I have been to Bangkok, Thailand’s capital city many times over the last 10 years. Also referred to as Krung Thep, Bangkok has to be one of the most fascinating and exotic cities that I’ve been to - and truth be told, despite my numerous visits there, Bangkok still remains an unsolved puzzle to me.

Walking through the Streets of Bangkok, you’ll find a vibrant urban culture – street vendors selling an assortment of goods and makeshift portable restaurants on wheels as well as ornate Buddhist shrines and spirit houses in front of many buildings.

Throughout uptown Bangkok, there are some very elegant HISO shopping centers like the Emporium, the Siam Paragon and the new KP Village. It seems that in the heart of the tourist district – along the Upper Sukhumvit Blvd - that every other shop is either a massage parlor or beauty salon.

Sadly, you’ll also encounter some of the poorest segments of Bangkok’s populous begging on the streets and near the entrance of the many Skytrain stations – mostly the crippled and deformed as well as homeless mothers with infants.

Admittedly, I have a love/hate relationship with “the City of Angels” but I keep on going back there, hoping to solve the puzzle which is Bangkok.

Speaking of dogs, I had a real epiphany (light bulb moment), while vacationing in Koh Libong, a small tropical island in Southern Thailand. Most of the people who live on this island are Malay Muslim; outside of the three small Muslim fishing villages, the island is relatively unpopulated.

While visiting two of the villages closest to my hotel, I found it be somewhat peculiar that I did not encounter any dogs. Cats on the other hand were a dime a dozen - it seemed that almost every household in the village had at least one or two.

Later on, I discovered there were five relatively mangy dogs that were kept as “pets” at the neighboring Libong Beach resort. I stayed at Le Dugong Beach Resort. Outside of these five dogs, I believe there was not a single other dog on the island.

Reflecting on the absence of dogs on Koh Libong, I thought about my prior trips to Malaysia – a Muslim nation state in Southeast Asia - and to a number of islands in Southern Thailand which were predominantly Muslim. Strangely, I recall not seeing any dogs on these excursions as well.
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Ah hah, I said to myself, there must be some taboo about dogs in Muslim Culture. Sure enough - after doing some research online, I discovered that in Islam, dogs are considered unclean and unhygienic, and it is forbidden to keep them as pets. Cats - on the other hand - are welcomed as pets in Muslim Culture.

Admittedly, I am very fond of dogs - while I may not agree with this particular attitude towards dogs, as a traveler and an open minded person, I have learned to respect cultural differences.

By the way, the management and owner of Dugong Beach resort are Buddhists and are not part of the indigenous Malay population of Southern Thailand

Bangkok is known for it’s numerous shopping malls – from the relatively pedestrian MBK to the rather gaudy Siam Paragon and the Emporium. K-Village, a boutique shopping mall which opened up in late 2009, represents a new breed of shopping centers in Bangkok. Built on only two levels, the new K-Village with over 100 shops is fairly intimate and easy to navigate unlike the larger multilevel shopping complexes that dominate Bangkok.

My take? Located on Sukhumvit Soi 26 near Rama IV, K-Village was a convenient 5-minute walk from my hotel in Bangkok. I was quite impressed by the intimate ambiance, the wonderful Gourmet Market and the many trendy Asian restaurants - Taiwanese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai et all. In addition, K Village has two very attractive coffee shops, not named Starbucks.

The Gourmet Market, the centerpiece of K-Village, had an excellent selection of hydroponically grown vegetables, fresh fruits as well as an upscale deli and a special department that featured Japanese goods. Prices for some items were only slightly higher than the considerably more pedestrian Villa Market located on Sukhumvit Soi 33.

Surveying some of the restaurant menus, the average price for entrees were on the high side for most Thai people @ 120 baht ($4USD) per plate but relatively affordable for the tourist crowd.

With its fashionable and upscale shops and restaurants as well specialty desert and gelato cafes, K-Village clearly caters to the upwardly mobile, and high society crowd (HISO). Taking a look around me, many Thai ladies and gals were strolling around K-Village scantily dressed in their hot designer pants, short shorts, flimsy blouses and high heels, trying so hard to look sexy; funny thing, the Thai men didn’t pay them any attention. Oh well…

Located on the first floor, Watercress, a natural foods restaurant with a good variety of tasty vegetarian Thai dishes, has since become one my favorite places to eat. During my 10 nights in Bangkok, I ended up eating at Watercress on five different occasions

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I had just boarded a songthaew in the city of Loei to Chiang Khan, a hip tourist town located along the Mekong River in Northeastern Thailand. Especially popular with the younger professional crowd from Bangkok, Chiang Khan has often been called the Thai version of Pai, a popular retreat and hangout with western tourists in Northern Thailand.

Just as the songthaew was about to take off, an elderly couple – backpacker types - walked briskly to the retrofitted truck and hopped on board. Like your typical backpacker, this pair was outfitted with a huge backpack on their back and a smaller daypack on their chest.

As I traded stories with this rather feisty couple (Joe and Judy), I discovered that they were from Western Canada and were in the middle of a 6-month journey that would take them to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Seasoned travelers, they had traveled numerous times to Southeast Asia, South America and around the world.

Typical of backpackers, they had only a generalized travel plan but not a concrete itinerary nor did they ever book a guesthouse or hotel in advance. They did things strictly on the fly - only upon arriving at their next destination, would they look for lodging. In addition, they had a very strict budget which they adhered to. In Thailand, the maximum expense for accommodation was 500 baht per night ($17USD). According to Joe, they always traveled like this and never had a problem finding a decent place to stay.

As it was the King’s Birthday Holiday weekend (Dec. 3-5), perhaps the busiest holiday weekend for Thai people, it would be extremely difficult finding a place to stay in this small tourist town. Shortly before I arriving in Chiang Khan, I cautioned the couple about the shortage of guestrooms. I had called at least 10 places in advance without any luck - I was fortunate to have reserved “a room” a couple of blocks from the river, albeit for only one night for 400 baht. Alas, I was a prepared for a very brief visit in Chiang Khan.

Undaunted about the prospects of finding a place to stay, the backpacker couple were last seen knocking on the doors of all the guesthouses and homestays located along the river. One thing I forget to mention - these backpackers were 80 years old!

Funny Thing – When I told a good friend of mine in Bangkok that I had decided to spend Christmas week in Koh Libong - a small island resort in Southern Thailand - she warned me that I might want to reconsider my plans.

According to my friend, a prominent Thai psychic predicted that a catastrophic tsunami would obliterate the Andaman Seaboard, sometime late December, wreaking havoc on the many islands and popular tourist resorts in the area. Undoubtedly a tsunami of this magnitude would cause complete destruction of all buildings and structures, as well as drowning virtually all residents and vacationing tourists.

You may recall that a very powerful tsunami happened in this region on December 26, 2004. Coincidentally I was vacationing in Kamala Beach on Phuket Island up until December 21 before returning to the USA from Bangkok on December 23 – the Kamala Beach resort area was probably the most severely impacted area in Thailand. I just missed the Tsunami by a couple of days - I guess I was lucky!

Now I am not the sort of person who is going to jump onto the railroad tracks while a train is coming; at the same time, I am not going to be scared by the dire predictions of a Thai Psychic. In fact, these sort of predictions are made all the time in Thailand.

Well in the unlikely event that the Tsunami prediction comes true and claims my life, I shall consider it as my destiny. I will have absolutely no regrets about spending the last hours of my life in paradise before I meet my maker. Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see, Que Sera, sera.

Believe it or not, I made a little wager with my friend in Bangkok. If the Tsunami prediction does not come true, she will have to take me out to dinner to the restaurant of my choice in Bangkok on December 31. And if I lose the wager, I have left instructions with my sister in America, to wire $40,000 to my friend’s bank account in Thailand. I think I like my odds……HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

During the course of my travels around the world, I have met my share of rude, boorish tourists. Smokers in particular really irk me; when I dine at a nice café or restaurant, I don’t particularly care to be gulping down cigarette smoke while I eat my food. It seems some of these young European tourists – in particular the French, German, Dutch and Israelis - don’t show any hesitation at all upon entering a restaurant before they light up a cigarette.

Unlike the USA, there are no laws prohibiting smoking in restaurants and cafes in most countries, so I guess I have to grin and bear it as far as smokers are concerned.

I remember one particular instance that left a really bad taste in my mouth. I was a passenger on an old slow boat along the Mekong River from the Thailand Border to Luang Prabang in Laos. The guy sitting directly in front of me – he was from Belgium - kept on smoking his fags and the smoke would waft backwards toward me. As I really abhor cigarette smoke, I politely asked him to refrain from smoking. Well, the guy stopped for about 5 minutes before he started smoking again - one cigarette after another. Talk about being an inconsiderate lout.

What irks me even more are a special breed of travelers who hijack their hostel – usually young backpacker types - and party late night (and into the wee hours of the morning), while other guests of the hostel are trying to sleep. These people can get very rowdy and raucous (loud) especially when there is alcohol and drugs involved. Unfortunately this is a notorious aspect of backpacker culture. I find their behavior to be very rude and inconsiderate. See the story of Nate the Great Lout!

Very few tourists have been to Uttaradit, a small, relatively obscure city of roughly 60,000 inhabitants located in the lower half of Northern Thailand. Lying on the banks of the Nan River, historically Uttaradit was once an important trading center. Like most cities in upcountry Thailand, there are some real beauty spots and some lovely scenery in the surrounding countryside.

Why go to Uttaradit? I have always been intrigued by places “off the beaten path”. When I discovered that a Thai friend of mine had often stopped in Uttaradit during her travels in Northern Thailand, my interest was peaked. Moreover, I fell in love with the name “Uttaradit”, which translates to Port of the North. With that logic in place, I had a good excuse to visit Uttaradit on my next trip to Northern Thailand.

How was my trip? After flying into Phitsanulok, I caught a local bus for the 90-minute journey to Uttaradit. I stayed for 3 nights at the Seeharaj Hotel, a traditional Thai style hotel located in the city’s small tourist quarter. The hotel was acceptable, but as an older property it should some signs of wear and tear. For Thai people, it represented a first class hotel and the place to be. Although I was the only farang at the hotel, I had a wonderful time during my brief stay.

Adjoining the lobby was a large lounge/nightclub. At night, the place really rocked as the house band (forgot their name) played a mix of Western pop hits – like Joy to the World and Black Magic Woman - as well as Thai pop standards. One of their female singers did an outstanding rendition of Hava Nagila.

On my 2nd night there, I discovered that one of Thailand’s premier rock bands “Carabao” was performing upstairs in one of their large ballrooms. No wonder, there were so many young couples parading upstairs decked out in their finest threads. In another section of the hotel, a transvestite – ladyboy show took place several times a week. On my last night there, I wandered over to check it out - the music was a little bit loud and the crowd was a little bit “exotic” for my taste.

Directly across the street, there were two bars popular with the young University Crowd, including one, which featured a live band performing Thai folk music nightly. In addition, one block away (and across the street) was Friday’s, a large complex which consisted of a sprawling department store and Uttaradit’s only other major hotel. On the top floor of Friday’s, there was a nightclub with a live band and an adjoining karaoke bar. Needless to say, entertainment options were not lacking in the small tourist quarter of Uttaradit.

As a seasoned traveler, one of the first things I do when checking into a hotel is to ask if they have a safe deposit box in the room (in-room safe) or at the front desk. If they don’t have either one, I ask the manager if I can store my valuables in the hotel safe. Of course an in-room safe or safe deposit box is far more desirable as only you have the key or combination.

Typically smaller budget (and local) hotels and guesthouses do not have in-room safes or safe deposit boxes, in which case storing your valuables in the hotel safe is the only option. But entrusting the hotel with your monies/passports/credit cards etc can be a dicey proposition. The hotel safe may consist of just a desk drawer which can be opened with a key, and in many cases the ‘so called hotel safe’ - especially in many smaller hotels – can be accessed by all the employees.

During my many years of travel, I have never been victimized by a hotel when storing my valuables in the hotel safe. I guess the numbers game finally caught up with me however - on my last trip to Thailand in late 2009, I may have been a victim of hotel theft on two separate occasions. In both instances, small hotels in Northern Thailand were involved - the first instance involved local currency (value of $140USD) and in the 2nd instance, traveler’s checks were involved (I was later reimbursed by American Express).

I am not going to cry over spilled milk, but here are some tips if you decide store your valuables in the hotel safe.

• To make things easier to keep track of, keep your local currency, traveler’s checks and your home currency in separate bundles. By all means, double check your inventory every time your valuables are accessed from the hotel safe.
• Maintain a written log/running account of all your monies, travelers checks etc. Every time you retrieve something from the hotel safe, by all means log it in and keep a running balance as if it was your bank or checking account.
• If there is any discrepancy, possible theft may have occurred in which case you should bring the matter up with hotel manager/owner. If possible, you should also file a report with the tourist police or the local authorities.
• If traveler’s checks are missing (and you have diligently logged in your usage), you will usually get a prompt refund from the company that issued the checks after you have filed a report. After the matter is reported, the missing checks will be deemed void and cannot be cashed by the perpetrator.

If I followed my own advice, I probably would have been unable to prevent the actual embezzlement but at least I would have more conclusive proof that it actually happened. The next step would have been to confront the hotel manager/owner. Oh well, next time…

Thailand is definitely one of my favorite places - there are so many fascinating places to visit and the people are very friendly. After all they don’t call Thailand “ the Land of Smiles” for nothing. I don’t mean to make any broad sweeping generalizations but one thing that I find kind of disturbing is Thai people’s nonchalant “sometimes negligent” attitude towards public safety.

To give you an idea what I mean, on my recent most recent trip to Thailand, I stayed in Banilah, a small budget boutique hotel in Chiang Mai. There was a very narrow walkway to the rooms, and lying across the walkway was a rubber water hose that they were using to water the plants. This was a very dangerous situation as someone who is walking to their rooms (especially at night) could easily trip over the hose and have an accident. At the very least, you would think that the hotel management would have put up a yellow caution cone – as they do in the USA - to warn their guests.

This reminded me a situation, which I observed in Koh Chang a number of years ago, where a water pipe was laid across the middle of the long driveway to my bungalow hotel. At night, unless you had a flashlight, one could easily trip over the hose and fall down. I brought this up with the management, and they gave me a look of indifference and nothing was done about this hazard (even when I returned one year later). Well, two years later, the damn hose was finally removed – I guess one of their customers had an accident.

A 3rd incident was indeed even more disturbing. This past December as I was walking through Suvarnabhumi, the very sophisticated International airport near Bangkok, I noticed an electrical cord lying across the middle of the floor. There wasn’t any caution or warning sign or anything, but somebody who wasn’t looking straight ahead while walking could easily trip.

I am guessing that the prevailing attitude of nonchalance towards public safety in Thai Culture is rationalized follows - if you see broken glass or a puddle of water on the floor, just step over or walk around it. No big deal!

Now I realize that I maybe reading more into this than I should, as I have spent so much time in Thailand over the last 9 years – it could be that these situations present themselves in other countries in the same frequency as they do in Thailand, but I am just unaware of it.

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.