5.00 am, arrival in the capital of Thailand once again… I had to pick up my friend at the airport around 2:00 p.m., so I stayed at the hostel and talked to some of the thai volunteers. The youth-hostel started a “volunteer-program” for thai students . Students can come to the youth-hostel and talk to foreigners to improve their English, and the foreigners get in contact with the locals.
We had an discussion about the differences between the way young Thai’s act in the public as an couple and western teenager. For example: You would never see a young Thai couple, walking hand in hand in Bangkok on the mainstreet.
We also talked about tourism in Thailand. Tourists bring in the money, thats a main statement of every Thai I talked with. It’s hard to find someone who wants to talk about sextourism in Thailand, or how tourists destroy and change everything like on the southern islands.
21st of July
A short visit at Khao San Road in the morning…. To be honest: I hate this place. It’s a big tourist trap, skip it if you visit Bangkok. That’s what tourism “can do” in the worst way. I felt like being in an European or American town.
At night we decided to walk a bit “of the beaten track” We left the youthhostel and walked until we could not see any tourists. We then dropped into a Thai Karaoke Bar ( I always wondered how Thai spend their sparetime, now I know…) and this was realy funny!
A lot of Thai’s visit Karaoke Bars at night.
Everyone sings their, no matter if you are old, ugly, a bad singer or a good singer. We watched the whole scenery for about three hours and tried some Thai beer and Thai Whiskey. Thai music on TV or radio sound’s strange, but it still got an western touch, Thai music, performed live and by a local is just amazing. Most of the the songs sound sad, and the singer never smiles.
(We also went to another Thai karaoke bar, but I don’t remember to much about it, guess why..). Altogether it was the best time I had in Bangkok so far, no other tourist, pure Bangkok and typical Thai entertainment.
22nd of July
Buses in Bangkok are a cheap and a funny way to get around. But when I tried to make my way to the railway station, I had find out that they can be also very confusing. I took Bus Nr. 53, which goes straight to the main railway station. Unfortunately not if you are in a hurry and want to go there as quick as possible. I had to find out that the routes can change, with in one day, so I had to get of the bus and walk to the railwaystation. fortunately I was able to catch my train to Chaing Mai just in time.
23rd of July, Chiang Mai
Our first day in northern Thailand after a 700 kilometre trip by train. Chiang Mai is like Bangkok, just a bit smaller, and a bit cheaper. The city itself is crowded with tourists, I even saw a “German Hofbraeuhaus” … Embarrassing to see young thai woman, dressed in Bavarian clothes. Why do Germans fly thousands and thousands of kilometres, just to sit in a look a like German restaurant and eat German food?!