71 USD). Our drive to the vessel provided us our first exposure to the urban chaos in 3rd world countries, with tailgating and motorcyclists squeezing between vehicles at high speeds.
Once aboard our barge, we were entertained by small ferries crossing the river constantly, long-tail boats racing north and south on the river, other “tour’ boats loaded with passengers, ours being the best by far for character and only having 30 guests. Traversing the middle of the river, the shoreline ranged from shack-like dwellings on pilings, enclosed with wire mesh and porches to restaurants, the 100 year old dwelling formerly inhabited by the King of Thailand, beautiful Wats (temples, lit up in the darkness on our return upriver) dry dock facilities. The river was a flood of life. Sharing it with us were caravans of football-field-length barges 15 feet high from the water. Each barge was a sequence of connected smaller barges, with no running lights…very eerie, ghostlike, carrying goods like wood, electronics, food.
We were also entertained by 3 young Thai girls in traditional garb, intermittently performing dances along our journey. By the end of our 1st 8 hours in Thailand, we had been besotted by the politeness and grace evident everywhere, with slight head bowing and hands in prayerful positioning.
Our first full day started with fresh-squeezed watermelon and mango juices, setting us up for a meandering eastward on Silom Road, passing alleys where vendors were selling fruit and various grilled meats. We peeled off to venture down one of the alleys amidst sewer-like smells, passing through a small covered bazaar, where we were taken aside by a seemingly friendly Thai who claimed to be a ‘journalist’. He attempted to guide us away from our intent to take the Sky Train to the Tha Tien Market to ferry across the Chao Phraya over to Wat Arun. Instead he tried to steer us to the ever-present mode of transportation, the 3-wheeled motorized tuk tuks, also pointing to expensive items we should purchase. We politely moved on, reaching the main arterial of Rama IV, getting directions on which bus to take to the Grand Palace (#47 or #507 if you’re interested). On our way to the bus stop we passed by an alley leading to the red light district which advertising featured amazing physical feats with genitalia, finally boarding a bus for an hour ride (costing 14 Baht, 40 cents USD). The route was not ‘as the crow flies’, winding through many districts, providing us a picture of the energy of Bangkok and the driving skills of locals after witnessing (what appeared to us) so many near crashes with zig-zagging, zoom-zooming between hundreds (if not thousands) of motorcyclists, weaving amongst tuk tuks and cars, squeezing through spaces unimaginable. In some cases, we saw motorcycles rerouting themselves when traffic was blocked by taking to the sidewalks!
We spent a couple of hours at the Grand Palace (built in 1782) at Phra Nakhon, taking in the beauty of the spired structures and all the statuary, with their colorful inlays, exquisite details and variety of poses. Before entering the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which houses the statue of the meditating Gautama Buddha in a lotus position made of jasper (not emerald or jade), a small figure in size, only 2 feet tall, we had to remove our shoes, and I had to borrow long pants since I was wearing cargo shorts. We then watched many of the faithful worshipping against a background of a huge mural on the walls depicting the life of Buddha. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed.
On to the ‘ferry’ station at Tha Tien, hydrating with a beer, paying 3 Baht each to cross the river to spend time at Wat Arun, marveling at the architecture which sported 80-100 feet high spires, with recesses 20-30 feet from the top that held 3 statues, each with elephant tusks protruding. Then back to Tha Tien, where we crossed the street to Wat Pho to the reclining Buddha. At 50 feet high, 150 feet long, gold-plated, with mother-of-pearl inlays on his feet, it is spectacular! Moving on from here we waited in vain for the #47 bus to take us back when someone told us it does not run after 5:50 PM! So we flagged a tuk tuk driver, offering 200 Baht ($6 USD), he countered with 250 Bhat. We agreed, since this was less than the 300 we knew to be the normal that unschooled tourists would pay. It turned out to be one of the wildest rides of our life, our driver weaving in and out of traffic, with a demonic smile we could see in the rear view mirror! Many of the other road warriors were bare foot on their motorcycles, some with passengers riding side-saddle, legs barely missing the sides of cars they were weaving between. It was so exciting that we gave him 300 Baht anyway (especially since we survived).
We at last made it back to our hotel in time for the 5 PM-7 PM cocktail session, viewing the sunset from the 27th floor, served by a generous staff in their traditional Thai silk garb. After sundown, we walked up Silom searching for our meal, surprised by all the vendor booths that had sprung up on the sidewalks that were bare when we started our day, vending clothing, beads, electronics, et al. We were approached numerous times by boys & men, brandishing 3” x 5” cards saying “DVD Sex”. We eventually made it past Lumphini Park in the Pthun Wan District, to the Suan-Lum Night Bazaar where we purchased a huge meal of spicy local fare for less than $3 USD, exchanging some money so we could ride the Ferris wheel. What a view from the top, also taking in the expansiveness of the market spread. We were ready to call it a day and took a taxi for a short distance that cost 100 Baht, finding out later at our hotel that we should have demanded to be on the meter and it would have cost 1/3 of what we paid…another learning for us.
On day 3 in Bangkok, Maggie and I went off to Wat Po’s Thai Traditional Medicinal School where we treated ourselves to side-by-side herbal massages (down an alley off the Chao River). Cost? $27 USD total!!! Hot herbs were rubbed all over us along with rigorous heel and elbows applied at key body spots. We hooked up afterwards with Pam & KH, who had at last arrived, for a meal at the ferry terminal along the river, being served by a “Nazi” Thai server who dictated what we would eat, when we would get it and that beer would not be served before we ordered the food!! It was a pretty hilarious affair, with us saluting her in military fashion at each table visit. We parted company again with P & KH, while they visited where we had already been and we took a tuk tuk to the Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple), to take in the many Black Buddha statuary, admiring the different poses in the lineup against one of the walls. Leaving there, we were accosted by a Thai who claimed he worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as an economist and told us “the sky was falling” and to invest in tangibles, like antique autos. We literally had to run away from him, returning to the tuk tuk drivers who had brought us to the Temple and had (unknown to us) expected to take us to the Export Center and on to Golden Mountain. They were not happy when we told them we had no interest, but paid them 60 Baht per tuk tuk to get them off our backs, and cabbed it back to the Sofitel. We wandered into the red light district to find a meal, dining at Coca, a Chinese restaurant which served crocodile and custom-made soups, heated at our table. Total hit, 1,700 Baht ($50 USD). That included huge bottles of Singha & Tiger beer. This dispatch ends our time in Bangkok, as we had to turn in to get rest for the alarm going off at 4:00 AM to take the van to the airport for a 7 AM flight to Hat Yai, on our to 10 days on the Andaman Sea aboard our catamaran.
Cheers, until then, Stan & Maggie