This past December, I revisited PHU LANG KA, one of my favorite places in Thailand. Not too much has changed at Phu Lang Ka since my initial visit in November 2008, however it seems that more & more Thai people have found out about this magical beauty spot in Northern Thailand, primarily through word of mouth. Many Thai visitors post their pictures online on different Thai forums; this no doubt has added to the buzz about such “off the beaten path” places as Phu Lang Ka.

Kevan, the delightful owner of Phu Lang Ka Lodge, has built some additional cottages to accommodate the increasing number of visitors - mostly Thai people – to Phu Lang Ka. However most of the Thai tourists only stay one night before moving on which is not the most ideal scenario for this small lodge.

According to Kevan, Phi Lang Ka only had 5-6 Farangs (Western tourists) during the past year. I find that a real shame as Phu Lang Ka is such a wonderful, high-energy place. Besides enjoying the serenity and the VIEW, there are any number of hikes, excursions and mini treks that can be taken from Phu Lang Ka. If you don’t have your own set of wheels, Kevan can set you up with a driver who can take you around the area.

My stay coincided with the tail end of the Thai Holidays (Kings Birthday Week). With so many Thai tourists on the weekend, Phu Lang Ka was an especially busy place. A group of Thais (about 15 in all) from Phuket as well as a contingent from a digital camera club based in Bangkok occupied most of the rooms while I was there, albeit both groups stayed only one night before moving on.

Displaying the fascinating pictorial scroll on the history of the Yao people, Kevan gave each group of tourists an impromptu education about the YAO. By enlightening strangers – both Thai people and westerners – about the history and culture of the Yao people, he helps keep the YAO flame burning.

Of course, the primary attraction here is The VIEW. Shortly before dawn, Phu Lang Ka buzzes with activity, as most of the guests and daytrippers – with cameras and tripods in hand - assemble outside waiting for the spectacular sunrise to come. On most mornings (during the predawn hours), a thick mist blankets the valley below, and when the sun finally rises above the distant mountains, the view is unforgettable – it is like being in heaven.

See my Phu Lang Ka Photo Gallery
and my review of Phu Lang Ka from November 2008

Planning to visit Phu Lang Ka? I recommend that you stay a minimum of 3-4 nights in order to appreciate the beauty and spirituality of this special place.

Traveling around Northern Thailand - in places like Uttaradit, Phrae, Nan and Phu Lang Ka - I encountered far more Thai than Western tourists. I found them to be very friendly and inquisitive, and I had a chance to talk with many of them. I guess many vacationing Thais wanted an opportunity to practice their English, and they were just curious about me as I was about them.

Usually the conversation would start with “Where are you from?” which is the Thai equivalent of saying Hello, and then like most travelers, we would talk about our travel itineraries and the different places that we would be visiting.

From my many conversations, I learned a lot about the Travel Habits of Thai People. It seems that Thais take very frequent and short vacations of 2-3 nights during the course of the year - many travel over the weekend leaving on a Friday and returning on a Sunday or Monday. Furthermore, I learned that in Thailand, unlike most Western countries, there is no such thing as a paid vacation for most Thai people.

Because most Thai people have such a limited amount of time to travel during the course of the year, they will often stay at one destination for only one night, before moving on to their next destination. As an example, on a long holiday weekend of 3 nights, a group of Thai people will often rent a van complete with driver and stay overnight at three different destinations in three nights - i.e. Bo Klua in Nan Province, Phu Lang Ka in Phayao Province and Sirikit Dam in Uttardit Province - before returning home.

While staying at Phu Lang Ka Lodge – one of my favorite places in Northern Thailand – I met a group of tourists (about 15 in all) – mostly professional people - from Phuket Island. They had rented two minivans along with driver, and their plan was to stay at 14 different places in 14 consecutive nights. Talk about a busy itinerary – made my 42 night Odyssey to Southeast Asia including 15 changes of hotel appear lightweight in comparison.

Another thing that I learned about Thai people – especially with the younger set (35 and under) - whenever possible, they would often pitch a tent and camp out. At Phu Lang Ka, the owner charges campers 100 baht per night per tent.

VERY INTERESTING!

I really didn’t know what to expect when I visited Singapore, a small island state of approximately 5 million people. I heard all about the westernized high-tech sheen and cleanliness of the city, the anti-litter laws – including the rather steep fines for spitting chewing gum on city streets - and about the torrential downpours during the wet season.

With the exception of torrential downpours - there was absolutely no rain during the brief 4 four days that I was there - everything that I heard about Singapore was true. My conclusion - Singapore is a FINE city!

True, there are many fines to discourage littering - and most of them are very prohibitive - but it works, and that’s the bottom line. I think that is absolutely FINE. A clerk in a local minimart explained to me how it works – the litter police operate undercover, so they blend in with the woodwork. If you’re apprehended by one of the plainclothes police while in the act of littering, you will be issued a ticket on the spot. Fines are strictly enforced.

Walking around the city, I felt very safe and despite the occasional rare trace of litter on the city streets, Singapore has to be the cleanest city I have ever been to. Furthermore, the public transpiration system is marvelous and very efficient; it is very easy to travel to almost any part of the city by a combination of bus and MRT - it is almost impossible to get lost. The MRT operates until 11:45PM and there is a train virtually every 3 minutes.

If every country adopted Singapore’s laws regarding littering, this world would be a lot cleaner and better place. Shortly after arriving at the airport, I had a conversation with a Singapore expat who has lived in Denver, Colorado for the last 20 years - he told me that having been raised in Singapore, the act of not littering is ingrained in his psyche.

It may sound that I am gushing about Singapore being a modern day Utopia; on the other hand I found Singapore to be a bit monotone and boring for my tastes! Excluding the beautiful botanical garden, there are only a few vestiges of greenery and nature on this intensely developed island. Then again, I am not fond of big cities – I like nature, lots of greenery and wild places.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the famous proverb of the Three Wise Monkeys – “Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil.”

With a little choreography, I recreated the Three Wise Monkeys famous pose in Ban Na Tong, a small rural village located about 30 KM from Phrae in Northern Thailand. I chose three kids from the local school there, had them place some Bua Tong - Wild Mexican Sunflower – on top of their heads and placed the children in front of a monkey shrine.

I’m sure they had no clue, what the significance of this pose – but then again, I could be wrong. Westerners probably are not aware of the origins of “The Three Monkeys” proverb as well – it is based on a 17th century carving over a door of a famous shrine in Japan, but apparently the philosophy has deeper roots – from a Buddhist legend in 8th century China.

All I know, it makes for a classical – somewhat hilarious picture.

In United States and many Western countries, it is customary to leave a tip for the waiter/waitress at a restaurant or bar. The amount of the tip varies depending on the quality of the service. The exact tip amount is of course at the discretion of the customer. In the USA for average service, the acceptable tip percentage is 15%.

Things are far different in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia, where tipping is not the standard practice among the locals and in general, tips are not expected by most of the local restaurants. However in high-end restaurants - or those that cater exclusively to oversea tourists - tipping is more commonplace, and in many instances the gratuity - normally 10-15% - is included in the bill.

I have experienced the built-in gratuity myself at high-end restaurants like the Rang Mahal, the most prestigious Indian restaurant in Bangkok. At the more humble Raan Derm, a Thai restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 22 which caters both to middle class locals and tourists, they add 7% gratuity to the bill.

To give you an idea about the prevailing attitude towards Tipping in Southeast Asia, I have two relatively comical stories that I will share with you – both experiences took place in Malaysia.

While I was in Taiping, a very lovely city located in Perak State (Northwest Malaysia), I patronized Su Hean , a Vegan Chinese restaurant which had recommended to me by a local. The restaurant was very proper but not flashy by any means and catered primarily to the relatively affluent Chinese community in Taiping.

On my 2nd visit there, I ordered a couple of veggie plates. The total bill came to roughly 14.00RM (or $4.30USD). Very cheap for me! Since the service was fairly good , the waitress was very nice (and the food was delicious), I left a tip of 4.00RM (or about $1.20USD). Upon leaving the restaurant, the young girl came running after me with a very concerned look on her face and said to me “Sir, you forgot some monies on the table”. Smiling, I said to her “Young lady, that is your tip.”

Several days later I traveled to Penang, the most popular tourist destination in Malaysia, and well known for its excellent restaurants. On my last night there, my Taxi driver took to me Luk Yea Yan, a well-regarded Vegan Chinese restaurant. Again this was a proper restaurant, not a greasy spoon affair. Upon hearing my story about my experience in Taiping, he laughed and told me that only Americans tips - most Europeans do not!

So after the meal, since the service was better than average, I left a tip which represented about 22% of the bill. Upon leaving, the taxi driver told me that the restaurant owner said to him “Your customer forgot some monies at the table”. We both had a good laugh!

Who is this Khun Moongmink, the mysterious lady whose name keeps popping up in many of my travel stories about Thailand? Well she’s quite a lady - not only is she Mad About Plants (she’s a plant enthusiast), but she also translates documents from Thai to English (and vice versa) for a living.

How did I meet Khun Moongmink? I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, but I met her in a private chatroom of Bangkok Chat in Summer 2003, and because of our many common interests – in nature, plant and travel – we became instant friends. After meeting her in person in November 2003 in Bangkok, our relationship as “friends” has blossomed.

Khun Moongmink’s facility with English ranks in the top 5% of all the Thai people that I have met in Thailand. She has helped me out many times as an interpreter in my business communications. While she understands most of what I say – as long as don’t speak too fast - she still has difficulty with pronunciation of many English words. I really cannot fault her as English is her 2nd language. But in the area of translating documents between Thai and English, that is where Khun Moongmink really shines.

Want to know more about this extraordinary lady, and how she became so proficient in English? Khun Moongmink’s tells her story in her own words. See below

I have been studying English since my elementary school, I am still grateful to my teacher on her effort to teach me the English Language. As extra homework, she gave me ten different English words every day to practice and recite with her after classes before I returned home. At the end of the semester, I won the award of “the outstanding student on English Spelling”.

Moreover my family also encouraged me in studying English language. My grandfather worked as an interpreter in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs while my father was a government official in Post & Telegraph Department. My father took me to many international events so that I would have the opportunity to practice my English with foreigners.

I’m continuing to improve my facility with English because I admit to a certain fascination with the language.

Moongmink is currently working full time with an IT company in Bangkok as a translator but now is offering her services of translating documents to the public. If you need somebody to translate documents/letters from English to Thai (and vice versa), I highly recommend Moongmink’s service. She’ll do a very professional job!

For more information about Khun Moongmink’s translation services (and her fees), contact her at madaboutplant@gmail.com

There has been so much buzz about PRIMO POSTO, a Tuscany style cafe located near Khao Yai National Park, that I decided to check it out myself. So on one early Saturday morning in late November, I made a special outing to Khao Yai - about a 2½ hours drive from Bangkok - accompanied by my friend, Khun Moongmink.

The landscape near Khao Yai - gentle, rolling green hills and haystack like mountain peaks – was somewhat reminiscent of the wine country in Northern California. An important grape growing region in Thailand, there was a number of wineries in the area as well.

I wasn’t really aware how popular PRIMO POSTO was until we pulled into their parking lot only – it was packed with tour buses, minivans and many cars, mostly Toyotas and Hondas. A long line formed in front of the entrance – mostly tourists from Bangkok - where a young lady collected an admission fee of 55 baht per person, which can be applied towards the purchase of ice cream (most popular item), coffee, food from the cafe or restaurant or anything from the gift shop.

My Impression of Primo Posto? It has to be the Biggest Tourist Trap in Thailand. Framed by the haystack like peaks of Khao Yai, Primo Posto - with its stunning Tuscany style architecture & lovely Mediterranean gardens - attracts thousands of visitors from Bangkok, mostly on weekends during the high season. Most people stop here just to have themselves photographed in the gardens -the food is not the attraction here!

While Primo Posto was very lovely, I couldn’t wait to get out of the place as the gardens were way too congested with photo happy, camera toting tourists. The average visitor stayed no more than 20 minutes, just enough time to take a couple of pictures before they moved on.

My friend talked to the manager who told her that during the high season November – May, Primo Posto received on the average an astounding 5000 tourists from Bangkok on the weekends. At 55 baht per person (1.40USD). You can do the math! Primo Posto was doing quite a brisk business. PRIMO POSTO WAS INDEED A REAL TOURIST TRAP!

Check out my Khao Yai/Primo Posto Photo Gallery!

After leaving Primo Posto, we had lunch at the nearby Terano Cafe, a very lovely and quiet place without all the photo happy tourists of Primo Posto. The food was very delicious and the setting was very serene.

NAN is a special place. After a years absence, I revisited Nan this past November. I have been to so many cities in Thailand but none can compare to Nan in terms of its natural beauty and charm. I guess you could say that I love NAN - it is by far my favorite city in Thailand.

Located in Northern Thailand in the area known as the Golden Triangle, Nan is a small city of no more than 40,000 inhabitants. Lying in a valley surrounded by mountains, not too many travelers are aware of Nan as it is still somewhat off the beaten track.

The personality of NAN is shaped by the long and winding Nan River which cuts through the valley as it flows from north to south. East of the river is Laos. Nan’s indigenous culture is very strong and deeply rooted. The city is as old as the Sukhothai Kingdom and surrounding countryside is home to various hilltribe peoples – Yao, Hmong, Khamu and the very primitive Mlabri.

As I remarked in an earlier post, Nan – with its tree lined streets, rural country roads and old wooden houses - brought back memories of Turlock, a small sleepy river town located in California’s San Joaquin Valley circa the 1950’s. Riding a bicycle around NAN, along the river or into the surrounding countryside – so lush and green - is such a pleasurable experience.

So far Nan has been spared the ravages of mass tourism, but I see signs of more tourism development. A new first class hotel – the Nan Boutique Hotel – opened up not too long ago, and from what I understand there are plans for more hotels like this in the near future. Of course, several new upscale guesthouses have also appeared on the scene in the last year.

In addition - since my visit in November 2008, at least 3-4 fairly upscale coffee shops have opened their doors for business. This is usually an indicator that tourism on the rise. Walking around town, I definitely encountered more Thai tourists (and only a handful of farangs) - most of them were from Bangkok.

While I stayed at Nan Boutique Hotel this past November, there was a tour group from Bangkok who checked in on the same day as me. They occupied most of the hotel rooms, however they stayed there for only one night, which is somewhat typical of Thai tourists.

Nan would definitely benefit from an increase in Tourism but only if the development is carefully planned and controlled so as not to disrupt the lifestyle and traditional culture of the area.

With the cessation of direct air service from Bangkok on PB Air, Nan is still difficult to get to; however there is now direct air service from Chiang Mai on SGA airlines, albeit the planes are prop-jets. Still….

This is my TRIBUTE TO BOB MARLEY, the Reggae King. His music can be heard all around the world, from the small hip beachside bars of Puerto Escondido, Mexico to the glittering nightclubs of Singapore. I have traveled to many places in the tropics – the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand, Malaysia, Ghana etc – and everywhere I go, I hear the music of Bob Marley being played.

It was only after Bob Marley died in May 1981, that his legend and music have skyrocketed. Truly, Bob Marley is much larger in death than he was in life. On a global basis, his popularity (and his music) no doubt exceeds Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Before I continue this tribute, I must say that I met Bob (and the Wailers) in July 1976 when he was performing at the Boarding House in San Francisco. Then in late April 1980, I visited Bob at his house on 56 Hope Road in Kingston on the very day that he returned from Zimbabwe. I wouldn’t go so far, to say that I was a friend of Bob’s, but we knew each other – call us casual acquaintances. Several months after meeting Bob in Jamaica he succumbed to cancer. He has since become A LEGEND!

As evidence of Bob’s popularity - in Langkawi, Malaysia’s most fashionable beach resort, there is even a dedicated Reggae Boutique that sells only Bob Marley T-shirts, hats and clothing accessories.

In Khao Sok, a remote off-the-beaten track eco-destination in Thailand, there is even a small club called the Reggae Bar. Whose songs did they play most of the time? You guessed it - Bob Marley’s greatest hits! Same, same in Koh Lipe, a small, relatively obscure island in Southern Thailand’s Satun Province - walking by the Reggae Bar in late December, the DJ played Bob Marley’s greatest hits continuously for at least 30 minutes.

In Kuala Lumpur’s famous Chinatown, there is also an establishment called the Reggae Bar. Decorated with pictures, posters and photographs of Bob Marley, it is by far one of the most popular bars in Kuala Lumpur. As my special tribute to Bob, I bolted into the bar like a crazed lunatic one late afternoon and did am impromptu version of I Shot the Sheriff.

Some of the patrons from West Africa gave me a rousing ovation, while some of the European patrons continued to sit there impassively without blinking an eye as if nothing happened (I guess they had been hitting the bong). My performance was definitely one of the highlights of my trip!

In the tourist zone of Bangkok, there is a glut of massage parlors – on Sukhumvit Soi 22, there seems to be a storefront massage parlor every three businesses or so. Sometimes two competing massage parlors are even side-by-side.

Many of these massage parlors are kind of seedy, and the rooms they use for body massage are severely lacking in ambiance. In most instances, the rooms are not very private at all – either the walls are very thin or more commonly, adjacent rooms are separated by a mere curtain.

While many of the ladies who work in these establishments can give you an outstanding therapeutic body massage - more often than not – from my experience as a male, I get solicited for extras such as Happy Endings and the like. I cannot really fault them for offering these “extra services’ as the money they receive for ”these extras’ is clear profit for them - they don’t have to share it with the house .

During my recent stay in Bangkok, I decided to go to the very respectable Health Land for massage treatment as opposed to patronizing one of the many local massage parlors located near my hotel. The reasoning behind my choice was very simple – I wanted to avoid solicitations for extras and I preferred a place which had better ambiance than the local massage parlor.

Health Land is very popular with the more affluent residents of Bangkok; however prices are competitive with the “run of the mill” massage parlors that are so numerous in the tourist zone.

Approaching Health Land Spa & Massage (Ekamai Branch) from the street, it looked like a hotel or an upscale medical clinic. Walking into the lobby, there was a large reception counter where customers register with a uniformed lady for one of the various massage treatments. Checking out their spa menu, I opted for a 90 minute Aromatherapy Body Massage. Price was 850 baht (about $26USD). Fairly affordable, in my humble opinion!

All the young ladies at Health Land (massage technicians) have been properly trained in the art of massage and conduct themselves very professionally. There were absolutely no solicitations for extras. In addition, the massage rooms at Health Land are equipped with a proper massage table as well as having the proper feng shui. Some soothing ambient music was piped in while getting the massage.

After the massage, I felt like “a newer man” – considerably less stressed and more relaxed. I liked Health Land so much that I returned there for a follow-up treatment the day before flying home to San Francisco.

Health Land, my verdict? Thumbs up!