Blogs from Thailand, Asia - page 2914

Advertisement

Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Phi Phi Don April 21st 1989

The bus stopped in the middle of nowhere at some awful, antisocial time of the morning and those of us going to Phuket had to get onto a mini-bus, which was a lot more comfortable than the big bus. I sat with my arm out of the window, which was well stupid as it was burnt to a crisp when we eventually arrived. On our last legs, we started the final part of our journey, a two hour boat trip to Phi Phi (also often spelt Pee Pee) island. We had travelled by every conceivable form of transport in the last three days - train, car, plane, taxi, tuk tuk, bus, mini bus and boat - and finally we could relax. Koh Phi Phi is actually two islands - Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Le. ... read more
Arriving on Koh Phi Phi
Island Hut
Boat Trip

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok April 20th 1989

Despite the lack of sleep we had the energy to do the tourist bit and visit the Grand Palace. To get to there, we took a ride in a glorified three-wheeled lawn mower called a tuk tuk. The combination of this being seriously overloaded and the psychotic tendencies of the driver meant that it was a hairy ride. Two of us had to hang out of each side of it and then grit our teeth as the driver swerved between traffic on both sides of the road. We learnt the hard way that you agree the cost of the journey before you travel as it saves a lot of arguing. That was only our first mistake of the day. The second was to try and get into the Grand Palace in shorts and tee shirts. A ... read more
Inside The Grand Palace
Grand Palace Gold
More of The Grand Palace

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok April 19th 1989

We arrived in Bangkok and got reunited with our backpacks (always a relief) and then proceeded through customs unhindered (always a relief, but then who in their right mind would smuggle drugs or anything else for that matter into Thailand). There were a lot of very stern looking guards with very big machine guns in the airport, but that didn’t stop you being accosted by people offering you everything under the sun. It was basically a case of "spot the foreigners who have just got off a plane and are therefore disoriented, tired and haven't got a clue about the country they've just arrived in. As I will elaborate, this is one of those times when it's handy to have a backpack. It also means that the porters who frequent many airports can't grab you luggage ... read more

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok January 3rd 1989

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai December 26th 1984

Thailand adventure... read more

Asia » Thailand December 20th 1978

20 December 1978 Wednesday. Following a stopover in Kuwait, we arrived in Bangkok. Miraculously Linda's malaria fever had broken; or maybe we couldn't measure it since the air temperature was also very hot. Nevertheless, she felt much better. To be safe we spent the rest of the day relaxing at my parents' home. As my Dad was pastor again for the Evangelical Church of Bangkok on Soi 10 Sukhumvit Road, which he had founded in the mid '60's, we stayed in the parsonage. It was great to be back in Thailand; the first time we had visited since our departure in July 1975. 21 December 1978 Thursday. Before Christmas we had time to go to Hua Hin for a couple of days on the beach. My parents, Wayne and Aunt Minnie, my sister Judy and her ... read more
Family awaiting our arrival at Don Muang Airport, Bangkok
Selecting lunch from a roadside restaurant
Eating lunch on the way to Hua Hin

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 11th 1974

As you will recall from a previous blog from 1967 (see ) in my senior year of high school I was a member of the topographical survey crew that surveyed the top of Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. Seven years later I was assigned as the construction manager for the construction of the radar station on top of the mountain. My immediate boss was a 62 year old American civil engineer who had his vocal cords removed due to throat cancer which required him to carry a note pad around to give instructions. The contractor kept all his notes for a future contract claim. He was responsible for the road construction and for the radar station on the two days I had off (Sunday and Monday). He knew that this was his last job ... read more
Harvesting rice on the road to Doi Inthanon
View of Doi Inthanon in the far distance
Sunrise on the access road to Doi Inthanon

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai February 9th 1974

As required by my rotation schedule, it was time for me to become a construction manager on Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. There I would be responsible for managing the construction of the 41 kilometer access road to the top of the mountain and an 18 building radar station. I had surveyed the top of this mountain in November and December 1967 while a senior in high school (see ). What are the odds that I would return seven years later to build the project!? I wanted to take Linda with me, but the U.S. government considered Chiang Mai and Doi Inthanon to be an unaccompanied posting as it was too dangerous for families. My home was to be an 8” x 12” cubicle, constructed out of plywood walls and a corrugated tin roof, ... read more
Linda with Dad and friends having lunch
Our home in Chiang Mai
Linda in our hanging swing in living room

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok February 1st 1973

I graduated from college in June 1972, then worked in Norfolk VA for five months while arrangements were made to move to Thailand. During this time I got engaged, was married to my college sweetheart Linda, and spent our honeymoon getting shots and applying for passports and visas. On February 1, 1973 we flew from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, and took a bus to Travis AFB where we caught a Military Airlift Command chartered flight to Bangkok. Our first stop was Hickham AFB, Hawaii, and then on to Anderson AFB, Guam. We were supposed to be there long enough to offload passengers and cargo, but the forklift punctured the side of the aircraft, which took about 8 hours to patch. Then we were off to Clark AFB, the Philippines, and on to Ton Son Nhut Air ... read more
Darryl, Marilyn and Melissa were there to greet us
Marilyn, Darryl, Bob, and Linda having dinner at the Guest Homer dining room to our upstairs living room
Our first home at the Alliance Guest home

Asia » Thailand June 15th 1968

Pictures taken of various locations in Thailand after I graduated from high school.... read more
Grand Palace
Grand Palace
Grand Palace




Tot: 0.23s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 13; qc: 60; dbt: 0.0872s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb