25 Jan - 29 Jan 2013 Phatthalung



Southeast Asia
Kingdom of Thailand aka The Land of Conditional Smiles
Phatthalung
Thanon Disara Sakarin 14-14/1-5
Phatthalung Thai Hotel +6674611636
Clean and spacious twin room with good wifi and private/attached bathroom for THB 300.- or US$ 10.- per night. Very friendly, English-speaking staff; family-run local hotel.
Beer: 640-ml bottles of reasonably cold Chang Classic (c. 6.4 % alc./vol.) for THB 43.- or US$ 1.45 per bottle from any of the many Chinese grocers in the hotel’s neighbourhood (no BDS necessary).


Click below for an interactive road map of the Phatthalung Thai Hotel in Phatthalung, which we would recommend, and for directions:
N 07° 37.07' E 100° 05.02'









Exploring the small rural town of Phatthalung, one of the twelve royal cities during the reign of King Ramathibodi I of the Ayuthaya Kingdom in the 14th century CE, meeting the friendly abbot of Wat Khuha Sawan (thus learning about the royal monograms in his temple’s cave) and thereafter treating ourselves to some fine genuine Thai food (i) at the town’s rugged Old Food Court, (ii) at the clean and economical Wan Chad vegetarian/vegan restaurant opposite Wat Khuha Sawan (+6674615858, THB 20.- per delicious meal), and (iii) at the lively every-evening night market right opposite the town's train station.



Climbing the c. 250-m high karstic Khao Ok Thalu mountain, the phallic symbol of the province, eyeballing the town below through a large hole near the top of the mountain and coming in contact with (i) old and pot-bellied Yor Thang, a famous shadow-puppetry character, and (ii) young and slender nun-turned-builders from the Wang Sukkhatitham Santinakorn monastery who devote themselves to the arduous erection of their new Rongtham Thammikaracha temple “which will be gifted to King Bhumiphol Adunlayadey in honour of his royal merit…”
“For surely a king is first a man. And so it must follow that a king does as all men do: the best he can.”


Taking a slow train in third class (State Railway of Thailand) from Phatthalung to Hat Yai (c. 80 km, 2 hours, THB 18.- or US$ 0.60 per person) and separating temporarily; (i) Konni: travelling by Konsortium Bas coach to Kuala Lumpur (c. 530 km, 10 ¼ hours, THB 550.- or US$ 18.50 per person for a snoozer seat) in order to buy my new microchip for only MYR 415.- or US$ 134.- from the German embassy (it still comes with a free passport attached) and to meet up with our close friends and fellow PTs Sal & Rich at Willi's new guesthouse Birdnest 2, and (ii) Matt: travelling by public bus from Hat Yai’s bus stop in front of the clock tower to the coastal town of Songkhla (c. 25 km, 1 hour, THB 20.-), known as “the great city on two seas”, in order to kill some time and to chillax on Songkhla's beaches for a few days.
"Dear Government, I'm going to have a serious talk with you if I ever find anyone to talk to..."


 Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from the United Kingdom:
 
For Amazon schnaeppchens from Germany, please click here
For Amazon deals from the United States, please click here
For Amazon deals from Canada, please click here 


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’s bad to search for the truth;
It’s good to understand lies.
Keep your bearings!
Destination:

22 Jan - 25 Jan 2013 N. Si Thammarat



Southeast Asia
Kingdom of Thailand aka The Land of Conditional Smiles
Nakhon Si Thammarat
Thanon Chamroenwithi 1459/7-9
Muang Tong Hotel +6675343026
Adequate twin room with wifi and private bathroom for THB 350.- or US$ 11.80 per night. Friendly staff; zero English.
Beer: 640-ml bottles of ice-cold Chang Classic (c. 6.4 % alc./vol.) from the hotel’s helpful reception for THB 45.- or US$ 1.50 per bottle.


Click below for an interactive road map of the Muang Tong Hotel in Nakhon Si Thammarat, which we would recommend, and for directions:
N 08° 26.31' E 099° 57.66'









Exploring friendly and down-to-earth Nakhon Si Thammarat, a small rural town off the beaten tourist track where a diversity of spiritual institutions (Buddhist wats, Christian churches, Chinese joss houses, Muslim mosques and Agnostic pubs) keep on good terms with their neighbours and learning that an overland route between the western port of Trang (by the Andaman Sea) and eastern port of Nakhon Si Thammarat (by the South China Sea) had functioned for ages as a major trade link between the western and eastern worlds.



Meetings curious Burmese monks at Wat Phra Mahathat, the biggest Buddhist wat in Thailand’s south, tilting our heads back in order to spot the details of the solid (?) golden spire, supposedly weighing several hundred kilograms, which crowns the impressive 78m-high mid-13th-century chedi, and putting our palms together in a lotus-bud shape (Thai: phanom mue) to show respect to those sweet local ladies who skilfully brew their delicious but fattening Thai ice coffee aka oliang for only THB 20.- per large, heavily sugared cup.
“...some of the largest companies are now using brain scans to study how we react neurologically to certain foods, especially to sugar. They've discovered that the brain lights up for sugar the same way it does for cocaine...”



Visiting the traditional workshop of Suchart Subsin +6675346394, Thailand’s acknowledged master of shadow puppetry (both manufacture and performance), who has performed for the king, and watching the intricate process of making puppets aka nang thalung from buffalo hide and rattan.



Taking a slow train in third class (State Railway of Thailand) from Nakhon Si Thammarat to the one-horse town of Phatthalung (100 km, 2 ½ hours, THB 22.- per person), located in the far south of Thailand on the west coast of Songkhla Lake at the foot of the Ok Thalu Mountain, and spotting en-route the three pillars of true rural Thai life: (i) neat rice paddies (...for their dietary needs) (ii) colourful Buddhist wats (...for their spiritual needs) and (iii) large rubber plantations (...for their sexual needs).



Click below for a summary of this year's travels
2013 Map Konni & Matt


 Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from Germany:

For Amazon deals from the United States, please click here
For Amazon deals from Canada, please click here
For Amazon deals from the United Kingdom, please click here


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’s bad to gulp chilled pops;
It’s good to drink lukewarm water.
Keep your bearings!
Destination:

01 Jan - 22 Jan 2013 Bangkok



Southeast Asia
Kingdom of Thailand aka The Land of Conditional Smiles
Bangkok aka Krung Thep Maha Nakhon aka The Big Mango
Khlong San
58 Soi 1, Sarapee 3, Krungthonburi Road
Aiya Residence & Sport Club +6628621611 info@aiyaresidence.com
Economic double-room studio (no. 603) with kitchenette and air-con for THB 9,000.- or US$ 297.- per month (plus THB 6.85/kWh and THB 21.4/cbm for utilities), including free access to a large, 30m-long swimming pool (big enough to do laps) and a heated out-door Jacuzzi.
Friendly, helpful and very professional staff.
Wifi for THB 550.- or US$ 18.- per month.
Beer: 640-ml bottles of cold Chang Lager Beer (c. 6.4 % alc./vol.) for THB 40.- or US$ 1.35 from any of the 7-Eleven convenience stores in the neighbourhood.


Click below for an interactive road map of the Aiya Residence & Sports Club in Bangkok, which we would highly recommend, and for directions:
N 13° 43.46' E 100° 29.71'









Exploring Bangkok’s birthplace, the glittering temples and palaces of Ko Ratanakosin and the adjacent charming Banglamphu suburb, thus, amongst others, (i) climbing up the artificial hill of the Golden Mount +6626210576 and (ii) thereafter paying a short visit to the tourist ghetto of Khao San Road with its rash of international inmates of all genders, races, religions, hairstyles and psychiatric diagnoses.



Konni: Entertaining my brother Ekki, who came from Berlin for a weeklong visit, and freelancing for him as an unlicensed personal tour guide, thus counting (i) the number of operating potteries on the low-key Mon island Ko Kret, about 7 km north of Bangkok proper, (ii) the number of tilted stupas in the former Royal capital of Ayuthaya, (iii) the number of guards armed with HK33 ("Made in Germany", agh) at the beautifully restored royal palace of Bang Pa-In, (iv) the number of transgendered sex-workers in Pattaya and (v) the number of donated brass bells on the Golden Mount - once a teacher's child always a teacher's child.

Matt: Enjoying tremendously the fascinating opportunity to listen to the almost unbearable boasting of a Teutonic civil serpent, Konni’s brother Ekki, a fat office sitter aka sesselfurzer with one of Berlin’s government departments, analysing this parasitic species’ distinctive nonvalues and attitudes, and still wondering whether all these government thugs are either criminally liable crooks or only a bunch of disturbed sickos; now this blimp is gone, thank heavens!

"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe."
(Dr. Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)




Leaving unrelenting, always hustling and smiling Bangkok, Thailand’s most populous city, thus taking the BTS Sky Train (THB 40.- or US$ 1.30 per person) to Mochit Terminal Station and thereafter an a/c city bus 510 (THB 17.- per person) to Bangkok’s revitalised Don Mueang International Airport, flying uneventfully with Thai Air Asia (“Now Everyone Can Fly”) in an Airbus A 320-200 to Nakhon Si Thammarat’s provincial airport for only THB 604.- or US$ 19.20 per person, one way, all inclusive, booked over the internet back in May 2012 CE, and eventually taking a pre-paid cab from the airport straight into Nakhon Si Thammarat’s city centre (submitting in the end to the taxi mafia’s non-metered flat rate of THB 300.- or US$ 10.- for c. 12 km).



Click below for more blog posts about our visits to Bangkok
01 Oct - 29 Oct 2014 Bangkok
13 Mar - 18 Apr 2013 Bangkok
19 Dec - 31 Dec 2012 Bangkok
08 Feb - 06 Mar 2012 Bangkok
01 Mar - 01 May 2010 Bangkok

 Click below for a summary of this year's travels
2013 Map Konni & Matt

 
Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from the United States:
 
For Amazon schnaeppchens from Germany, please click here
For Amazon bargains from Canada, please click here
For Amazon bargains from the United Kingdom, please click here  


From the 2013 Moral Travel Compass for Our Grand Children's Journey of Life:
It’ s bad to eat anything with a face; 
It’s good to chew raw veggies. 
Keep your bearings!
Destination: ,
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