Blogs from Mae Sai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

January 19, 2012 - The Golden Triangle - Chiang Mai en route to Chiang Rai I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and did my best to catch up with what our tour guide was saying from the passenger seat. My spot in the back of the 15-passenger van was getting cramped. The Englishman in front of me decided to move his seat back as far as possible while I was sleeping. It was probably out of spite because of a comment I'd made to his girlfriend earlier in the trip. It was just too hard to keep my comments under control because I just couldn't believe my ears. She was actually chastising our tour guide because her seat didn't have a seatbelt. After refusing my offer to switch seats, she continued to detail the importance ... read more

Okay, so the only reference to opium was the opium museum.  But our journey to the Golden Triangle actually starts with our trip to Burma or Myanmar as its now called.  Without knowing if we could get a day visa across the border, we went through Thai customs and emerged on a bridge half belonging to the Thai government and half belonging to Myanmar.  To distinguish the two, the bridge is painted in two different colors and you must switch sides at this point because while the Thai drive/walk on the left, the Burmese people drive/walk on the right.  Myanmar customs is unique in one way, that they take and hold your passport, while you are in their country.  They issued us temporary Myanmar passports (made of paper) and containing all our US passport information.  Upon ... read more

Doi Tung is the current King of Thailand's (King Rama IX) mother's summer palace and gardens. She lived from 1900-1995 and was born a commoner who through fortunate circumstances became well educated during her youth, a nurse, and winner of the Queen's scholarship to study in America. She met a Thai young man in Connecticut who cared for the people of Thailand and the environment as much as she. They fell in love and this man decided to marry her. He was Prince Mahidol - the son of the King of Thailand. They married in 1920 and had 3 children (1 daughter, 2 sons). Prince Mahidol's brother became King of Thailand (King Rama VII) and Prince Mahidol and his family lived in Boston and Switzerland and traveled between Thailand & Europe. Prince Mahidol received his doctorate ... read more

Dear Readers - We flew out of Luang Prabang on Lao Airlines for Chiang Mai, Thailand at which point we hired a car and driver for transportation to Chiang Rai. The driver, Pasa Ratananont, had spent several years in California so spoke good English and turned out to be an excellent tour guide. If anyone is interested in a private sightseeing tour, call him at 081-8840771 or email at pasa_rata@hotmail.com. His car is a new Toyota sedan. Upon arrival at our hotel in Chiang Rai we immediately went to bed as we needed to recover from activities of the last two weeks. We didn't do too much in the city but the day we left, we again hired Mr. Ratananont to take us to the border at Mai Sai. We went to the northern most point ... read more

Da wir uns entschieden haben laenger in Thailand zu bleiben als es unser Visum zulaesst, muessen wir einen strategisch guenstigen Punkt fuer einen Grenzuebertritt finden. Den so genannten "Visa run" (Grenzuebertritt zu einem anderen Land und neuer 30 Tage Stempel bei der Wiedereinreise) erledigten wir im noerdlichsten Ort, da unsere Tour uns eh hierher verschlagen sollte. Nur wenige Touristen haben sich hierher verirrt, was auf die schlechte politische Situtation in Myanmar hindeutet. Eigentlich ist "das goldene Dreieck" ein Touristenanziehungspunkt. Bei uns verlief alles ohne Probleme, außer das die vielen myanmarischen Haendler sich wie Geier auf uns stuertzten (von diversen Drogen bis zu Viagra - wer braucht so etwas denn????) war alles zu haben und wir drehten sofort wieder um. Auf dem Weg zurueck nach Thailand, prueften wir gruendlich unsere Taschen, nicht dass ein gar zu netter ... read more

I walked back to my room with 2 cups of extremely strong espresso served in plastic cups from a street vendor. His cart was attached to the side of a motorcycle and he precariously balanced the cups in a plastic bag so I could carry them without burning my hands. The plastic bad swung at my side as I strolled through the market on my way back to the room. Centrifugal force kept the coffee in the cups and I enjoyed semi warm coffee while overlooking Burma and the river from my balcony. They did the trick of giving me motivation to tackle my first full at the Nothernmost Point of Thailand. Things flowed smoothly and uneventfully on the Thai side of the border. The officials were as friendly as officials could be and in no ... read more