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Bangkok
Ko Samui |
Ko
Pha Ngan |
Ko
Phi Phi |
Chiang
Mai |
Ko
Tao
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Ayutthaya
Bangkok |
Return
to Thailand |
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 4th
of August, Weekend Market
The weekend market is every weekend (hence the name of
it.) and it's definitely not like the night market in
Chiang Mai or Kao Shan Road and worth to be seen. You
get everything at the weekend market, food, cloths, gems
even furniture's and its really crowded. Most of the people
going there are Thai, because it's much still cheap then
the rest of Bangkok. It takes about an hour by the bus
to get there and if you are in Bangkok on a Saturday or
a Sunday, don't miss it! We also went to the Bayoketower,
which is the highest building in the city, but that was
a disappointment.
 You have to pay 120 Baht to for the elevator to the observation
deck and inside the tower there are shops selling stuff
just like on Khaosan Road. We accidentally took a wrong
elevator and ended up the 12th floor. Just to find out
that there is nothing between the 12th and the 9th floor,
just empty unfinished rooms. The Bayoketower probably
also was a victim of the financial crisis in south-east
Asia. You see a lot of unfinished buildings in Bangkok,
waiting for a buyer, or to collapse.
 5th
of August, Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya was the Siamese Capital from 1350 to 1767
(one of the most important and biggest cities in the
world at that time) before the Burmese destroyed it..
It's about 70 kilometres north of Bangkok and a nice
day trip if you have some time left. It takes about
2 hours to get there by train. Most of the books recommend
to rent a tuk tuk or a bicycle to explore the city,
but we decided to walk around which is also a good way.
The city itself is an island, so you have to take one
of the boats to get there (there are also some bridges).
The ruins in and around Ayutthaya are really impressive
and show the old power of this magnificent place. We
visited a few temples and had a rest in the park in
the middle of the city. The park is not just a big meadow
or something like that. There are a lot of little islands,
connected by bridges which creates an awesome scenery.
 6th
of August, A new passport,
Martin and I had to get up early in the morning, to
go to the Austrian embassy and the immigration centre,
to get new passports and a new visa. Five days after our
"Worst Case Scenario" on Ko Pha Nang we finally became
full Austrian citizen again and Martin was able to leave
the country without any problems. I think this is also
the right time to thank Martin to accompany me for almost
three weeks, and staying calm during the "Worst Case Scenario".
We had a lot of fun together and also a lot of serious
discussions about tourism in Thailand, which was a great
input for my writing.
7th and 8th of August, Stomach sick,
I was a bit stomach sick on the 7th of August, so
I decided to stay at the hostel and explore a bit of the
neighbourhood. On the 8th of August I met Nancy, a girl
from Canada. She is currently bicycling around the national
park somewhere in South Thailand as I'm writing this.
It was really difficult for her to get from the hostel
to the train station so I decided to help her. Taxis don't
carry bikes and neither do busses, so Nancy went to the
train station by bike, and I took her stuff and followed
her with the bus. I don't think Thai's see a lot of foreigners
on bicycles in Bangkok, everyone in the bus and even on
the street was looking at her (some of them where laughing,
others just nodding their heads).
 By the way, Nancy arrived at the train station before
I got there, so bicycling is a non-polluting fast way
to get around in Bangkok, if you can bear the heat.
Unfortunately I couldn't join her, I love hiking and
bicycling around in the nature.
9th and 10th of August, Sightseeing and relaxing at Siamsquare
To wait for a flight to Australia can get quiet boring,
fortunately Bangkok has a lot to offer. The 9th of August
was a typical sightseeing day, I woke up around 8:00
am, looked at my map and decided to visit the temple
of dawn (Wat Arunrat) and a fish market I discovered
the day before. Both sights (the fish market isn't really
tourist attraction.) where close together, so I could
easily walk from one location to the other. . The smell
at the fish market was unbelievable, but after a few
minutes I got used to it. I spend there about an hour,
walking around, talking to some of the sellers and taking
some pictures of the huge hills of seafood. On the 10th
of August I went once again to the Siamsquare, to watch
a movie, have something to eat and look around in the
hundreds and hundreds of little shops.
11th of August: 8th Thai Volunteer Program
This was a very interesting day, I already added an
entry about the volunteer program, so you can read the
stuff which happened on this day there.
 Thai
Volunteer program
Imagine, you are a student at a big
city somewhere in America or Europe. Someone offers
you to talk to foreigners about the culture in your
home country and show them the city you are living.
To spend your spare time with people you don't even
know. What would be your first thought? Probably "How
much do they pay? For students in Thailand the question
is probably: Where do I have to sign?
But here is the whole story!
I already wrote about the Thai Volunteer program at
the Bangkok International Youth hostel, but after staying
here a few times and spending the past week at this
place, I got a much closer look on the whole project.
"It's a program where local Thai youth volunteer their
time to connect and familiarise travellers thus creating
cross-cultural exchange and enhancing a strong international
friendship which result in travellers been guided around
and shown the city and put in close contact with Thai
culture. Instead of being a lost traveller or anonymous
member of a large tour group, travellers are able to
spend time interacting on a personal level with Thai
youth, all the while learning about Thai culture, visiting
local landmark with a new found personal guide and generally
being welcome and save in a place which may initially
save seemed intimating and foreign." (That's the description,
written by Promvit, leader of the program)
I was invited to be guest at the opening ceremony of
the 8th volunteer program (I was the only foreigner
there). The volunteers change every fourth month, so
other students get the chance to join the program. Mr.
Ong-Ard, Director of the Thai Youth hostel Association
took me to the ministry of youth, where the ceremony
was set. Volunteers from the 6th and 7th program guided
me around and introduced me to the new group of volunteers.
A lot of students who join the volunteer program work
on other tourism-projects afterwards.
There are more then 300 Thai Students, who want to join
the volunteer program, but only twenty of them are finally
chosen. My guide asked me to introduce myself to the
students and I told them what I'm doing and that I'm
travelling around for Worldsurface. The students then
asked me questions about what I like in Thailand most,
what I think about the program etc. The minister of
youth also showed up at the ceremony, which is I think
proving that the program already got some attention
in Thailand.
 First Mr. Ong-Ard talked about the International Youth
Hostelling and the Volunteer Program. After that, the
minister of youth started to talk. It seems that Thai
politicians love long speeches just as western politicians
do. They all spoke Thai, but fortunately one of the volunteers
translated the important stuff for me. The minister was
a very nice guy. He talked about his time as a student
and how important the volunteer program is for Thailand.
He finished his speech with little quotes in English,
which I also want to post:
Reason only is not enough, but feeling and emotion is
equal important. To lead means to serve and to
lead means to follow.
Unfortunately I had to leave the ceremony before the
official ending, but it was very interesting to talk
to the volunteers and meet the people behind the project.
  If
you come to Thailand and look for something special, (I'm
not talking about the Khao San Road stuff.) then come
to the Bangkok International Youth Hostel and meet up
with the volunteers! It's a great experience, which I
can recommend to everyone!
12th of August, Birthday of Queen Sikirit
The whole town was very quiet and nearly empty on that
day, except the Phramane Ground next to the Grand Place.
That's where the celebration for the birthday of the
queen took place. I went there in the late afternoon
and I have to admit:I've never seen such a big birthday party. There was a huge
fireworks around 8:00 P.M. and maybe eight stages with
different shows and music. I even was able to see the
king and the queen.
 13th
to 14th of August, Relaxing...
Two relaxing days in Bangkok, I spent most of the time
at the youth hostel to talk with Promvit and other travellers.
Every time somebody arrived at the hostel, Promvit pointed
at me and said "He is a volunteer, ask him if you
have any questions!" A nice couple from Ireland
(Joanne and Shane) had a lot of advises concerning Australia,
so I re-planed my Australia-Tour. On the 14th of August
I visited the Vinamek Mansion, the biggest golden teak
house in the world, really impressive and worth to be
seen.
15th
of August, Million Miles Away
The final day, they played Offspring's "Million
Miles Away" during take off in Bangkok, which was,
for my opinion, a very good sign. Singapore was a five
hour stop on the way to Darwin but the time passed by
pretty fast since the airport has a lot to offer (city
tour, cinema, food-court etc.). |
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Bangkok
Ko Samui |
Ko
Pha Ngan |
Ko
Phi Phi |
Chiang
Mai |
Ko
Tao
|
Ayutthaya
Bangkok |
Return
to Thailand |
|
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