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Published: January 3rd 2009
The bus to Satun
Here we are waiting at the bus terminal in Bangkok about to board one for a 14 hour trip to Satun in Southern Thailand.The plan was simple. After last year's fiasco when we found out that Max needed major ear surgery for the removal of a cholesteatoma (a benign tumor that does a lot of damage in the middle ear) while we were on holiday in the U.S., such that we had to prolong our travels for his surgery and recovery, take our five-month-old twins with us to the hospital during the surgery, and separate the twins when Jim had to eventually return to work and didn't want to leave me by myself with two small infants and a five-year-old who needed medical care so he took Levi back with him, we felt that this time we would have things under control. We knew that Max needed a second surgery within a year of the first and so we planned everything in advance - we would travel out of Bangkok as a family with our Thai nanny (for whom we had secured the appropriate visa) on November 29th in time for Max's first doctor's appointment on December 2nd, Max would have his surgery on December 10th, and we would have time to see family and friends, etc. with Max missing a minimal amount of
Max and Natalia
This is Max and our travel companion, Natalia, at the bus terminal in Bangkok. school.
Well, you may all have read about the airports in Bangkok closing due to political protests. Unfortunately for us, because we had to get back to the U.S. in time for Max to get the ear surgery, which would have been difficult to reschedule for a lot of different reasons, the most important of which was that we were worried about what additional damage to Max's remaining hearing bone from the tumor could do if it had come back aggressively, we made a tough decision that Max and I would get out of Thailand any way we could while the rest of the family would follow once an airport convenient to Bangkok reopened.
Of course, approximately 300,000 other people were trying to get out of Thailand at the same time, which meant that flights from the only other main international airport in Phuket (about a 12 hour bus ride from Bangkok) were scarce (and I say "main" lightly - Phuket is a very small airport with not many international flights a day). After constantly crashing on Silk Air's and Tiger Air's websites (probably because everyone else was trying to book out of those from Phuket too), I
Boarding the bus
This is what our bus looked like. thought that I had found a good chance on an AirAsia flight from Phuket to Singapore and booked two tickets on that. A few days later, I was checking online about how Phuket airport was doing (since there were rumors that this airport would also be closed by protestors) and saw that all international flights were making it out except for the Phuket to Singapore flight from AirAsia. I had the embassy travel office call AirAsia to find out what was going on and it turned out that the flight was routed through Bangkok (even though AirAsia did not say this on their website) so had to be cancelled.
By this time, I was in full panic mode that we would not make it out of Thailand and my stomach (which tends to be the first place I feel stress) was completely full of acid. I think I lost 5 pounds in 2 days from the stress alone - not a way that I recommend to lose weight! I tried to see whether going to airports in Chiang Mai or Krabi (other Thai cities) would be possible - because there were few flights from those airports and most of
The ferry to Langkawi
You can see a little bit of Langkawi outside the window, but the day was overcast. them routed through Bangkok, there was nothing available. I looked into whether we could go overland to Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam - again, most flights routed through Bangkok and everything else was fully booked for days. I started checking the geography online and saw that Langkawi, a resort island in Malaysia, was quite close to Thailand. I did a search on ferries between Langkawi and Thailand and it turned out that there was a 1.5 hour ferry from a town in Southern Thailand called Satun that went several times a day. Even better, there was a flight out of Langkawi that was available on Malaysian Air to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur that would get us connecting flights out in time to make it to the U.S.
There was a bus from Bangkok to Satun that went once a day - a 14 hour overnight trip. So we booked reservations on the bus and changed our air routing to be from Langkawi. I felt relief at finally having a travel plan, but then began to stress about whether Jim, Levi and Bram would make it out of Thailand - I burst into tears at the thought of possibly being apart
Christmas lights in Singapore
This was near the hotel we were staying at. from them for 5 weeks (the period of time we would need to be in the US for the surgery and recovery period) since there was no sign that the protestors would leave the airports and the military and police refused to do anything. But for Max's sake we had to go ahead with the plan and trust in the fact that it was unlikely that Thailand would allow the airports to be closed for so long (though we really had no clue what would be the case).
Fortunately for me, there was another woman from the embassy community whom I met in the travel office named Natalia who was also desparate to get out of Thailand and we decided to travel together. She was trying to make it back to Colombia and we were booked on everything together up until our arrival at LAX airport. She was absolutely fantastic - Max adored her and I was so grateful to have someone help me on our long journey, especially as carrying our bags along with Max when he grew too tired would be next to impossible.
The day we left on the bus - November 29th - was
Natalia and I at the orchid garden
a nice diversion at the Singapore botanical gardens before getting on the plane - Max took this photo the day we were originally supposed to fly out of Bangkok on United. Needless to say, that flight was cancelled as the airport was still closed. We started off on the bus to Satun, which was fully booked with Thais (interestingly, few tourists seemed to have discovered the Langkawi route as an alternate means to getting out of Thailand, though we did meet a few stragglers when we reached the ferry at Satun). The bus was thankfully air conditioned and was somewhat similar to a smaller Greyhound type of coach. However, Max and I were sitting near the front and they played a horrific American B movie with tons of sexually inappropriate behavior and gang violence. I couldn't very well keep Max's eyes covered the whole time, so I had to resign myself to him seeing some things I'd rather he not see at age 6 and be thankful that the movie was dubbed into Thai so that he couldn't understand anything that was said. Fortunately, he was tired and drifted off to sleep - he slept for most of that trip and I was able to sleep for some of it. Also, after the movie ended, they shut off
the entertainment for the night (thanks to Natalia's request). The bus made one stop along the way at which we had 30 minutes to stretch our legs. I'm not sure where it was, but it was a much more "Thai" place than I had ever seen - no foreigners in sight, no food catering to westerners (not even Thai food that catered to Westerners), and lots of interesting snacks, etc. to purchase. If I hadn't been so concerned about getting Max out of Thailand, I would have actually really enjoyed seeing some parts of Thailand that most foreigners never see.
When we arrived at the bus station in Satun, which is in a beautful part of Thailand on the Andaman sea where there are interesting rock formations, we had to catch a songthau (which is a little truck with benches in the back) to the ferry. We were in Satun for all of 1.5 hours. It's a small town that has a large Thai muslim population that some embassies had put on the "watch" list as a place to avoid (the US Embassy just took it off the watch list last month), though no one is sure why as
Orchids close up
I have to say that the orchid garden in Singapore was pretty spectacular. there is no history of violence there and it appeared to be a sedate little place (of course I double checked with Jim to make sure that he felt going through Satun should be safe before leaving). Moreover, my feeling at the time of booking was that I needed to get Max to the US for medical treatment no matter what (within reason) and that no place in Thailand during this period was more dangerous than staying in Bangkok since it wasn't clear what was going to happen - would the protestors clash with police, military, other protestors (who supported the Prime Minister) who were coming to Bangkok, etc.?
At the ferry terminal in Satun we had to go through customs and immigration and the Thai officials there didn't know what to do with our diplomatic passports. It took longer than it should have and we felt a little bit rushed as we headed for the boat. The boat was a real ferry, but extremely old and smelly. Not the most pleasant way to cross the Andaman. There were lifevests, but not child sized, and I was grateful that I had thought ahead to pack Max's life vest. The
Catfish
Max's favorite part of the botanical gardens in Singapore was feeding the fish. We worked hard to get this one of the inside of the catfish's mouth. ferry was full primarily of Thais and Malays, but there were a few expat Bangkok escapees on board. One was a Danish family who was transiting through Bangkok to get to Bali (they were only supposed to be transiting through the airport a few hours when it was shut down). They decided to abandon their plan to holiday in Bali and go to Langkawi instead. I was so grateful for having Natalia with me, not only because she was great company, but also because getting on the ferry Max was about ready to melt down and there was no one to help load the bags onto the ferry via small gangplank way that had only a tiny rail over the water. She was able to help with my bags while I got Max onto the boat and there were other times when she gave Max a piggy back ride while I struggled with the bags. Not to mention how nice it was for both of us to have company and watch each other's bags when we went to the restroom, etc. Overall, Max was a great traveler though and put up with a lot more than I think most kids
Finally in Annapolis
Amporn pushing Levi and Bram on the swings at a nice playground in Annapolis' historic district. his age would - we called it our "great adventure" and he kept talking about what part of the journey we were at along the way.
Langkawi was a lovely resort island and another place at which under other circumstances I would have enjoyed staying. The original plan was to stay in Langkawi for the night and enjoy ourselves at a resort hotel before flying out to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian Air the next morning (because we hadn't been able to get a flight out the day we arrived previously when we tried to book before plus we weren't sure if we would arrive on time with the bus, ferry, etc.), but we arrived early enough that we thought we would try to get a few legs further in our journey if we could in order to minimize the chance of missing connections and therefore arrive for Max's preop exam in time (as it was, we were scheduled to arrive with not much time to spare so any delays on our routing could cause us to miss the appointment). So we bought a Malaysian Sim card and called my husband to see if he could find out
Levi at the playground.
Levi had a rough time getting used to the cold weather, but he really loved the playground. what flights might be available. He called the Embassy travel office, which couldn't rebook us on anything, but told us that there was a nonstop flight on Malaysian Air that day to Singapore and that if we went to the airport we might be able to rebook on that. We only had about 3 hours before that flight, so we took a taxi from the ferry terminal to the Langkawi airport, only having a little time to admire the beautiful hills and coastline of that island. When we got to the airport, Malaysian Air could not have been nicer - they had seats available and rebooked us for the nonstop flight to Singapore - thereby allowing us to spend the night in Singapore and catch our international connection to LAX on Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong the next evening. It was also good to bypass Kuala Lumpur, which would have made our journey longer.
We arrived in Singapore and again I had to use my husband to help us book a hotel as the woman at the Singapore tourism office at Changi airport was horrible and unhelpful - maybe because by this time we looked pretty awful and probably
smelled, especially compared to the businessmen waiting there in their suits - but still we had explained that we had escaped from Thailand overland and she could have been nicer. Thanks to Jim, we were able to book a room at the hotel that the Singapore tourism office had told us was fully booked (probably she didn't get a commission from them) and took a taxi to the hotel.
In Singapore, we got a good dinner and a night to sleep at the hotel. After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to go to the botanical gardens and see the orchid garden, which was a nice diversion, but we got really hot and sweaty, which involved our having to make another change of clothes before getting on the plane. Fortunately, Cathay Pacific worked like clockwork. It left on time and went via Hong Kong to LAX. Even in economy class, there was great inflight entertainment, which was wonderful for Max. He watched "Journey to the Center of the Earth" a bunch of times. When we got to LAX, we had to pick up our bags at customs and get new boarding passes for our nonstop flight to Dulles on American
Dr. Mommy?
Me suiting up to go in to Max's surgery (just to stay with him until he goes to sleep) - Max took this one too. Airlines. We had to switch to a different terminal, but fortunately it was a close walk and LAX provided free trolleys for transporting our carry-ons (our checked baggage could be rebooked at the same terminal we arrived through). Most likely because it looked like Max and I were flying one way (because we booked on a different carrier going out than coming back as a result of having to travel via Malaysia and Singapore), we were selected for special screening. I was so exhausted that I didn't realize that I hadn't repacked my laptop until I arrived in D.C. and unpacked my bags. Fortunately for me, TSA at LAX had my laptop and shipped it to me.
Max and I made it in time for the first doctor's appointment. In the meantime, the airports were still closed and Jim was looking into taking the rest of the family plus our nanny out via Utapao, which is a military airport in Pattaya, about 1.5 hours from Bangkok that Thai Air was using as an alternate airport by this time for a few flights a day. This thought made me nervous because Utapao was not made to be a major international
airport and check-in, etc. had to take place at an office in Bangkok about 5 hours before the flight and then everyone would be going to Utapao via bus. Fortunately, the airport in Bangkok reopened such that they did not have to go to Utapao. At first, they were going to come Friday, December 5th as United said they were having their first flight from Bangkok go out that day, but then United had to cancel that flight because the airport didn't reopen until 11 AM and the United flight left before 7 AM. Jim quickly rebooked through the US Embassy travel office for Saturday, December 6th and they all made it safely to join us in time for Max's surgery on the 10th.
Max's surgery went well - he was up and about quickly and did not have to spend the night in the hospital. His hearing is about as optimum as it can be under the circumstances - it turned out reconstruction of the two hearing bones he lost was not necessary because his hearing level is already as high as he could get with reconstruction (essentially equivalent to a mild hearing loss) so that was good
Having a great time...
Christmas eve opening presents. news since the main hearing bone (the stapes) is still intact and working well with the ear drum (though until the packing fully dissolves he probably will hear a little bit worse). The tumor (known as a cholesteatoma) had come back so the doctor had to do a more aggressive procedure, but externally the ear appearance is normal and the doctor is optimistic that the tumor won't come back and that he won't have to get another surgery, though he will need to get special cleanings done on his ear twice a year for a while. Overall, the outcome has been positive and I know we made the right decision to find alternate routes out of Thailand as in the end Max made it for his surgery and the rest of the family made it out in time too, but I never want to go through that kind of stress ever again! Not being able to leave a country when you absolutely have to is a frightening experience.
You might ask if I still like Thailand after going through what I went through, which was probably one of the worst and most stressful experiences of my life. The answer
Levi and the red car slippers
These were actually a gift for Max, but Levi took them since this gift combined his two favorite things - shoes and cars. is, yes, I do and I think the stuff about Thailand being one of the most dangerous countries in the world (which I think some London paper said about it) is absolutely ridiculous. In the end, there was hardly any violence during these protests and if we didn't have to get out of the country, we would have gone about our daily business without much change as downtown Bangkok did not see much of the trouble. However, I think their democracy is way too fragile to work. It's basically dead as long as the military and police refuse to back up the government whenever they don't agree with it. The protestors at the airport (known as the PAD) will be happy about the new Prime Minister, but many other Thais will not. I think it's unlikely that the airport will be shut down again before we leave Thailand for good this summer, but since protestors have been given the message that basically they can go ahead and shut down the airports with little to no consequence, I don't think there's much to keep it from happening again. They have ruined Thailand's reputation as a peaceful place and many tourists and
Grandma and the twins
Levi and Bram enjoyed sitting on Jim's mom! business people have cancelled their trips for the foreseeable future, which is horrible for the country. Most Thais I have spoke to about the situation are embarrassed about what happened. It does not bode well for Thailand's future and if you were to ask me if I thought Thailand was a good place to invest in right now, I would say no way! But, if you have plans to visit Thailand in the next year and are wondering if that's still a good idea, I would say yes for now - plus, now everything there (hotels, tours, etc.) will be dirt cheap since there were so many cancellations by people with plans to travel to Thailand. Just be flexible with your travel plans (a fully flexible airline ticket and appropriate travel insurance is a good idea - we were very grateful we had purchased our nanny's ticket with miles, which meant it was extremely flexible) and keep in mind the road to Langkawi via Satun as an alternative to get out if all else fails! 😊
We had a great (though not relaxing since having two toddlers is NEVER relaxing) visit with friends and family during Max's surgery and
Can we go back to Thailand?
It's too cold here in Annapolis! recovery period while we leased a lovely house in Annapolis and appreciated everyone's support immensely and were so happy that so many people came from out of town to visit us. I attach some photos of that as well as Max and my "incredible journey." We are back in Thailand now (Jim came back a week earlier and the rest of us arrived late last night - travel with Levi and Bram on a long flight is definitely challenging and I was grateful to have Amporn with me) trying to recover from jetlag and feeling glad to be home. Hopefully everyone had a lovely holiday and new year.
Best,
Maddy
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missgreg
non-member comment
Hello and Welcome Back to Thailand
Hi Maddy, Jim, Max-Max, Levi, and Bram, Happy Holidays to you all!! After your world-wind adventure, I am sure that it is good to be back "home" in Thailand. Despite all of the mishaps getting out, it appears as if all went well once you arrived here. I am so glad that Max-Max's surgery went as well as it did. Hopefully, the doctor's were able to get the entire tumor and that it won't return. I passed the message - regarding the twin's enrollment - on to Kay and she said that she would give you a call on your cell phone. Hopefully, Kay got to you before you left the U.S. Will close for now as I am probably running out of space. Hope you are all settling back into life in Thailand. I will talk to you soon. Love, Greg