Blogs from Ko Chang, Central Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 4

The Beach is a Calling again. The lure of the Big Blue and palm shaded beaches meant Koh Chang was the next destination on our list. Checking weather on Tinternet during our brief visit to Bkk all we got was Rain with good chance of thunder storms!!! Omg what do we do? “Computer Says No!” all of Thailand is the same: Showers and Storms in the mid 30’s. We decided to risk it for a biscuit and get on the next bus to Koh Chang. 8am the next morning blue skies greet us. The bus is pretty empty so a comfortable journey got underway with no signs of the Red Shirts through Bangkok. A couple of hours into our journey the heavens open and a big storm is upon us. Are we doing the right thing? ... read more

Nous avons finalement quitte Siem Reap et le Cambodge...il etait presque temps, non seulement car notre visa touchait a sa fin, mais surtout parce qu'ainsi, il ne nous restait plus que 5 jours a passer en Thailande avant l'avion qui allait nous emener dans un tout autre monde, l'Inde. Notre depart du Cambodge a ete retarde au dela de la semaine de volontariat car une "enorme" manifestation etait prevue au centre de Bangkok pour le weekend. Les organisateurs attendant un million de personnes, cela risquait de foutre un gentil bordel dans la ville et comme la derniere manifestation de ce genre en 2008 avait degenere assez violement, nous avons decide d'attendre le lundi et les nouvelles. Lundi matin, le verdict fut que la manifestation a fait l'effet d'un petard mouille et a peine 100000 personnes sont ... read more

Hello everyone! So we have safely arrived in Thailand after countless hours of bad movies and uncomfortable sleeps. Our two hours in Taipei were thrilling and completed with a meat in a bun sandwich (which was delicious) and some soup that was truly awful. Bangkok airport is really beautiful. Next to YVR possibly the nicest I have been to. We spent about 45 minutes there clearing customs and waiting while my professor ran about doing things. Our first stop was Pattaya. For those of you who don't know, Pattaya is famous for being the "Red Light District City" of Thailand. So lady boys and hookers were everywhere. It was quite the sight for our first few hours but everyone was extremely friendly. Unlike Central America where everyone is yelling at you to buy something/move/come in their ... read more

Still hanging out at lonely beach. After the sun went down (it's absolutely regular at 6pm in these tropical climes), I stepped out for an evening with my pals Bidi (german) and Melina and Mike (french). We were having a lot of fun, bar-hopping along the beach. All the bars there are open-air so no excessive heat or smoke. It is customary at these bars to leave your shoes/sandals/flip-flops outside when you go in...not sure entirely why, it's a Thai custom at Buddhist temples but bars are a far cry from a temple despite whatever worship at the porcelain altar might be going on. So Bidi lost his flip-flops. Some reveller must have put them on by mistake. We had a laugh (schadenfreude, as the germans might say) and consoled him that they were cheap enough, ... read more

I deposited my travel funds with the Thai Farmers Bank, and it was time to go! A friendly taxi driver took me to the bus terminal where I got a ticket to Trat, 5 hours south-east of town. The bus was greyhound style with luggage underneath and passengers on top, but a bit tattier. I sat down and asked my european seatmate "do you speak english?" He did! Me too! Phillip, from Vienna, Austria, and I became friends over the course of the trip. The bus had a TV playing Thai Zombie movies. Hows that for a niche genre?? A couple of Amercian girls adjacent were doing crossword races. Each would start, pencils poised, ready-set-GO! and start scribbling away. Phillip had dozed off, (i wish I could do that on the bus..) and they asked if ... read more