An anniversary
Suddenly it just popped into my mind; I have been visiting Thailand twice a year for 25 years. Assume that when I arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport next month, traditionally in September, there will be a delegation of government officials and the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) ready to welcome me.
Frankly, I also count on a ribbon and do not consider it impossible that the Prime Minister, Mr. Prayuth Chan-ocha, wants to receive me in an audience. After all, the country's economy has been developing positively since 1992, mainly thanks to me and a few other tourists. As a government you cannot just ignore that, that will be clear. Of course I took all possible invitations into account and took my tuxedo out of the closet and tried it on, which I hadn't worn for quite some time. Fits like a glove.
Flights to Bangkok
I made the very first flight from Amsterdam to Bangkok 25 years ago with the Romanian airline TAROM with a stopover in Bucharest. According to my travel agency it was a perfect and not unimportant, the cheapest airline for a flight to Bangkok. The outward journey went according to the well-known book, but the return flight was a completely different story.
The transfer in Bucharest went less smoothly and because of a problem that no one knew about, we had to spend the night in Bucharest. We were taken by bus to a beautifully situated castle just outside the city to spend the night in this unique location. Coffee was brought, but neither sugar nor milk was available. The tables in a beautiful dining room were beautifully set. Damask tablecloths, beautiful plates and silver cutlery. Too bad there was hardly anything edible on the table. In the end, we arrived safely at Schiphol a day later than planned.
The second flight I made half a year later was with Royal Jordanian with an overnight stay in Amman. Great flight of 6 hours from Amsterdam to Amman and the next six hours flight to Bangkok. At that time, the overnight stay was included in the normal ticket price. Such a wonderful overnight stopover.
Moments later, EVA-Air came into play, but they did not yet have landing rights for Bangkok from Amsterdam at the time. The flight went from Amsterdam directly to Taipei and from there back to Bangkok. I thought it would be a good idea to fly to Taiwan with EVA, stay there for a few days and then to Bangkok.
A nice side effect was that you didn't have to pay extra for that at the time. The downside was traveling for 7 hours longer. I have never regretted that and now, so many years later, still think back to Taiwan with pleasure. And to be honest, I can also think back with a big smile on that very beautiful castle with a beautiful interior, royally decorated tables, but with a grumbling stomach to bed.
Because you have not flown with Thai airways, you are not eligible for a receipt + ribbon 555.
Quite right, Wilmus, although flying with Tarom is actually worth a medal.
Moreover, Joseph probably cannot provide the 25 x 2 used tickets as proof.
Nevertheless, on his next visit I will appropriately present him with a personal medal in an environment very familiar to him, which will bring him great honor!
Are 76 incoming and 76 outgoing stamps in your passports proof Gringo??
Are you sure you want to be received by Prayuth?
I suspect that he (Prayuth) doesn't like the foreigners very much.
I think 16 years ago I also came with Tarom with stopover in Delhi. The return flight in particular has stayed with me; a whole new plane. Already flown with eva air with a short stop in Taipei
I only fly with direct flights, sometimes things go wrong there
My first flight to Thailand over 20 years ago was also with Tarom. After take-off that had to be celebrated (certainly didn't happen that often that it worked) and the 1st 3 rows got champagne, the 3 after that beer and the rows behind (beer and champagne was gone) lemonade or water ;-). Of course I was behind…
In Bucharest we were escorted to the plane by 5 armed soldiers separately in a van because we hadn't heard that we had to board.
And except for a huge fight in the plane, and after all the ice had been sprayed off the wings there, we landed safely in Bangkok at the time. Pffft
The wallpaper or whatever it was fell off the inside during the flight, I don't think it's too crazy that they didn't get landing rights anymore...
Tarom Bucharest ( ca 1990): I will never forget. You didn't have to ask where the toilets were, you could smell them from a distance.
The flight to Bangkok was great: 4 seats per person and Romanian wine galore.
If you have been going to Wonderfull 25 twice a year for 2 years and have digested enough, mamasan will probably send a delegation to Survhanabhumi to welcome you haha.
Just hope for your sake that it's not the same as it was back then!
Don't believe that Joseph is the one who visits W2 regularly…555 , That's a different person.
My first flight was in '79 with Biman (Bangladesh airways), an experience on sight.
In the back of the heavily outdated aircraft, a fellow countryman was enjoying a joint and after a lot of stops you were also allowed to spend the night in Dhaka, the most dirty capital in the world.
I have already experienced that 25-year jubilee arrival and just like you, I fly there at least 2x, sometimes 3x a year, with 32 airlines used for this, part of which has long since gone bankrupt. I have to count it again exactly, but probably just under 100 H+R returns. AND I can therefore inform you that there is no reception committee or anything whatsoever, if you have had your pass for a while, rather a flash-warning that you visit THailand too often and will therefore be as unreliable as possible.
1 small correction: EVA CANNOT have done nonstop AMS-TPE, since they cannot/are not allowed to fly above mainland China, even if it is not much further than AMS-HKG. And yes, I too was once allowed to spend the night in Amman at RJ's expense (sometimes I had to share a room), also at the time with GULF in Bahrain. At KU=KuwaitAir we were just placed in the bisnis class, all Filipinos guest laborers in the eco. In retrospect the worst of all was probably the old Belse SABENA and for me still the best SQ=Singapore, but it is quite pricey.
Also flown with Tarom in the early nineties. In those years, Best Tours brought hundreds of holidaymakers a week to Thailand. In Bangkok at the airport, everyone was given a sticker depending on the tour you were going to make, each a different color. Also a stopover on the return flight of many hours in Bucharest with lunch in probably the same castle as Joseph Jongen describes, great grandeur but nothing on the plate. Afterwards a city tour where the same sight was driven 3x each time to get through the time. In the same period there is a Tarom plane crashed, killing a woman from our municipality. By the way, Tarom still flies to Zaventem, but I don't know if they still have a connection with Bangkok.
Yes, my fate has also been sealed with Thailand for about 18 years. My arrivals were always accompanied by a delegation of my wife's relatives who were always sincere and appreciated. That my wife and I have always provided the family with what was needed (and we know that this is common in Thailand), is partly inherent to that. We are aware of that. But helping where possible does give satisfaction and fortunately we are not without resources. We don't need the ribbon or a medal from Prayut.
I have my royal honors from the Netherlands and I am much better served by that. In short, a happy man in this respect.
I think you should buy a new, less skimpy tuxedo first, after 25 years of Thailand.
Then I suggest that you donate all paid "lady drinks" from the last 25 years to the aid organization "Thai Falang-cheated girls". And finally, pay the sky-high fines to the TAT for the full suitcases that you smuggled over during the 50 flights.
And yet I wish you another 25 years of extra fun in the second most beautiful country in the world! (After Flanders of course!).
Unfortunately I have to disappoint you Joseph, or perhaps reassure you, you should not expect a reception committee. At least I haven't experienced it, but who knows, a distinction will be made. My first flight, booked through a now bankrupt travel agency in the Reinkenstraat in The Hague, where the beautiful and lovely Imelda worked, went with EVA Air in 'big seats' via Dubai and Taipei to Bangkok. The short layover at the airport in Dubai was great, many shops with gold and restaurants with bargain prices for delicious food. The long stop in Taipei (6 hours) was less comfortable. In the transit area it was freezing cold due to the air conditioning, food was not available, only a drink machine, but we did not have the right coins for that. Remember the signs all over the airport warning of hefty prison sentences and even the death penalty for possession of drugs. Drugs were mentioned by name and that included Diazepam, which I thought was a harmless sleeping pill, and because I thought at the time that I could use some sleep on such a 'long' trip, my doctor had prescribed it for me and I had it with me. Partly for that reason I was happy that we could finally continue our trip to Bangkok. Yes, and then down the plane stairs on Don Muaeng in Bangkok. What a great surprise! The overwhelming heat, we (my comrade and I) arrived late in the afternoon and the fantastic welcome by our two wonderful and super friendly tour guides, who were waiting for us after immigration and then the in our eyes unimaginable hectic pace outside the arrivals hall . We were taken to our hotel, hotel Taipan for 3 nights, around the corner from Soi Cowboy, were starving and on the advice of the hotel reception we went to rest. Baan Khanita in Sukumvit soi 23, where we fell in love with our noses. We had a great time there and what a super service! And now it comes, our tour guides would pick us up around 1 o'clock in the afternoon for a tour. Well, of course we were up early and wanted to explore on our own. It was still quite quiet that early and there was not much left of the baths we had bought at the airport, so first change money on the corner of Soi Cowboy. 1700 bath for 100 guilders, we felt like millionaires! A tuk tuk driver approached us, for 50 baht a tour of 2 hours. Wow, we thought, a great opportunity, we shouldn't let that pass us by. The driver drove directly to a clothing store and when we arrived there, the staff came out and to our great surprise, others poured buckets of water over them. As it turned out, it was April 13 and the beginning of Songkran, which we had never heard of, let alone knew what it entailed. You didn't have internet and therefore Thailandblog back then and we traveled to Thailand completely unprepared. In the afternoon with the tour guides to Khao San Road, what a party it was there and we fully participated and enjoyed it. Well, Joseph, I could go on and on, but I won't. You will of course understand that, perhaps or probably just like you, from the first day I arrived in Thailand I was caught by a kind of 'Thailand fever', which you cannot really describe to someone else.
Leo, Thanks, I'm going to do my best to make it to XNUMX, but given my age, it's going to be a tough one. Incidentally, contrary to what I said in my story, I also made a stopover in Dubai on my flight with EVA to Taipei. Yes, there is a lot to tell about the past year. Does it seem like a piece of nostalgia or the advancing years?
The first time I came to Thailand
was 1986 and on foot over a bridge in Malaysia.
I had a pair of shorts to welcome that
in Thailand was not so much fun –
Sir , you can not enter Thailand !
When I ask why I am referred to a large board,
where in many languages stand that you Thailand not with a short
pants are allowed in.
Just put on a long jean and the same customs officer
says to me with a big smile –
Well you are welcome to enter Thailand.
An experience you will never forget.