You experience everything in Thailand (22)
Another episode of a series of stories, telling how Thailand enthusiasts have experienced something special, funny, curious, moving, strange or ordinary in Thailand.
Today a story from blog reader Cees Noordhoek about an entertaining bus trip to Chiang Mai.
If you also want to share your experience with us and the blog readers, please send your message, possibly with a photo you took yourself, to the editors via the contact form..
This is the story of Cees Noordhoek.
A bus trip to Chiang Mai
At the end of December 2019, my Thai wife and I took a bus trip from Buriram to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. The trip was sold by a woman from a neighboring village, my wife was really looking forward to it and so was I, we had never been there. It also turned out to be an entertaining event in terms of Thai organizational talent.
The woman has been to the door 3 times before it was finished, the first time to see if we felt like it, the 2nd time to bring a piece of paper with the details on it (all in Thai of course) and the 3rd time for the money pick up.
She then also agreed to pick us up at 14.00 p.m., the bus would leave at 16.00 p.m., well in time I thought…. at 15.30 pm no one had been seen, looked up papers and called again. They forgot about us, someone came to pick us up. Indeed, in no time there was a car in front of the door. On to the bus and boarding, the clucking in the bus stopped right away, oooh falang! Indeed, a falang, sawasdeekrahb! They had to get used to it, but the clucking started again! Finally left at 16.30:XNUMX pm…
I couldn't stand up straight, because the whole ceiling was completely hung with disco lights and loudspeakers, even above the overhead bins. Once I sat down I thought it couldn't be true… yes, after half an hour of driving a man walking back and forth with a microphone and turning knobs, karaoke with the volume on 10! The windows in the bus were shaking, I felt the bass in my body. At 23.00 p.m. a few women thought it was enough and resolutely turned the switch, sleep.
Once in Chiang Mai it was temple in, temple out all day, market in, market out, my wife enjoyed it, I a little less, don't have to see all the temples. At the end of the day we went to sleep, we had a room in an alley near a square full of buses, the Thais went to a shared dormitory. What time do we leave tomorrow? 5 hours was the answer…pff 5 hours? Yes, we have to leave early, we're going to see the snow, have I ever seen snow? Now I had read that it can freeze there, so it is ripe, but for the Thai it is snow.
Got up at 04.30:5 am, 05.30 hours outside, nothing or no one to see, no bus either, called at 3:3 am to see how things were going, yes, we were picked up in no time, and yes, a songtaew who took us to the rest of the group would bring, they had apparently slept somewhere else. The driver didn't know either, but stopped and called 06.30 times and drove again, there were still XNUMX songtaews connected at the first stop…. I found it strange, but it later became clear where the group had slept, there was no bus there either. Everyone loaded up and on to the bus, it was already XNUMX am.
We had to stop again 3 times and call where the bus was now, drive again, I've been here before, I thought, and sure enough, the bus was on the square where we had slept..... it was 07.30 for the bus left, we had been dragged through Chiang Mai for about 2 hours to finally get back on the doorstep.
I didn't say anything about it, it doesn't help anymore, I'm used to Thai and the clock and organizing, they are world champions in that, but I could have slept until 7 o'clock and we didn't see snow, +6 degrees ….
Very recognizable. Nice story. I was in a dent.
Hahaaaaaaa
I once experienced almost the same thing in a small form.
About five years ago, after visiting friends in HuaHin, we decided to travel to Suvarnabhum by bus.
A minibus arrived, of course already packed with not only fellow travelers but also boxes, many boxes. Chaantje was fiddled in the front and I could be crammed somewhere in the back.
Just drive! To make matters worse, the music came on and the porter turned his hat to “Max Verstappen”
After 50 km, when we refueled, we quickly looked for a taxi.
Man man, we enjoyed it until Suvarnabhum.
Beautiful and very relatable story.
Especially that disco bus.
For many Thai people, a trip as described is a short vacation of one or two days.
Which they can only afford once every few years, and then there are also cuts everywhere.
As the contributor wrote, sleeping in a communal dormitory.
Also on this blog you can now read almost daily about the concerns that many have about whether they can still go on holiday to Thailand this year.
But take it from me that there are many Thais who have never even been on holiday.
So we're not that bad yet.
Nice piece
Experienced about the same, (and in many other situations too)
A Westerner can be immensely annoyed by that,
I myself have become so used to it that I can just laugh with it because predictable 🙂
See your last quote, wonderful once you accept it and are happy with or without a Thai partner.
Experienced something like that myself. we went from Si Maha Phot to Ayutthaya. Back again the same day.
Depart in the middle of the night with 2 discobuses. Everyone, at least the men and a few young women, equaled the booze.
And I thought we were going to the ruins. I thought I'd settle down at that restaurant in the middle. That didn't go well.
We went to the temples. In rapid speed.
There are quite a lot of temples around Ayutthaya.
Dear Henk,
You write departure from Si Maha Phot. Do you still live there?
Gr Theo
Theo,
I'm here at the moment, but only on holiday.
Still have another week, then back to the Netherlands.
The Disco Bus. We came across this late afternoon on our way to kao yai where we were stuck in a traffic jam.
Busy weekend evening rush hour, winding roads and many hills. Deafening loud music and even people dancing on the bus. The disco lights in the bus made it even more special. Mostly in their fifties A striking number of middle-aged women.