Koh Samui, Krabi etc.
Author: Jānis Notte0 COMMENTS
Thailand is one of my favorite destinations and perhaps one of the costliest, too. I never have enough of it and it is always rewarding - in terms of new experience about the country, its people and about me as well. Two contending feelings poses there - on one hand - of not fitting in there at all but on the other - of feeling more natural then anywhere else in the world.
Most Latvians having returned from Thailand, share cliché stories about transvestites, bars and beautiful beaches. It is quite sad as Thailand is much more than just Pattaya and Phuket - the places I gladly admit to have never visited. Just stay away form crowded tourists' attractions and another - heart soothing Thailand - unfolds before you. An often-repeated phrase in Thailand is „that's the way it should be". The very same one that stuck in my mind from a conversation with an incidentally met man in Bangkok on December 26, 2004 - the day that seemed a sudden and irrational tragedy to the Western world, yet so irreversible and temporal for the locals.
A must-see place in Thailand is Koh Samui - a lively, however, comparatively tourist-free island in the southeast. A flight Bangkok-Koh Samui is one of the choices to get there, although, going by buss or by train to Surat Thani and taking a ferry to Koh Samui is a great deal more interesting and memorable experience. And renting a scooter is the best way to criss-cross the island itself.
Krabi province is a good destination for those, who wish to savor Thailand's southwest beaches of the Indian Ocean, a flight Bangkok-Krabi being the best way to get there. A small Ao Nang town situated on the ocean shore is an advisable staying place. It features the most amazing sceneries of Phi Phi Island, Chicken Island and numerous others, located cloth to it. If beaches are your main attraction, a wide choice of a different beach every day there is available there.
Koh Chang Island, in its turn, close to the Cambodian border, offers completely different sensations. It is not much visited by tourists as a spread of malaria is presumed to be very high there. However, that is not true - locals would tell that no malaria cases have been spotted during the last five years. Just be careful in woods - pitons are the only threat there - and this advice should be taken seriously if you do not wish to risk your life and limb. Koh Chang - as any other place in Thailand - offers a great variety of extremely fresh sea products.
The first thing coming into my mind, when I remember Bangkok, is its peculiar light and an aroma of incense. Bangkok offers a whole lot of places to see - the most popular ones usually being the most worthwhile, too. I will mention just a few of them, opening an entirely new sense of Bangkok.
A small ship trip along Chao Praya River is one of such options - offering a much better perspective of the town then just a walk along crowded streets - the best time for it being early morning hours or a while before sunset.
A visit of Thailand's Creative and Design Center, located on the 6th floor of The Emporium shopping center, is advisable too. It provides an inside look of design novelties not only in Thailand but the whole of Southeast Asia, too, being overshadowed maybe only by Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC)
The Emporium Shopping Complex, 6th Floor
www.tcdc.or.th
Usually people are pretty amazed, hearing that Bangkok's night life seems the most versatile and enjoyable to me. Yet, I do not mean strip or transvestite shows but places like the ones I have seen neither in New York nor in Sydney or Tokyo. Bed Supperclub is a one of them, having earned my appreciation from the very first sight - a building resembling a huge solarium capsule, featuring a restaurant from one side and a night-club from the other. Please check out its website - it surely gives the first impression of it.
Bed Supperclub
26 Soi Sukhumvit 11,
Sukhumvit Road,
Klongtoey-nua, Wattana,
Bangkok 10110
www.bedsupperclub.com
Choice of hotels in Bangkok is immense, while prices are generally lower than elsewhere in Asia or in the world. My very favorite one is The Siam Heritage - boutique hotel. It features a real authenticity - not only in its booklets or on the website. Moreover, numerous awards, the hotel has received, proves its high regard in the hotel business and booking in advance is highly recommended. Having earned the most favored guests status, we enjoyed an opportunity of dining together with a hostess herself at the very elegant hotel's restaurant. And not only that - we learned in detail about the hotel's history that is quite impressive indeed. Most of the wooden items there have been created in Thailand's countryside - even the shutters are authentic ones. Moreover, a chef of The Siam Heritage has worked in the kitchen of Thailand's royal family. This was more then enough not to ask any more questions - savory and original dishes spoke for themselves and offered unsurpassable pleasure.
The Siam Heritage
115/1 Surawong Road,
Bangrak,
Bangkok 10500
www.thesiamheritage.com
USEFUL INFORMATION
Most of the biggest European airlines offer flights to Bangkok. Suggestible choice is Thai Airways - a pleasant flight is guarantied as service-wise it surely outmatches all the major European operators.
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