Read About Thailand

We arrived in Thailand on May 18, 2011; and plan to spend a full month here.

Back to Thailand...Again: Crossing the Cambodian-Thai Border, Chanthaburi Overnighter, and Ko Chang

Back to Thailand…Again: Crossing the Cambodian-Thai Border, Chanthaburi Overnighter, and Ko Chang

Psar Pruhm – Ban Pakard Border Crossing We used the Psar Pruhm – Ban Pakard border crossing to leave Cambodia and return to Thailand. This is a lesser-used crossing to the southwest of Battambang, Cambodia. From Battambang, we took a bus to the border, passing through the town of Pailin along the way. The bus stopped a couple kilometers short […]

Transiting Isan: Nong Khai to Chong Mek

Transiting Isan: Nong Khai to Chong Mek

We had become fatigued with Laos, so we planned to take a break by transiting from Vientiane through northeastern Thailand, before reentering Laos to the south. This would give us the break, give us access to better transportation to southern Laos, and give us the opportunity to see some of Isan, Thailand. The plan involved a quick transit through Isan […]

Pai, Lampang, Chiang Rai, and Chiang Khong; Thailand (June 7 - 15)

Pai, Lampang, Chiang Rai, and Chiang Khong; Thailand (June 7 – 15)

Pai Pai is a tourist town. In particular, there is an area near the river that is crazy-touristy with hotels and guesthouses and massage joints and tattoo joints and motorbike rental shops and tour companies and restaurants that cater to Westerners. It isn’t a big area, and it isn’t all of Pai, but they have squeezed a lot into a […]

Thai Elephant Conservation Center, Lampang, Thailand

Thai Elephant Conservation Center, Lampang, Thailand

The center is located some 33 kilometers outside of Lampang, on the highway to Chiang Mai. We got there by taking a bus from the Lampang Bus station, which cost us 60 baht.  We got back to Lampang by waiting at a bus stop of sorts outside the Center, on the side of the highway. Eventually, a bus came to […]

Pai Traditional Thai Massage, Pai, Thailand

Pai Traditional Thai Massage, Pai, Thailand

We both got a two-hour, full-body, traditional Thai massage at this place. That means that we were wearing provided clothing, no oils were applied, and we got our asses kicked by girls who threw their full weight behind their elbows. It cost 350 baht for each of us. Jen thought it was a pretty good massage, and she has more […]

Mae La Noi, Mae Hong Son, Soppong, and Arrival in Pai; Mae Hong Son Province; Thailand (May 31 - June 6)

Mae La Noi, Mae Hong Son, Soppong, and Arrival in Pai; Mae Hong Son Province; Thailand (May 31 – June 6)

Ok…I am going to divulge the name of the town we found in Mae Hong Son Province…the one that we were thinking to keep secret so as to prevent tourists from Germany and Iowa showing up and turning it into another tourist fuck story. The name of the place is Mae La Noi. It’s about thirty kilometers north of Mae […]

The Subleties of Thai Language

The Subleties of Thai Language

We are equipped with a Lonely Planet phrase book. It’s nicely sized for small cargo pockets. It’s also dangerous. Let’s take the case of the Thai words “mai” and “mai.” They are two entirely different words, depending on your inflection. Raise the inflection as you speak, and it means “no.” Lower it as you speak, and you are saying “new.” […]

Tha Song Yang, Mae Sariang, and a Town Farther North in Thailand (May 26 - 30)

Tha Song Yang, Mae Sariang, and a Town Farther North in Thailand (May 26 – 30)

The bus ride from Mae Sot to Tha Song Yang started at 09:30am and ended two and a half hours later, having taken us through eighty-five kilometers of mostly rural farmlands. There are two categories of bus we have traveled on so far. The first is what most Americans would think of as a bus. You know…the Greyhound sort of […]

Travels to Lopburi, Phitsanulok, and Sukhothai (18 - 22 May)

Travels to Lopburi, Phitsanulok, and Sukhothai (18 – 22 May)

The China Airlines flight out of LAX was about thirty minutes late in departure, but the pilot made up the difference en route to our layover in Taipei. Before our departure, I had raved to Jen about China Airlines — how on a previous trip the planes had been spotless, each seat had its own entertainment system, the cabin crew […]