roadwarrier

I like your itinerary - my first visit to Thailand was also a combination of city, mountains and beach. It allowed me to explore each of the different regions and resulting foods and traditions.

Looking forward to the rest.

greg0ire

Please! I wasn't insulting the king or religion. The Thai words sounded funny phonetically in English. I'm sure there are plenty of English words that look strange to foreign speaking visitors. I wouldn't feel disrespected in the least if they thought it was funny. I still giggle at Regina...some of my best friends are Canadian.

However I apologize that you were offended.

BA5E

Have subscribed, thoroughly enjoying what I have read so far, will one day have to try CX. Love HKG, will have to take another visit at some stage in life. Looking forward to the next episode.^

greg0ire

Part 3: 3 Nights in Chiang Mai

We took a one hour flight on Thai Airways 110 BKK-CNX 13:10-14:20
The US carriers can take a lesson here. Each ticket on the widebody A330 was about $40US and included free bags and a decent lunch service. I believe we had a calzone.

The guy on the right was happy to pose for the pic


We stayed at the Art Mai in the Art District. It was about a 10 min ride or 45 min walk away from the night bazaar. There were cheaper options, but we didn't want to sleep at a guest house and we enjoyed the artsy, boutique feel of the place. Decent breakfast included too.

Lobby


Our room...some kind of love theme



Forgot to mention it in the Bangkok thread. 7-Elevens are everywhere. It made me think. Since they due month then date, is Free Slurpee day on November 7th?


We walked to the night bazaar and had a meal at a wonderful place called Lemongrass on the right. This was just after a short rain (part of the 1.5 hours total we experienced in 2 weeks). Though the food was great we learned that it makes more sense to eat at the many food stalls for significantly cheaper.



My wife did pretty well for herself that night at the market.


We opted for the Tuk-tuk heading bak to the hotel. It was a definite adventure.


There are a ton of agencies trying to sell you on their adventure program. We settled on one that only cost us $30 each to do a butterfly and orchid farm, a poo paper factory, a visit to a Karen tribe, the tiger kingdom, elephant ride, nature hike, white water rafting, and bamboo rafting. We loved everything we did, but you get what you pay for. Parts felt a little cheap.

Lots of pretty butterflies in the pavilion.


Couldn't help myself at the Paper Poo Factory.



They claim they don't sedate the tigers at the kingdom, but I have trouble believing that. I can tell you it was really cool to pet one though.


The Long Neck Karen Tribe was fascinating. This group relocated from Myanmar. It seems so uncomfortable to have all of these rings around your neck.




Can't explain the teeth


We visited an elephant sanctuary. This is where the cheapness may come into play. We drove way beyond where most of the farms and sanctuaries are. It was really off the grid. Most of the locations provided seats on the elephant. Not this one. I actually did fear for our lives when we went down a steep muddy hill and the elephant decided to go off the trail. There is nothing to hold on to.



We did a long uphill hike, but it was totally worth it at the end when we got to swim in this.


The tour ended with white water rafting with some gnarly rapids.


The next day we saw a parade with school children. Here you see them carrying a money tree.


I told you food was cheap. The pad thai with chicken or shrimp was $1.50 and the chicken stick was 50 cents.



While my wife went to enjoy a one hour message with foot scrub for $6, I did this for 15 min for $2. The fish nibble at your dead skin, bacteria, etc. My feet were pretty smooth after. I have to admit that I think the fish have bad taste (badump bump). The little girl is the owner's daughter. I let her watch cartoons on my iPhone.



I left out a lot of stuff, but you get the gist. We loved Chiang Mai. Though still busy it was a much slower pace than Bangkok. Glad we did this second.

Stay tuned for the first three of six days in Koh Samui...

adampenrith

Great TR

However its disrepectful to make fun of another culture

As for the "ladyboys" you should be as considerate to the "trans" community back home as you do when travelling.

These "ladyboys" make the most of their situation, being born in the body of a different gender to their brain, they actually work hard and support their families with the work they do in the big city. They are very respectful to their parents and older relatives, as is the Buddhist and Thai culture.

Why would a black buddha make your feel uncomfortable?

Who knows what God looks like - is God Male or is God Female, is Jesus the caucasion man our art tells us , or born in the Middle East, of Jewish parents most likely olive skinned with a hooked nose that is symbolic of the tribe he was born into.

We are conditioned by what is around us, travel broadens the mind, and we all need to be aware of our prejudice and really need to broaden our minds.

We seem to live in a time of hate, just listening to the Political postering, its all about hate, and evil, along with so much on social media.

My mother always said if you cannot say something nice - don't say it....

greg0ire

I don't follow a word of what you said. You're upset I used the term ladyboy? The very word they used on the billboard? And who are you to accuse me of anything regarding the statue? It was the stare that made me uncomfortable. Don't you dare accuse me of anything that is groundless and unwarranted. Please leave my thread with this nonsense. Take your soapbox elsewhere.

JoesRevenge

Agreed. Its hilarious how easily people are offended these days. Make sure to not post anymore photos which have meat in them as it might offend vegans and vegetarians. Also, any pictures with alcohol might offend tee-teetotalers. Actually, you better just stop altogether just to be safe.

shgroamer

While all of your points are valid and well stated, I think OP was just quoting the signs on the streets (which he clearly posted a picture of). I don't see where he was intentionally being disrespectful with regards to the trans community.

Now "black buddha" I think the beaming white eyes of the statue are what are discomforting from an aesthetic perspective. I don't recall OP ever making a statement about color of skin. While I agree, some things that are foreign to us (but potentially the culturally significant statue, or other things) are better left unspoken with regards to our opinions, or initial reactions, I don't think there's a need to attack OP this aggressively, but that's just me.

edit: probably "aggressive" is the wrong term, but maybe such a lengthy lecture/reaction.

glennaa11

I avoid all of these animal things. The elephants are poorly treated in most of these places. Only the sanctuaries where they aren't required to carry tourists around but get to live free are humane attractions. The tiger farms are also notorious for their poor treatment of the animals. You have to do a lot of research to find humane animal attractions.

I also am not a huge fan of places that put people on display as tourist attractions. It just makes me uncomfortable. I realize these are poor people trying to earn some money but it always feels distasteful to me.

Love the butterfly park though! There are some interesting cave shrines that are worth a visit too.

greg0ire

The elephants seemed to be well cared for. I looked up the sanctuary online and it had very positive reviews regarding the treatment. The tiger kingdom was another story. I looked it up after and was disappointed about what I read online.
The Karen Tribe choose to live this way, sharing their culture with the public, hoping to make a profit. Though it felt "touristy" I enjoyed seeing them up close and learning about the way they live.

choch345

Great report! Like the style and that you and your wife are in lots of pics vs. being anonymous.

greg0ire

Thank you. I was nervous that one wasn't supposed to do that.

greg0ire

Part 4: 6 Nights in Koh Samui.

Bangkok Airways 216 CNX-BKK 10:10am-11:30am
Bangkok Airways 133 BKK-USM 12:30pm-1:35pm

Direct flights were an option, but it was so much more money to do it that way that we didn't mind the one hour layover in Bangkok. Bangkok Airways, like Thai, offers a meal and free baggage on these short one hour flights. All in all, a very pleasant experience. Unlike the trip to Chiang Mai this, and the flight out of USM, were very expensive. I believe the airline owns the airport or at least a piece of it?





As mentioned up-thread, we chose Samui because July is their dry season. Phuket and Ko Phi Phi would have interested us, but this clearly wasn't the right time to go there.

Looking to regular visitors for advice, my brother in law suggested three nights on one side of the island and three on the other to experience Samui fully. Part of his suggestion was excellent. His recommendation of Ark Bar in Chewang Beach was not the right place for us. My wife and I are 41 and were excited to experience a trip without our three boys. I understood this place to be a party scene, but it was much crazier than he described.

We heard and felt loud, vibrating "oonzing" until 2am the first night. Since we had already prepaid we were locked into the next two nights though it wasn't quite as bad.

Night time on the beach prior to craziness


Lots of Israeli visitors. So much so that many signs were in Thai, English, and Hebrew. We also heard a lot of German and French.


We broke up the day with a little bit of jet skiing...far cheaper than I have paid in Hawaii and Caribbean.


Samui, in general, is much more expensive than mainland Thailand. I highly recommend eating at the Chewang Night Market. One night we had noodles and chicken plus alcohol for less than $10 total. On another night, we each had a gigantic red snapper with rice, potatoes, a salad, fried garlic, and ice cream for $12 total.


Millions of these guys are hiding in the sand along the beach.


Before heading to the Conrad Koh Samui to relax for our final three days, we did a speed boat tour of Ang Thong National Marine Park. Well worth it! We snorkeled, kayaked, hiked to Emerald Lake, had a terrific restaurant quality lunch on a small island, and got to see some very cool islands. I believe the cost was around $45 US each.

They call this Monkey Island. Can you spot the primate meditating?


They call this Little James Bond Island. It's a smaller version of the one on the other side of the mainland that was in The Man With The Golden Gun.


It was a steep hike, but the view of Emerald Lake was worth it.


Resting spot for some sunbathing and kayaking.



We stopped at a cool, little fishing island for some lunch.


Our final three nights were spent at the gorgeous, secluded Conrad Koh Samui. We were on the 300 level however it appeared that every room was a winner. I could see from the sea that some 100 level rooms had a partially obstructed view from the trees. It did seem pretty cool to be right on the water however.

2 minute tour of the room.

View from the check-in



Bedroom


Bathroom


View from bathtub


They had buggies to take you everywhere. The road is actually quite steep.


You can rent (free of charge) kayaks, snorkel equipment, and water shoes. This is the view from our kayak.


Cool, little floating islands off the beach.


Hammocks along the water. My wife may not be pleased that I posted this, but she looks so relaxed over the low tide.


They charter a boat that takes you snorkeling and to a small island three times a day.



Excellent breakfast for diamonds with an incredible view.


Games were supplied in each room. I lost by the way.


Like Ark Bar, they have fire shows at night.


You're a captive audience once there however our last night we ventured to Bamboo Restaurant at the hotel nearby.


Going to miss this hotel and the small touches.


Leaving USM, heading back to Bangkok.


One final quick chapter coming up of journey home in JL F

anaggie

I just got back from a trip to Asai with my family -- HKG, Singapore and Thailand. I also did the tiger and elephant thing.

At first, we were scheduled to do the tiger temple, but it got shut down a few days before our visit. The TA then set us up at a place called Tiger World in Ratchaburi -- approx 45 mins away from Kanchanaburi.

We got there early in the morning, and I was expecting it be a typical touristy place and was wary of the condition of the animals after the whole tiger temple issue.

And it turned out to be nothing like that at all. The owner's son was in the enclosures with the tigers and all of the tigers had been raised since they were cubs by the owner and his son. They treated them like their own children and you could see that in the behavior of the tigers.

Areas for the tigers were clean, well maintained and spacious. Food was fresh and the even the employees treated the tigers like their own children.

The son was with us throughout our time and really paid attention to us and our questions.

The elephant camp was also very well maintained and the elephants played with everyone and you could see it in their interaction.

I think it is because there are not a large number of tourists going thru these areas and it keeps the owners more humble rather than in places like Koh Samui and others. At the tiger world, we were the only clients of the morning. Same with the elephant camp.

greg0ire

Part 5: Flight Home to Los Angeles

The trip home had to be broken up into two parts. First was Bangkok Airways 174 USM-BKK 19:40-20:45. This allowed us to maximize our last day at the Conrad KS. The staff was terrific. They allowed us to stay in the room until 5pm.

In Bangkok, we rested at the Best Western Premier Amaranth Suvarnabhumi Airport for about seven hours before catching the 5:30am shuttle back to BKK. The hotel was very clean and modern. It seemed more upscale than your average Best Western. I highly recommend it for an overnight layover.

For those keeping score, this was now our 6th time either flying into or out of BKK in the past two weeks. The international terminal was very nice.



We chose to hang out at the CX Lounge. I didn't take pics, but we found it to be very comfortable with a nice food and drink selection...even this early in the morning. The pastries were fresh and the dim sum and soups were delicious.

JL 708 BKK-NRT 8:10 AM-4:25 PM

To be honest, we were hoping to fly CX home so we could enjoy the amazing service once again. We also liked that the longer flight would be in F. We thoroughly enjoyed the 787 in business. The meal was decent, but like CX, it's the service that really shined. The only real disappointment was that the seats didn't lie flat. It was a morning flight and I don't really sleep on planes anyway, but it did feel a little cramped for my legs.


An overview of the cabin


I loved the window tinting feature. Click on the pic below for a quick video.


The ravioli was okay.



The red wine selection was limited. They didn't stock one of the options and the one they did have was not to my taste so vodka seven for me.


We had a one hour layover at NRT. When you subtract the time it took for the plane to get to the gate and boarding for the outbound flight, that left us with exactly 12 minutes to experience the F Lounge. I was pretty hungry so it became a race to see how many tuna nigiris I could eat in that time frame. The answer was 14 pieces and a lobster bisque.


JL 62 NRT-LAX 5:25 PM-11:40 AM

So we were originally scheduled for AA 170 that left at the same time and arrived 20 minutes later supposedly. I was able to change to JL at the last minute. Interesting to note that AA had begun boarding 30 minutes before my flight and still arrived at LAX well after mine. Both are 777's.

Obligatory flight map pics



My wife was happy that we could sit next to each other this time. I prefer having a window, but the F cabin was full. Our partition remained down the whole flight.


Champagne isn't my favorite so that is the reason I am wasting a perfectly good Salon with OJ.


The menu



Unlike champagne, I enjoy red wine and had a good time with a wine and sake tasting.


My wife ordered off the Western meal and I chose the Japanese meal. I have to tell you...we definitely preferred the CX meals. I just don't think I have the right palate for authentic Japanese food. I'm used to the Americanized version. I am happy I got to try it however. It just isn't for me.

Didn't love the clear soup. The scallop was quite good though.


This is the Shamo Chicken. My wife wasn't excited by it.


She did give high marks for the lobster.


The Wagyu Beef. It was good for the most part, but would have been better without the pickled element.


Once again while everyone else is sleeping, I might as well pass the time with more food.

Here is a chicken yakitori and wings


And a little seared tuna on rice. I couldn't get the focus right in a dark cabin.


The service was impeccable. It wowed us just as much as CX. There were eight in the cabin as opposed to Cathay's six. I think we had four different crew members attending to us. Unlike CX, they seemed to be walking the aisles nonstop, checking if we needed anything.

And that is the end of our two week adventure in Thailand.


Thank you everyone. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I enjoyed telling it. I have a new appreciation for those who create trip reports for FT...