Songkran in Thailand

What is New Year if we do not celebrate it? 2008 is to far away, so, my wife and I made a trip to Thailand. Songkran!

2nd time in Thailand but first time in Bangkok. We took the AirAsia flight to Suvarnabumi Airport, Thailand. Below are the bullet points of my entire trip:-

Airport

• One of the most amazing airport I have ever seen. Its huge! Way bigger than KLIA.
  
  
• The blue lights looks beautiful matching the airport exterior design.
  
  
• Its huge!
  
  
• Very modern and yet it blends together with the Thai culture. Alot of statues in the airport as a deco.
  
  
• Thai immigration officers are damn rude. I seen many times how they treat tourists. They shout at them for the slightest mistake. They never smile, and you will think, this are the front liners of Thai government and they don't smile or even say Thank You.
  
  
• Waiting for luggage is the same as KLIA. Long wait.
  
  
• Walking from point A to B in this airport is really a task. Sometimes it feels like going thru a maze.
  
  
• There is no standard uniform for immigration officers here, some wear uniform, others wear suit (a suit!?), normal shirt... aiya....
  
  
• I saw a Israel airline! First time in my life. All this while I didn't know Israel had airlines, just warplanes.

Deco in the Airport

Taxi

• We got a cab from the airport. Their standard taxis are Toyota Altis. Yup, the exact same one that is costing us RM 100K here.
  
  
• Now, important lesson about Thai taxis. Always ask the price before you get in. Negotiate for the best price. Why? Even if you ask them to use the meter, they will use the longest route to get to your destination. Its always a lose-lose situation for us.
  
  
• Yes, all taxi drivers in Thai are disgruntled ex-F1 drivers. So put on your crash helmet.
  
  

City

• I was amazed with the city. Everything is huge here.
  
  
• They have about 8 to 4 lanes highway stretching from the airport to the city and the toll is much cheaper compared to KL. Most of the roads leading into and out of the city are highways. Some are elevated highways. We went to Pattaya on an elevated highway. I think we were on the highway for about 1 hour or so. Compare to our Prolintas. You do the math.
  
  
• BKK is very modern city compared to KL. The city is well planned, but can't say much about traffic congestion. They have digital traffic congestion signboard.
  
  
• Bill boards are triple the size of those in KL.
  
  
• While on the trip to Pattaya, left and rights were factories. Not just one but just factories all over until your eyes can see. Huge economy here.
  
  
• They really have huge malls here. Sadly didn't managed to venture into one.
  
  
• So many fitness centers here. I didn't managed to go to Fitness First here. They have FF Plus - with salt water swimming pool!

Songkran - now for the best part

• Songkran is synonym to water festival. Basically they throw water on you and wish you Happy New Year. I guess it started with sprinkling of water as a blessing but some smart aleck decided to take it further with water guns.
  
  
• I met with my friend and his wife (who became our host) and they took us around to celebrate Songkran. Well thinking Songkran was over, I wore my T-Shirt and Jeans. What a mistake.
  
  
• We got onto a Tuk-Tuk (Yeah! finally), and he brought us around from our hotel. The next thing I knew, every corner there will be a group of ppl waiting with pails of water. Seriously, PAILS of WATER. They have past the water gun stage here.
  
  
• After one round of getting splashed with water (I didn't get hit much), my friend said "Ganee, hold this water gun, hold it?". Well OK. Bad move.
  
  
• Well, the rule of the thumb is if you hold a water gun, your gonna get it. I learn this the hard way.
  
  
• What I saw next was, WATER, WATER and WATER. Splash! Blink open eyes, SPLASH! SPLASH! We are talking about buckets here ppl.
  
  
• BKK was hot and didn't rain, but the roads were wet until the next day. That much water was used.
  
  
• I was soaking wet with my socks and jeans and it was not over yet.
  
  
• After soaking wet in Nana Road we went to Koa Sarn Road. The entire road was filled with people and each one of them looked like zombie. Apart from throwing water, they now put white powder unto your face. Escape!
  
  
• At one corner I saw someone taking water from this filthy river and preparing it to throw. Yuck!

A scene of water splashing

Yes, they go in pickup trucks and start a water war

Shopping

• There is this huge flea market in BKK. Its called Chatuchak. It houses hundreds of small stores selling all kindda thing from small key chain to t-shirts, shoes, fake jewellery, all kindda souvenir. I think we only finish about 20% of the area and we went around for 4 hours.
  
  
• Earlier mentioned was the flea market that operates only in the morning. There is another flea market that operates in the night. But this one has a huge open air food court with live entertainment and a huge screen.
  
  
• I missed going to Siam Paragon which is the biggest mall in BKK.

Pattaya beach

• We made a day trip to Pattaya beach for some sun and sea. It was about 2 hours bus ride, but it was highway all the way.
  
  
• We did nothing but lay around the beach, sleep and eat. In other words, being a slob.
  
  
• I can't believe the number of beach peddler who bugs your life every 5 second. How can one enjoy the beach?
  
  
• But the beach is too hot for comfort, on the way back, we kena baling water again. The street is not safe at all.

Pattaya Beach

Food

• Tx to my buddy, halal food was easy to find compared to Phuket.
  
  
• I tried an extremely hot spicy food, can't remember the name. I had to buy an ice-cream to cool down. 40 baht! Cut throat!
  

IMPORTANT:

Although the trip was suppose to be all fun, but I had a lot of opportunity to learn about different culture and country. I learn about people and aspiration. I learn about economy and democracy. I learn about people's passion for the King. This was a study trip for me and have open my mind to think out of the box. This trip helped my self-esteem and my outlook towards life. It was a good trip.

A shout out to my buddy for your sincere help in accommodation, paying my meals , taking us around BKK and Pattaya, shopping and host of other stuff. Thanks man!