If you are carrying a substantial amount of US dollars that you would like to exchange for Thai baht, I suggest that you go to a licensed moneychanger like Super Rich or Vasu than the bank or any of the many currency exchange bureaus. Vasu is especially convenient if you’re staying in the heart of the tourist zone along the Sukhumvit. Located underneath the Skytrain at the Nana BTS ( corner of Soi 7/1 and Sukhumvit Road), Vasu is in the back room of the Vasu travel agency. You will receive approximately 30-40 satongs more than the best exchange rate offered by the banks.

When I was in Bangkok this past November, I exchanged 40 “C” notes ($4000US) at Vasu -the exchange rate here was approximately 33.90. Now compare that to the best exchange offered by the bank of 33.60, well you can do the math! Bottom line, I received 1200 baht more ($35) by going to Vasu. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but in Thailand 1200 baht can go a long way.

Once inside the small shop, I had to wait for only 5 minutes before someone assisted
me with the transaction - the service was fast and efficient. Don’t forget to carry a copy of your passport. One more thing, you can only exchange cash - they do not handle traveler’s checks.

There are 100 satongs to the baht and one baht equals approximately 3 cents

The little old lady at the Baan Lotus Guesthouse in Ayutthaya is something else - not only does she personally greet all her customers and assists them with check in, she also takes orders for breakfast, answers the phone and is the official travel concierge at Baan Lotus. To top it off, she gives a sales pitch to every guest upon check-in for the special night tour of Ayutthaya. I think her success rate is close to 90%. This rather eccentric but charming lady must be in her mid to late 70’s. When I went on the night tour, it rained for a good hour during the first hour and consequently we were unable to visit one of the temples. The tour guide informed us that we would receive a refund of 30 baht from the manager of the Baan Lotus guesthouse when we returned. Well, the next morning upon checkout, I wasn’t about to bring this matter up as the monies were inconsequential, but the lady artfully initiated the refund proceedings and insisted I take the monies, which I applied towards a 2 hour bike rental.

Naturally as she is the only one there who has facility with English, all the customer relations, guest services and administrative functions have fallen into her lap. I am surmising that she is either a friend of relative of the Khun Tang, the owner, who spends most of her time in Bangkok. I really can’t remember her name or even have a picture of her, but she truly is a Thai version of Wonder Woman and is to be commended for doing such an excellent job. She is definitely worth her weight in gold.

While bicycling on the highway leading out of Pai in Northern Thailand, I kept on seeing some very attractive signage on the roadside for a place called Pura Vida. The name ‘Pura Vida’ evoked some wonderful memories I had of Costa Rica, where Pura Vida (literally translated as Pure Life) is both a popular greeting and an attitude which is an intrinsic part of Costa Rican culture.

Intrigued by finding Pura Vida in Thailand, I followed the signs and ended up at a small hillside resort located about 5KM from the town of Pai. Built on the grounds of an orange orchard, this charming boutique resort of 8 bungalows has some wonderfully landscaped gardens – the centerpiece is a large pond with water lilies and other water plants.

While admiring the gardens, the owners - a middle-aged Dutchman and his Thai wife- invited me to join them for a cup of freshly brewed hilltribe coffee. Chatting with the Dutchman, he gave a little history of how he ended up in Thailand as a hotel proprietor. Naturally, his decision to relocate revolved around meeting a wonderful Thai lady who later became his wife. Showing me around Pura Vida, I was impressed with the solid construction of the relatively spacious bungalows. When I asked the owner about the name of the resort, he admitted to having visited Costa Rica - sometime later, when he decided to build a small tourist retreat in Thailand, he decided that Pura Vida would be a catchy name for his new place. He’s absolutely right - Pura Vida is a name most tourists will remember.

Pura Vida is one of the newest bungalow resorts in Pai having splashed on the scene in November 2006.

After a 2 ½ year absence, I returned to Pai in northern Thailand this past November. It is still the hippyish, international tourist enclave that I visited in 2005, only now it has become more popular and consequently it has grown a bit larger and noisier. Many new guesthouses, restaurants and hotels (albeit small hotels) and bungalow resorts have sprouted up - including the upscale Pai River Corner Resort and The Sanctuary, a relatively fancy vegetarian and seafood restaurant which overlooks the Pai River. More importantly, there are an increasing number of Thai tourists vacationing in Pai. I understand that this surge in domestic visitors is a result of a major Tourism promotion, which featured a documentary of Pai on a major Thai TV Channel. Again, I stayed at Pairadise located about 1000 meters from downtown Pai. Still a delightful place - since the last time I was there they added a couple of new deluxe bungalows. Rooms are simply furnished but well set up. Priced at 600 baht per night and up, Pairadise is an excellent value and represents the higher end of budget accommodations in Pai.

On my last day in Pai, I visited the uniquely named PURA VIDA , one of the newer upmarket bungalow resorts. In Costa Rica, Pura Vida is a popular idiomatic expression that is used to greet or say farewell to somebody. Translated literally from Spanish, it means Pure Life. More on Pura Vida in the next installment of Calypso Island Chronicles.

Thailand is the world’s leading exporter of crown of thorn hybrids. Known locally as poysean, this plant is believed to ward off bad spirits and to bring good luck to the owner and the house . Traveling throughout Thailand, you’ll see a potted poysean next to many shrines as well as outside the entrance to many houses. The new Thai hybrids and cultivars - with their larger flowers(or smaller flowers) and compact growth - have been well received by horticulturalists and the many crown of thorn enthusiasts around the world.

During my last trip to Thailand, I visited the largest crown of thorn nursery in Thailand.
Located in the rural countryside just 45 minutes away from of Bangkok, NTK Nursery is family owned business, having been in operation since 1995. Plants are exported for both the domestic and intentional trade. With very exotic names - Miss Universe, Charlie’s Angel, Golden Heart, Siam Ruby – these cultivars come in a great variety of colors - yellows, blues, pinks,reds, whites, creams and purples. Some of the more exotic cultivars have multi-hued flowers. It was quite an unusual experience.

A visit to NTK nursery in Bangkok is one of the featured excursions in our Thai Botanical Adventure Tour.

In November 2007, I stayed at the River Resort & Spa in Sakaeo. Located on the main highway about 3 KM east from the town center, this small hotel of 35 rooms is not a really resort per say but a small western style motel - rooms are large and comfortable with TV, A/C and hot and cold water. Facilities include a small restaurant, a petite freeform swimming pool and a small spa that features different massage treatments. I may be wrong, but I believe River Resort & Spa is probably the most modern and most westernized of all the hotels in this city. If you have a laptop computer, you can go into their restaurant and take advantage of their free Wifi signal. The staff was very friendly and accommodating despite their very limited facility with English, but it is understandable as their primary clientèle are Thai tourists from Bangkok. Khun Petsch, the affable young owner, is well versed in English however, having spent some time in USA (Oregon) as an exchange student.

During the 5 days that I stayed there, a wedding ceremony was staged outside in the pool area – the groom was a middle-aged limousine driver from England and the bride, a local gal from Sakaeo. Consequently, most of the hotel guests at the time - friends and relatives of the groom - were from the United Kingdom. One thing struck me as being very odd. Why did they name this hotel ‘the River Resort & Spa’ as there was no river within 15KM of the hotel? Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate if they named the hotel, No River Resort & Spa?

Sakaeo is located about 2 hours east of Bangkok heading towards the Cambodian border. Most tourists drive through this small city without blinking an eye on their way to the border town of Aranyaprathet, where there are some interesting Khmer ruins and from what I have read a bustling outdoor market. At first glance, there is nothing really striking about Sakaeo, a city of about 60,000 inhabitants – it has the same drab look and nondescript architecture that is characteristic of most cities in Thailand. Sakaeo even has a 7-11 store, which officially puts it on the map.

While I was in Sakaeo this past November, I visited Pang Sida National Park, which is about a 20-25 minute drive from town. For butterfly watching, Pang Sida is prime time throughout the summer months, and during the month of June, a Butterfly Sighting Festival takes place. From what I understand, this festival attracts hordes of Thai tourists. Predictably, the butterfly watching wasn’t that great when I was there as November is off-season for this type of activity. It didn’t help matters much that we arrived at the park sometime close to noon as well. Leaving Pang Sida, my driver continued to Lalu, site of some magnificent and strange earth pillars caused by soil erosion. About a 1 1/2 hour drive from Pang Sida, the landscape here looks like a miniature version of the Grand Canyon. This was definitely one of the eeriest panoramic scenes that I have encountered in Thailand.

At the end of my stay, I began to warm up to Sakaeo – it was a relatively pleasant and clean city, the people were friendly and it wasn’t overrun by farangs. And if you were familiar with the town, there was sanuck to be found, especially on the weekends. Furthermore there were no Starbucks or Burger Kings for miles around and that suited me fine. Where did I stay in Sakaeo? Find out in the next installment of Calypso Island Chronicles.

Sanuk is the Thai word for fun!

Cusco has many trendy and hip bars - of all the clubs that I visited, Mandela Bar with its exotic, tropical African motif was by far my favorite. Located in the tourist ghetto and historic neighborhood of San Blas, Mandela has loads of ambiance and during “the season”, the club really rocks with a variety of local bands and artists performing nightly. On the night that I visited the club, there was a very eclectic two-man band – a female vocalist with a very gruff and gritty voice backed by a guitar player extraordinaire who could pick ‘em with the best. Their repertoire consisted mostly of rock classics of the 60’s and 70’s mixed in with some popular reggae standards as well as a couple of new agey-hip hop tunes. I really the dug the vibe and the music at Mandela. A couple of Pisco Sours really put me into a mellow mood as well…

Home to many local artisans and expat artists, San Blas reminds me a lot of my hometown of San Francisco. with its steep, narrow and cobblestone streets.