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Published: February 13th 2015
So finally I got my visa, after exactly 10 days.
To get the tourist-visa to this particular country, they required a form you had to fill on the internet and print out, two photographs of a particular size, two copies of your passport including the Thai entry stamp, another form that HAD to be filled with black ink (wow!), accommodation for the first two weeks and your ticket showing when you're flying in and out of the country. This last particular requirement was the most difficult since I didn't know when I'd leave the country. A travel-agency just made a booking, print it out and then cancelled it for a small fee. That's how I did it! The embassy keeps your passport and the whole process would take between 6 and 8 business days. It took me 8 business days to get it (which was actually 10 normal days). In order for them to notify you that the visa is ready, they charge you 60 Baht (about US$ 2), but I never received this e-mail. Luckily enough, I checked the status of my visa online and saw that it was processed. The next morning I called and they confirmed that it
was ready and the same afternoon I went to pick up my passport with my visa in it. I obviously complained about not getting the e-mail and left a note about this in the complaint box. The whole experience pissed me off a bit, more because I didn't know they'd keep my passport since I was thinking of visiting Laos while they were processing the visa. They granted me a single entry visa, messing up my initial travel plans but I already have a plan B.
In the meantime, I just had to wait! It was my third time in
Bangkok, Thailand's huge capital city with more than 14 million people. Thailand is the leading destination in south-east Asia with more than 25 million visitors per year, although tourism declined in 2014 because of the coup d'etat in May 2014. But everything is fine and the Royal Thai Army guarantees the safety of every foreigner, at least that's what they said. But I didn't experience any problems. Bangkok is a very interesting city to visit but since I've already been before, I couldn't really bother to do much sightseeing. Known for a country where many men come for sexual
pleasure, you'll see many older, white men holding hands with young Thai girls or even the so-called lady-boys. It's bizarre to me how a Buddhist and supposed "conservative" country, where pornography is illegal and websites are blocked, allows so much of this shit to happen on its own soil. Prostitution, gentlemen clubs, strip clubs etc. are the order of the day here. I took a look at a street called "Soi Cowboy", where scenes of The Hangover 2 were recorded: WOW! It's a 150m long, heavily lit up street with exclusively go-go bars, brothels etc. It's insane! Interesting to look at but that's it, I actually feel sorry for the girls. Of course Thailand offers much more than just these things: "Beautiful beaches, interesting culture, good food and abundant nature". It's actually not a surprise that it's the magnet of tourists in south-east Asia, although Malaysia is closely behind in terms of tourist amounts. "Massaaat (they mean "massage" but I guess they can't pronounce it properly); you want suit sir?; hey you're lucky man...you know why?; you want go ping pong show or boom boom?"...these are the things you here every single day here, especially in the area of Khao
San Road where I usually stay. It's the area where you can find cheap, basic accommodation (room with fan) starting around 200 Baht per night (US$ 1 = 32 Baht these days).
Since I had to wait for a couple of days, I decided to hire a touk-touk driver for about one hour (for US$3) and let him take me to a few temples. In order the keep the price cheap, he takes you to a tailor and a tour agency because they give him free gas coupons. Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country and there are "Wats" everywhere (Wat means Temple). The temples are beautiful and interesting with their horn-like roof points covered in gold, but there are so many of them that I easily get bored, hahah. First we stopped at Wat Intharawihan, with its 32m high Buddha statue, covered with mosaics and gold (24 karat). The next stop was Wat Benchamabopitr, also known as the Marble Temple. Entrance to the complex is free, but for the main temple it costs only 20 Baht and at the door you have to remove your shoes. After taking me to the tailor and the tour agency, where of course
I didn't buy anything, I asked him to bring me to Wat Pho. This is a bigger temple complex with several small, beautiful temples. The main attraction here is the Reclining Buddha which is about 50m long. Everywhere they had signs saying "beware of pickpockets" so I constantly had both hands in my pockets.
In Bangkok I met with Stephen, a guy from Curaçao who is working and living in Bangkok. We met at Terminal 21 Mall in an area called Sukhumvit, which is a more "posh", upscale area of Bangkok where a lot of expats live. He asked me if I'd like to join him at a Muay Thai training and I said yes. I borrowed clothes from him since I wasn't prepared and didn't bring anything. Muay Thai is a typical combat sport from Thailand. First we did some warm up by running, jumping the rope for 5 minutes and various sit-ups. Then the trainer showed me the position of my legs and arms and how to punch with both arms and kick with both legs. This included the knee-kick and the elbow-punch. Later on I had to go to another trainer and it became a bit more
intense, since I had to concentrate and punch/kick faster, depending on what he wanted me to do. It was an awesome experience and after I had a shower, we went for a massage and had dinner.
In Khao San Road I randomly met Jakob, a German guy who was also travelling by himself. Both had the exact same blue, New York Yankees cap from New Era and that's the reason we started to talk to each other and hang out. While walking through Khao San Road, we met two beautiful Thai girls who live in Pattaya and we had a few drinks with them: Aom and Bee. I actually already had plans to go to Pattaya, since I didn't want to stay just in Bangkok the entire time. It's not that I really wanted to go to Pattaya, but I knew they have beaches and it's not too far from Bangkok. Jakob and I took the bus and went together.
It took us about 2.5 hours to arrive in
Pattaya, which has about 150 000 people. It's VERY touristy, busy and I did not like it! The city has a considerable amount of Russian tourists, although this time
I was told there were less because the Russian currency (Ruble) lost a lot of value in the last couple of months. I thought Bangkok would be a so-called "Sin City", but Pattaya definitely won the competition! They say that "good boys go to heaven and bad boys go to Pattaya". The sex entertainment scene was much bigger here. Especially in "Walking Street" with all its flashy lights. We met with Aom in Pattaya and she took us to the market to eat and another day we went to an island 40 minutes away called Koh Larn. Here the beach is much nicer than in Pattaya itself, where I would not go for a swim! Aom is just a very nice and sweet girl with a job, a car etc. so she's not one of those looking for foreigners for their money. We stayed a total of 4 days in Pattaya and went twice to Koh Larn, once with Jakob and Aom and the second time I went with a Swedish and an Argentinean guy from the guesthouse. The rest of my time in Pattaya I would just sleep in, be lazy, write my blog and articles for the newspaper
back home, play pool with Jakob, read a book and do some research for my upcoming destinations. I would not recommend Pattaya, don't even bother going! Go to the islands in Krabi instead, in the south. I've been there in Dec. 2005.
Then I came back to Bangkok by train. I took 4 hours and cost just 31 Baht! There were mostly locals in the train and I just relaxed, listened to music and enjoyed the views of the countryside and villages. I had to wait another 3 days in Bangkok before getting the visa. After collecting my passport, I met with Stephen again and we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant where they do "yakiniku", where you girl your own meat in the middle of the table. It was "all you can eat buffet" but in this case you order the things you want and you must eat everything, otherwise they'll charge you extra. Then I went back to my guesthouse and booked a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia departing 14 hours later, and I booked a hostel for 3 nights. I'll be staying in Kuala Lumpur just for a few days before continuing to my next destination.
After my bookings I met with Jakob and some of his friends and we had some beers and partied a little bit in Khao San Road, where "every single night" it's a party!!
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Racheal
non-member comment
Elton, mi a disfrutá un biaha mas di bo artíkulo. Hopi levendig skirbí. Kasimente mi a sinti mi na Bangkok. Thanks i sigui enjoy. Saludos for di dushi Kòrsou.