Hello Thailand
Thailand: Ranong to Malaysia
Read Next Episode:
First Days at WWFT
Jan 4 2009
Well
we made it to Thailand, and are on our way to our volunteer assignment
about 160 km SW of Bangkok. When there were so many problems with the
Bangkok airport we decided to avoid the city altogether and fly from
Borneo to Phuket. It sounded so simple. We arrive in Phuket about 1 PM,
take a bus to a small town with a beach about 1 hour north of the
airport and continue north first thing the next morning. Life is not
simple. The first part worked. We made it to Khao Lak Beach and we found
an inexpensive bamboo bungalow for the night. Then the complications
began. We made inquiries about buses going north only to be told that no
buses ran north towards Bangkok until late in the afternoon. The trip is
about 11-12 hours to Bangkok and our destination of Cha-Am was 2-3 hours
before Bangkok. That still meant an overnight bus trip – ugh. On top of
that it is the end of a holiday weekend for Thais and everyone is
heading back to Bangkok for school and work. Reservations are scarce. We
were lucky to get a reservation on the 6:30 PM bus which would make
arrival time around 4 AM – double ugh. At least we got to spend the day
in Khao Lak.
Our first impression of Khao Lak was shock. Tourists
outnumbered Thais 10 to 1. We had been so used to being the only
European/North Americans around. Even the most popular tourist spots in
Borneo are visited predominantly by Malaysians.
The town of Khao
Lak is a section of the main highway lined with an infinite number of
restaurants, souvenir shops and Tailor shops. Taxis and motor bike
rentals take up the parking space in front of the shops. We politely
refuse invitations to hire a taxi or visit their shop. At least our
small hotel, which is a collection of concrete bungalows and a few
bamboo bungalows around a small pool, is on a quiet side road. We did
have plenty of choices for our meals and the food was pretty good.
After checking out of our hotel at 11:30 AM and leaving our big bags
at the ticket office for the bus we headed down to the beach. It was
about 300 M from the main road. The beach was populated with hundreds of
European and Western tourists soaking up the sun. They stay in the
resorts that line Khao Lak beach. Most resorts are simply a collection
of bungalows around various facilities and there were plenty of them. We
took off our shoes and walked the long, sandy beach.
Khao Lak Beach
Tsunami Memorial photos
Eventually
we got to a section of the beach without resorts. We thought this was
strange until we investigated a tree with notices posted on the trunk.
It was memorials to Tsunami victims. Thai prayer beads were hung beside
photos of mostly European youths and young children with sad goodbyes
from their parents. It was very moving. I remembered reading in our
Lonely Planet that this section of the coast was badly hit by the
Tsunami on 26 Dec 2004. The bigger resorts have rebuilt, erasing signs
of the disaster but smaller ones have never recovered. Apparently this
stretch of the beach was less protected than the section where the
bigger resorts are located. Both tourists and local resort owners lost
their lives on this section of the beach and locals are loath to return
to such an unlucky part of Thailand, so it remains desolate.
We
turned back and returned to the resort end where we stopped to have a
drink at a beach side restaurant. The water looked so inviting that I
had to go for a swim. We have learned that if you act like you belong
there, no will question you wandering about and using the facilities. I
changed into my bathing suit in the washrooms next to the restaurant,
had a good swim in the ocean and showered off in the conveniently
located shower room in the restaurant. It was nice of the resort to
build such nice facilities for its visitors.
We were assured we
would be met at the bus, even at an ungodly hour, and taken to the
Wildlife center so we boarded the overnight bus with high hopes. Our
first problem was finding out from the Thai-speaking driver where to get
off at Cha-am. I don’t think he understood our request as we started
past the turn off marked “Cha-am” and kept on going. I rushed to the
front of the bus and got the driver to stop. He pointed to a 24 hour gas
station/food stall complex, the only place open at 4:15 AM. We phoned
the center and were told we would be picked up at 5 AM by a taxi that
would take us to the Wildlife Center, about 40 km from Cha-am. We waited
but at 5 AM, no driver and taxi appeared. After more phone calls to the
center, the driver found us 4 1/2 hours after we arrived. We were not at
the spot where volunteers usually wait and we didn’t know where we were
except that we were in the Cha-am area. We should have been exhausted
after a less than comfortable overnight bus trip but we were wired and
anxious to see our new home. The exhaustion would come later.
We
drove away from the coast, past pineapple plantations and into
increasingly arid country to the small village of Kao Look Chang, Thai
for Baby Elephant Mountain. You probably won’t find it on any map,
except the one above. This was
to be our home for the next four weeks.
Return to
Malaysia-Thailand Intro
Return to Travels
Return to Introduction