Posts Tagged ‘Thailand’

The Driver

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013
The tuk tuk driver

The tuk tuk driver

We had arrived in Bangkok a couple days earlier, but clearly we didn’t do our homework. With our first class sleeper tickets booked and in hand, but only 40 minutes left to get to Hualamphong Station, things weren’t looking good. The original plan was simple, leave the hotel an hour beforehand and walk over to the roadside near Democracy Monument where we were certain we’d be able to find a cab for the five kilometer ride to the station. At the time it had seemed foolproof, and as we now rounded the corner from our hotel and saw some open cabs sitting in the traffic, we thought we were in the clear.

It was our first time in Thailand and we were heading south to Koh Phangan for the New Year’s Eve Full Moon Party. To make the […]

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Saying goodbye Koh Phangan and heading west to Krabi and the island of Koh Phi Phi

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

(This is entry #6 from Thailand Trip (see entries #1, #2, #3, #4, #5))

Krabi Town Night Market

Krabi Town Night Market

JANUARY – From the Haad Tian resort on the island of Koh Phangan it’s just a 15 or 20 minute drive along the southwest coast to get to the Thongsala pier. After a great five nights on Koh Phangan, we had an early wake up so we could catch our ride down to the pier. Our goal was to head across the mainland to Krabi on the west side of Thailand, from where we would then hopefully travel on to Koh Phi Phi and perhaps Railey, depending how our time in Krabi and Phi Phi went. Knowing that after New Year’s there would probably be a mass exodus off the island, we decided to go ahead and buy our boat/bus tickets all the […]

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Koh Phangan after New Years

Saturday, May 7th, 2011

Entry #5 from Thailand Trip (see entries #1, #2, #3, #4 and #6)

Relaxing in Koh Phangan after New Years

Relaxing in Koh Phangan after New Years

After a fun night at the New Year’s Full Moon Party, we finally decided to call it quits around 2AM. We weren’t sure how we were going to get back to the other side of the island, but we had a hunch we may be able to catch a ride with the truck that had dropped us off. From our hotel, they were doing runs to Haad Rin every hour until 1 or 1:30 to drop people off, and we hoped we’d see the truck and be able to catch a lift back to the hotel, and save us the trouble of finding a ride. From Haad Rin back to to the Haad Tian Resort it was a […]

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New Year’s Eve Full Moon Party, Koh Phangan

Friday, December 24th, 2010

As New Year’s 2010 approaches, I’m finally getting around to posting about New Year’s 2009 on Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party!

Entry #4 from Thailand Trip (see entries #1, #2, #3, #5 and #6)

Ao Chalok Lam bay, Koh Phangan

Ao Chalok Lam bay, Koh Phangan

We finally made it to Koh Phangan after a night of traveling from Bangkok. Then, after wading through the chaos at the ferry port we found our ride and eventually made it to the Haad Tian Beach Resort on the North West part of the island. By songthaew (truck that a bunch of people sit in the back of) it was about about a 25 minute drive, part of which was spent picking up a bunch of other people who were heading the same way, and the last portion of which was quite bumpy coming down a windy […]

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Getting to Koh Phangan from Bangkok, thru Surat Thani

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Entry #3 from Thailand Trip (see entries #1, #2, #4, #5 and #6)

Hualamphong Train Station, Bangkok

Hualamphong Train Station, Bangkok

We just barely made it to the train station in Bangkok for our overnight train to Surat Thani, but we were now finally aboard the train, ready to head south to the islands in the Gulf of Thailand. We settled into our first class cabin, and as we pulled away from the station, we enjoyed the relative peace and quiet of the train after fighting with Bangkok traffic only hours earlier. The peace didn’t last long though, as there was a rowdy British group in the cabin next door, though this much was expected considering most of the passengers on the train were likely heading to the islands for the upcoming New Year’s celebrations.

There are a plenty of options for a trip like this, as […]

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Arrival in Bangkok, Khao San, and Grand Palace

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Entry #2 from Thailand Trip (see entries #1, #3, #4, #5 and #6)

Bangkok syline at night from hotel roof

Bangkok syline at night from hotel roof

We finally made it out of Guangzhou, had an uneventful but comfortable flight from there to Bangkok, and successfully made it to the Lamphu Tree House Hotel where we had reservations for the first night. Even though we had been in transit for over 24 hours, and had only slept for a few hour increments on the planes, we didn’t want to waste our first night in Thailand. The hotel was really nice and had a lovely rooftop patio, but we really were itching to get out into Bangkok. The hotel was supposedly a 10 minute walk from Khao San Road, and knowing that it has been called the Backpacker Center of the Universe, we figured what better place to […]

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Back to semi-reality from Thailand

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

I spent the past 14 days in Thailand (with a 5 hour stint in Narita, Japan). My New Year was spent on the beach at the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan, and then I spent some time in the Krabi area, including Krabi Town, Koh Phi Phi and Ao Nang. So needless to say it will take me a few days to get back to reality. If I can get my ass in gear, over the next few weeks I will try to post some photos and some of my journal entries from the trip.

Hope all is well with all of you, and that you had a holiday as good as I did!

Looking down into town on Koh Phi Phi from viewpoint

Looking down to Koh Phi Phi from viewpoint