- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
- Messages
- 2,499
- Points
- 113
Hi, I think I mentioned that I was headed off to Thailand on the 19th of December. Well I just got back from a trip that defies words. My wife and I started out our journey in Bangkok. Just
a little note for those of you not familiar with this city. It is a big, dirty, fast paced, and at times sketchy city. If you have to come here you need your wits about you at ALL times! Bangkok central is relatively safe but getting outside the city centre, the infrastructure falls away to reveal the true nature of just how bad things are underneath all the glitz and glamour for local Thais. Disparity is in your face continuously.
Many taxis here will scam you if you aren't familiar with the fare system and there is prostitution everywhere including inside most of the hotels. Violent robbery is also common in broad daylight. Yes, that's right... Also to mention that (Yabah) also known as Methamphetamine is rife through out the city, and at least a few times seeing kids as young as 8 or 9 high as a kite on it either wading in open sewers up to their knees in filth or dumpster diving for rotting food. The smell of the open sewers is enough to make one gag, even from the comfort of inside a car. If you can imagine the the worst rotting cabbage smell/ rotting flesh smell. Things get ripe awfully fast in a Tropical environment.
I'll put it to you this way about Bangkok, there are places that are safe to go but stray from the tourist areas and you can quickly find yourself in major trouble. As a Farang (foreigner) you are marked as a quick easy source of $$$! Bangkok has it's own culture and it's corrupt to the core. This is also what many rural Thai's feel about the city as well. The city will eat you. They're aren't kidding either.
Now that we have one extreme aspect exposed, I'll expose another side of Thailand that makes Thailand famous. That is it's gracious hospitality.
So, My wife and I along with family and a few teachers from Macau got on a bus to go 500Km South to a rural area called BangSuphan. This is off the tourist map and very rural.
The bus frequently had to pull over and allow water buffalo to cross the road. Hitting a tonne of beef at 140Km/hr can do a lot of damage to a large bus! This is free range land and no fences.
My brother's wife is from the village of BangSuphan Noi.
We stayed at a locally run "resort" on the gulf of Thailand. It was stunningly beautiful. Clear air and not a hint of light pollution. The sky at night was amazingly clear to the point that you could see the spiral arm to the milky way galaxy. Our daytime temps were around 34-36c with lows 29-33c at night. Perfect temperature to have an ice cold glass of Singha at the pool.
As it turned out all sorts of nocturnal animals came to visit us during the night. Large lizards, Geckos, scorpions and toxic tree toads that spray venom, came to join us in the shower/ bathroom area as we quickly discovered. The scorpions around this area are big, black and thankfully not lethal but carry an extremely painful sting.
Early one morning I discovered that we had a very well fed resident spitting Cobra lying on the walk path outside our room. The owners of the resort were quick to shoo it away. It left without causing any problems.
The first night we arrived at the resort, my sister in-law's mother, treated us to dinner with a bunch of family and family friends. Even the mayor came to meet us. I have never met more gracious, warm, friendly people in my life than these. They want to share their stories, culture and living style with you. They WANT to know you!
My wife and I may be Farangs in this country, but we didn't feel out of pace in this town at all. We felt welcome. It's still hard to put into words.
My wife became a bit of a attraction due to the fact that the locals had never met a Korean before. Some of the locals had relatives that had fought in the Korean war alongside the UN, so they didn't know much other than stories.
The wedding day... OMG!!
Here are some pictures to show you.
( a little note: this was the first foreign - Thai wedding in the village's short 700 year history) so the mayor explained at the reception.
The monks for the wedding came by truck... literally, came in the back of a Ford truck.
The reception consisted of nearly 1400 people from the village.
I can say without a doubt that we had quite an adventure, and we will be going back to Thailand to visit our extended family in the spring for sure.
My wife and I also want to volunteer to help the locals of the village in whatever ways we can.
A big thank you to the village of BangSuphan Noi and my new Thai sister in law and her family.
a little note for those of you not familiar with this city. It is a big, dirty, fast paced, and at times sketchy city. If you have to come here you need your wits about you at ALL times! Bangkok central is relatively safe but getting outside the city centre, the infrastructure falls away to reveal the true nature of just how bad things are underneath all the glitz and glamour for local Thais. Disparity is in your face continuously.
Many taxis here will scam you if you aren't familiar with the fare system and there is prostitution everywhere including inside most of the hotels. Violent robbery is also common in broad daylight. Yes, that's right... Also to mention that (Yabah) also known as Methamphetamine is rife through out the city, and at least a few times seeing kids as young as 8 or 9 high as a kite on it either wading in open sewers up to their knees in filth or dumpster diving for rotting food. The smell of the open sewers is enough to make one gag, even from the comfort of inside a car. If you can imagine the the worst rotting cabbage smell/ rotting flesh smell. Things get ripe awfully fast in a Tropical environment.
I'll put it to you this way about Bangkok, there are places that are safe to go but stray from the tourist areas and you can quickly find yourself in major trouble. As a Farang (foreigner) you are marked as a quick easy source of $$$! Bangkok has it's own culture and it's corrupt to the core. This is also what many rural Thai's feel about the city as well. The city will eat you. They're aren't kidding either.
Now that we have one extreme aspect exposed, I'll expose another side of Thailand that makes Thailand famous. That is it's gracious hospitality.
So, My wife and I along with family and a few teachers from Macau got on a bus to go 500Km South to a rural area called BangSuphan. This is off the tourist map and very rural.
The bus frequently had to pull over and allow water buffalo to cross the road. Hitting a tonne of beef at 140Km/hr can do a lot of damage to a large bus! This is free range land and no fences.
My brother's wife is from the village of BangSuphan Noi.
We stayed at a locally run "resort" on the gulf of Thailand. It was stunningly beautiful. Clear air and not a hint of light pollution. The sky at night was amazingly clear to the point that you could see the spiral arm to the milky way galaxy. Our daytime temps were around 34-36c with lows 29-33c at night. Perfect temperature to have an ice cold glass of Singha at the pool.
As it turned out all sorts of nocturnal animals came to visit us during the night. Large lizards, Geckos, scorpions and toxic tree toads that spray venom, came to join us in the shower/ bathroom area as we quickly discovered. The scorpions around this area are big, black and thankfully not lethal but carry an extremely painful sting.
Early one morning I discovered that we had a very well fed resident spitting Cobra lying on the walk path outside our room. The owners of the resort were quick to shoo it away. It left without causing any problems.
The first night we arrived at the resort, my sister in-law's mother, treated us to dinner with a bunch of family and family friends. Even the mayor came to meet us. I have never met more gracious, warm, friendly people in my life than these. They want to share their stories, culture and living style with you. They WANT to know you!
My wife and I may be Farangs in this country, but we didn't feel out of pace in this town at all. We felt welcome. It's still hard to put into words.
My wife became a bit of a attraction due to the fact that the locals had never met a Korean before. Some of the locals had relatives that had fought in the Korean war alongside the UN, so they didn't know much other than stories.
The wedding day... OMG!!
Here are some pictures to show you.
( a little note: this was the first foreign - Thai wedding in the village's short 700 year history) so the mayor explained at the reception.
The monks for the wedding came by truck... literally, came in the back of a Ford truck.
The reception consisted of nearly 1400 people from the village.
I can say without a doubt that we had quite an adventure, and we will be going back to Thailand to visit our extended family in the spring for sure.
My wife and I also want to volunteer to help the locals of the village in whatever ways we can.
A big thank you to the village of BangSuphan Noi and my new Thai sister in law and her family.
Last edited:
