Doi Mae Salong, Part one

Santhikiri is a small town situated about 70 km away from the city of Chiang Rai. The word Doi means 'mountain' in the northern Thai dialect. And Santhikiri is up in the hills and between all the surrounding mountains and valleys of the area called Doi Mae Salong.

I started my journey to Santhikiri quite early in the morning and while the distance is not too long i had a fair share of stops, the first ones for morning coffee on the roadside and the other stops just to take pictures, observe the absolutely stunning surroundings or just because i simply could not drive further with the risk of dying for the reason of not being able to keep my eyes on the road.

The roads are in an absolutely top-notch condition and it was a pleasure to drive but the curves and the upward/downward slopes were quite difficult to handle for a fairly cautious driver like me. I did however enjoy it alot, and after awhile i felt more comfortable and realized how i should drive. I also heard a ridiculous story about how people actually drive there. Slowly on the straights and very fast in the curves because they blamed the curves for the accidents because of the bad sight. So the logic was that if you drive fast in the curves there's not enough time for accidents to happen. Confusing and I'm not sure if it's true but I'm confident there's many accidents happening in this area.

To be continued...

Bangkok to Siem Reap

Today i was asked a question from a worried tourist how he would avoid all the scams travelling from Bangkok to Siem Reap. This route is known for it's scams, like buses dropping you off at weird hotels, taking extra long routes and for some people even part of their luggage got solen. Myself I would still stay it's quite easy to manage this trip without any bigger hassle.

I've done the trip Siem Reap to Bangkok once, many years ago. I took a taxi (alone) from Siem Reap to the border in Poipet. It cost me about 25$ but i guess the price would be closer to 40$ these days, then again I don't know. Atleast if you're several people the cost should not be unbearable.

Just stick with other travellers and try to take everything people tell you with a pinch of salt. There's always some problems ahead if you ask the touts. They will tell you that this hotel is closed, this road can't be driven on, the government buses don't run today etc. Mini-van to the Thai-border if you come from Siem reap and a train or government bus the rest of the way. The opposite if you're coming from the Thai side, always be careful with VIP buses and similar offered by some big travel agencys. I don't want to judge the ones that are innocent because there are probably alot of good ones out there too, but theft has been a big problem and even violence at times. That's all advise i can give. It can save you alot of hassle if you break these trips into several parts even if you'd believe the opposite!

Safe Travels!
Timo Travel

Tao kae Noi - Top Secret  ( Movie )

I recently watched this movie and I feel it's well worth watching to know more about Thailand and the people in the country. The movie is about the very well known Aitthipat Kulapongvanich (Top) who made billions of Thai baht in his early twenties with his seaweed business.

Altough i feel this movie is a little dramatized and all of the hardships he had in the movie was not really that hard in real from the facts that i've read on the internet. But however it's an inspiring story and if you are interested in watching a Thai version of a movie where a teenager becomes a billionaire, then 'Tao kae noi' is definitely worth watching.

By the way this movie is probably streamable from youtube with English subs!




More info about the movie here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2292955/

About Top himself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aitthipat_Kulapongvanich

I'm back to Bangkok and i will start writing this blog again and keeping updated with all the bizarre and funny things happening in this lively city. I will also give some advice for travellers and places which should not be avoided on a more extended trip to Bangkok.

Using the buses in Bangkok can be very confusing and the help available makes it even more confusing. Finally i have found a tool that I've anticipated for a long time. The Bangkok trip planner. Just fill in where you are going from and where you want to go and the website helps you with finding the right bus numbers or telling you if there's any other public transport (BTS,MRT) to use for your trip. It seems like there's still a bit limited amount of places included in the search but it's atleast something.

The taxis are maybe not very expensive in Bangkok, but if you are on a budget and otherwise have started thinking in Thai Baht, the tool can be to great help for everyone. Apart from the money saved bus is something i prefer myself most of the time, you just see some many different things regarding Thai society everyday and for me public transport is a valuable thing for watching a part of a day of a ordinary Thai person.

So here's the link:
http://www.transitbangkok.com/bangkok_buses.html

Timo Travel

Don't know if i should laugh or cry...

What happened to me yesterday was something I'm not even going to try to explain, because i don't understand it. Me wearing a shirt that is in thai called 'colour gay' (btw it was red not pink!) drew more attention than another guy at the same place wearing a t-shirt with a swastika on it!? How to explain that, i don't know!

Timo Travel

Flooding in Bangkok - Nam tuam

For the last month or so there has been big problems in cities a little north of Bangkok. Cities like Lop Buri and Ayutthaya have had serious problems with high water levels. Everyone is waiting for the rainseason to be over so things could get back to normal. I won't go into details because for many people this has been a major tragedy.

The latest days some of the northern parts of Bangkok has experienced flooding and in other parts of the city the water has rised to levels way above the normal. Bangkok Post is updating with the latest news. For most travellers and tourists this will probably not affect them in a serious manner but keep yourself informed.

Timo Travel

Thailand vs. Oman (World cup qualifier) 5.9.2011 - part 1

It was tuesday evening and the premier league has been on a break for 1 1/2 weeks already. That's way too much for a freak like me. I couldn't handle it anymore so i've been trying to get any kind of football stimulus and i decided to go watch Thailand - Oman world cup qualifier. It was played not very far from my home at the Rajamangala national stadium. When i went there i still didn't know how to get the tickets and if there was any official sellers anywhere. There was loads of people around the area, most of them going to the match and others working, selling football related things and something edible. 

As i went closer to the stadium i saw many people selling tickets on the street. Also many people buying from them so i assumed it was a safe thing to do. I still continued closer to the stadium and gave it some thought. Drank a cup of coffee and watched the masses. Suddenly one guy came to me and asked if i was going to watch the match. I said yes and he handed me a ticket and said here you are welcome to Thailand. As in my country were always thought to be suspicious about nice people so i wondered a little but i didn't see any problem taking a free ticket. I asked him if he wanted one and he said he already has his, he just got a spare one. "Welcome to Thailand" he said again and i thanked him alot but i felt i couldn't really thank him well enough because i was left silent after such a display of being nice. So now i had a free ticket to the game, and also in the best stand, not bad! I still don't know where to officially buy them except from the internet and the sellers around the stadium but this ticket would have set you down 500 thb. A little bit more than 10€ and about 15$. The cheaper tickets cost anything inbetween that and 100 thb (about 3 dollars or 2,5€).

This is the end of part 1. To be continued....

Timo Travel