Blogs from Central Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 929

Our flight to Thailand was not like expected. When we wanted to check-in at the Brussels airport, we found out that our tour operator had made a mistake. Apparently they booked the outbound flight a day later than planned. In 2003 our airline didn't work with e-tickets yet, so we had to discover this at the airport. If we had to take another flight the day after, we would miss the first day of the (organized) tour. The first part of the flight (Brussels-Frankfurt) would be okay, but at the Brussels airport they couldn't confirm yet, that we were able to take the second part of the flight (Frankfurt-Bangkok). We had to be confident that the people could arrange this when we were on the first flight. They would send our luggage directly to Bangkok, but ... read more

Kristen and I headed to Ko Chang - as recommended by Sarah and Ann from NZ in Laos. She met up with some friends from Japan and we had a few nights up on the road before space opened up on the beach. We got a beach hut right next to the water and settled there up until two days ago. New Years was a great party on the beach at the Nature Bar. After the fire show and some dancing we went off for some peaceful time, and met a South African couple who told us there was phospherence in the sea. We jumped in and were amazed at the green glowing plankton which lights up when you move in the water! What a perfect new years eve! Lonely beach on Ko Chang was blissfull ... read more

I take the Bangkok Post and its international reportage make it perfect reading for the 12 hour bus journey from Krabi to Bangkok. It's sports coverage is excellent providing comprehensive cover of both the FA Cup 3rd round and the Ashes. It's ‘around-the-world’ anecdoture leads one to believe that everyday in Manilla someone kills their best friend after some sort clandestine tragic/comic turn of events. Honour seems to be a serious thing in the Philippines. When you get to Bangkok at six in the morning you would think it would be relatively quiet. Instead it's populated with a smorgasbord of revellers, freaks and busy locals. It could be because you're stone cold sober but there seems to be a total absence of any style or purpose. Ah, Bangkok. You forget how off the wall it is ... read more

On arrival in Bangkok things were very westernized in comparison to where I had been in India. I got a room on Khao San road after a while since it was very full of travellers there and had to wait for some people to check out. Khao San road was very crazy - so many people all heading to different places from the travel mecca of Asia. On my first day there I realised it was friday, and took a very hard journey by taxi to the other side of the city to get a Laos Visa. The first taxi I took dropped me about 6km away from the embassey and then no-one knew where it was. I managed to get there at 3pm, and had the VISA before 4pm! - great deal. I didn't want ... read more

Mark Meyer and I are travelling to the countries of South East Asia I was bumped to another domestic flight but we will meet up in Sydney for the international portion of our journey to Thailand. The flight took nine hours and Mark didn’t like anything about the trip I can’t see him flying British Airways again in a hurry. The terminal was modern and clean so the walk outside was a shock to the system as the humidity was high and the noise pollution high. This is mark’s first trip to Asia so it must be a bit of a culture shock for him. We caught the airport bus to Sukamvit Road from where it was a short walk to our accommodation in Soi 11. My first impressions are of a hodgepodge of modern skyscrapers, ... read more