Funny, how Hanumann, our intrepid adventurer, for the most part enjoys meeting Thai people more than some of the stiff necked, wooden fellow farangs that he encounters on his journey. Go figure….

While staying at P’s Lakeside Guesthouse in the lovely mountain resort of Sangkhlaburi - a good 5 hour drive northwest of Bangkok - I met this family from Bangkok who were staying at one of the two floating houses anchored to the pier. All told, there were about 16 people in their family including the 2 papasans (Grandfathers) of the clan, 70-year-old Franco and his older brother, the 80-year-old Fisher, who was disabled due to a stroke. Three generations were represented in this Thai family - including the grandfathers (and their sisters) as well as their children and grandchildren. Most of the family members on this one night holiday from Bangkok were females; the ladies ranged in age from the 19 year old Am, a university student at a Civil Aeronautics University in Bangkok to the 70-year old plus grandaunts, Malee and Shelor. In addition, some of the other names I remember were Kip, Oh, Aleta, Pompui * (females) and Pong, Am’s father.

It was Am, the cute 19-year-old University student, who invited Hanumann on board and introduced me to the rest of her family. They were very hospitable and took a liking to this wise cracking, ‘ting-tong”* farang by the name of Hanumann ‘Ling Yai”(the big monkey) and offered me drinks and food. I humored them in my usual brash, no holds barred style and they laughed, obviously enjoying my company. I talked at length with Am - she has aspirations to become a professional airline pilot; however as the airline pilot profession worldwide is a male dominated endeavor and due to lack of funds for schooling and training, she wasn’t too hopeful about her chances of fulfilling her dream.
Furthermore, Thailand currently has no female airline pilots. As a result of these factors, she is willing to settle for becoming an air traffic controller. I encouraged her not to give up on her dream of becoming an airline pilot, that she could do it if she really wanted to. I suggested that she write a letter to Queen Sirikit (the Queen of Thailand) and some of the major corporations in Thailand to ask for financial aid with her education. I truly believe that the Queen will be inclined to sponsor Am.

In addition, I really enjoyed swapping stories with Franco, the younger of the two grandfathers as he spoke English fairly well. Currently retired, Franco told me about his seven years in Northern Italy, where he was employed as the senior vice president of a Computer hardware company. We hit it off fairly well, and I promised to send him some photographs that I took of his family.

*Note: Pompuii in Thai means fat and ting tong means clown

Nov. 16 - Coming to Sangkhlaburi, I had read about an elderly lady by the name of Daisy Dwe in the Let’s Go Travel Guide to Thailand. She migrated some 20 years ago with her husband and two of her children from the very repressive regime in Myanmar to Kanchanaburi province in Western Thailand to start a new life. Her husband was a doctor, and two of them established a health care center in their adopted home for Burmese refugees. Unfortunately, the husband died of malaria shortly thereafter, apparently contracting the disease from one of his patients.

Eventually she relocated to the quiet mountain resort of Sangkhlaburi. Ms. Daisy set up a small weaving factory behind her house, where she employed and trained some of the lady refugees from Myanmar in the fine art of weaving. She also actively helps and provides assistance to displaced members of the Myanmar community in Sangkhlaburi. She calls her business ‘Weaving for Woman” and she currently employs four weavers and three setters, and her youngest daughter maintains a very colorful handicraft store on the main road which displays some of the fine clothing, colorful scarves and handbags that Daisy’s weaving factory produces. It’s a thriving little business, as Daisy and her daughter have some accounts with some retail stores in Bangkok and throughout Thailand.

One of Daisy’s daughters remains behind in Rangoon, Myanmar; unfortunately, Daisy has lost contact with her as she is apprehensive about Myanmar’s repressive regime intercepting her e-mails and phone calls and causing harm to the rest of her family and relatives that she left behind.

I found Ms. Daisy Dwe, to be a very delightful and charming ‘young lady”. Daisy, who had studied in the University of Rangoon in Myanmar majoring in geography and history, speaks very good English and also serves as a translator in this small community. She invited me into her house, gave me a tour of her little factory in the backyard, offered me refreshments and even allowed me to use her computer to send some e-mail. On the way back to my guesthouse, I stopped at her retail store and purchased about 900 baht ($25USD) worth of clothes and accessories as gifts for friends.

If you’re in Sangkhlaburi, by all means give Ms. Daisy Dwe a call and ask for a little tour of her weaving factory and remember to stop and browse the fine Burmese handicrafts for sale at her store along the main road. You’ll be glad you did. Phone 034-595418 E-mail daisydwe@hotmail.com

Nov. 11 - Every time I come to Bangkok, I make it point to check out some new places or tourist facilities. This time around, my associate, Fatcheek and I visited Phranakorn Nornlen, a small boutique-bed and breakfast hotel, located not far from Khao San Road, Bangkok’s famous backpacker tourist ghetto. This hotel is unlike any other Bangkok - with a cozy garden ambiance, the owners have tried to recreate the feeling of living in a small Thai village-family compound. There is eclectic artwork, paintings and drawings sprinkled throughout the property and every room has a small alfresco watercolor painting on the wall directly behind the bed. There is a special watercolor class offered several times a week, and all the profits from the class are donated to the Rabbit in the Moon Foundation, a local environmental organization. In addition, although they include breakfast featuring organic vegetables, fruits and juices, serve fair trade organic coffee and a variety of herbal and green teas, they do not offer any other meals. Instead they encourage their guests to patronize some of the local restaurants in the neighborhood. Furthermore, the hotel maintains a 100% nonsmoking environment. Wow - if there is one thing that Hanumann detests is cigarette smoke. I would really feel at home here.

Even though, this small boutique hotel of about 50 rooms has very limited facilities - rooms are without televisions but have a CD player on the wall, and there is no swimming pool or fitness center - this hotel is highly recommended as the owners are to be commended for their efforts in sustainable tourism and protecting the environment. Rates for double including breakfast are 2000 baht (approx $60USD)

Bangkok Taxis

Taxis in Bangkok can be a real unwanted adventure - as in many metropolitan cities, a lot of taxicabs drivers are relatively recent arrivals to the big city and don’t know their way around. In addition, as many of the drivers have a very limited understanding of English, you’re a lot better off getting someone from the hotel write directions on a piece of paper to your desired destination in Thai. However, that being said, there still is no guarantee that the driver will know how to get there if he is a newbie. I know this truism from personal experience - I hired a taxi on Day 2 of my journey along the Sukhumvit at Soi 22 to take me to my favorite beauty salon-Arena beauty salon- about 1.5 Km away on Soi 16 off the Asoke Boulevard. Of course, I provided the driver with written directions, but the poor bloke not only missed the turnoff on the Asoke on the first attempt, going all the way down to Nana before turning around, but also botching it up on the 2nd go around. In the meantime, I had to endure this whole ordeal, wasting more than an hour of my time sitting in this taxi for a journey, which should have taken no more that 10 minutes. Like the levelheaded person that I am, I bolted from the taxi after he screwed up the 2nd time, not paying him a single baht.

The next taxi driver fared a little better; he made the proper turn but passed by the salon and had to circle around again and missed the turnoff the 2nd time around. I was getting increasingly frustrated at this point, watching another 30 minutes of my day go down the tubes, so I bolted again not leaving the poor driver a single baht. They say the 3rd time is a charm and yes indeed, that was true in this mini saga. The next taxi that I hired delivered me to my desired destination successfully and I paid him the meter fare plus a small but generous tip.

Massage Parlors

Just my observation, in the heart of the tourist area in Bangkok along the Sukhumvit Blvd, between Nana and Thonglor BTS (Skytrain Station Stops), there seems to at least 4-5 massage salons/parlors every block, and half as many beauty salons. That’s way too many - the supply seems to be way greater than the demand. When I pass by the massage salons, one or more the girls will smile and call out Welcum in unison, beckoning me inside their establishment. Of course, I usually smile and keep walking. As these massage salons are open from about 9:00AM to about midnight, these girls have to work very long hours in the hopes of getting a couple of customers per day. During most of the day, the massage girls sit around doing nothing due to the shortage of customers, and due to too many competing massage salons in the neighborhood. From my personal experience, many of these gals give an excellent one-hour foot massage. Average cost is about 150 baht (about 4.00 USD). Of course, most of these gals are up to giving extra services (hanky panky) but I have never taken them up on their offer nor have I asked about extras.

Fon in particular at PK Massage along Sukhumvit Soi 22 is one of my favorites for a foot massage. With her muscular shoulders and arms, you can tell that Fon has many years experience in this particular massage discipline. Anybody up for an invigorating Foot Massage?

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Nov. 11- After visiting the Phranakorn-Nornlen Hotel, Fatcheek and I walked thru nearby Khao San Road searching for the whereabouts of a small restaurant by the name of Joy Luck Club, which is reputed to serve up some very delicious vegetarian Thai dishes. My friend, Fatcheek was getting very irritable, as she was so hungry she could eat a horse. After stopping at a local internet café to do a search for the exact location of the cafe, we hired a taxi to take us there. Located on the outer edges of Banglampu, the larger neighborhood of which Khao San Road is part of, this cozy eclectic café is named after famous novel of the same name by the acclaimed Chineses author, Amy Tan. The journey was well worth it - the food was delicious, as we had two main entries including vegetarian Pad Thai and Massaman curry with tofu and as well as a very tasty art deco Thai salad and fruit shakes.

Decorated with a variety of knick-knacks, masks, small animal figurines, ceramic and other artwork, the ambiance was one of kind. All told a very pleasant experience and a fitting end to a busy day in Bangkok. Total bill for 2 people was 26o baht (about $8.00USD). (Hanumann’s rating 8/10)

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As my adventure started in BANGKOK Nov. 8-13, this report is sort of late. Better late than never….

Whenever I go to Bangkok, It seems that I spend most of time taking taxis, getting caught in horrendous traffic jams and climbing up and down a flight of stairs to board the BTS Skytrain, Bangkok’s acclaimed mass transit system. Fares on the Skytrain start at 10 baht (about 30 cents USD). One caveat, meter taxis in Bangkok are very inexpensive, so even if takes you one hour to travel 2 KM by taxi, the fare will be pittance. Fares start at 35B (approx 1.00USD). Make sure that the driver turns on the meter- just say meter taxi and wait for the driver to acknowledge with a shake of the head. Also be prepared to endure Bangkok’s famous traffic jams while traveling in the congested metropolitan area. Try to enjoy the ride and smile!

My Hotel in Bangkok - President Park Serviced Apartments

For the 2nd consecutive year, I stayed at the President Park Hotel, on Sukhumvit Soi 22. As discussed in a prior report, having a minibar in the room is more of a hassle than it is really worth as it can only lead to disputes over usage and delays in departure. When I checked in this time around, I requested that they remove everything from the minibar and the hotel graciously complied. After waiting for about one hour for my room, the hotel assigned me one near the elevator on the 4th floor. After I unpacked all my clothes and accessories, I sensed a familiar and somewhat noxious smell in the room - cigarette smoke. If there is one thing I cannot stand is cigarette smoke. Only two floors - 5 and 9- of the nine-story hotel tower are dedicated nonsmoking floors and even though I requested in advance a nonsmoking room, the hotel inadvertently placed me in one of the seven floors where smokers are accommodated. As it took me over an hour get myself unpacked properly, I figured it would be too much of a hassle to change rooms. Wrong - By the end of my 6-day stay, I started developing a smoker’s cough.

The Fitness Center
One of the reasons I like to stay at The President Park Hotel is that they have a decent fitness center and swimming pool. As a fitness enthusiast, that is real plus for me. When I stayed at this high rise serviced apartments complex on four occasions last year, getting to the fitness center was a real adventure- like navigating a rat’s maze. Let’s see - take elevator down one level, go across bridge into parking garage, go up one flight of stairs, take elevator up one level, turn right, turn left - it was very easy to get lost. One of the distinct improvements that the hotel made is to make it easier to navigate to the fitness center - all one has to do follow the yellow tape that they laid down on the floor to mark the somewhat circuitous route and you’re there. Sort of reminds of the song -Yellow Brick Road by Elton John.

Return to the Orthodontic Clinic…
I made a return trip to see Dr Viboon at the dental clinic near the Ploenchit BTS station to have some dental work done. As soon as I arrived at his office, Dr. Viboon quickly got down to business. I got a thorough cleaning of my teeth, which were heavily stained from drinking copious amounts of green tea in addition to having three cavities filled and the gumline filled in over one exposed tooth in my left upper jaw. Dr Viboon was smooth as silk and I didn’t feel a thing. He had me out of his clinic in about 75 minutes. Total damage was 2800 baht (about $78USD).

Orthodontic Center - 888/54-55 Ploenchit Road Tel: 02-2526630-1

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The following story is true - only the names have been changed to protect the fools and innocent characters involved

While I was staying at Sam’s Guesthouse in Kanchanaburi in Western Thailand, I had very enjoyable chat with the owner, Mr. Sam, about a variety of topics including communication problems between Farangs (oversea tourists) and the local Thai people. As any farang who has traveled to Thailand, you know how difficult it is for us to speak Thai with proper pronunciation and vice versa. If there is foreign language that Thai people have some facility with is English - that being said, Thai people have just as much have difficulty enunciating proper English (the international language of tourists worldwide), therein lies the communication problem.

Mr. Sam told me a story about a Finnish friend who flew to Thailand to visit him in Kanchanaburi. Located a good 2-hour drive west from Bangkok by car, Kan (short for Kanchanaburi) is a medium sized town that is famous as the site of the Bridge over River Kwai. Well, Sam’s friend from Finland (let’s call him Mr. Finn) arrived at the international airport in Bangkok and hired a taxi from the airport to take him to Kanchanaburi. So the taxi driver (let us call him Mr. P), trying to decipher where Mr. Finn wants to go and drives him to Chantaburi (rhymes with Kanchanaburi), about 2 ½ hours southeast of Bangkok.

Upon arriving in Chantaburi, Mr. Finn realizes something is amiss and that he’s not in Kanchanaburi and tries to convey this to the confused Mr. P. Problem is Mr. Finn only knows a couple of words of English and his Thai is nonexistent, so I can imagine that when he told Mr. P to take him to Kanchanaburi, he literally butchered the pronunciation. So the poor and confused Mr. P reverses direction, heads back to Bangkok and proceeds west to Kanchanaburi - however something is amiss again, as the 7 hours later, the taxi arrives in Sangkhlaburi (again rhymes with Kanchanaburi), which is about an additional three hours to the north from Kanchanaburi. In order to get to Sangkhlaburi, Mr. P, our cab driver in this true tale, had to pass thru Kanchanaburi, Mr. Finn’s desired destination. Again, Mr. Finn realizes that something is wrong and somehow he’s able to communicate to Mr. P that he’s taken him to the wrong town. Finally the driver finally understands where Mr. Finn wants to go, reverses directions and heads south, three hours later, Mr. Finn finally arrives at Sam’s Guesthouse in Kanchanaburi.

All told, upon arriving in Bangkok, what should have been an easy 2 - 2-½ hour journey from Bangkok’s international airport turns into a cross-country roundabout sightseeing tour which lasts about 13 hours. Mr. Finn, the good natured Scandinavian soul that he is, remarked to Mr. Sam, that he actually enjoyed the 13 hour taxi ride from Bangkok as it gave him chance to see the countryside. LOL 5555555!

Factoid: Kan is short for Kanchanaburi (pronounced like con), Sang is for Sangkhlaburi (pronounced like song) and Chan is short for Chantaburi (pronounced like John)

Upon landing at Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Sue wanna boom), the new international airport in Bangkok, I was really awestruck at the aesthetically pleasing and futuristic architecture. To be honest with you, looking at the series of interconnected mounds with identical latticework containing the airport terminals and buildings, one has the impression of landing at a jetport on another planet. It sort of reminded of a movie set that you would see in Star Wars. I know you may think I’ve been smoking something funny but I guarantee you I’m telling you just the way it is. Inside the airport terminal, the décor is very austere and high tech with a dark and light gray color scheme interspersed with white. Dark gray chandeliers hang from the glass ceilings and very tasteful artwork is sprinkled throughout the airport. I have never been in an airport like this; in fact, if you didn’t see the jets parked in the hangers, you may not even realize that you’ re in an airport. After deplaning, the walk to the immigration area was a good ¼ mile; I can imagine that some of the older folk having a tough go of it having to walk so far. Maybe sometime in the future they will have a special cart for senior citizens and handicapped people to transport them to immigration area.

As an experiment, I clocked the time it took me to go thru immigration, pick up my bags and pass thru customs. Believe it or not, the whole process took place in a record time of 30 minutes. That was traveling at warp speed, Scotty beam me up!

Hanumann’s rating 9/10

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As remarked before in a prior post, EVA ‘s stated carry-on baggage allowance is one piece not exceeding 15 pounds. Well, Hanumann, your intrepid traveler put the rules on the carry-on baggage allowance to a test. I wore a rather large backpack- containing my laptop computer, miscellaneous electronic gear, some books and magazines - which weighed an estimated 20 lbs or so. In addition, I stuffed my two rather large digital cameras, an ultra wide lens and a small teapot in small canvas bag, estimated weight 6 -7 lbs. Did I tell you that I also had a fanny bag around my waist, a multi-compartment Thai shoulder bag around my neck and an ipod strapped around my arm? I guess you could say that I was fully loaded! The airline personal at the gate and flight attendants did not blink an eye when I boarded the plane.

From my experience, you can usually get away with exceeding ‘the so called limitations” on carry-on bags but don’t go overboard on this, as there is a threshold point where the airline personnel will demand that the extra carry-on pieces be checked in. Just remember to smile, be polite and play dumb and they will usually accommodate you.

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My journey to Thailand and Southeast Asia began on Nov. 07, 2006 at 12:10AM from San Francisco on EVA airways, the Taiwanese flag carrier. This was my 2nd time around on EVA airways, having flown this carrier last November on my last trip to Thailand. As I did on my prior trip, I booked myself in the deluxe economy class (Evergreen Class) in order to insure myself more comfortable seating arrangements for the 17 hour long journey. Compared to last year’s flight, the legroom while better than average, was not super spacious, however the seats seemed be newer and had better upholstery. Go figure! Maybe EVA used a different configuration than last year. Flying on most Asia carriers in economy class on a long overseas flight is very uncomfortable to say the least as they pack the passengers in like sardines. Paying the extra monies to be accommodated in evergreen class on Eva is a very worthwhile investment as it provides a much higher degree of comfort. The flight itself was a lot smoother than last year - there was absolutely no turbulence. The EVA flight from San Francisco changes planes in Taipei, where there is about, a 2 ½ hour layover before continuing to Bangkok.

Hanumann’s rating 8/10

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