This log is current to January 11, 2009

January 9, 2009 in Chiang Mai, Thailand
It’s hard to believe we’ve been back in Thailand a month already.

After two weeks in wonderful Chiang Mai, we flew south to Bangkok via discount airline Nok Air (fine service, we paid $54 pp o/w including fees, fuel surcharge and airport departure tax).

We bussed west to Kanchanaburi (99 Baht/$3), where we lived in 2000 and 2001 -- and again visited the cemetery where many of the 115,000 men who died as slaves to the Japanese while building the “death railway” across Thailand to Burma during WWII.

It was great visiting friends Jumbo, Jittin, Gift and Charlie, and we were especially honored when our dear friend “TM” from NE Thailand (photo below) rode a bus many hours to visit us.

TM and her nephew accompanied us to the Erawan National Park, two pickup-ride hours to the west. We climbed some of the seven levels of the waterfalls, took pictures, and were treated by TM to a wonderful lunch.

We were surprised to learn that 98% of existing travel reservations by foreign tourists have been canceled, mostly because of political protests that recently shut down the Bangkok airport for a week.

If we return to this area, we’ll consider the several resorts upriver on the River Kwai, near the waterfalls. Use of the word “resort” is a bit misleading, but the area is beautiful. The trip from Kanchanaburi is 1-2 hours, depending on traffic.

Since we were first here thirteen years ago, everything is much more expensive. Then, we got 41 baht per USD. Today, it is 34.8. That makes everything 15% more expensive, plus inflation. One of the bigger price hikes is for beer, rather unfortunate in this hot, humid part of Thailand.

The dramatic drop in tourism is radiating economic pain throughout the country. It is effecting not just service providers, but the economy and employment as a whole.

The “death railway” and the famous bridge over the river Kwai is the primary tourist draw here. Interestingly, there are Japanese tourists who consider the bridge as a great Japanese accomplishment, apparently ignoring the horrific loss of life in its construction.

We have mixed feelings. True, the war is long over. But some things, like this should never be forgotten.

From a technical standpoint, the designing and completion of this railroad to Burma in 15 months (it was estimated at five years) was a construction marvel. In 2000, we lived within walking distance of the bridge. Rich emotions washed through us frequently.

Photo: This is one of the original engines used to pull trains westward, in Japan’s quest to expand its empire all the way  to India.

It would be hard to mention Kanchanaburi without bringing up the older foreign men who come here to live. Many encounter prostitutes who they eventually marry, primarily to own a business, usually a bar registered in her name. Among the foreign population are both decent fellows and complete losers.

Photo: This is Jimmy, an American who has lived in Thailand 38 years. A friendly guy, he runs a little street front book store and bar. He was thrilled when we showed him a new copy of the Moon Handbook, in which he was favorably mentioned.

Among the people we knew here eight years ago, one died, one was run out of town, some ran out of money and left (the Thai woman in a business relationship with a foreign almost always wins), and one moved to Bangkok and taught English to children before he was arrested.

Photo: This is Sean McMahon. After arriving in Kanchanaburi in 1999, he became a business partner with “Tony,” owner of the No Name Bar (slogan: get shit faced on a shoestring). Sean moved to Bangkok, and one day in January 2007, Thai police arrested him and extradited him to England, where in 1999 he had jumped bond on charges of repeatedly molesting an eight year old girl.

We are pleased to count among friends people who are working to better screen foreigners coming to Thailand to teach children.

Photo: This is the well-known No Name Bar, a place that we greatly enjoyed years ago. Now it is much more expensive, and less friendly. A group of retired foreign men meet here every Friday. In the past, most of them drank until they could barely walk. Now, to their credit, they have started a small charity to buy school supplies for children in remote villages.

The Ploy Guesthouse deserves a mention. We stayed here nine nights and found it pleasant and reasonably priced (Internet rate 550 baht, about $16.50 in January 2009). Their rooms all have AC, although they don’t all have TV, as some guidebooks say. They provide toast and coffee each morning, and have a reasonably priced menu beyond that. Other than one employee who would be hard pressed to remember her own name five minutes, we were pleased with the Ploy.

We had dinner friends from years ago at the home of Jumbo, owner of Jumbo Travel of Kanchanaburi. We were saddened to learn that the reduced flow of tourists into the area is seriously challenging the viability of the business.

It was Jumbo who first introduced us to Dr. Phil at the Kwai River Christian Hospital, on the Burma border (see earlier logs).

In this picture: Gift, Jumbo, Jittin, Becky and Noom.

We are especially indebted to our old friend Sombat, an official at the Tourism Office for the government of Thailand (seen here with Becky).

This is the man who, in 2000, saw us walking down a street with our luggage. He picked us up and helped us negotiate a lease for a beautiful townhouse, where we lived many months. Sombat is also a Facebook friend.

Our return to Erawan Falls was a highlight. (Entrance fee for foreigners 200 baht, $6). Over the New Year’s holiday, tens of thousand of people showed up to splash and play, as do people throughout the world.

After nine days, we took the bus to Bangkok, where we avoided a scam at the bus station. While boarding a taxi, the dispatcher demanded 400 baht from Becky, who just as strongly demanded a taxi with a meter. She finally won out, but the taxi driver was furious, and soon became lost. After we contacted the guesthouse on our cellphone, and he figured out where he was, he made an illegal turn and was stopped by the police.

Since he was driving illegally, the police took both him and the car away. We walked the rest of the way, laughing.

We found Bangkok dramatically changed since our last visit. (Picture: Bangkok from the river). Horrendous traffic has been eased by a modern sky train that would rival any transportation system in the world.

Of all the cities in all the countries we’ve visited, Bangkok is the most dynamic. The worst things you fear, and your fondest dreams, can likely be found here.

We checked into the Wendy House in Siam Square ($33). It was a little musty, and in our room water oozed up between the floor tiles. Another room was okay. The people were friendly, the AC worked fine, and the location close to the sky train was perfect.

We saw the most beautiful department store we’ve ever seen, went to a movie in the most lavish theater imaginable, and marveled at the awesome modern buildings.

Our return via jet to Chiang Mai from Bangkok’s new airport on another discount airline (Air Asia: $33 each, including all taxes) was pleasant and quick.

On January 10 (as our Thai visa was expiring), we took a ritzy bus to Chiang Rai, and one not so ritzy (right) on to Chiang Khong.

There, we checked out of Thailand, hopped on a longtail boat, and crossed the Mekong River (30 baht pp+10 baht per bag) to Houei Xai (one of several spellings), Laos.

The boat ride takes only a few minutes, but the change is dramatic. So is the money. Instead of getting 34.34 Thai Baht per USD, we had a choice of getting 8,350 Lao Kip per USD, or 243 Kip per Baht. If took a while, but we finally decided the Dollars we had changed to Baht were more valuable converted to Kip than changing Dollars to Kip. I know a double-conversion doesn’t usually pay off, but that was the case here.

Photo: a small boat makes its way across the Mekong from Chiang Khong, Thailand to Houei Xai, Laos. The journey took but ten minutes.

We checked into a hotel near the immigration office and soon discovered that outside, over the balcony, was a Communist flag. Becky was last associated with Communist flags while teaching English in Czechoslovakia (before it broke into two countries) many years ago.

Houei Xai seems a bit more progressive, and more expensive than many Lao towns in remote places. Most travelers come here to take a boat down river the following morning, a two day journey to Luang Prabang.

Our goal was different: Luang Namtha, to the north, near the border with China. Weeks earlier, we arranged a private van to drive us there, in order to avoid what is described as a hot, cramped, dusty 6+ hour bus ride.

We paid $100 for the private ride in a new vehicle, a lot. But it got cheaper when, while eating breakfast an hour before departure, we ran into a French man and his daughter. They were going to the same destination, and were not looking forward to the miserable bus trip on the highway that is not yet completely paved.

So we shared the trip in this van (photo), except for one thing: the driver was a maniac. A pleasant fellow before we left, once behind the wheel he took off like a bat out of hell. For no reason at all, we were tearing along. We ran over one chicken, and very nearly plowed into a family of pigs. Also avoiding death by the skin of their teeth were numerous dogs, children and various farm animals.

Several times we asked him to slow down, but before long he was off to the races again. If you arrange a van through Bo-Sapphire Travel (bo.sapphire@hotmail.com), be certain to ask for a reasonable driver.

Some people took the long ride in the back of pickup trucks, and looked as if they had plenty of that by the time they reached Luang Namtha many hours later.

They crammed as many as a dozen people into the back of some pickup trucks.

Once in Luang Namtha, we made a beeline for Zuela’s Guesthouse, which had been highly recommended in the guide books. We were not disappointed, although we paid 80,000 Kip (at 8,300 to the Dollar) rather than lower amount stated in the books. On the other hand, we had an extra bed, and needed the blankets at night!

Settled in, we are ready to explore NW Laos.

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