SIAMPEDIA

Sea Pine Garden - Hua Hin, less known jewel for beach fun

2009-12-03T09:47:00.006+01:00

This prime piece of beach is to be found easily just south of my beloved City of Hua Hin, the Royal Seaside Resortcity on the western Gulfshore. Sea Pine Garden is the English term for the Suan Son Pradhipat, a retreat open to the public and run by the Royal Thai Army as a recreational facility. The distance from Hua Hin Town is a mere 9 KM or just over 5 miles. A songtheauw (public transport) runs to Khao Takiab, the mountain flanking Suan Son Pradipat to the north. The beach features great bathing opportunities in unpolluted waters and a well kept sandy area, shaded by huge Casuarinas or Sea Pines. http://www.tripadvisor.com ranks it presently under the Top 5 of Hua Hin's attractions!

Just follow Phetchkasem Road (Route 4) in southerly direction, until you see this sign:

A few Meters past it, you will arrive at a security gate and a PTT gas station, here you need to turn left. Unless during situations of heightened security, a friendly greeting by the guards is all you have to do here. Oh yes, almost forgot. A small nominal fee for the vehicle parking is sometimes charged. I forgot the exact sum, because it was under 1 $ in value and only charged occasionally. From here you follow the blacktop road eastbound to a parking area for cars and mopeds right next to their beachside Cafeteria and Snackeria.

The business is operated and run under the Command of the Military by civilian contractors, which are friendly and offer drinks of all kinds and some assorted Thai snacks.

It is sparkling clean here and their "Sai Lek Moo", a noodle soup for only 30 Baht is a delicacy. Drinks are served in bottles or cans, chilled and at very reasonable prices. They also have a well maintained toilet facility here with freshwater showers. Toilet use is 3 Baht, they don't charge extra for a shower. The early morning breezes here and their excellent and inexpensive foods made this a "must-stop" on all my Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur drives in the years past. It also is a great location to spend all day in the water, on the beach or on the terrace. For Bangkokians only a 3 to 3 1/2 hour drive away, it makes a perfect weekend get-away or a destination for a fun filled day trip. Untainted by much trash or annoying and intoxicated mass tourists, it is also highly recommendable to those with children. I have seen seniors playing chess all day on the terrace, but it never really appeared crowded like those dreadful public beaches in selected tourist areas.

The entire beach appears spotlessly clean, reason for that being is a 5 people cleanup-crew, which combs the beach daily in the early A.M. at first sunlight. Every forgotten straw, all small trash is being removed to have this pristine piece of land again ready for it's daily bunch of guests.

The clean-up crew has been watched by me and observed over many years now, high season or not, Suan Son Pradipat keeps it's great reputation. Several times over they sweep the grounds in their routines. Broken pieces of glass, commonly found on less maintained beaches have never been spotted by me here. Seating opportunities for families on tree stumps are provided near the Snackeria, you are allowed to bring your own food and drinks. Leave nothing, but footprints in the sand later and everyone will be happy.

At lunchtime it gets a little busier under the mighty Casuarinas or Sea Pines, when folks gather here for their family picnics. Bring a hammock or rent a beachchair for a low daily fee. It's chillout time here.

The terrace cafeteria is an ideal spot to start hourlong beachwalks, indulge in beachgames or submerge in the refreshing waters of the gulf. No noisy jetskis endanger your life or disturb the tranquility. There is room for plenty of people here.

The clear water is shallow, ideal for kids and seniors. Waves aren't of threatening heights and my 3-year old niece always loved it here. Khao Takiab, the Chopstick Mountain with it's temples and hordes of monkeys looms to the north. During the King's presence in his Klai Klangwol Palace in Hua Hin, the silhouettes of three Royal Thai Navy vessels are on the distant horizon.

Lifeguards aren't on permanent duty, but on public holidays this harmless beach boast extra safety for the swimmers. No strong currents were detectable, no sharp rocks or reefs pose any danger here.

Tarrifs and fees for the necessary rentals are signposted in Thai script, but helpful attendants will collect your coins or small bills for this great and inexpensive service.

The rental of inner tubes is also handled here, they add fun and safety to many and are very popular with Thai folks. The young soldiers manning this look a bit "Rambo-like" in their fatigues, but I can assure you they are as friendly as can be and keep a certain unwanted group of youngsters with a deficit in behavior and beach-bums away here.

Many stay until the late hours, as breezes amplify and the thirst for a cold beer when the lights grow dim pops up in young fellows. The spontaneous parties here in the evening are something special.

Portable grills are allowed, quite a few guests fix their lunches or dinners themself.

The Southern Railway Line has a Stop here too, I could not figure out the exact timetable, but inquire at Hua Hin Station if you want to travel here cheaply and efficient by rail. Hua Hin hotel guests and holiday folks might like this feature a lot.

The southern overview shows another hill in the distance, several Kilometers away. The beach is wide enough even at high tide and the sand appears to be fine sand all the way.

Suan Son Pradipat isn't run by profiteers or greedy folks, you can spend a wonderful time here and add memorable impressions to your lot. No masses of beach vendors, no elephant beggars or annoying timeshare-touts - this has quickly become my favorite hidden jewel for most beachfun action within easy reach from Bangkok. A rental car, moped or bicycle gets you here from Hua Hin in a whisk of time. Public transport in Hua Hin offers sontheauw rides to the other side of Chopstic mountain as seen in above picture, it still leaves a good walking distance to be covered by you. Taxis in Hua Hin are famous for overpricing foreigners. You may want to inquire with the train station or your hotel's concierge for a possibe rail transport, if you don't like to get your own set of wheels for a great day out

For those living in Bangkok, there is a multitude of transport options wth thhe slowest being the train (6h). Bus Terminal Sai Mai has plenty of departures to southern destinations with scheduled stops in Hua Hin hourly (4 h). The quickest option may be the DeLuxe minivan from Victory Monument to Cha-Am and Hua Hin. It costs roughly 200 Baht one way and gets you there as quick as any Taxi would for a fraction of the fare.

My apologies to those of you, that feel double-served by this article - we at SIAMPEDIA have indeed published a similar one in German language before. It was originally being produced for a German magazine, called "Der Farang". I have updated this and rewritten it for our English speaking friends on request by dear friends, which were looking for an uncontaminated beach to go with their children to play.

Thailand´s beach of shame - Bang Saen, Chonburi

2009-12-01T10:25:00.048+01:00

Some fifty to sixty miles southeast of Bangkok, a township named Bang Saen nestles on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand. It is in Chonburi Province and just a short drive away from the tourist magnet of Pattaya. It may have been an idyllic spot some decades ago, but a profit-driven and self serving promoter like the mighty Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) may have done their last beach assessment long before the dawn of Polymeres, non-biodegreeable plastics. Wave after wave delivers an endless supply of these, and the blend with the local mix of broken bottles, Styrofoam food containers and other gifts of civilization there, is a colorful arrangement of objects highly visible wherever you look. Nobody seems to care and nobody wants to change this. Mind you, this particular "beach" still serves as their first ever eye contact to the Gulf for thousands of visitor, mainly schoolkids and the work forces of larger companies inland on their beach break. They travel here from the remotes corners of the impoverished isaan and the suburbs of Bangkok, what a great place to introduce oceans and beaches of Thailand to their own and underprivileged masses. Most are being bused here with a daily stream of stinking buses, as the idling and parked huge vehicles show, that are resting on the beach road and wait for their human cargoes to embark again for their ride home. TAT and others still do promote Bangsaen as a Tourist destination and a bathing beach!

The existence of a huge Condominium complex also shows, that profits of any kind want to be made here, a sheer endless row of food vendors on the fortified shore lets them rub shoulders waiting for a hungry visitor. The similarly endless accumulation of their Styrofoam food containers on the beach below may be carried far with the next gust of wind here or a mercyful wave at high tide.

Under http://www.hatbangsaen.com/ the townships own advertisers promote this destination in the web still as follows (quote) "(Bangsaen).......transforming into a social Hotspot for Thai nationals. Farmers from the north-east sharing the same beach with Bangkok high-rollers, drinking whiskey, making music, practice dancing and, even, swimming in the Gulf of Thailand!"

WOW, that's really amazing. The trashbeach a "Hotspot" for Thai nationals? But they are surely not wrong, as usual - after all they see themself as the "Monaco of Thailand", after allowing road races in this insignificant dirty town. We have those also nightly in Pathum Thani, are we the "Indianapolis" now?

Mighty stormdrains loom directly underneath those eateries, mere street food vendors with a limited selection of local foods. Cozy and simple beach-chairs invite to take place on crude tables way above this beach on the pavement. Paved and plastered grounds they have plenty here.

Trash is being brought by every tide and wave, but old accumulations aren't removed, they can be revisited on subsequent trips several days later.
Our impressions originate not from one, but multiple visits here. Bangsaen's cleaners (if they have any) seem to have work to do elsewhere. The ocean water changes it's color and smell due to algae growth at times. Rocks in the water here do sport a coating of organic, slippery and slimy substances plus certain mollusks, whose sharp edged shells discourage from walking bare footed or swim anywhere here at high tide. My previous dog was very fond of every pool or puddle of water, but here he couldn't be convinced to enter the murky floating trash.

The Golden Retriever seemed to have more common sense than some people here - because despite the visible dirt there, some actual guests of "Bang Saen Beach" were playing in that liquid!

Given the fact, that none of our visits here between say 2007 and 2009 took place on a sunny day, the beaches dark grey to grey colors never tempted me to remove as much as my shoes. Glass segments of broken Mekhong and Sang Som and Beer bottles were to be spotted everywhere. The southern part of this 4km stretch of "beach" looked a little bit more promising, so I went there as well.

Countless plastic objects later, the southern end came into view, dead fish we saw a few, but this shore might be free of regular fish masses like anywhere else along the Gulf, one of the richest bodies of water on this planet in marine life forms.

Unbelievable amounts of Thai citizens, mainly kids, were disregarding the trash and dirt and enjoyed themselves. These "dip in a dump" tourists probably never saw an ocean or real beach in their life before, and they really had obvious fun in there.

Banana boating was popular with the kids and young adults, their one day beach-trip by bus to come here surely made a difference to their rice field lifes in the poorer provinces. Jet-ski's wouldn't operate long in this filth, because their propulsion intake would be clogged with plastic bags or else too frequently. Here they use regular outboard engines with their dangerously exposed blades to shred some of the trash. I only hope no one got maimed or his arm or legs cut off by this toy!
There are reasons, why these killers are outlawed in other countries to be operated on public beaches. An observer may start to think, that money and bribes overrule all safety and environmental issues in Thailand!

The bused-in hordes of beach fans here flock to the pavement daily in great numbers, most of them do not set their feet on the sand below. For convenience of some and annoyance for all, the buses are parked with idling engines on the beach road for hours. Noisy and polluting, their diesel exhausts do give a change in stink from the organic waste and algae growth below at low tide. Their noise is trumped by megaphones of the herders of these day tourists, and if you are lucky you get some further entertainment from their mobile soundboxes, that would make every gangster-rapper in New York's Bronx to sell his Bling-Bling in order to have one of these noise makers

The pavement up here is maybe the main attraction, who knows if these guests ever had the privilege to use their flip-flops on any even ground. All their "beach-activity" is happening before your very eyes if you consume a bit from the street vendors here on the lovely concrete!

Palm trees provide a cheap decoration on this promenade, but the aren't servived or have seen any maintenance by landscapers as the ugly rotten parts show, which occasionally tumble down and wipe the crude tables clean of any bottles of drinks or food. There seems to be a forest of beach-chairs, all set up on concrete or pavement, not a single one on the beach.

When the going gets tough here, the flip-flops will come flying off and the bus hordes play the beach games bare footed now, surely on plastered surface - what a fun! Occasional yells or commands by megaphone keep the hordes in shape.

I begin to understand a "fun day out at the beach" in new ways now - amazing Thailand, I feel so sorry for your people. May TAT one day wake up and stop claiming this seaside resort as an attraction for tourists. Matter of factly, it's a trash heap with a synthetic infrastructure and health risks for the minors and young adults here. These return home with impressions, that are rather dreadful than memorable.

And please stop telling my fellow foreigners, that this is a great place to go and visit. This is not reflecting the reality and a remedy requires some quick and decisive on-site action. Visitors here will broadcast their impressions and share the truth. May the truth and reality prevail in Thailand as well. TAT open your eyes! May Bang Saen receive the attention it needs to improve, a lot of that is imminent!

Wualai Road - A great night market in Chiang Mai

2009-11-26T22:25:00.003+01:00

On a Saturday night, you can hardly do something better in the "Rose of the North", than herd over to Chiang Mai's Wualai Street, the daytime famous location for the silversmiths and antique dealers. Unlike it's famous night market competitor, the once glamorous "Night Bazaar", Wualai night market hasn't become a touristc nightmare with inflated prices and purely commercial aspects. Wualai market is one of the old style markets, where you'll be surrounded by the lights, sounds and smells of a truely grown and established markets. Not drawn up on a map as a tourist magnet for the lazy mass tourists, which return from their arranged trips and have made the tour industry happy all day. Wualai seems not to have lost the touch of a genuine market yet.

The market occurs once weekly along the flanks of said road, which leads diagonally from the moat to Chiang Mai gate. You will find all sorts of artists here, which will draw your picture or carve your elephant while you wait. Handicrafts and hand crafted snacks are a big winner with the visiting public.

Seniors entertain their crowds with long forgotten tunes and play their instruments for you:

Melona gears up on hairpins for herself and her friends worldwide to have some gifts for their next visit to Thailand.

She loves to haggle with the dealers and enjoys the shopping here much.

Carved soap seems to go well with the customers, shops and stalls show their respective products:

Photographers, don't forget your cameras in the hotel or guest house, there is too much to see here.

Sweets are available in abundance, some of those treats you may want to sample yourself:

Foods and snacks are served all along this long market, it neverneeds visitors to venture on hungry:

Puppeteers, ballet, live music - you never know what to expect a few steps further.....

Try local Cappucino or hilltribe coffees in the coffee stalls along the way:

Suddenly you spot beauties in their traditional dresses, just love to pose for your picture....

The selection is no less here, than in the touristy hotspots, but you may get much better prices on items:

The beauties are everywhere, and before you know it, you have walked miles here down Wualai Road.

Even street performers are now showing up, always another nice addition to a great venue!

Thaphae Gate market, Night Bazaar, there is a big choice for all in Chiang Mai. Wualai market is our declared favorite one, see it for yourself one day!

Batu Ferringhi - Malaysia's urban resortbeach on Penang Island

2009-11-26T10:00:00.012+01:00

Batu Ferringhi nestles on the northern section of Penang Island and is viewed by Penangnites as a Suburb of Georgetown. It's sandy shores attract a rainbow of visitors, although it is hidden from the pathes and views of most tourists, which come to this place for it's vibrant nightlife and multitude of ethnic cousines. Penang in Malaysia is dominated by liberal people of all backgrounds, religious beliefs and the mix works fine here, it all seems to operate friction free.

Batu Ferringhi is their closest weekend getaway and you may not be able to find a room on the beach on popular long weekends or holidays. Several Kilometer of fine sand beach never escape unnoticed in the world anymore, the long and winding road from Georgetown and it's traffic prooves that fact. This beach also doubles as one of the least expensive ocean playgrounds for all sorts of watersport activities. Parasailing is a big winner with the guests here and so is Jetski rental, Bananaboat riding and horseback fun on the beach.

The "flying" adventure on a chute, dragged behind a powerful sportboat is still much less costly here, than in the "developed" resorts like Phuket or Samui further up north in Thailand. We liked to bring friends and family here for their inauguration into a fun sport called "Parasailing" in the past and they all got a real kick out of this attraction for the brave. Melona did her first flight here years ago and she still treasures the memory of it.

ATV's or Quads can be rented too, there is hardly a limit on the options. Sunseekers or visitors out for a tan on a blanket do not need to go anywhere else for their share of the free fun.

The parasailing operators have first class imported (not copied!) gear, and in all our years there we have never seen an accident or real bad landing. The operators instruct all participants well across any language barriers and people in Malaysia do have a real command of English, not just a handfull of snapped up words in their repertoire. Another feature, which is very beneficial to most visitors.

Safety features are explained, a life-vest is mandatory here, no wild rocks may disturb soft sand landings as well.

Melonas dad before the first flight on a chute of his life, a real brave man.

Some untangling has to be executed before take off. This beach has plenty of room for everybody, nobody feels bothered by this here.

Take off requires a wind filled chute and a few quick steps towards the tugging boat, clear signals on what to do are given as well.

Take off happens with dry feet, the speed of the boat and the aerodynamics of the chute quickly deploy the flyer into the air.

A long line secures the set-up and the boat operators do their business with the needed professionalism, no doped beach-bums here in the market for some quick tourist cash.

Turns have been jacked up in price recently, the arrivals of the uninformed first mass tourists here have begun to taint the fun for others. Just like in any other place in Southeastasia, the dreaded mass tourists spoil long established prices with their readiness to fork over inflated prices. Those, who have first-hand witnessed the developments in Pattaya, Jomtien, Phuket or Samui know exactly, what I'm talking about here.

The horses for rent offered here are real horses, not the ponies or donkeys as at other locations in Asia. Melona and I used to like to exchange our bike for a real horse here to do our beloved beachcruises. But that was again before the arrival of the dreaded mass-tourists, which now wave 50 Ringgit bills (500 Baht) for a few minutes on horseback. 20 Ringgit was all we were asked for in the old days (2005-2007) for a nice 30 minute ride.

Rides are now guided by the horseboys, the dawn of Hotels to cater for the richer crowds here has chased many cheap Guesthouses away, whole groups of them make room at once for new megaroom resorts. We still go there to see it, when in Penang - as the perfect public bus scheme still takes us for 3 Ringgit to that nice beach. Not the old KGN diesel stinkers anymore, but super decked-out DeLuxe cityliners with great seating and WiFi on board! Komtar Tower downtown Georgetown is the starting point. Look for bus number 201 and have the fare availlable in coins or small bills. You may also board this bus in Lebuh Chulia, the backpackers paradise. Chulia Street has a lively scene with accommodations, bars, restaurants and travel- plus visa-agencies. Don't miss out on this, even if you pay more than 20 Ringgit for your bed in a fancier place.

The real south begins here - Songkhla

2009-11-18T19:35:00.017+01:00

The Province of Songkhla is probably the most undervalued and underreported area in Thailand, when it comes to tourism to this very beautiful part of Thailand. Hat Yai for being it's economically largest city and traffic hub, is easily accessible by car, plane or overnight train from Bangkok and the other parts of the Kingdom. Satun and it's islands in the West are the southernmost points of Thailand, which are mentioned in the promotional frameworks of the Tourist Authority of Thailand. A goverment owned and operated office to channel and enhance all public relations about the Kingdom's sights and tourist's destinations.

Hat Yai and the coastal City of Songkhla on the eastern Gulfshore seem to play an insignificant role in TAT's efforts and productions of brochures and publications. Their multilingual promotional flyers and informations do concentrate just on places west and north of here.

Songkhla's inhabitants aren't scared or irritated by foreigners, this is where you'll find probably the most friendly crowd of locals, in other words - the folks don't just grin or smile at you speechless, eyeballing the cash you may drop here - they seem to have answers to your questions and are very helpful to foreigners. One reason for this may be the sheer density of intitutes for higher learning and universities in town. People here seem to be smart and not just grin or smile at you. That doesn't mean that smiles are rarer here, but they appear honest and true versus the famous "I don't know - smile", which you may earn elsewhere upon asking any question to local folks.

Nature meant well with the inhabitants of Songkhla and famous Samila Beach flanks the city to the eastern shore, where the famous sculpture of a mermaid on display alone attracts thousands of locals alone each year:

The mermaid here is a statue, which has been erected not too long ago. It has quickly developed into a motive for prized pictures for all that come here - to one of the longest urban bathing beaches in Thailand. Most of it's many Kilometers flank the cities eastern side and it stretches from a rock formation south of the city to a small cape (mermaid's location!), then for a few hundred meters in a east to west direction, before continuing it's long way to the Songkhla Lake's connection to the gulf. The Songkhla Lake is Thailand's largest natural lake, it has a salinity measuring about half the oceans own.

Irrawaddy dolphins are said to be here, but despite intensive search, the author never caught a glimpse from them in countless trips here. The brackish waters in this lagoon change gradually to sweet water as the observer progresses north, where mangrovee swamps dominate the lakeshore inland. Songkhla Lake poses an overfishing and pollution problem, currently being studied and checked by several teams.

On any nice weekend day, the waiting time at the statue may even exceed the travelling time here. Thousands of Thai people want to have their pictures taken. In the backdrop you can spot Cat-Island and Mouse-Island, a scenic landmark Songkhla's, also honored by their respective statues on shore (Hat Samila).

The kids will find a wooden pirate ship on their playground here to climb aboard (oversized toy) and in the late afternoon, vendors sell kites when the breezes freshen up a bit. 10 Baht and up is the charge for these handmade kites, that always does includes some line!

Tan Kuan Hill with it's fabulous sights in all diections is another attraction in Songkhla. The Thailand traveller is surprised, that there is a fair pricing on all attractions in Songkhla and south of here, a cablecar ride to the hilltop costs a few coins to all that want to use the service. Thai and foreigner are the same people here with identical prices.The automated shuttle to the hilltop is much rather a 137 m long elevator, than a vehicle. It is a cabin, guided by tracks and supported by cables.
A monkey playground and feeding facility is right next to the base station, a free and great fun to interact with them. Food for them is sold by locals on-site!

The viewpoint at the ice cream parlor and snackeria, a few steps down in a northerly direction, offers a great view of Hat Samilas northern tip and the commercial ships that frequent Songkhlas industrial harbor. The islands can be seen in the east and the structure to prevent larger waves from entering the inland lake area, can also be seen.

The hilltop has a large temple and Thai people come here to pray and burn some firecrackers. To precent any possible forestfire, the temple's management provides firecracker cages.

The views southwards offer also a nice view. Songkhlas universities with their diversified faculties can be seen well from here.

Also of interest is the sight towards northwest, where the southern tip of Songkhla Lake comes into view. That is where the ferry connects to route # 408 to Nakhorn Si Thammarat for road traffic, although most cars and trucks take the new Tinsulanonda-Bridge further west.

Naga is the name for the water spouting monument, which is near the ferry on the beach. A serpentheaded mythical creature from ancient times, which is believed to have magical powers.

The ferry itself is aged and rusty, but it carries many times daily it's load of vehicles and passengers across. The fare is marginal and on a typical, "local" level. Many bikes and some cars or light trucks use it. Helmets for bikers can't be seen outside city limits, no one even carries one, despite the law.

The mopeds carry anything here, from whole families with their kids to entire girlie-gangs on their beach- or bathing-trip. 5 people on a bike is no rarity here!

The other coastal areas in the Province north and south along the Gulf of Siam stretch as far as the Province's soil. We love the beachbiking here and also beachcombing. A few fishermen may attend their boats or nets, but undisturbed wild beaches for many miles. Any other person is seldom to be seen.

The driftwood makes great campfires and no one worries, as long as you stay clear of the fragile vegetation along the shore.

A suitable motorcycle, a wild beach on a sunny day - the warm waters of the Gulf, we love this!

With motorcycle rentals as low as 150 Baht per day and guesthouses beginning in the 200 Baht bracket, hotels with Aircon run around 500 Baht per room. Just fancy star-rated palazzos charge above this in Songkhla.

On all our trips we treasured the local vegetation along the shores, which is so diverse. From cacti to seapines, you'll find it here. The food in Songkhla belongs to the best in the Kingdom, and many restaurants can serve all your needs.

The distance to Bangkok is almost 1.000 KM, a nighttrip in a train later and you'll be here for a fraction of the transport charges going to Phuket, which is much closer to Bangkok. Public transport in town is cheap and flat-rate style. Buses connect frequently to Hat Yai for 30 Baht.

In Songkhla, you will encounter a fairly high percentage of locals with advanced English speaking capabilities and great people plus a multitude of opportunities to see and catch some nice experiences - why not put it on your own agenda for your next Thailand trip?

Cashew Nüsse - Eine der Delikatessen aus Thailand

2009-11-14T09:38:00.001+01:00

Die Cashew - Kashew oder Kaschubäume auf dieser Welt haben wir den Portugiesen zu verdanken, welche im Mittelalter den Baum in Brasilien entdeckten und überall dort hin exportierten, wo sie Kolonien betrieben. Der 10 bis 12 m hohe Baum hat ein enormes Wurzelsystem, welches sich sowohl in die Tiefe (Pfahlwurzel), als auch seitlich (Seitenwurzel) ausbreitet. In Gegenden tropischer Regenfälle gedeiht Cashew besonders gut, der anspruchslose Laubbaum benötigt einfachen, sandigen oder rote Böden. Von Melakka in Malaysia aus, fand der Baum entlang der gesamten Küste des Indischen Ozeans Verbreitung, wegen seiner famosen Wurzelbildung spielte er schon immer im Erosionsschutz eine wichtige Rolle. Cashew is eigentlich gar keine Nuß im biologischen Sinne, sondern ein Samen. Dieser bildet sich am Baum unter einer männerfaustgroßen Fruchtdolde, dem Cashewapfel. Dieser wird wegen seiner fehlenden Transportfähigket nur lokal verzehrt, oder mancherorts zu Spirituosen verarbeitet. Die Frucht ist nicht geschmacksintensiv, beginnt am Tage nach dem Pflücken mit dem Faulen, sie ist aber reich an Vitamin C und wird beispielsweise im Ursprungsland Brasilien zu Marmelade eingekocht. Aus dem Raume Goa an der Küste des indischen Subkontinents kommt Feni, eine Spirituosenspezialität aus Cashewäpfeln dort. In Thailand findet man Cashew entlang vieler Küstenregionen, besonders auf den bei Ranong liegenden Inseln Koh Phayam und Koh Chang, wo Cashewanbau neben der Fischerei und einer zaghaften Entwicklung des Strandtourismus eine der Haupteinnahmequellen für die Bevölkerung der Region darstellt. Im folgenden Foto sehen wir einen Cashewapfel in Reifem Zustand nebst der Cashew, welche sich unter der Cashewfrucht bildet:

Die manuelle Verarbeitung ist sehr aufwändig, die Doppelschale rund um die Cashewnuß beinhaltet hautaggressive Stoffe. Auch ist das Trennen des verzehrbaren Kerns von dieser Doppelschale ist eine vorwiegend in Handarbeit verrichtete Angelegenheit. Mit einer Arbeitsleistung von maximal 5 KG Cashew je Arbeiter und Tag, kann das Entkernen auch treffend als eine sehr arbeitsintensive Tätigkeit beschrieben werden.

Meist ist diese Tätigkeit somit auch Broterwerb auf den Plantagen für ganze Familiensippen von Tagelöhnern, welche oft als Saisonarbeiter aus ärmeren Regionen, so dem benachbarten Burma, hierher zum Arbeiten kommen.

Das CNSL (Cashew-Nut-Shell-Liquid) ist ein Harz, welches in der Industrie sehr gefragt ist. Vom Arzeneimittel über seewasserresistente Schutzlacke für Boote bis hin zu Bremsbelagsbeimengungen von Automobil-Bremsbelägen, wird das CNSL als Grundsubstanz weltweit benötigt. Das CNSL oder Cardinol wird aus der Anacardinsäure des Schalenöls beim Erhitzen gewonnen.

Intensive Waschvorgänge der Cashewnuß können daher zur Erntezeit in den betreffenden Regionen beobachtet werden. In Röstvorgängen werden nach der Trennung des verzehrbaren Teils von den Schalen, aus diesen der wertvolle Industrierohstoff gewonnen. Von hier gehen die Cashewnuß und das Cardinol getrennte Wege, die Schalenreste befeuern den Röstvorgang als Kohle- oder Ölersatz! Eine gewisse ökologische Effizienz ist hierbei nicht abzustreiten. Restfeuchte spielt in dem verzehrbaren Teil einer Cashewnuß eine große Rolle hinsichtlich dessen Transportfähigkeit und der Lagerhaltung. Cashewkerne aus Thailand haben meist eine ökologisch unbedenkliche Sonnentrocknung hinter sich, auch sind sie sehr sauber verarbeitet und werden ansehnlich in Klarsichtbeuteln zum Verkauf angeboten. Industrielle oder Export-Verpackungseinheiten bis 25 lbs. in Großkonserven, werden international gehandelt. Der Anteil an unversehrten, ungebrochenen Kernen ist hier ausschlaggebend.

Diese Köstlichkeit ist reich an essenzieller Aminosäure, welche sich bei menschlichem Verzehr sehr positiv auf die Bildung des wichtigen Hormons Serotonin auswirkt. Ernährungsphysiologisch gesehen, sind Cashewnüsse also ein recht wertiges Nahrungsmittel.

Der Besucher einer Cashewplantage kann die Früchte meist in mehreren Vegetationsstufen betrachten. Während überreife Früchte schon mal laut platschend auf dem Boden aufschlagen und dabei platzen, sind solche in einem früheren Reifestadium oftmals noch am gleichen Baum zu bestaunen.

Der Cashewbaum gilt als immergrünes Gewächs, er verliert sein Laub nicht zyklisch im Laufe eines Jahres, wie viele anderen Frucht- und Laubbäume.

Still worth a trip - but for how long? Koh Phayam

2009-11-13T16:45:00.011+01:00

The tickets for the economical slow boat are being sold at the pier in Ranong town. Here you can buy your passage to either Koh Phayam or the smaller Koh Chang in the Andaman Sea for 150 Baht a person. But it sure won't be long until overpowered speed boats shuttle tourist masses in herds in a nick of time to those laid back islands.

The islands are a perfect retreat for a few days or an entire holiday at present, but for sure they will have not too long to wait until the full-moon-party-type of crowd starts to destroy the tranquility on those marvellous beaches and the islands will be "koh samuied" in one way or another.

While some will call it "progress", Thailand will soon find out, that quite a percentage of it's international arrivals do not really treasure a McDonalds branch open 24 hours only steps from the beach as in Ao Nang, Krabi province and other "amenities", brought by mass-tourism.

Enough of this now, our readers want to know, what's so special about Koh Phayam and what used to make it one of the authors prime destinations for a family-beach retreat within the Kingdom. Known previously only for it's crop of high quality cashew nuts, Koh Phayam was discovered by the backpacker crowd, that escaped the former paradises of Phuket and Koh Samui about a little over a decade ago. Rather conservative locals and the lack of big dollar spenders on giant resorts preserved Koh Phayams originality a little bit longer than other tropical islands. Today, you can still witness pristine, unspoiled beaches and drive there on your moped on single lane paved pathways, too narrow to accommodate pickup trucks! Car traffic will nowhere to be seen. The number of paved ways is very limited throughout the island. Cashew trees and their plantations everywhere inland and rolling hills that seperate the bigger beaches. Resorts are plentyful on most beaches, their accommodations range from rather basic straw huts on the beach to wooden or solidly built bungalows adjacent to these beaches.

The boat is equipped with a number of seats, life vests are visible on board. It departs on schedule and picks up a slow speed.

A short while later, you deboard at a nice concrete pier on the eastern (landward) side of the island. Here are some shops, restaurants and snackerias. 2 moped hire stations are right past the welcome-sign, they also have moped taxis for those without driving skills or the desire to drive here - we surely took this cool opportunity and book a rental moped for the duration of our planned stay. Moped taxis are not necessarily our cup of tea!

We did set right off to the western beaches and crossed the island for this purpose on the bikes, checking out the variety of bungalows to find one that meets our demands. The selection is quite outstanding, as every decent stretch of beach has a number of well suited holiday homes for rent. Nice beaches are already to be found on the landward side where you arrive in the northern and southern sections of this island. To those resorts here you can walk from the pier.

Beaches are placed on Koh Phayam like symbols on a clockface. If you project a clock onto a map of it, you may find:

The snorkler's paradise Aow Kwang Peep at 12 o'clock, Aow Pai at 1 o'clock, the huge Aow Hin Khao at 2 o'clock and south of that near your arrival pier the flat and quiet Aow Mae Mai. Aow is a Thai word and means simply: beach, by the way. Aow Mook and Aow Kho-Kiew are at 4 and 5 o'clock and seperated by the rocky island of Kho Kham, which can be reached on foot in low tide. The main touristic beaches with most resorts follow on the eastern shoreline, with the majestic Aow Yai or Long beachat the 7 to 8 o'clock position and the Aow Kwai with it's gorgeous sunset bay at the 10 to 11 o'clock spot. The later is divided by some rocks in two distinctive sections and huge as well. A beach overload for a relative small island, but visitors can pick their favorite one and visit others on occasion to collect even more impressions of this tropical jewel in the Andaman Sea.

Beachbiking is a must for us, we also want to avoid the maze of plantation paths in the cashew jungles. Those are harder to navigate and negotiate on two wheels with two people, than a wet beach.

The beaches are perfect, occasional restaurants and no nasty sales people hawking anything you may not need. There is also no ocean of beachchairs in crazy numbers, but you may lay your blanket or beachmat anywhere you fancy :)

The beaches west are several km long and had a playful weak surf during our time there, the waters were clean with no sgn of jellyfish! They were also free of nasty sandflies. Nothing appeared dirty here, the beaches were natural and didn't need any upkeep as it appeared.

The beaches were sometimes flanked by rocks, these had funny forms at low tide. We also found shelter here during our beachcomber trips when showers came in occasionally from the burmese islans further west. These pics were taken in Aow Kwai Bay in the west during low tide.

Each shower was short and soon gave way to better weather:

To our regular readers, these pictures look familiar as we use that motive as our avatar:

...and this one for SIAMPEDIA's logo:

It is very picturesque on Koh Phayam and the western beaches offer fabolous sunsets almost nightly. The cashew tree farming we found attractive enough to dedicate an own feature for this. On the island is no 7eleven or larger store, everything is being handled by established Ma & Pa type of stores, dotted all across the island. The foundation for larger aircon-resorts has been laid a while ago, they will draw a different crowd and noisier generators. The infrastructure will then not gradually grow, but jump, and attract more money for investments and resorts for a higher prices paying group of customers - the "Koh Samui"-phenomenon will start one day with roads being upgraded to accommodate cars and trucks, by then we will have escaped already and report from a left over paradise some place else :)

Visit Koh Phayam now, when a limited infrastructure and now connection for a powergrid cable to the mainland's electrical power system still guarantees a certain tranquility and very reasonable prices. It may be too late to experience all this beauty in a few more years from now. Spa's and fancy amenities are unheard of as per yet, but the profits will linger one day and surely bring the crowds, which we flee from since ages.

SRT - Thailands State Railway - 3rd class seat

2009-11-12T13:27:00.003+01:00

Thailand's rail system offers with the cheap 3rd class a ticket to all, which is very economical. Roughly 300 Baht will get you to any place the rails are laid out to. The ride is as quick or slow as in any "better" class. But third does have some other features too, which may interest the filming or photographing tourists and passengers. We'll go through this step by step to explain this issue in detail.

Firstly, third class isn't as uncomfortable as some think it may be, the seats on the routes north and south are of the upholstered variety. 2 people can easily travel for a 100 Baht bill from Bangkok to Pattaya or even to the Cambodian border in Aranyaprathet.

This type of train is typical for Thailand and your contacts with locals and other travellers are not subdued ba any walls or distances. Seats are numbered and can be booked well in advance (recommended). The only exception are trains into the isaan (northeast), where SRT still uses even more basic waggons with wooden benches and less space per passenger.

Each seat is often numbered multiple times in true Thai style, engraved numbering, the marker pen numbers on the wall or the sratched numbers into the steel bar on top of the seats do not correspond and makes seat assignments a bit of a guesswork. Windows are usually much wider then in the 2nd class seat waggon and there is no lack of ventilation with the train in motion, some fans on the ceiling can be manually turned on, if the train stops longer or windows have to be raised during a rain shower. Louvered blinds compliment the windows for those sitting in the direct sun if the sun's intensity is too strong.

Officials include ticket checkers and armed uniformed personnel, they aren't unfriendly but very strict. Their Rambo-looks and guns scare youngsters from harassing others or disregard the smoke-ban in the waggons of the train, the trains are constantly patroled by them.

Services offered on all routes are snacks from the dining-cart's kitchen in styrofoam containers for marginal amounts of money, drinks are served ice cold also for a small surcharge. Everything is being delivered to the seat for you.

A habit of the citizens, which I personally dislike, is the chronical dumping of all waste out of the windows without any care for the nature outside or second thoughts about this. You can watch the trash flying out every waggon, when you lean out the window and look alongside the moving train. Garbage receptacles are provided at every end of the waggon, but hardly anyone cares to walk there to dump his empty styrofoam, water bottle, plastic bag or paper trash.

This is very annoying right after large stations (Surat Thani, Korat, Ratchaburi, Ayutthaya etc.), when the trash lines the track for several miles, after some local cheap food has been delivered by vendors throughout the train.

The stops seem sometimes very long, trains with 3 rd class attached don't rank high on SRT's priority list. Quite a few times the halt is preceding a single track segment and the train is stalled to let a higher ranked train go through first or let another one clear it, before your train can proceed to his destination.

Luggage room is plenty, unless you plan to travel on or before Thai holidays.

Smokers resort to the ends of the waggon, both doors there usually remain open and it is officially ok to lite up a cigarette or so here. Some sit in these open doors andd read a book or just enjoy the breeze. The styrofoam trash lines the immediate track neighborhood significantly in some places.

Toilets are somewhat basic and special to foreigners. Plan your bowel movements accordingly and please don't use it in stations. All falls right down through the hole there! You can safely walk around in the whole train and even step outside to take pictures or shop at station kiosks, the departing train will be announced by whistle blows or a big bell ringing. Watch for the flag waving official in the middle of the train an the platform, he communicates with the engineer up front and tells him by waving a green flag to go. It's time to jump back on the train then!

The dining car party in the train leaving Chiang Mai in the afternoon is almost a tradition, sometimes the Chiang Mai bound train has parties too. Dining carts are rented out privately in Thailand and the quality of their services depends on their respective renters. Some have a couple rows of Christmas-style lights attached to the ceiling, smoking and consumption of alcoholic beverages is encouraged here. Entertainment is provided by a stereo system of the management here and choices of music being played are slim but some folks bring their tapes or CDs along. Dancing is a normality and sometimes this gets a bit wild. Some wild girls dance on the seats there, they will later be reminded to leave enough clothes on for the dining cart team not to get in any troubles during any station stops.

The party stops in the wee hours, when profits from the crowd sink below acceptable limits here. Melona and I would never miss this fun event, when returning by rail from the north. Chosing the right train back seems to be a key factor to join this international crowd. Parties like this seem to be an exclusive on the Bangkok bound Chiangmai train, as we have never witnessed such fun on southern or northeastern routes.
The dining car is, however, a sanctuary for smokers, it closes normally some time before midnight and reopens for breakfast between 5 and 6 a.m.
The 3rd class is a great place to interact and communicate with others as the seating provided is very limited! Only 12 pairs of seats make up their entire furniture for passengers and the seats are of the upholstered folding variety. Consumption is an obligation here, coffee is 15 Baht and softdrinks are 20 Baht. Alcohol is being served as per their menue, but the prices are reasonable too.
Dining carts in trains that carry only 1st and 2nd class aren't worth your while unless you like a "windows locked shut" and "caged in" sort of feeling, the are airconditioned and strictly non-smoking!

SRT - Thailands State Railway - 2nd class seater

2009-11-11T13:16:00.011+01:00

The 2nd class seating arrangements are availlable on selected trains only. Older coaches with wooden planking, a linoleum flooring and "barbershop" chairs, which appear to be at least of 60's vintage and hence celebrated their half century jubilee already in silence. The chairs are stationary and mounted on oversized heavy steel consoles. SRT carries usually only one of these waggons in trains without 1st class. These antique waggons hold a maximum of 48 passengers. They are chronically overbooked, even in half empty trains, but just recently have been tested by our reporting team in November 2009 from Hat Yai back to Bangkok (sleeper 2nd class was fully booked for days ahead!).

They have a reclining feature (if functioning) and some thick vinyl (sweaty!) as a cover for a rather thin upholstery. Ashtrays in the armrests are covered shut with a stupid piece of metal, sharp edges on this oversized piece and the usage of non-flush mounted screws will care for some roughing up of your wrist areas and the delicate skin of your lower arms.

Footrests on each seat are solid pieces of steel, welded stiff on the seat pedestal in front of you. These are dimensioned strictly for Asian sized people, so if you can pass without ducking under a bar in 1,60 m height - these are for you :)

If, on the other hand your bodylength has western dimensions (the author hits the male average for westerners with just over 1,80 m), I will feel with you and hope the pain ceases within a couple of days. It took me 2 full days to be backpainfree again.

The setup is easy and uniform in this class, two seats each are numbered side by side throughout the waggon. The seatwidth reminds of the sardine-can-setup, cheap airlines do offer in their low budget coachclasses. This seat, however, is yours for a full 18 hours, not just a one or two hour flight somewhere! :) All windows are open and care for a good wind troughout the journey. Except for the plenty of stops, where mosquitoes and other flying attractions of the appropriate area in the jungles or agricultural zones will swarm the brightly illuminated cart. It's a welcomed "sitting ducks" situation for the bloodsuckers with wings. Those who believe in protection by just a T-shirt for example, will be tought an itching lesson! :)

Exposed skin should be treated with a good insect repellent in any environment with mosquitoes present in Thailand anywhere at any time. The waggon itself is merciless brightly lit at nighttime, strong overhead fluorescent lamps will make you crave for an eyeshade if you really want to nap.

Overhead luggage storage space seems to be proportioned well for the relative small group of travellers in here, space for roomier or bulky items is behind the seats 1 through 4 (suitcases etc.)

Just in case you wear shorts on your non-aircon trips, be advised that there are plenty of sharp metal screws and rusty spots in each legroom, make sure your tetanus vaccination is still valid!

The overaged linoleum flooring material appears to have been laid maybe on the current kings 40th or 50th birthday, but has not seen any replacement since. Large cracks and worn out walkways show this clearly. The material there has not only given up it's top green layer, but also the complete grey zone. The black on display is the color of the hard rubber baselayer, this wear and tear must have accumulated over decades as Thai passengers weigh not too much in average and hardly change their soft flip-flops for abraisive boots or heavy shoes.

Each seat has a "shadow area" of dirt underneath, thats where the cleaning gear doesn't reach in a quick wipe. The floor in it's accessible areas will be mopped several times during the trip, That probably is supposed to put a curb to the insect's activity. The 8-legged roamers do outsmart the mop by retreating to their hiding places then and reappear from all cracks and holes (especially in those pedestals). Everything else appears rather clean, but wait for the hours after midnight when activity in the waggon dies down and everybody tries to grab a nap. I have relocated all of our small luggage items and Melona's famous snack-bag to the overhead area to keep them out of the critter's reach. :)

Earplags may help to reduce the noiselevel throughout the ride, the cost for these luxurious seats equals about the double of the base price (3rd class seat). The sheer age of these waggons prohibits any tachnical upgrades, I guess. Jammed windows aren't uncommon and the louvred sun-blinds can reduce the wind drag a bit if pulled or pushed into position. Hordes of salespeople with all kinds of foods flock the train at every bigger station, most carry their wares in wire baskets through the aisle, loudly presenting their specialities. Be assured to secure your arm and shoulder, when you end up in an aisle-seat. The vendors bang into people constantly, their metal baskets command most of the room in the aisles.

This type of waggon features a room clad in stainless, where a sorry looking showerhead protrudes from the ceiling. It is supposedly used for anybody wishing to clean up or refresh, but besides the showerhead there is a miniature sink for public use. Be careful with your feet when using this feature, as the wastewater from there drains through a vertical piece of pipe onto your footwear, before gravity lets it exit through a hole in the floor onto the visible gravel below the train. A 2nd class seat will never again be booked by myself, but I wanted that experience myself in order to be able to cover realisticly all classes and types of service in our reports. Melona slept well on our trip back to Bangkok in this type of seat, but as an Asian girl she is also not within western or caucasian brackets in terms of her body's sizes :). Much more desirable at a slightly higher price is the 2nd class sleeper, which will be featured here as well later.

SRT - Thailands State Railway - 1st class private sleeper cabin

2009-11-10T09:35:00.010+01:00

Only some trains carry 1st class sleeper carts, the are the pride of the rail system and about 0,5 % of all passengers choose them. Lockable compartments with a small sink (water not for human consumption recommended), a comfy sofa, a miniature foldup-table and a lockable sliding-door to the gangway outside. 1st class is surely kept clean and no irritating smells or odeurs will spoil your journey. The upper wall half contains the upper bed, it is folded flat against the wall in day use. Cheap linoleum flooring, a non-adjustable airconditioning and locked down windows still limit the fun quite a bit. Lightning is basically provided by an overhead lamp with a switch. The fact that windows can't be opened, not even for ventilation, is a really bothering factor for us! It also excludes you efficiently from all goodies and dealers in the various stations, which sell drinks, hot coffee or snacks and ice cream through the open windows in 3rd class. They run up and down the platform, but will skip you as they are also not allowed inside to hawk their wares.

The nightly set-up will be executed by the steward at bedtime or if you wish, fresh linnens and pillows will be provided. Each micro-cabin has a special connecting door to the adjacent cabin, so 2 micro-cabins for 2 passengers each can be combined to a 4 person layout. The lower bed appears slightly larger, but persons sleeping here would have to have Asian dimensions to really sleep comfortable. The mattresses cannot accomodate 2 people (for those with romantic ideas). A reading light at each berth plus a small net for phones or such is installed. Not installed is any form of electrical outlet, laptops or phones can eventually be charged by the steward in his quarters. Toilets are on either end of the cart, but their basic design and lack of any modern features are not exactly fitting a first class western standard. Smoking is prohibited in the entire cart, the steward points to a noisy and unstable area between carts near the locked doors upon request. Noise levels throughout 1st class are subdued, but lightyears away from what one may expect after having experienced similar rides in the USA or Europe.

Friendly railroad staff delivers a lukewarm assortment of shrinkwrapped Thai dishes to your door from time to time. Cost is marginal but higher than in the dining cart 2nd class, which usually accompanies 1st class train setups.

The cabins all stretch along one long hallway, that is too narrow to let two people pass each other. Access to the cabins only directly from this hallway.

Note: No stowaway for suitcases or travel bags, all need to fit inside your micro-cabin!
This may be a real problem to the tourist with suitcases or large bags, as the room under the bench is occupied by the ladder and other fittings for the nightly setup to a large percentage!

Littered with advertising, the washing facility at the cart's ends feature no or too little room for a much needed mirror. Soap and papertowels are provided here.

Some carts have a public phone installed, but it operates on greatly overpriced prepaid cards only, the stewart sells these. The prices charged for this type of transport make train travel no option for modern people. Long haul domestic flights are often cheaper and require a lot less time. 1st class passengers are screened from the life in stations and enroute as well, the stationary window may or may not be clean enough to allow for photographs. We have experienced both nice and milky/dirty ones.The fare is for example 1.379 Baht to Surat Thani (Samui) or 1.594 Baht to Hat Yai Station per person for this class. To Surat Thani the travel time is approximately 10 hours, to Hat Yai 18 hours are realistic.

Make sure to pick the right train for your destination, some do arrive at hours ranging from ungodly hours in the middle of the night and involve further hours of idle time waiting until the towns wake up! Depending on your group size, 1st class rail travel may be an option for those uninterested in contact with others and no interest in the areas they pass through. Watch, where you buy your tickets - only SRT outlets or rail stations charge you fair, all so called "Joint tickets" that the agents try to hawk to camouflage hefty markups are actually rip-offs of a mild kind :)

Train useage makes more sense, the further you travel up or down one line. Chiang Mai, Nong Khai and Hat Yai make more sense than Pattaya, Hua Hin or Chumporn. Always compare to online offers of low budget airlines, 1st class rail may equal a big waste of time and money!

Reservations can be made at any railway station for any class of service nationwide, be aware that popular trains with nice schedules are sold out fast in high season or before the big Thai holidays. We will continue this with actual reports from lower classes of service and have quite some surprises waiting for our concerned readers. Thank you for your interest in our report.

SRT - Thailands State Railway in distress

2009-11-09T16:08:00.018+01:00

Thailand's over a century old rail system is narrow gauge and mostly single track. This doesn't allow for 21st century speeds, but it's still being operated and hauls quite a number of passengers in 3 different classes of service. Tourists, which have to catch planes at any nationwide airport should refrain from rail services, their useage of timetables and schedules does not operate on western standards!

Equipment is being called "time-bombs" by leading local media and recent fatalities through derailments did cast a further bad shadow on the tracks. We have, however used long distance rail services in the past frequently and have just returned from Hat Yai in the far South. Other main lines lead North to Chiang Mai or East to Aranyaprathet, a Northeastern spur to Nong Khai has the lousiest waggons involved (wooden benches without any upholstery!) and was boycotted by us for orthopedic reasons in the past. Spurs to Trang, Sungai Kolok or Padang Bezar in the South and Kanchanaburi in the West do cater for residents there or tourists heading for destinations in those vicinities. A once daily service to and from Pattaya and Suphanburi is badly timed and often half empty. Efficiency doesn't seem to play any factor on the rails.

The engines have a bad reputation with barely enough on hand for the daily service. Strikes hemmed efficiency and reliability bad in the recent past. It is said, that a large percentage of Thailand's 212 engines is seriously damaged ("fubar", in new English) and currently being cannibalized for spare parts to keep enough rolling stock on the rails. Copied parts are a major cause for failures and accidents, nobody gets his wrist slapped in Thailand for operating equipment with faulty brakes or security relevant parts made cheaply off-standard locally or in China. A person's life doesn't count for much here and the self-applauding governments from all the different parties, that ruled this country during the past decades, nobody dared to pay any attention!

Read this article from the Bangkok Post:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRIVE THIS? Why our trains are falling apart

The sleepers have outlasted their lifespan often 30 years ago, and rail securing technology from the 40's is still being visible in many sections. Concrete sleepers with real gravel between them, a standard anywhere else, is being implied at a typical snail pace and may last a few more decades. SRT is not spending enough money to keep their train's security switches and brakes active (reason for the recent deadly derailment), what do they worry about something so low as a sleeper for the rails.

The loud horns always work fine, no engineer would take on a journey without them! Countless unsecured railway crossings in the nation rack up a number of traffic fatalities per year, headline for a day only.

Engines are painted in a gright yellow, but paint is cheap and rust is plenty! Rusty parts overpainted last a little while longer, so their philosopy. So don't get taken away by the colorful paintjobs on engines, that's just a disguise for people believing in postcards and their motives!

Check the waggons and couplings for structural damages, oil leaks and hissing pressure hose connections - but well, people use these rolling pieces of trash daily, because a bus would cost them triple the fare. There is no alternative to SRT's best-selling 3rd class fare, nowhere in the country!

Attacks with semi auto fire from muslim insurgents and bombings of railtargets have halted the services south of Hat Yai quite often. Armed patrols accompany every train now and they are army rangers, well trained!

But we will concentrate on the service provided, not on the technical rapping the SRT is permanently getting from it's own workers, engineers and the print media.

Train travel does have indeed positive sides, those will be featured in the follow-ons here for you on SIAMPEDIA.ORG

Stay tuned for our essences from 15.000+ KM of train travel over the last couple of years here, we used all available classes of service - some of those never ever again :). We start with the 1st class sleepercabin tomorrow, cozy and not too bad - but pricier than a budget airline ticket!

Khmertrip Stage 6: Back to the Thai border

2009-11-07T16:04:00.020+01:00

The wonderful trip came to an end after a well deserved relax time. Stefan can not only double as any action film hero, he's also enjoying sea breezes in a hammock by the ocean and can be the ultimate chillout-dude. Us two had some sort of championship in this over the final days but we couldn't decide on a winner, we may have to reschedule the tournament :)

We chose the costlier but awesome boat transfer for the return trip, minibusses were already plying the roads between Sihanoukville and Koh Kong, but the good old bulletboats still are doing their daily runs as well. Alex did us a final favor and ferried us to the pier in his minivan. That was great and saved us the trouble of dealing with the notoriously overcharging motorcycle taxidudes, which are called "motodups" by the way here.

The bulletboats were moored alongside a long, wooden pier in the far district of town, a wooden hut on it's right doubles a immigration shack. Cargoes for Koh Kong and island stops on the way were hauled by sweating workers in glistening midday-heat were using small twowheeled carts to move their goods. 12:30 was the departure time.

This is the only set of doors on the hull. Inside there, you have air conditioning, dieselfumes, some onboard entertainment by Khmer dubbed Thai Karaoke tunes. Through these hatches all passengers enter the vessel and all of their belongings go inside there too.

We knew the tricks of the trade here and arrived early to reserve us the VIP Stargazer lounge on the very top of the boat, well geared up for this ride of 4 to 5 hours.

Right in the leeward side of the boats windfoil we camped and secured all luggage held in those ugly big black bags by chaining it tight to some steel structure here, we ended up with the pole positions here! Upholstery downstairs is aged vinyl over sorry frames, they will get the true sardine-in-a-can feeling there once we're underway. A mercyless Cambodian sun grilled us there for the time being, but once the sleek bulletboat held it's hundredsomething passengers we sailed for Koh Kong, the obvious 20 or 50 standee tickets for extra profit not accounted for! I don't want to elaborate about the vomiting and noise level inside, we were dandy with our wooden seatboards and steel structures to cling to. The boat is propelled by some giant diesel engine and reaches a notable speed in these protected and shallow waters. The sights were outstanding, lonely pristine beaches and occasional fishing huts dot the shores to the left and right, the boat's captain choose the risky inland waterway between small islands and the mainland, once he cleared the bay of Kampong Som. Other nautical traffic is rare here, but some skippers are afraid of the huge patches of silt and sand that tides, monsoons and currents deploy in what was thought to be deep water. Bulletboats have a tendency to stop vigorously, once they hit one of these in full speed. It happened 8 or 10 years ago on the inland route, when a bulletboat I was travelling on, hit a large siltpatch and catapulted all unsecured outdoor cargo and passengers into the water.

Our ride was smooth and free of such stunts, but if anything happened to the ferry, we would have had a good chance to make it.

Stops were few and in the second half of the journey only. before the ferry was secured at piers, some deboarded using thin boards and gangways. See the grandmother below, she barely made it, but some dude from the boatcrew had mercy and guided her off. The piers were always full to the brim with bystanders doing nothing, just standing in everybody elses way!

The small walkway on the outer hull was quite a challenge, when we took turns to get icecold Coca-Cola Cans to prevent dehydration along the journey. The rail ended 10 feet before you needed to climb a rounded metal hull with no footholds.

Nothing compared to what we were up to next:

The final arrival at the concrete pier of Koh Kong was a true horror scenario in itself. Hundreds of touts of the worst variety all wanted their slice of the tourist cake, only the biggest and toughest on board were able to secure the space needed to deboard and set a foot on the concrete ashore. Ellbowing and shoving touts is the only option and way off the ferry here at this stage, a nightmare for small and peaceful minded travelers without real Cambodia experience. Below photo shows George from Arkansas, shortly before he lost control and began yelling at the agressive touts and shoved some around because their quick fingers were on his property too often, which he had strapped tight onto his body!

Stefan walked sideways, hitting a few hats off the tout's heads with his padlocked down duffle and pushing for the shore, we made it fairly quick and would have fallen quickly for the next scam, if some experience from older trips wouldn't have told us better.

Taxi Thaiborder claims the pickup truck and wants to haul a full load for a minimum of 5 $ per head to the border. Nobody stays in Koh Kong, their underage "chickenfarms" (brothels) or other questionable establishments did not tickle our fancy nor that of most fellow foreigners on board, we all wanted nothing but to get out here now.

The 5 $ minimum charge (rain, late arrivals or else may raise that anytime!) is a big ripoff in itself! The ride is only 4 to 5 km long and the mafiosis pocket healthy profits here. Sunnyboy backpackers and their madames have finally deboarded the ferry and feel safe on the truck in this ocean of madness. Stefan and me took the adventure a step further and set off on foot, leaving the pier, we were not going to leave Cambodia with another ripoff transport!

At a gas station, not far from the pier we located a motodup and challenged him, 5 single $ bills waved in his face made him accept the task, two big fellows plus a big black bag each to be hauled on his moped across the bridge to the border. He was a real stuntman and watched in awe as we strapped our belongings to the frame, one bag between his legs and one in the front of the moped! Us two sqeezing on the one remaining seat and off we went. Must have sure looked somewhat funny to bystanders.

The ride was really quick, after the driver found out how to balance his payload. Long before all rip-off tourists arrive by pickup at 5 $ a head (they won't leave the pier if one chance is left to squeeze one more in). 2 for 5 $ sounds like a much better deal to us.

The Immigration hut is crowded. Besides us, they handle all arrivals from Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville by minibus and shared private Taxi. All seem to be in a rush to get out of the Koh Kong madness.

A final little beggarkid was made happy when Stefan donated his leftover emergency ratios in candy and bags of noodlesoup to him. He will have many sories to tell if he decides one day to do so. For me that was a noteworthy trip and so contrary to our golfing and other experiences, I hope he gets done with his big plan to be a commercial pilot trainer for airlines, so he has the time again to stroll somewhere around with me, just for the fun of it.

Khmertrip Stage 5: Sihanoukville

2009-10-25T19:00:00.011+01:00

© Frank P. Schneidewind

The arrival at the Parade Plaza bus station is characterized by countless touts and commission hunters, now camouflaged in old Thai motorcycle taxi outfits, but still with their trademark hats and caps. Avoid these at any cost! We continued in the bus although this is their scheduled final stop. We stay on until the G.S.T.Garage on Ekkareach Road, much to the dismay of the touts.

On Ekkareach road is also our proposed hotel or better Guesthouse, Alex from Italy runs a Pizzeria here with a few guestrooms, across from "Holy cow", a neat bar down Ekkareach.
Aircon accommodation for the two of us plus a vintage moped for each for 10 $, we quickly agreed with Alex, who also picked us up from the Garage with his minivan.

Sihanoukville, the seaport city with Cambodias oldest blacktop road to Phnom Penh and the only worthy container freightterminal also boosts a large market. Stefan needed to have his BDU pants attended to and the market has a craft-section with tailors, sewing machines and all sorts of goodies. The heat and bad air in here was horrific, rats zoomed around and everything looked a bit sorry.

The air to breathe here was hot, heavy and humid. Ventilation at this old market was surely it's biggest weakness before some arsonist burnt the whole market down shortly after our visit to Sihanoukville, killing many rats but also a few marketenders and their offspring :(

On partly rotten plywood in between heaps of other trash, my brave comrade stripped quick much to the enjoyment of the females here and had his pants altered. The Krama (headscarf) served him as a cover for those few minutes. He eagerly scanned the floor to avoid any rat climbing up on his naked legs. The Rats were really an annoyance here!

The following days we didn't do much except beachbiking, we must hace covered every square meter of beach drivable between here and Ream Navy base, we had much fun just doing that.

The Occaheuteal and Otres beaches provided the most fun, here we found a few fruitstands and refreshment stops on the otherwise vacated beaches. We swam a great deal too, the little surf was perfect and the water ultraclean.!

Occasional creeks crossing our path were no real obstacle for us, we covered large distances.

On one of these trips, we run into a group of deminers in the morning, but that part of the story was made into a seperate partof SIAMPEDIA, so I will just mention it here.

The Coffee served at Alex's at breakfast in the mornings, was one of the most tasty coffees we both ever had. A dripping device was placed over a glass and the freshest coffee dripped in there. Condensed milk and sugar complemented it for those who liked.

The lovely daughter of Alex and his charming Cambodian wife entertained us and we gladly excanged chewing gum or candy for some wonderful smiles.

Alex sold his business and moved with his entire family within a short timeframe after our stay there. Rumor has it, that he offers his tasty cousine and boarding now in Siem Reap, if anyone has information about his whereabouts there or an email address, the author would be happy to rekindle contact with Alex!

Happy Herb's Pizza was diagonally across whe road, their clientel enjoy Magic Mushrooms on their dish or amounts of Marihuana per slice, that would trigger a gang-war in Los Angeles. Here in liberal Cambodia, you may have that also delivered to your hammock on the beach or home. All it would take is a cellphone call.

Khmertrip Stage 4: The Capital Phnom Penh and the bar shooting

2009-10-24T11:34:00.032+02:00

The old flyers on the hotel's door and in the lobby were replaced by laminated ones over the last years, but they still carried the same message :) To avoid shootings and police intervention, all guns or knives, narcotics and IV drugs were illegal. The smoking of happy herbs (marihuana, cannabis) equals cigarette or cigar smoking and is not being punished by law in Cambodia (this changes eventually or has changed by the time this is published)

Us two had a wonderfully safe sleep as I always had when staying here. Even back then, when full auto garbs of gunshots woke you up at night. Fired from various trigger happy dudes battling something out in front of the hotel on the streets. Occasional grenade sounds at night or explosions from mortar shells did indeed sound eerie in the years prior to the millennium, it's much more peaceful nowadays there. guns and machineguns in private hands still outnumber academically educated citizens by far in Cambodia, but a case of Coke is no longer costlier than a 24-case of hand grenades like back then. Cambodia appears peacefull now, but the scars and relics of the 30 years of war are visible clearly in Phnom Phen.

The Monivong Boulevard, the Norodom Blvd. and the Sisowath Quay mark the touristic area's North-South main traffic arteries. All major shops, hotels, restaurants are located along these roads and any tourist does well if he can use these as orientation lines within this City. On Monivong, we witnessed a cinema being decorated with a new ad, those are still handpainted here and cinemas are plenty across town. A lot of manual labor is involved, when they take those giant posters up or down.

We were communicating in an Internet cafe with friends back home or were taking turns guarding our special bike outside. Blue and red colors are reserved for military here and this bike 's plates signalled anybody, that we had close ties with the local Command Center or the Military Police, it repels highly corrupt regular Police very effectively and gets you a bit more respect from traffic rowdies in SUV's or Limos.

Police in Phnom Penh love foreigners for their usual quick payments of many US-$ bills for marginal violations of totally senseless traffic rules. They just love to charge for example, when you steer a bike on these often dusty roads with the headlights on in daylight. To operate one with 5 people on it at night with no lights at all doesn't see to get noticed by the coppers. With Military Police plates, you are well protected anyhow! Cops hate, but not stop or mess with you :) The armed forces are the ultimate power here!

All day we spend running around with our borrowed VIP-bike, this dude guarded it personally with his impressive AK 47 Kalashnikov assault rifle for half a $ or 2.000 riels on the sidewalk around the central market, only slightly more then the mass-parking in a moped corral elsewhere.

The Psar Thmei or Central Market is a landmark in northern Phnom Penh, crossroads for many travelers as buses and taxis operate from here almost nationwide. It's a 1930's colonially inspired structure with countless dealers flocking the hallways inside and out. Slightly raised prices for tourists, but excellent selection in sizes! They have everything under the sun in merchandise here, well worth a visit for anyone.

The Russian Market is even less organized, smellier, cheaper and hotter. The foodstalls here are highly recommended to avoid for all friends, send people you hate here for the infections, that may mess up anyone's trip badly (just joking :)). It's not prejudism, but experience - and not one foodstall in particular, but all of them here :)

The famous Wat Phnom flanks the northern inner city with his park and large roundabout. It also sits on a hilltop and marks the highest elevation here. Here at the roundabout is also the bar located, where we will meet the sweet Miss Sophea later.

The timing was perfect and our short wait at the pool table there was not boring. Our Sophea was introduced by some hidden DJ and the tunes were cranked up. We dropped the queues in a flash and grabbed our drink, whilst rushing to an empty table right by the stage to get a good close-up view.

We were lucky and got a table between the dance pedestal and the toilet and dressing rooms, so the girls always waited next to our table to time their turn when the acting dance team was done, our eyes flew back and forth and their hot bikini dances were neat and decent.

The bar wasn't full, but Khmer (Cambodian) dudes filled the stools in front of the bar and some tables, they were talking with each other or watching the dancers.

The blue dancers heated their performance extatic up and yellow dressed chicks lined up for their turn at our spot.

The glittering butts came really close to us when suddenly a series of gunshots from the bar area made us jump up and take cover. We couldn't spot the shooter and felt pretty uncomfy, the DJ in his cage didn't react much and continued his job. His coolness and his overwiewing position was a good sign. Without a detachment of my namesake PFC Schneidewind his USMarine friends or similar units, I was just checking alternate escape routes :) Stefan herded quickly all dancers into the toilet room and I tried to assess the situation hidden from behind a large concrete post.

The situation deescalated quick, when every second guest was pulling a gun from the waist or holster and aimed at the shooter, who stopped firing when he looked down the double shotgunbarrel of the bartender, aimed at his face! He was then disarmed and taken outside by other armed guests, but Stefan was celebrated by the girs as if he would be the hero.

Mercyfully, the lined up for another pose with me. We discovered that the had wettet themself during the incident much later, when we looked again at these pictures on a monitor :)

We decided to call it a day here, paid and rushed down Norodom Blvd. before all gunsmoke settled. Back to the hotel to change T-Shirts and spent the rest of the night much more peacefully at the Foreign Correspondents Club, upper floor from where one can overlook the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers merging and the traffic on Sisowath Quay. Here my favorite journalist, Mr. Peter Scholl-Latour sat often, when in town during the really wild years. I revisit here every time, when in Cambodias Capital Phnom Phen.

Next morning, we returned the borrowed bike to my old buddy and head out to Sihanoukville with the G.S.T. Bus from Phrar Thmei. 14.000 Riel or 3 $ and a half for the 3 hour ride on blacktop all the way, one stop in the hills halfway. Other buses operate too, but I have reasons to use the G.S.T. one. They even claim to have insurance as per the sticker in the windshield!

The trip was smoothly and without any incidents, the driver must have tapped his airhorns about 10 times every Kilometer, but we arrived safe and sound, one stop was being made at a refreshment post.

Khmertrip Stage 3: Battambang to Pailin to Phnom Penh

2009-10-21T20:37:00.014+02:00

© Frank P. Schneidewind

Stefan and I made a side-trip to the secretive Pailin district (no officials or military allowed) on rented 250cc dirtbikes. I dropped my digicam later in a half dry creekbed, that we were negotiating there in order to find the old ruby-community, I happened to know from previous trips here.
The batteries flew out their compartment because of the impact in the flat water at the spot, it was totally dysfunctional until hours later (discharged quick). So no pics of us for hours, sorry!

Emerads and Rubies originate in the hills of Pailin, the former Khmer Rouge controlled and lawless zone. The people here still use ancient and hand-driven tools to cut raw gems and polish them nowadays. Electricity is fed from 12 Volt car or truck batteries, which power some flouorescent bulbs or other light sources. Refridgeration is unheard of here, but ice in huge blocks are being delivered from Pursat or Battambang on occasion, and sold in chunks. Cold refreshments are a real rarity, we must have gulped down 3 to 4 Cokes each to avoid dehydrating in this hot weather then, because we did find one dealer. He kept the Coke, Fanta and Sprite in a barrel with ice, so the bottles were cold and uncontaminated.
It is not advisable to drink anything here, unless sold to you in the original container.
Trust me, a full blown "Montezuma's revenge" compares to a real regular Cambodian diarrhea like a weak fart in the wind!

The gem stones were all neatly prepared on tools to hold them for further polishing. If you look at Melona's engagement ring, I gave her that ring earlier this year :) - it proudly displays a nice ruby from right here! This trip itself was for "men only" for a lot of reasons, security was an essential one, but there were other issues too.

This Pailin area holds special memories for me. I was born again here, so to speak, when a landmine blew up years ago on a geographical surveillance trip, and injured my right leg badly. It injured a few more of us, but killed the unlucky dude, which stepped on the mine. A young Cambodian man with a good sized family at home :(

The gem cutter's huts were well protected by others outside, wielding AK 47's and with pretty grim looks on their faces, they brightened up, when we gave them a dollarbill each to protect our bikes during our exploration of the huts. Unbelievable, but in the poorest and most war-torn area of Cambodia, the finest gems were handled.

Needless to say, we bought a few. A man never knews, if he needs one someday :)

The price was very right and the digicam's batteries were neglecting any more pictures again! But we were happy, that they gave us a handful of snapshots after the dive in the creek. Rechargeables don't take a beating like quality Energizers or Panasonic Hi-power conventional AA's. In Cambodia's back country, you may search very long for a plug to stick the recharger in.

This bus was supposed to haul us to the Capital of Phnom Phen, it really looked like a decent vehicle until we got closer to inspect details. 3 $ was the fare, which equals 12.000 Riels. Gunshot holes are nothing to worry about, we wondered how the brakes were doing. You always hope, any shooter aims high enough :)

The tires had indeed some rubber left, but a German TÜV or American DOT would have pulled the operating license for this piece of equipment in a heartbeat. Exhaust was noise-tuned, so potential passengers along the roads it traveled, could hear him coming for at least half a mile. Seats were old ones, newly upholstered with a vinyl (chickenpoop and vomit resistant), but we weren't in the market for sweaty butts and sat on our towels.

That was really a comfy transport, considering other options like rooftops of pick-up trucks or clinging to the outside of vans in the back with no foothold for humans. All these folks headed for the big city on the Tonle Sap River, where it meets the Mekhong. Quite a distance, but standards in Cambodia are even lower than in Thailand. Things improve gradually as I can testify, having traveled on anything here from worn out, unserviced military aircraft to oxcarts before.
Military is a lot less present or visible nowadays. In older days, that was quite a difference.

Any transport here is maxed out, the tailgates are always used in the down position to extend the bed, sometimes stretched even further with a couple of wooden doors or something suitable. Dangling kids legs in the windshield signal little hold for them, don't think any further - be happy you're in a bus with wheels and seats. $ 3 is their monthly income, so traveling "rich people style" aboard a bus is not a valid option for them. Kids usually go free with paying parents, but no right to a spot on the wooden boards crossing the beds of the pickups for more cargo, human cargo in that case.
Suddenly we whizzed by other funny vehicles. Roofless buses? No - mopeds of a mere 100 cc engine pulling busloads of passengers on open makeshift trailers. This spot of road was not dusty and blacktopped, so I tried to take a snapshot backwards out of the little ventilation windows:

The mopedbuses were more popular, the closer we got to Phnom Phen, their capacity must have been several dozend of passengers. Gas tank was a plastic canister attached to the side! Snail paced, some rolled in front of our bus, but the loud horns of the bus and his very aggressive driving style forced them one after the other into the dust of the roadside, brutal methods here, but "business as usual" :)

They were really common in the outskirts of Phnom Phen, as you can see:

We arrived a short time later in Phnom, checked a 1 $ motorcycle taxi ride later into my beloved Angkor Hotel and took an extended shower to cool down and get rid of the fine dust, that had clogged every pore of exposed skin. Soap alone doesn't do a proper job, you need to rub eyebrows, mustache and your skin fairly hard!

Later we ate at the famed "Sharky's", a bar and restaurant only 3 blocks from the hotel. My friend quickly was beflirted by this attractive lady, but we were here not on a dating trip. A posed snapshot made this waitress happy indeed, emails were exchanged to send her the photo.

Later Stefan's eyes focesed on something very dark. This lady with black hair, a black dress and pitch black eyes was having dinner at the neighboring table. Stefan couldn't keep his eyes straight and he asked kindly to trade chairs with me (I didn't appear staring and was naturally facing her).
Her name was Sophea, as we found out after her dinner in another establishment near the Central Market (Psar Thmei). Once done with her dish, she accepted Stefan's invite for a drink and told us about her job as Apsara-dancer in a famous hotel on the Sisowath Quay. I love Apsara Dancing and am quite familiar with the grace and beauty on dislplay during those classical performances. Apsaras were the handpicked dancers of the Angkorian godkings a 1000 years ago! Later, she came across with the information that she also has a second dance job near Wat Phnom. Not so Apsara style, but better paid.
I knew Wat Phnom well and we had planned to visit anyhow, so we promised to look her up at the place near the important temple on the following day. That night's sleep was long and good after the long trip here. Stefan nailed me with questions about Apsaras that night :)
He proved to be one of the most compatible people I ever traveled with! Quick witted and with a sunnyboy smile But a task oriented energy, if things don't run so smooth!

Loy Krathong - the romantic light festival

2009-10-20T13:20:00.047+02:00

Celebrations are nationwide with special events dotting the country. A recommended site by the author is the big festival in Bang Sai, Ayutthaya for all those who are between the former capital and the current one at the time. A taxi ride from Bangkok downtown should not exceed 320 to 350 Baht. From outer Ringroad just follow the signs to the Royal Arts and Crafts Center. You are not far here from Bang Pa-in's Royal Palaces or the historic Ayutthaya, so smart combinations can be arranged with a day- and nighttrip. No need to bring lots of money here, as it is a Thai and not a touristic event! Every pond, every canal or river or body of waterin the nation will be used for this event and be full of floating candles after dark. If you're a first-timer, just follow any Thai crowd to a river or shoreline. The use of organic materials has become a law in Bangkok for their natural decomposition.

The events in Thailand show a strong North to South decline with Chiang Mai in the North beeing famed for burning paper lanterns that folks release, the "Loy Khoms" can remain visible for long in the pitch black sky. Other highlight-events are being held in the former capitals Sukothai and Ayutthaya but with a more classical approach. We skip rebroadcasting the Loy Krathong fairytale here, it is a focal point on many websites already.

Expect a lot of traffic going that way! Just follow the flow, it will be police guided from far away and the hordes will be sent to parking lots and improvised parking lots. Public transport here collapses in the afternoon. Vehicles are all jam-packed with passengers heading for the venue.

The venue itself is always guarded by the Army and later we understood why! Her Royal Highness the Princess was expected here and no less then 4 Beautyqueens from surrounding districts. Admission to the grounds was 50 Baht and that included all sorts of entertainment on a number of stages spead over the large area in the park along the beautiful riverside of the mighty Chaophaya, the "River of Kings".

Loy Krathong in Bang Sai, that is a yearly highlight for Thousands of Thais, official numbers are surely guesstimated, figures of half a million event-goers float on nice weather days in the media. The event does not appear crowded like a superbowl or 4th of July by the obelisk's reflecting pool in Washington D.C., you alwas have enough room to breathe despite the large crowd there.

The Krathongs always have a colorful array of flowers surrounding the candles and they are precision built handicrafts. Orchids are used in variations by the score.

Krathongs are incredibly inexpensive here, traditionall the revellers without a self-made one gear up at one of the many stores on the sidewalks here. Fulle decorated and ready to float, they command 10, 20 or 30 Baht, depending on their size.

A contest area displays the most delicate and impressive Krathongs, the winners are put up here for public display:

The incense sticks are lit before the candles and the smell of those, the lights and colors are truly mixing to an outstanding blend, that I never witnessed in this intensity before.

Endless detail on some of these floats is shown and true Thai craftsmenship is unquestionable here. The masses move to a large part and we got carried across the entire park this way.

Some of those highly decorated Krathongs seem so top-heavy, they may never really float for long but we end up here at the water's edge and get even more to see.

Small gold colored coins, usually 50 or 25 Satang pieces are added to the floats before their release in the water.

Thai style snackeria with superb foods served for small change also!

The youngest have a lot of fun too, it's a family event and tons of kids are around also.

The site for placement for the Krathongs is a bit crowded at the shore:

Thousands float their candleboats on Loy Krathong Day, full of a lot of wishes for the coming year and a few small coins that naughty kids take. Some cry out, when a nearing incense stick burns their earlobe or a candlewax drops on their tiny hands grabbing the coins.

The majestic huge Krathong on the River tells commercial boats to stay clear of this area and provides a nice backdrop for the endless flow of burning floats going downstream.

The cost for this day was marginal, except the transport. Food was also very low priced. Drinks were sold cheaper directly from ice-boxes here than at the Supermarket! Unbelievable how great a day in Thailand can be without a lot of foreign tourists! Priceless the photo and video opportunities, but tripods will be difficult to haul around. We sure return her for our next Loy Krathong!

© by Frank P Schneidewind

They don´t beg for a coke...

2009-10-11T15:20:00.010+02:00

...but instead of a few coins or small bills (which they sure not are able to keep), I give them a sodapopdrink, like a local Coke, Fanta or Sprite. The people exploiting children, the beggarkid-pimps aren't far in most cases and toddlers carried aren't necessarily trolling along with their real moms. All is setup for the soft hearted tourists with their ATMs, creditcards and fat wallets. Studies have proven, that slumkids are being used as a tool for this trade. I strongly object that but the kids eyes....

The Coke is maybe something they never had, only the rich kids, if any there buy foreign brands. But they sure can use the refreshment and the calorie-boost.

Sure, some may say, they're often a bit young for a drink like that, but given the option of the 3 flavors here, the youngest grab mostly for the dark Coke. Nobody will take a drink away from the kid I gave it to and the adult beggar will opt for the deposit of the empty bottle.

Other kids will surely pop up out of nowhere within seconds, because their watchful eyes were trained on you for quite a while.

In some cases, I had to flee from there because a small crowd of kids quickly attracts a big one!

The dealers of Coca-Cola and Fanta will give you a really good price, if negotiating skills are netural to you. 500 Riels or 8 bottles for a Dollar is the going street-price. Don't get taken there!

If you ask for a photo, they never said "no". Its hot any time of the year and dehydration is a serious problem amongst street kids. Tap water ain't potable here and rain is being delivered free only if you have Rainy Season.

The smiles you'll earn will be genuine and if you're a big spender on beggars, consider financing a well for a community, it will bear your name for about 200$ and be drilled and installed under supervision of a respected German citizen, who lives in rural Tani and is involved in all sorts of community projects like wells and schools for the "have-nots". Contact the admin for an email address to contact if you wish.

The smiles are so adorable and the kids remember you next year, should you return here.

This little Sprite-lover lady drank the whole 10 or 12 oz. oz. bottle in a few minutes!

But be prepared for a few extra bottles for the late kids that did ran far to you. The rumor about the foreigner handing out free quality drinks spread faster, than wildfires in the Californian high desert.

Phi Ta Khon Festival - Loei

2009-10-10T16:33:00.032+02:00

Once every year, the small community called Dansai in the hills of Loei Province is the epicenter of ethnic festival activity in Thailand - it's "Phi Ta Khon" time again and enthusiasts come from near and far into this one-horse-town. The ghost festival is being held in mid-summer once yearly and the spectacular event lasts 3 days. Parted well into a timely schedule most activity but the initial one are in daytime. The awakening every year is a nightly merit making ritual. The Tourism Authority of Thailand started to promote this festival, so foreigners do came in greater numbers every year. The website: www.tessabandansai.com has a schedule, Dansai is about 450 KM north of Bangkok. The last weekend in July is the most probable time for the following years.

The ghost masks are all handpainted and very colorful, the matching costumes hand-sewn.

Here, ancient buddhist rites were mixed with more modern fertility rites,
the masks, shrouds and penile symbols are significant for it.

Many hundred kids of all ages participate in contests and a lot of activity
centers around Wat Phon Chai.

Keaw-Asa road will be your prime spot for viewing and photographing the Phi Ta Khon in groups dancing and marching down this long street.

The richness in colors is endless and the proud participants give all they can to excel!

Groups often appear in matching colors to represent their clans.

The wooden penis-like symbols bring the fertility aspect.

But quite a few of the actors are minors

Some have bells attached to their backsides!

The prettiest ghosts are often done by female actresses (check the fingers!)

The woven baskettop is an affixed topping for the palm-produced faceparts.

Teams after Teams walk by and squirt their imaginary semen into the crowds.

The individual groups take collective rests, good photo-opportunities!

If you go there once, you sure won't be there for the last time.

Locals make souvenir miniatures for sale.

And the ghosts love to pose for you for a photo.

Khmertrip Stage 2: Poipet to Battambang

2009-10-10T13:05:00.015+02:00

This is Michael, hailing from England on his first Cambodiatrip. He was in good humor, even two full hours after a tout disappeared with his 25 $ for the promised front seat in a shared taxi. He was helplessly stranded in downtown Poipet but hope has vanished for him. That was his second Siem Reap scam on this day, he came here with an early minivan from Khao Sarn Road, but the connection in Poipet he missed and they left him there, offered was a spot in tomorrows transport.
I informed him, that 25 $ exceeds monthly salaries of qualified workers here and he bid his task to get to Siem Reap today farewell. We told him about our plan to catch a ride to Battambang or at least Sisophon, dirt cheap for 3 $ or 12.000 Riels on the back of any roadworthy pickup-truck.
He was really enlightened when he learned that ther are presumably direct and scheduled boats going from Battambang to Siem Reap, although Battambang is really out of any direct way to Siem Reap.
We got lucky and found such transport opportunity, finally hitting the road shortly after luchtime.

Stefan found a good use for his new headscarf, sitting on a pickup-bed, overloaded with sticky jam-like preserved fruits underneath us gave the flight instructor and collegeteacher (in his real life) a totally new horizon in traveling, especially with the horrendous road conditions between Poipet and Sisophon. Potholes is the wrong term because pots aren't big enough!
The road remains to be in the sorriest condition of any transit route thinkable, even with the other national roads all being finished recently or under construction.

Wind in the face doesn't bother me if it's not laced with too much dust.

Michael, our trip buddy for this segment was amazed at the new blacktop road after Sisophon leading South to Battambang, his butt was not taking the treatment of the previous stretch of road anymore, so he said.

This is Battambangs main bus terminal, it also serves the shared taxi gangsters, that sell the passengerseat in the front twice and backseats at 25 % of the bench per head. Business as usual in Cambodia

The big white building right near the terminal was also a guesthouse, we all checked in and needed a shower badly.

The rooms were pretty basic but cleanliness of mattress and bedsheets were taken into very close inspection, the fan-room had a shower/toilet in a sideroom and two large wooden beds. The spider inside on the ventilation insect screen there was big enough to have had deserved to be named. Stefan and I decided to leave the light there on and alarm the other, if spidey disappeared from there in the night.

But before nightfall we ventured into Battambang and tried a variety of possible transports for us. The colonial buildings here on the riverside are quite impressive, the pics below show us on the typical cyclo here.

We opted for some waste of money and the benefits of motorized transport.

At this motorbike shop, we booked their only 2 Offroad bikes for the following day (above), 7 $ per 24 hours was resonable for the 250 ccm Hondas offered.

Jewelry and woodcarvings are a speciality here, the carvings are brought here from many surrounding areas and are rather inexpensive.

Note that Stefan wears a grey shirt, it was indeed much brighter (and less smelly) than the white one he wore on the pickup!

Gas Stations fill by the bottle here, this is very common anywhere outside the Capital.

We couldn't be much attracted by the streetfood here, but the salesladies gave us a lot of grins and smiles:

Dental problems could be helped 24 hours on any day, we were glad not to have any for sure!

The winner of the day was a moped-taxi with comfy trailer, we choose him to spent the rest of the nightwith us and tour us around.

Below we got stuck for dinner and wondered about the cannabis smell everywhere!

The "happy herbs" are known elsewhere as Marihuana or grass, but here they were kitchen herbs and reason for many to come to Cambodia. A big bag of maybe 500g was offered nearby for 5 $!

Khmertrip - Stage 1: Pathum to Poipet

2009-10-07T14:19:00.027+02:00

The idea for this trip was born on a golfcourse in Pathum Thani, Thailand, where Stefan and Frank were battling it out in immense heat, the game was tied after day 6. Seeking shelter from a monsoon storm on day 7, we got rained out and the course closed for the day. We both were a little tired of golfing (happens rarely!) and were drinking a bit in a watering hole, waiting for the course service with a cart to pick us up. I told Stefan about my recent trips to Cambodia and he grinned back. It was always a dream for him to go there and experience that country!

At that point in time, we didn't exactly expect ourself to be sitting in a long haul government bus that same afternoon to the Cambodian border. We grabbed 2 old oversized black duffelbags and hit the road just after lunch at my house in Pathum Thani. The 4 o'clock afternoon bus did arrive there in Aranyaprathet just after 21:00 hours due to some heavy traffic and a punctured tire. We knew chances to cross were slim as can be, but we tried it and rented the services of a TukTuk at Aranyaprathet bus terminal to the border.

We arrived at the border post just after 22:00 hours, and they just closed. The immigration dudes were already gone and "Black Sherrifs of the Special Border Police" made it no secret with their wielded machineguns, that trespassing might be hazardous to our heath and well being.

A nicer officer didn't mind to pose for us crazy guys at all, right at the border we weren't to cross before early morning tomorrow.

We slept that night in Aranyaprathet for 300 Baht airconditioned at a local low budget hotel, which doubled as a "Shorttime-Hotel" for the many girls across the street from a noisy karaoke-parlor and their male sponsors.
We grabbed a good nights sleep, the last night in Thailand for a while, but by the first daylight, we were again hauling ourselves to the border. This time, we choose the local version of a stretched limo and we invited a Khmer girl to join us for the ride, she was working in Thailand somewhere and returning home for a family visit.

The ride was not too far, but definitively too far to walk. A good estimate would be around 5 KM distance.

The stretched limo owner was a bit hard to haggle with, but our Khmerlady was a natural born haggler. Real Khmers do beat even Jewish bankers or Armenian carpetdealers in this trade!

We arrived at the famed border market, which is called "Thalaad Rom Klau" here, Stefan decided to "upgrade" his garments with a set of Khmer headscarves and an old camouflaged BDU pants from an army-surplus dealer. My own fatigues proved so practical, he wanted to try it also.
In Cambodia, it is almost imperative to look like a "have-not-backpacker", it saves you 50 % of the beggars and gets you the local's prices in eateries and such. Stefans designer-label pants made it from here without any further usage back home again! What good white colored shirts are for in a dusty country, well he found that out too pretty quick.

Absolutely unreal, what kind of vehicles the traders use here! The even use them as public transport for people within the huge market.

My generous offer to Stefan to haul him the last half mile to Cambodia for a few six-packs of Diet Coke (and a bottle of booze) couldn't really entice him. Khmer (that means Cambodian citizens) use these pushcarts to haul up to 12 people plus their cargoes!

Heavy pushcart traffic with immense loads between these countries are seen frequently.

We made it! Due to limited space in my passport, a 10 $ bakschisch convinced the officer to stick the new Visa over an older stamped Laos one to preserve my last free page in it.

Holy smokes, but besides the everpresent pushcarts, this country appeared more advanced than Thailand!

But that's a common mistake. Just the casinos for wealthy gamblers in the zone between the actual borders were of some style and designed decently, the real Cambodia starts at the roundabout right after this

Loads in your duffles need to be secured well from here, they were known to slice backpacks with razorblades here to steal some things of you and worse.

Myself with that infamous roundabout behind me. Here you need to repel touts of the worst variety for any further transport needs. Needless to say, nobody really wants to stay in sleaze-city Cambodia; and the mafia-style gouge every transport provider with hefty surcharges to use "their" roads and territory. Doubling the fares seemed a normality here for years, because of that. Other tricks and scams are well known here, lots of tourists come through here per day.
Getting out of Poipet is everyones top priority here, the smell, the dust, the beggars and those touts make a mix that makes one feeling uncomfortable. Stefan and I got finally rid of the notorious touts and that alone gave us the breath and courage to go on. If the Cambodian Government is serious about their tourism, they need to control these gangsters here in a much more efficient way!

The loads hauled into Cambodia are plenty of food items, pushcarts must hold above half a metric ton or the equivalent of a pickup-truck.

Stay tuned for Stage 2 of this report (Poipet to Battambang),
to follow soon here in SIAMPEDIA.

Ranong - Raksawarin - Eierkochen einmal anders

2009-10-06T19:03:00.017+02:00

© Frank P. Schneidewind

Ranong ist eine Grenzstadt an der Andamanensee mit dem südlichen Burma. Die wirklich bedeutenden Touristenmagneten wie Phuket im Süden oder Koh Samui an der östlichen Küste sind nicht weit entfernt. Hier ist auch der "Isthmus von Kra", die Stelle an der Thailand eine nur sehr schmale Silhouette auf der Landkarte zeigt. An das thailändische Schienennetz ist Ranong nicht angeschlossen und auch die Anbindung an Fernstraßen ist eher als stiefmütterlich zu bezeichnen. Dennoch het Ranong als Provinzhauptstadt eine gewisse Bedeutung und hat auch einen Flughafen. Auf unseren Nord-Südtrips nehmen wir gerne den Umweg in Kauf und fahren von Chumporn quer durch Thailand an der Stelle, wo Thailand nur wenige KM breit ist. Ranong selbst hat einen großen Fischereihafen und den Ausflugsbootsverkehr nach Südburma (Khauwthong). Die Urlauberinseln in der Andaman See namens Koh Phayam und Koh Chang werden auch von hier per Boot angesteuert.
Wir sahen uns aber auch in der Stadt um und entdeckten Vieles auf unseren Exkursionen. Sehr gut gefielen uns unter Anderem die Raksawarin Hot Springs und von denen berichten wir nun hier:

Ein kleines Stück in östlicher Richtung muß der Interessent von der Ortsduchfahrt Ranongs nach Osten abbiegen, um zu den Raksawarin Quelle zu kommen, Ein großer Gratisparkplatz steht dort zur Verfügung und an Restaurants mangelt es nicht. Die eigentliche Quelle ist in einem nach unten offenen Riesentrog gefasst, dieser ist mehrere Meter tief und sehr heiß. Der Durchmesser des Troges hat ungefähr zwei Meter lichten Durchmesser.

Ein aus Natursteinen gemauertes Podest markiert die eigentliche Quelle, auffällig sind hier bereits die Schwefel- und Mineralienablagerungen des tiefen Beckens, welches hier für einen immerwährenden Überlauf sorgt.

Das Ganze befindet sich am Stadtrand von Ranong in einem Waldgebiet und es ist gut ausgeschildert.

Die Austrittstemperatur beträgt 70 bis 80 Grad Celsius, zu warm für einen Hautkontakt, wie auch die Dampfschwaden hier weithin warnen.

Im weiteren Verlauf des Gewässers stehen Eierkochbecken aus Beton, hier verkaufen pfiffige Kinder Hühner- und Wachteleier im Nylonsäckchen für wenig Geld.

Diese Gebinde halten oder hängen die Besucher dann in die aufgestellten Tröge, welche von unten mit dem Thermalwasser per Rohrleitung direkt aus der Quelle befüllt werden

Temperaturbedingt sind die Garzeiten selbstredend viel länger als daheim im siedenden Wasser auf dem Ofen, aber man macht das ja hier für den Spaß und nimmt der Besucher gern 15 bis 30 Minuten für so ein Frühstücksei in Kauf.

Sitzsteine am Beckenrand laden im weiteren Verlauf des Gewässers zu heißen Wadenbädern ein, man kann die Temperatur eine Weile aushalten, aber schreckhafte Zeitgenossen belassen es beim Fingerexperiment. Bis hierher ist das Wasser auf vielleicht 55 Grad abgekühlt.

Sitzgelegenheiten hat es in der Natur hier viele zur Auswahl, die Quelle selbst Gast kaum aber das schwefelige Odeur des Hauptbeckens zieht manchmal doch in die Nase. Unten sieht man im Bildhintergrund den Bach, mit dem sich das heisse Wasser Raksawarins später im Verlauf natürlich vermischt. Noch im sichtbaren Bereich des Verlaufs befindet sich eine Hängebrücke (stabil wirkende Stahlseilkonstruktion).

Das ist immer ein Stop für die ganze Familie hier, Eintritt wird nicht abgefragt und die Restauration am Orte ist empfehlenswert. Ranong hat noch viel mehr Sehenswertes zu bieten, nehmen Sie sich die Zeit, auch wenn Sie hier nur auf der Durchreise sind.

Pong Duet - Thermalquelle & Geysir - Chiang Mai Provinz

2009-10-06T13:02:00.030+02:00

Wenn der Abenteurer und Urlaubsgast Chiang Mai für einen Ausflug in den Nordwesten über die nach Norden führende Road 107 verlässt, dann bei Mae Malai nach rund 36 KM auf die Piste nach Pai und Mae Hong Son stößt, der kann auf der road 1095 kurz vor dem Verlassen der Privinz Chiang Mai auf ein Naturphänomen stoßen. Rechts der Piste ist ein Parkplatz im Nirgendwo und der "Huay Nam Deang" Nationalpark lädt hier ein, ein Stopover zu machen.

Der Pong Duet Geysir wird hier beworben und ein Kassenhäuschen des Nationalparks erwartet einen Obulus des Besuchers. Besucher gibt es hier nicht viele, denn das Naturschauspiel ist ein bischen weit weg von Chiang Mai für die meist mopedbewaffneten Abenteurer unter den Touristen.

Es gibt einen hervorragenden Wanderweg und eine Abkürzung dorthin, wir nahmen die Abkürzung und bereuten das aber schnell!

Fast hätten wir Macheten benötigt, um zum Geysir zu gelangen. Offensichtlich wird der schöne Wanderweg von den Meisten bevorzugt.

Es gab genug Stellen zum Ausruhen, daher wohl erreichten wir die heißen Quellen dann doch noch. Es lag ein leicht schwefliger Geruch in der Luft, wie ich ihn von anderen Geothermalquellen kannte.

Das Naturphänomen mit dem Gasdruck des überheissen Tiefenwassers wird hier von der Tourist Authority Thailands erklärt.

Und heiss war es wirklich, die Dampfschwaden waren weithin sichtbar!

Die Quellen lassen das Wasser deutlich höher als die Erdoberfläche austreten, aber vergleichen Sie das hier bitte nicht mit dem Yellowstone oder Islands Geysiren. Das Prinzip ist das Gleiche und die geothermalen Quellen haben ansonsten viel gemeinsam.

Fußwege an den Quellen sind gut ausgebaut und gesichert.

Aber man darf auch an die Quellen heran, um sich beispielsweise eine mitgebrachte Wasserflasche zu befüllen.

Die Quellen sind unruhig, manchmal erwecken Sie den Anschein, als würden sie aufstoßen. Das Wasser entweicht dann schwallartig, aber ohne ganz zu versiegen und in uns verborgen bleibenden Rhythmen.

Das Wasser fließt dann der Gravitation gehorchend, bergab und füllt dem angrenzenden Resort die Pools.

Getreppte Großpools laden hier zum Bad in moderater temperiertem Wasser ein.

Das Resort besteht aus mehreren Objekten, es bietet neben den Thermen eine unvergleichliche Natur mit viel Wald.

A Flower-Galeria beyond expectations - Sunflowers in Lopburi

2009-10-05T17:15:00.017+02:00

Each year, in the month from December to February, the fields of the foothills in Lopburi feature a nice spectacle that is memorable for flower-fans. Sunflowers are in full bloom and some people drive far to witness this.

To the farmers here, its just a regular crop to feed to the markets as sunflower seeds are a delicious snack. Roasted and salted they are offering big bags of this treat along the roadside and at Pasak Jolasids Dam-site. Phattana Nikhom is this area beeing called and it is only a few KM west of Lopburi city.

The Pasak Jolasid Dam keeps floodwaters during rainy Seasin away from the fertile Central Plains and after the completion of this royal project, the flooding there and as far downstream as Bangkok was reduced by a significant amount The water here is being used for irrigation purposes and the farmers quickly adapted to the availability of year-round water and it's benefits. Pasak Jolasid Lake is the largest man-made lake in the central region of Thailand.

Pasak Jolasid is the royal name the monarch gave this project and it translates into "to effectively retain water". The waters of the large lake of 180+ KM² also hold an abundance of fresh water fish and it generates also some electricity. The entire eastern shore plus some of the outlying agricultural areas specialise in sunflower crop. Right before harvesting time in the peak of the dry season it may be rewarding to take the family out to the lakeshore for a flowery trip.

Driving from Bangkok is quite easy, just take the Asia Highway to Bang Pa-In and then continue towards Saraburi on Pahonyothin Road. Just before hitting Saraburi City, continue north on road number 1 to Lopburi until it forks off into road 21 to Chai Ban Dan and Petchabun. Take road 21 until you see the sunflower fields or signs for the damsite. The road 21 passes the lakeside on the left. Basic tourist facilities are provided for on the lakefront, snacks and drinks can be bought there as well. Tourist oriented businesses may soon follow on the lakeshore.

Prepare some extra rolls of film or plenty of storage on your media for the digital camera as photo opportunities come up frequently here.

Most of the sunflower fields are accessible from the roads, be careful when walking around in them and don't damage the fragile plants.

Timing is essential here, the best time of the day are early mornings and late afternoons, when the sun is low and the colors are much more alive. Our pictures here were taken in February 2009 and between the hours of 16:00 and 17.00 afternoon.

The city of Lopburi is famous for it's temples and monkeys, combine the two attractions and have a great weekend out in the central plains. Accommodation can be found easily in Lopburi City. Inquire with the state railway, the dam as well as lopburi are linked to the Thai State Railway! Inexpensive buses to Lopburi can be boarded at Mor Chit or Future Park.

Amphawa - A beautiful daytrip into the rural countryside

2009-10-05T13:16:00.027+02:00

Samut Songkram is one of the Provinces west of Bangkok and it has another lesser known touristic gem to offer. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the Klongs around Amphere Amphawa are featuring the "Thalaad Nam Yan Jenn", which is another option for tourists and visitors to view and witness a form of a "Floating Market".

Parking is plenty at the Wat Amphawan Chetiyara, they also have backup parking lots nearby.

This market should be explored on foot as the local crowds each weekend demonstrate. Locals are in fact all you get to see here, as this market existence hasn't spead far yet. Unlike it's famous sibling, the "Damnoen Saduak" Floating Market, this one lacks the Taiwan and Hong Kong or China made "original" souvenirs and is geared mainly for the Thaifood Gourmets. All kinds of food and drinks are offered from the wooden boats, which roam the klong and occasional moore to a pier with concrete steps up to to the walkways. The entire community is littered with handicraft stores and the friendy attitudes of the sales people are so common in the rural "Land of Smiles".

Some foods are prepared on the walkways too, but the majority of the passersby do get their dish from anyone of the abundance of floating dealers.

Opening times here are from noon 12:00 A.M. to roughly 20:00 hours, so just covering the span from early lunches to dinnertime. Seafood seems to be high in demand as most vessels offer some sort of delicacy at this neat market. Some antique stores dot the walkways and sweets or ice-cream cones can be purchased anywhere. The whole community seems to flourish on this scenario. It can be crowded in the evenings on the relative small walkways, but there is always room to sit down and relax or grab a snack.

What I really liked here was the moderate pricing for merchandise and foods offered. Due to the fact that westerners are a rarity here, everything commanded throughout regular rural countryside street prices. This may change eventually after hordes of wealthy tourists swarm the grounds here and Thai folks resort to different locations. Presently it is very fair priced and a long shot away from the marked up tourist prices elsewhere.

The evenings bring a new wave of hungry people and most came to dine here. The spots near good and wide concrete steps are quickly occupied by the dealers, which seem to cling to their pole positions like a racecar driver to his in a race.

Photo opportunities are plentyful and it pays to select a sunny late afternoon, when glare is reduced and colors are much more vibrant.

In the evenings, one can charter a boat here to venture into a firefly habitat not far from here. Prices for such trips start around 250 Baht but are negotiable for families or groups.

Despite their small outboard engines, the dealers us mainly wooden oars to handle their vessels. Amphawa is truly a "laid-back" type of community, do not expect a lot of English signs or menus - It may be helpful to have a Thai guide along with you, when you venture here with no Thai communicaton skills. Although Amphawa is within driving distance for a Bangkok Taxi, you may want to negotiate a tariff for a return trip with a waiting period. Taxis Bangkok-bound may be hard to find after dark or overcharge heftily on their requested fares.

Fortgeschrittene Erosion der Strände im äußersten Süden

2009-10-05T10:52:00.007+02:00

Pattani, die alte Königsstadt und Narathiwat machen als südlichste Provinzen Thailands am Golf nunmehr seit Jahren internationale Schlagzeilen. Hier tobt der unausgesprochene Bürgerkrieg moslemischer Extremisten gegen die Obrigkeit und das Thaimilitär weiterhin in unverminderter Härte und Brutalität.

Längst in Vergessenheit geraten sind darüber leider die atemberaubend schönen Strände dieser Region, die malerischen Fischerdörfer entlang der Golfküste, die kunstvoll bemalten Korlaeboote und die prächtigen Frischemärkte.

Tourismus kennt man hier faktisch keinen mehr, die wenigen Hotelbetten werden bestenfalls von gelegentlichen Handelsreisenden der Region oder Konfliktbericht erstattenden Journalisten dürftig frequentiert. Ein wahres Überangebot an Einfachstherbergen bis hin zum ausgewachsenen Hotel wartet seit Jahren vergeblich auf bessere Auslastungsquoten. Das Preisniveau ist im Allgemeinen im Süden als sehr niedrig zu bezeichnen. Man bekommt zum Beispiel in der Provinzhauptstadt Narathiwat bereits nett ausgestattete Zimmer mit Kabelfernsehen und Klimaanlage für deutlich unter 500 Baht.( 10€)

Kilometerlange Feinsandstrände, eine kürzere Regenzeit als in den meisten Landesteilen und gute Anbindung per Schiene und Straße sowie Flughäfen in unmittelbarer Nähe würden die gesamte Region geradezu prädestinieren als künftig zu promotendes Reiseziel für alle Thailandfans, denen die drangvolle Enge an etlichen der Traumstrände im Golf oder der Andamanensee einfach zu dicht geworden ist.

Ich bereise diese Küste nun seit einigen Jahren regelmäßig und habe mich an die schiere Unendlichkeit der Strände, die angenehme Ruhe und das völlige Fehlen kommerzieller Tourismusfaktoren sehr schnell gewöhnt gehabt.

Niemals kam hier ein Anbieter von Massagen oder minderwertigen Markenuhrenkopien an meine Strandmatte und störte meine Ruhe. Nie begegnete man hier den oftmals lästigen und penetranten, thaitypischen kommerziellen Beachboys und -girls, welche ihren Lebensunterhalt in wahren Scharen und Horden an etlichen Stränden des Königreiches mit dem Verkauf von wertlosem Souvenirtand oder überteuerten Bootsausflügen aus dem zerfledderten Katalog erwirtschaften.

Getränke musste man immer schon mitbringen, Einfachstsnacks lokaler Art gab es an kleinen Garküchen in den Uferdörfern der direkten Umgebung.

Lediglich an Wochenenden oder zu Feiertagen begegnete man hier vereinzelten Badefreunden, einheimischen Ausflüglern oder kleinen Gruppen von Jugendlichen oder Familiensippen beim Beachpicknick.

Seit dem Begin des Jahres stellt sich die Situation nun ganz anders dar. Eine konstante Brandung mit nennenswertem Wellengang sorgt nachhaltig Tag und Nacht für eine rasch fortschreitende Abtragung der Strände. Nur überschaubar kleine Strandbereiche sind durch natürliche Felsen am Ufer relativ geschützt. Die Zitronenbucht in Narathiwat, vor Ort Ao Manao genannt, war auf meiner kürzlich absolvierten Reise entlang der gesamten westlichen Golfküste eine der am drastischsten betroffenen Regionen, der 30 bis 50 Meter breite Sandstrand vor der Zufahrtsstraße und der gepflasterten Strandpromenade ist bereits komplett weggespült worden. Seit einigen Wochen prügeln die Wellen nun ungeschützt auf die Uferkonstruktionen ein, reißen mehrere Hundert Kilo schwere Bankelemente aus Beton, 20 bis 30 Meter hohe Kasuarinen (Seepinienbäume) fallen fast im Stundentakt in die Fluten – denn die Wellen legen das gesamte Wurzelwerk frei und berauben den Baum seiner Standfestigkeit. Der ökologische Schaden geht hier auch nach Euro-Gesichtspunkten bereits in Millionenhöhe!

Lediglich der südlichste Bereich der sichelförmigen Zitronenbucht ist den nagenden Wellen dank seiner massiven Felsen am Ufer nicht so schutzlos ausgesetzt, wie der am Heftigsten von der Erosion betroffene, mittlere und nördliche Bereich. Obendrein treffen hier die Wellen in einem flacheren Winkel auf den Strand und haben somit nicht mehr ihre volle Kraft.

Was hier exakt zu der zerstörerischen Änderung der Brandung und Strömungen geführt hat, das vermag ich nicht zu sagen. Aber es hat hier früher auch schon höhere Wellen und richtige Stürme gegeben, aber ohne das die eigentlichen Uferbefestigungen auch nur nass geworden wären. Kasuarinen sind uebrigens die entlang der gesamten Golfküste in etwa von Hua Hin südlich (Suan Son Pradiphat) anzutreffenden Schattenspender aus dem Bereich der Flora. Sie vertragen salzhaltige und nährstoffarme Sandböden gut und gedeihen im tropischen Seeklima prächtig. Die von mir über mehrere Tage nachgemessene Erosion betrug am unbefestigten, unbebauten nördlichen Ao Manao bis zu 50 cm je 24 Stunden! Im gepflasterten und mit altem Baumbestand versehenen zentralen Bereich lag dieser Wert im Mittel bei 15 cm je Tag.

Auch weiter in Richtung Norden sind alle Strände nun mehr oder weniger stark von diesem neuen Naturphänomen heimgesucht. In der Nachbarprovinz Pattani bangt man nun um die idyllische Halbinsel Ta Chi, welche weit in den Golf hinausragt. Sie verliert derzeit einiges an Substanz und wird schon bald komplett ins Meer gewaschen werden. Noch bietet der natürliche Hafen hinter der kilometerlangen, aber oft nur hundert Meter breiten Landzunge einen sicheren Schutz für kleinere Fischerboote und Ta Chi in Pattani gehört als Standort zu den bestgehüteten Geheimnissen für Fotografen und Beobachter traditioneller thailändischer Fischerei.

Die Zufahrtsstraße entlang des Golfes dorthin hat ebenfalls in jüngster Zeit böse unter den Naturgewalten leiden müssen und ist nur noch in Segmenten durchgängig befahrbar. Permanente Wellenbearbeitung des Straßenbauwerkes hat den Damm unter der Fahrbahn kubikmeterweise ins Meer hinausgeschwemmt. Ohne die Tragschicht vermochte das durch zusätzlich intensive Sonneneinstrahlung aufgeheizte, also aufgeweichte Bitumen in der Fahrbahndecke, nicht länger der Gravitation zu widerstehen und hat die Asphaltdeckschicht ebenfalls schollenweise dem Meer übergeben müssen. Der im Normalfall sehr stabile und widerstandsfähige Straßenbelag bröselte einfach nach unten weg, fast so, wie ein langsam über eine Tischkante geschobener Pflaumenkuchen ohne das stützende Backblech darunter.

Unmittelbar hinter dem Fahrbahndamm landeinwärts befindliche Dränagekanäle haben das salzige Meerwasser dann in großen Mengen auf Felder und Weiden weitergeleitet, sodass auch in dieser Hinsicht langfristig mit irreparablen Schäden für die landwirtschaftlichen Nutzflächen der dort ansässigen Bauern gerechnet werden muss. Die Salinität (Salzhaltigkeit) des Erdreiches erhöht sich mit jeder Flut erneut. Schon bald werden auch heutige Viehweiden dort trostlose Brachgelände mit Wüstencharakteristik sein.

Nur dort, wo die Natur über die Jahre einen weiträumigen und sehr flach auslaufenden Strandbereich angelegt hat, können sich die Wellen auslaufen und alle Zerstörungskraft verliert sich somit auf natürlichste Art und Weise.

Richtige Beachroads, also Strandstraßen wird es hier im Süden bei weiterhin anhaltender Erosion nicht mehr lange geben. Die bereits begonnene Regenzeit und damit zwangsläufig verbundene, saisontypische Monsun Tiefdruckgebiete werden das Meer erneut in Wallung bringen. Ohne Zweifel wird dadurch wohl eher für eine noch schneller fortschreitende Erosion gesorgt werden.

Narathiwat - Traumstrände, Schusswaffen, Sicherheitsbedenken

2009-10-04T17:48:00.027+02:00

Selbst in Thailand gibt es ganze Regionen, in welchen der Massentourismus der Urlauberziele im Lande keinerlei Auswirkungen zeigt. Das liegt nicht etwa an mangelnden Sehenswürdigkeiten, nicht vorhandenen tollen Stränden oder fehlenden Hotels und Unterkünften. Ja es liegt oder lag bisher auch nicht etwa an den unzureichenden Transportmöglichkeiten dorthin. Narathiwat bedeutet: „Residenz weiser Leute” und dieser Name hat seinen Ursprung im antiken Sanskrit.

Offensichtlich haben die Namensgeber aber nicht die Meinung mancher heutiger Einwohner eingeholt, denn Narathiwat ist mehr oder weniger das Zentrum der Terroraktivitäten moslemischer Extremisten. In der 2. Junihälfte führten Erschiessungen von Zugpersonal durch Terroristenkommandos in Passagierzügen zu einer kompletten Isolation der Problemprovinzen im Süden hinsichtlich der Zugverbindungen. Narathiwat ist durch die Entscheidung der Staatseisenbahn, aus der Gefährdung keinen Punkt mehr südlich von Hat Yai anzufahren, nun ein Versorgungsproblem, und die Einwohner sind der preiswerten Möglichkeit beraubt, die vorher so beliebten Einkaufstouren nach Hat Yai zu unternehmen. Es gibt zwar Busse, aber diese sind hoffnungslos überfüllt und auch nicht gerade als sicher zu bezeichnen. Sie sind obendrein teuer, und die mordlustigen Extremisten haben noch im letzten Jahr die kompletten Insassen eines Minibusses beraubt und hingerichtet. Auf der Strecke von Yala nach Rueso. Die 3. Klasse ist nur bedingt komfortabel aber dafür sehr, sehr günstig. (Anm. d. Verfassers: die Strecke gilt nun als sicher und wurde erneut für den Zugverkehr freigegeben.)

Schon seit Jahren werden die Provinzen Narathiwat, Yala und Pattani von Unruhen und Bombenanschlägen moslemischer Terroristen geplagt. Direkt an Malaysias Koranhochburg Kelantan grenzend, ergibt sich eine unangenehme logistische Situation für das Thai-Militär und die örtlichen Ordnungskräfte, welche sich hier vornehmlich im Visier der Extremisten und Separatistenbewegungen befinden. Die Täter entkommen nach ihren Anschlägen wieselflink entweder über die recht offene Grenze oder ziehen sich in unwegsame Dschungelgebiete zurück. Allerorts schwer bewaffnete Straßensperren und stationierte Milizen in jeder Ortschaft sollen für Ruhe und Ordnung sorgen.

Dutzende von Strassensperren, schwerbewaffnet und gesichert. Auf dem Wege von der nächstgelegenen Bahnstation nach Narathiwat Town ins Hotel.

Zwischen malerischen Fischerkähnen, die hier im Hafen ihre Netze zum Trocknen aushängen, kreuzen Patrouillenboote der Navy. Panzerfahrzeuge sichern Straßenkreuzungen, und aus vielen Fahrzeugen schauen Maschinengewehrläufe heraus. An Pfadfindertrupps erinnernde, aber mit Maschinenwaffen versehene Jungsoldaten auf flinken Motorrädern sichern in Gruppen die Innenstädte.

Die Banken sind verbarrikadiert, Polizeistationen und alle Regierungs- und Verwaltungsgebäude sowie Schulen mit S-Drahtverhauen umgeben und oft durch massive Sandsackhaufen geschützt.

Des Nachts und auch am Tage patrouillieren schwer bewaffnete Militärfahrzeuge durch die Gassen der ansonsten so friedlich wirkenden Städtchen und Dörfer.

Wir haben diese Problemregion soeben erneut bereist und kehren wiederum mit gemischten Gefühlen zurück. Die allgegenwärtige Staatsgewalt in Uniform mag zwar die Extremisten zwingen, weiterhin im Untergrund zu agieren. Aber ob das die Region langfristig befriedet?

Während meines Aufenthaltes dort wurden nun die völlig unbeteiligten Zugbegleiter eines überregionalen Passagierzuges von Terroristen hingerichtet, etliche mutmaßliche Guerillas wurden festgenommen - und eine Hand voll Ordnungshüter und Soldaten wurden von Scharfschützen unter den Extremisten entweder schwer verletzt oder getötet.

Bomben vor Wochenmärkten, heimtückisch in geparkten Motorrädern versteckt, sorgten für viele zusätzliche Opfer. Jedes buddhistische Tempelgelände und jeder friedfertige Mönch dort hat sich an die omnipräsente Anwesenheit von Militäreinheiten zu deren Schutz schon gewöhnt. Besonderen Schutz geniessen auch Buddhafiguren, Lehrpersonal an den Schulen und alle Offiziellen, egal ob es sich dabei um Uniformträger oder nicht handelt.

Das macht auch vor dem Stadtplatz nicht Halt, wo sich allabendlich vornehmlich jüngere Einwohner zur Gruppengymnastik treffen, auch nicht vor dem samstäglichen Open-Air-Konzert an der Bang Nara-Flusspromenade. Jedes Moped wird genauestens vom Militär gecheckt, bevor es weit vom Geschehen weg abgestellt werden darf. Jeder Besucher muss Metalldetektoren durchschreiten und sich einer Leibesvisite unterziehen. Die Kontrollpunkte werden jeweils von einem guten Dutzend Elitesoldaten, deren weiblichen Kolleginnen und schwarzen Sheriffs bemannt. So etwas gehört hier zum täglichen Leben im Süden!

Nicht umsonst warnen europäische Ministerien vor touristischen Reisen hierher.

Wenn diese unangenehmen Begleitumstände nicht wären, dann hätte man alleine in der knapp viereinhalbtausend Quadratkilometer großen Provinz Narathiwat wohl Vielzahl mehr an echten Sehenswürdigkeiten zu bieten, als so manche von Touristen überfüllte Provinz das kann. Hotels gibt es reichlich, und sie sind hier sehr preiswert, man bezahlt z.B. im „Ocean Blue Mansion” direkt am Fluß kurz vor dessen Mündung in den Golf für ein klimatisiertes Zimmer mit Heisswasserdusche, Kühlschrank, Kabel-TV, einfacher Möblierung und Balkon mit herrlicher Aussicht gerade einmal 450 Baht/Nacht.

Im Ort gibt es auch ein 4-Sterne-Hotel und zahllose Einfachunterkünfte.

Die Stadt selbst hat einen fast fünf Kilometer langen Sandstrand an der Küste. Dieser heisst Hat Narathat und zieht sich von der Mündung des Bang Nara-Flusses bis weit nördlich der Stadtgrenze hin. Hier ist es sehr idyllisch, die unmittelbare Nähe der Provinzhauptstadt bemerkt man gar nicht. Hier treffen sich am Nachmittag die Frauen der Stadt zum Plauschen und Beachpicnic, Kinder toben im flachen Wasser herum oder lassen dann mit einsetzender Dämmerung in der Seebrise wunderschöne, handgearbeitete Windvögel mit ihren Vätern steigen.

Muhammed, der Eiskrem- und Coca-Cola-Verkäufer, hat hier sein angestammtes Revier und stellt neben den wenigen anderen Drink & Snackanbietern und Garküchen die gesamte Infrastruktur dieses sehr langen und auch weiten Sandstrandes dar.

Noch viel idyllischer wird es wenige Kilometer südlich der Flussmündung. Hier hat die Natur den Khao Tanyong genannten Berg hingepflanzt. Dieser ist komplett bewaldet und steht direkt an einer Bucht namens Ao Manao, was soviel wie Zitronenbucht bedeutet. Schon König Bhumipol erkannte die grandiose Lage und liess sich in 1975 einen Sommerpalast hierher bauen. Allerdings überliess er den Bürgern Narathiwats die tolle Badebucht zur Stadtseite hin und beschränkte sich auf ein kleines Areal auf der fernen Seite des Berges. Er machte dann das ganze Gebiet kurzerhand zum Nationalpark, aber ein Eintritt wird hier nicht erhoben!

Ao Manao ist für mich die absolut beste Badebucht im gesamten Festlandsbereich des Königreiches. Ein sauberer, aber völlig naturbelassener Strand zieht sich nach Süden über etliche Kilometer hin und wird von grossen, rundgeschliffenen Felsen gelegentlich unterbrochen. Badefreunde, Strandwanderer und Naturliebhaber kommen hier gleichermassen auf ihre Kosten.

Das klare Meerwasser lässt Muscheln und dergleichen noch erkennen, wenn man bis zum Bauchnabel im Wasser steht, die „Verunreinigungen” am Strand sind angespülte Treibhölzer. Im Schatten der ufernahen Bäume hat die Parkverwaltung an manchen Stellen steinerne Einfachmöbel in Gruppen platziert, die kleinen Scheuerspuren meiner Hängematte in der Rinde zweier Baumriesen verraten mir auch noch ein halbes Jahr nach meinem letzten Besuch hier, wo ich damals meine Seele gerne habe baumeln lassen. Das ist auch unser erklärter Lieblingsbeach auf dem Festland und noch lange nicht jeder Inselbeach kommt qualitativ an ihn heran.

Man begegnet hier nur selten einem anderen Menschen. Mit dem Parkranger bin ich seit Jahren befreundet und selbst die gelegentlich am Abend vorbeischauende Muschelsammlerin, die hier ihren heimischen Kochtopf füllt, die grüßt schon freundlich von weitem und wird mir später voller Stolz ihren heutigen Fund zeigen.

Angebliche Thailandkenner und selbsternannte Bibeln für den Reisenden ignorieren diese Region klassisch. Verständlich, wenn man bedenkt dass deren Lehnstuhljournalisten oft ganz einfach "Muffe" oder "die Hose voll" haben, wenn diese nur an Pulverrauch, Schusswaffen oder verschärfte Sicherheitsbedingungen. Wiedergegebene Daten von hier werden abgeschrieben oder aus den Werken Anderer entnommen und umformuliert.

Wenn Reiseführer, Glanzfotobroschüren und andere von Thailands Süden reden, den echten Süden aber dabei gänzlich ausklammern, dann reden die nur vom touristischen Süden und begehen geographisch einen echten Fehler! Samui, Phuket und die anderen Touristenhochburgen sind viele 100 km nördlich von hier. Thailand wird um eine Unmenge an Attraktionen reicher, wenn hier einmal dauerhafter Frieden einkehrt.

The Tigertemple in Kanchanaburi - Undiscovered Gem !

2009-10-03T16:15:00.044+02:00

A bike trip to the western part of Thailand led us first to its famed river crossing, the "River Kwai Bridge", which actually crosses the Maenam Kwae and is a mispronounciation in itself. The bridge on display here hasn't much to do with the one built by prisoners of war in WW II, but was built in the 50's near the original site. It takes however all the glory and appreciation and is visited by millions each year. The bridge can be crossed on foot and so we had a much welcomed break from the long ride on our bike here.

The walk across is free of charge and the area between the rails has been modified to accomodate pedestrians. Be aware, the rails are still in use!

Lovely Elephant Babies await visitors on the western part, the so-called "Burmese side". Burma is still over 100 km from here, but the "Burmese giftshops" there sell the illusion to the plenty of Chinese and Japanese tourists. Melona enjoyed playing with the elephants, the merchandise from the giftshops there didn't tickle our fancy at all.

Here we turn onto Road number 323 to Sai Yoke and head finally for the tigertemple further west. A nice road, perfect for cruising with any big bike.

After a short cruise, we reached marker number 21 on the 323 roadin the afternoon, we were near the known turnoff for the Tigertemple here, we had to watch out for an unpaved road to the right.

And soon we also found the sign at the proper turnoff there, the signage was, however, visible only for eastbound traffic on this road number 323.

A narrow gravel road led us northbound further into the mountaineous area north of here.

And then we arrived at this sactuary for wild animals. Melona was immediately occupied by a tame deer and she enjoyed playing with it and feeding it. A brick wall encases the foundatons territory here. The animal saw the bananas an went nuts for them. Melona had to sacrifice all.

But we didn't come here to meet other mammals then tigercats, we came as journalists and requested an interview with the abbot by email beforehand. It was Melonas first trip as a journalist, many more did follow since. She is a naturally talented photographer and videographer, much more of her works is shown elsewhere on this site.

Like any task given to her, she tried her best and succeeded well. We had an interview with the abbot scheduled for 16:00 hours and still time to see the tigers, so we ventured into the compound and walked further inside, we both were given "Journalist" tags to identify us to the staff inside the huge compound.

It was approximately almost a Kilometer to walk until we came to a canyon inside the sanctuary.

And after entering it, we saw with our own eyes, what we came here for. The groups of tigers playing or napping on a variety of boulders and rocks. Some were even taking a bath, completely unleashed or unchained!

It was quite breathtaking, to see these majestic and powerful cats play and interact in this natural environment for them.

Some were way bigger than us and would have had us for a snack if the animals were hungry and have their natural aggressiveness. Somehow, this peaceful temple must spread its aura to them, Melona was the first one to touch the beast right near her, she stroke it gently and was surprised by its warmth and softness of the fur. She could feel him breathing when she touched his flank gently, very low and deep growls by the cat signalled clearly, that it liked the soft strokes very well. An unforgettable moment for her!

A youngster was sitting on a nearby boulder, carefully watching every move she made, some light breeze in the canyon made the hot temperatures bearable for beasts and people in here.

The Temples tigers were difficult to count, because some were roaming and some napping, but they had over 20 in the canyon at this time. It didn't seem crowded here and few wardens were on stand-by in case a cat reacts aggressive towards a visitor, but that never happened. The big cats did not always nap, some eyed their territory silently, occcasional growls from the bathing tigers filled the canyon with a noise that made us realise, we're dealing with the world's most powerful cat here!

Melona took a few closeup pictures of the prettiest ones, some of them would make nice postcard-motives, don't you agree?

Frank took his turn posing with the pussycats and he also enjoyed this a lot, later he told me it was his childhood-dream to play with tigers in nature.

Look at how big the fronr leg of this Tiger is, they are all muscle and claws plus teeth when they are out there, fighting their daily fight to survive.

He caressed the tigers as if they were pet cats, they seemed to like it as well. Some big tiger even put his head in his lap for a while.

Later on, a friendly monk came to Frank and he was introduced as the famous Luang Por or abbot of this temple. Luang Por Mabtabuha Sampanno himself answered liberally all of Franks questions and even posed for me to take a picture. He assured us that any kinds of drugs are not a part of the felines diets and that their non-aggressive behavior here is the special spirit Buddha did give his temple.

Controversial reports have surfaced, I can not witness any of the mistreatments as discussed there. Charging high fees for posing with the cats to take photos now may be excused by the high feeding costs of these. monks have the absolute authority here and all warden staff are volunteers or locals, none showed any aggressive behavior during our time there. People complain about a 300 baht entrance fee, but fork over 400 Baht to see a waterfall a bit further down the road. I consider the tigertemple a nice opportunity to interact with the animals, one may like it or not, we will return here one day.

Bangkoks Diebesmarkt - Nachts wenn andere schlafen !!

2009-10-03T11:59:00.019+02:00

An jedem Samstag geschieht es aufs Neue. Bereits in den frühen Nachmittagsstunden errichten fleissige Händler in einem ganzen Stadtviertel der Metropole ihre Zeltzeilen, breiten ihre Verkaufsdecken aus, oder montieren ihre transportablen Marktstände.

Es müssen Tausende von Händlern sein, die hier ameisengleich jede begehbare Gasse, eine jede Treppenstufe, ja sogar Straßenbäume, Bauzäune und die Frontvergitterungen der hier ansässigen Geschäfte für ihre Waren in Beschlag nehmen. Viele Tonnen an Waren werden in Rekordzeit ausgeladen. Um 17 Uhr, wenn der Verkaufsmarathon startet, muss ein jedes Lieferfahrzeug entfernt sein denn die Käuferscharen kommen pünktlich! Es grenzt an ein Wunder, aber klappt doch jedes Mal.

„Diebesmarkt“, schon alleine der Name verleitet zum Aufhorchen! Finstere Gestalten, vermummte Banden gibt es hier aber nicht, nur Waren, Händler und Käufer.

Waren können und werden durchaus oft aus Hehlereien aus Einbrüchen und Diebstählen entstammen, allein der Zustand mancher Dinge hier ist für diese Vermutung ein sicheres Indiz. Kaum jemand wird z.B. sein Autoradio ausbauen und dabei die Kabel nur abreißen oder eine Digitalkamera der neueren Generation ohne das passende Ladegerät, die Bedienungsanleitung und das Futteral feilbieten. Doch zum Warenangebot selber kommen wir noch später. Historisch war dieser Diebesmarkt in einem anderen Stadtviertel Von Chinatown zu Hause, nämlich dem Nakhon Kasem Viertel, doch im Laufe der letzten 20 Jahre ist der Nakhon Kasem Market eher zu einem fast reinen Touristen, Tand- und Andenkenmarkt geworden.

Hehlerwaren werden nun unter anderen Sachen schon lange in einem recht versteckt gelegenen Stadtviertel angeboten. Thai wissen das natürlich und strömen an jedem Wochenende hier in wahren Scharen hin. Das Viertel kann man auf einer Straßenkarte grob mit dem Gebiet umreißen, in dem sich die Straßen: Mahachak, Worachak, Charoenkrung, Suar Pa Road und Thanon Phayabaan Klang miteinander vernetzen bzw. liegen.

Händler hier sehen oftmals ganz und gar nicht heruntergekommen aus und bringen ihre Güter nicht selten in feudaleren Pickups oder großräumigen Geländewagen her, aber es gibt auch noch die per TukTuk und Handkarren anreisenden Kollegen, die vielleicht noch nicht so lange „im Geschäft“ sind.

Eine spezielle Marktpolizei hat es hier, die kümmern sich im Wesentlichen um Streit bei Platzvergaben unter den Händlern und sorgen dafür das Fahrzeug vor Marktbeginn entfernt wurden. Schon 2-3 Stunden vor dem Start ist in weitestem Umkreis keinerlei Parkfläche mehr auszuspähen.

Marktbesuchern empfehle ich daher dringend, bei Anfahrt mit eigenem PKW, eine sichere Abstellmöglichkeit schon im Bereich des Hauptbahnhofes Hua Lamphong aufzusuchen. Dort ist es relativ sicher, beleuchtet und bewacht. Unvorsichtige Zeitgenossen brauchen sich später wirklich nicht zu wundern, das ihr eigenes Radio, Lenkrad mit Airbag oder die Rückspiegel auf einer Trottoirverkaufsdecke in einer Gasse des Marktes schon wieder unschuldig nach einem neuen Besitzer ruft. Laternenparkplätze gibt es in ganz Chinatown kaum, in Armut lebende Einheimische viele – und gebrauchtes Einbrecherwerkzeug jeder Art gibt ein paar Straßen weiter auf dem Diebesmarkt für ganz kleines Geld!

Hierher kommt man mit dem TukTuk, dem Bus oder dem Taxi. Genau so, wie es die Einheimischen ja auch tun.Um Schlag 17 Uhr geht es dann so richtig los, denn nun rennen aus allen Anfahrtstrassen die Händler dorthin, die nur einen kleinen Platzbedarf haben. Sie führen ihre Waren in Rucksäcken oder Reisetaschen mit und füllen in wenigen Minuten die soeben noch mit Lieferfahrzeugen vollgestopften Straßen des Viertels. Inmitten der Straße entsteht binnen einer Viertelstunde eine neue Marktzeile mit Decken auf dem Boden, einfachen Kartonstreifen oder Klapptischchen.

Es ist noch nicht an der Zeit für zaghafte Gemüter, nur die hartnäckigsten unter den Schnäppchenjägern machen sich nun auf die Socken und eilen mit noch leerem Rucksack auf dem Rücken in dem katastrophal unorganisiert wirkenden Gewirr herum und suchen gezielt nach Wertgegenständen wie Edelschreibgeräte, Markenuhren, man mag gar nicht glauben was es hier so Alles gibt.

Ich selbst habe mir hier schon ein einmal benutztes GPS-Gerät gekauft, dessen Vorbesitzer wütend war, das er die Menüführung nicht auf Thaidisplay umstellen konnte. Eine Backup-Digitalkamera für meine Reportagereisen war hier nicht viel teurer, als die im Gehäuse noch befindlichen Akkus samt SD-Speicherkarte im Fachgeschäft kosten würden

Das Warenangebot verrät oftmals die Herkunft der angebotenen Artikel, ein Standsortiment mit deutschsprachigen Reiseführern, Elektrorasierern, Schmuck und Reisegepäck wird seinen Ursprung wohl in einem oder mehreren Hotelzimmern gehabt haben. Computerfestplatten allerneuster Generation ohne jede Umverpackung aus 24er Packs in Styroporplatten sind in Minuten ausverkauft und „fielen“ wohl vom LKW oder fehlen nun im Bestand der Festplattenwerke im Norden der Stadt. Am Montag wird es auf etlichen Baustellen Bangkoks lange Gesichter geben, wenn man im Elektrogeräteschrank nur noch gähnende Leere vorfindet. Allein das Beobachten des Geschehens hier hat seine eigenen Reize für mich.

Mittlerweile hat jede noch so kleine Lücke in den Marktzeilen weitere Anbieter vorzuweisen und auf den engen Gehwegen zwischen diesen beginnen die regulären Besucher ihren Marktrundgang. Es beginnt langsam zu dämmern und mir fallen viele dieser kleinen neuartigen LED Taschenlampen auf, die fast jeder mit sich führt. Man kann so etwas auch für ein paar Baht kaufen, wenn man keine mitgebracht hat. Bei 40 Baht kann man da ja nicht viel verkehrt machen. Nicht jeder Händler hat eine Beleuchtung und Stromversorgung am Stand. Das Getümmel, das Hin- und Hergerenne der Profis auf der Jagd weicht einem gemächlichen, aber sehr dichtem Menschenstrom, der nun an den Ständen vorbeifliesst.

Nicht oft gibt es Gelegenheiten zum Verschnaufen, die Breiten der Gehwege unterschreiten einen Meter oftmals, bei Gegenverkehr an Passanten führt das oftmals zu ungewollten Berührungen. Das wiederum nutzen Trick- und Taschendiebe aus, man sollte hier (in Chinatown immer!) besonders auf seine Geldbörse Acht geben und Mobiltelefone am Gürtel befestigt zu haben ist auch ein oft gemachter Kardinalfehler. Frauen unter den Besuchern sollten bei der Wahl des Schuhwerks und auch der Handtasche bedenken, das die Gehsteige oft uneben sind, Versätze und Stolperfallen gibt es an jeder Ecke, und überall lauern Bettelkinder oder auch erwachsene Diebe auf eine sich bietende Gelegenheit, einer beispielsweise unbeholfen vor sich hin staksenden High-heels Dame ihre vielleicht gestern erst gekaufte Gucci-Handtasche nebst Inhalt zu entreissen.

Nach 22 Uhr beginnt sich das Geschiebe in den Gängen etwas zu lichten, wer fleissig war und ein gutes Schritttempo vorlegte, der hat nun bereits 20% des gesamten Marktes gesehen. Nun findet man eher die Muße, ein paar Fotos zu schießen, einen Snack aus der Garküche zu sich zu nehmen oder sich mit den Auslagen der Dealer näher zu befassen.

Die Mitnahme einer Straßenkarte ist nicht nötig, denn das Marktgeschehen spielt sich nur in einem unsichtbar abgegrenzten Territorium ab. Um den Markt herum verlaufen große Verkehrsstraßen und man kommt von überall relativ schnell an ein Taxi oder TukTuk, wenn der Spaß des Schnäppchenjagens abklingt, die wunden Füße sich melden oder gar der Rucksack so voll gestopft mit Geshopptem ist, dass es einfach nicht mehr geht.Anfängern empfehle ich gerne, sich nur dieser Marktperipherie entlang zu bewegen. Bis man dann wieder am Ausgangspunkt ist, hat man etliche Kilometer abgeschritten.

An besonders attraktiven Angeboten gibt es für mich hier immer zum Beispiel die Anbieter des Airlinezubehörs. Nein, ich sammle keine Kaffeelöffelchen mit dem Signet der Fluglinien oder Kotztüten aus den Sitztaschen, ich bin da als Resident in Thailand scharf auf für Touristen ganz banal wirkende Sachen. Kaffeerahm von Bärenmarke, Käse aus dem Emmental, die gute Zentis Marmelade oder kleine Riegel von edlen Schweizer Schokoladen. Muss man nicht vermissen, wenn man die Kniffe Bangkoks kennt! Die kessen Saftschubsen der Gourmet-Airlines werde diese Dinge nicht vermissen, denn ihr Cateringservice rüstet die Wägelchen ja für jeden Flug erneut voll auf.

Das Angebot als auch der jeweilige Standort wechselt immer, ob ich nun mit einem Kilobeutel von Mini-Babybelkäse oder australischem Chester heimkehren werde, das weiß ich vorher nie. Im Angebot ist immer das, auf was die Airlines gerade nicht gut genug aufgepasst haben, so denke ich. Besonders die Artikel aus den feineren Passagierklassen der Airlines gelten bei mir persönlich als wahre Schnäppchen des Diebesmarktes.

Der Schwerpunkt des Marktes hinsichtlich des Angebotes liegt aber eindeutig eher in den Bereichen der Heimwerkerei, Krad & Kfz.-Zubehör, Kleinantiquitäten, Buddhafiguren und Bekleidung aller Art. Es gibt hier am mobilen Stand wahrscheinlich mehr Armaturen und Brauseschläuche nebst allem Zubehör zu erstehen, als in jedem gutsortierten und großen Baumarkt.

I-Pods, Laptops und andere elektronische Spielzeuge gibt es hier ohne jede Gewähr und oft ohne Zubehör, dafür halt spottbillig. Auch Kameras kann man hier vor Ort nicht wirklich ausprobieren, man geht schon Risiken ein.

Irgendwann geht auch dem hartgesottensten Marktprofi die Puste aus. Man sehnt sich nach Klimaanlage oder einfach einem Platz, wo man sich hinsetzen kann. Die chinesischen Gehweganbieter von Entengerichten mit Reis, deren Grillvögel mich vorhin beim Vorbeigehen noch so traurig aus der Glasvitrine mit ihren toten Augen angeschaut haben, die boykottiere ich. Doch nicht etwas weil deren Essen nicht schmecken mag, sondern weil kein Mensch bin, der sich an einem Klapptisch auf einem Plastikhocker mitten im Gehsteiggedränge wohl fühlen kann.

Ich selber habe auch keine Präferenz für US-Fastfood, aber habe mich auch schon dabei ertappt, im KFC auf der Worachak Road neben dem Klong Thom Center in der Marktperipherie beider klimatisierten Atmosphäre dort bei einem Eistee etwas abzukühlen, bevor ich eine erneute Marktrunde wage.

Gekühlte Getränke für durstige Marktbegeher gibt es an jeder Ecke, der eine kauft sich halt etwas im 7eleven (schwer zu finden hinter der schultergeschlossenen Reihe mannshoher Kühlschränke des Dealers davor), ein Andere zieht vielleicht den Schluck Whisky oder den billigsten Reisschnaps aus der Flasche vor, den meist ältere Chinesinnen im Labyrinth der Gassen in der Marktmitte neben ihren lose verkauften Zigaretten anbietet.

Selbst um Mitternacht herrscht noch reges Treiben vor den Ständen, aber man kann sich nun auch etwas bewegen und sich nach einem Gegenstand auf einer Decke bücken, ohne das man gleich von anderen Passanten per sanftem Druck gegen den Hintern in die Auslage befördert wird.

Hübsche Verkäuferinnen bieten hier selbstgeschneiderte Nachthemden an und finden nun auch die Zeit für einen kleinen Flirt, doch ich habe keine Verwendung für ihre Sachen. Auch der wieselflink vor sich hin Kopfbedeckungen häkelnde Reggae-Gaukler zieht mich für einen Moment in seinen Bann. Erste Anzeichen von Schlappheit zeichnen sich bei mir dann weit nach Mitternacht ab und beim Verlassen des Marktes fotografiere ich noch schnell ein paar traumselige Händler, die hier an ihren Ständen oder den angebotenen Sitzmöbeln eingeschlummert sind. Der Markt währt noch bis in die sonntäglichen Abendstunden und weitere Besucherscharen werden sich am Morgen einfinden.

Ich halte diesen Markt uneingeschränkt für die allerbeste Schnäppchenmeile in ganz Thailand, aber ein Besuch am Sonntag lohnt sich nicht so sehr, denn die wirklichen Occasionen haben dann alle schon lange neue Besitzer gefunden.

Das Preisgefüge hier liegt weit unter dem Chatuchak Niveau, das liegt in erster Linie wohl an nicht vorhandenen Mengen von Touristen mit zu prall gefüllten Geldbörsen. Hier shoppt man unter Thai Schnäppchenjäger, die paar Farang (Ausländer) sind immer die selben auf der Jagd nach der Gelegenheit.

Suan Son Pradipat - Hua Hin, ein Juwel für Badefreunde

2009-10-02T22:30:00.015+02:00

Der königliche Badeort an der thailändischen Golfküste in der Provinz Prachuab Kiri Khan ist nur etwas über 200 km südwestlich der Hauptstadt gelegen, eine mittlerweile exzellent ausgebaute dreispurige Fahrbahn in jeder Fahrtrichtung hat die erforderlichen Transitzeiten von Bangkok aus dorthin um eine gute Stunde verkürzt. Linienbusse und Minivans buhlen neben der Eisenbahn um die Gunst der Fahrgäste, eine Anreise per PKW kann zwischen zwei und drei Stunden, je nach Verkehrsdichte dauern. Linienbusse ab dem Sai Mai „Southern Busterminal“ brauchen nur geringfügig länger.

Die neue Kleinbuslinie ab dem Victory Monument versteht sich als Expressverbindung und für den 200 Baht Fahrpreis chauffiert man Passagiere samt Gepäck in nicht viel mehr Zeit nonstop dorthin, als man es mit dem eigenen PKW schaffen könnte.

Der zunehmende Qualitätsverlust bei den näher gelegenen Badestränden (z. B. Bang Saen/Chonburi) ist sicherlich auch dafür mitverantwortlich, dass sich nun an jedem Wochenende sehr viele Hauptstädter auf den etwas längeren Weg nach Hua Hin machen.

Die Kapitalstärkeren unter diesen parken ihre DeLuxe Limousinen dann bei den großen Hotels in der Nähe des Hauptstrandes und man genießt den Tag oder das ganze Wochenende an dem super gepflegten Sandstrand, trinkt seinen Kaffee auf der Terrasse der Nobelhotels oder nimmt ein schmackhaftes Mahl aus frischen Meeresfrüchten in einem der zahllosen Restaurants der Stadt zu sich.

Für weniger betuchte Einheimische oder auch Touristen gibt es in der Nähe Hua Hin’s auch einen tollen Badestrand! Dieser liegt nur wenige Kilometer weiter und heißt: Suan Son Pradiphat (Seepiniengarten). Hier hat das Thaimilitär einen tollen Erholungspark am Ufer geschaffen, welcher aber auch der Allgemeinheit zur Verfügung steht.

Unter schönen alten Seepinien als Uferbepflanzung kann man prima im Schatten verweilen oder sich eben an dem Feinsandstrand einen Sonnenbrand auf einer Badematte holen.

Das Militärpersonal hält sich hier dezent im Hintergrund, nur sehr vereinzelt sieht man junge, freundliche Männer in ihren Tarnuniformen, zum Beispiel bei der Schwimmreifen- oder Bastmattenausgabe oder ganz früh morgens bei der Strandreinigung.

Unter der Woche und außerhalb der Schulferien Thailands ist es hier geradezu idyllisch ruhig! Hier kann man wirklich kilometerlange Strandspaziergänge machen, sich am flach abfallenden Uferbereich im Wasser abkühlen – oder auch einfach nur ein gutes Buch lesen und sich im Schatten des uralten Baumbestandes erholen. Für Verpflegung ist auch gesorgt, die Cafeteria am Meer mit der tollen Seeterrasse hält Getränke und Speisen zu sehr zivilen Preisen parat. Eine sehr schmackhafte Nudelsuppe mit Einlagen wäre hier meine Empfehlung (nur 30 Baht je Portion)! Für Besucher, welche das thailändische Essen nicht so sehr mögen, gibt es auch Brathähnchen und andere Snacks im Angebot. Gut gekühlte Erfrischungsgetränke kosten nur unwesentlich mehr als an einem Tankstellenshop, ein Mitschleppen lohnt daher nicht.

Toilettenanlagen und auch Duschen übersteigen den üblichen Standard in Asien von der Sauberkeit und Ausstattung her. Man ist hier wirklich extrem kinderfreundlich und auch nicht aggressive Hunde dürfen mitgebracht werden.

Als besonders angenehm empfinde ich hier immer die angenehme Ruhe vor Bettlern, Tandverkäufern und den lästigen und nervigen Kommissionsjägern touristischer Touren. Der Eintritt ist frei, lediglich für den Parkplatz bezahlt man einmalig 20 Baht je Tag.

Der Seepiniengarten ist ganz leicht zu finden, denn die Einfahrt (mit Wächterhäuschen) liegt direkt hinter dem Kilometerstein 240 der von Hua Hin in Richtung Süden führenden Chaussee, direkt vor einer PTT-Tankstelle. Von hier sind es nur noch 500 m Fußweg zum Meer.

Busse fahren ab Hua Hin, witzig ist die Anfahrt mit dem Lokalzug von Hua Hin für ein paar Bahtstücke, denn der Park hat eine eigene Bahnstation – nicht wegen dem gesparten Geld, sondern der schönen Bimmelbahntour durch die Uferlandschaft der Provinz dorthin.

Eine Anfahrt per TukTuk aus Hua Hin sollte 60 bis 80 Baht nicht übersteigen.

In Richtung Norden flankiert der weithin sichtbare Khao Takiab mit seinen Affen den Strand, auch müsste dort der kleine Fischerhafen dort seinen Zugang zum Golf von Thailand haben. Im Meer sind kleine, vorgelagerte Inselchen in der Ferne zu erspähen und an Tagen, wo der König in seiner Residenz in Hua Hin weilt, da kann man mit bloßem Auge die Schiffe der Thai Navy erkennen, welche zum Schutze des Königs das Seegebiet weiträumig flankieren.

2009-10-01T16:09:00.056+02:00

After the bitter 30-year civil war and unrest ceded just before the Millennium, Cambodia was left with millions of landmines which were put in the ground by a variety of warring armies. The ceasefire didn't effect the killing and maiming potential of landmines, daily victims occur ever since. Those kept killing or dismembering cattle and people at random day after day and their latent danger doesn't vanish with time. Mines keep their killing potential for very long times!

Hardest hit are the territories bordering Thailand, that area was also the last stand of the infamous "Khmer Rouge" killer hordes. So many different armies fought the bloody wars, invaders from Vietnam also played a major force in them. Everyone used landmines and no one kept track of where they were put. School-kids were victimized on their way to and from school, no step was safe outside the beaten path and secured zones. NGOs tasked the dilemma and they scored a limited success. Minesweepers were immediately deployed and grid-mapped troubled areas, local units were educated and large areas were cordoned off unsafe or staked out with red painted minefield markers.

Most public areas and territories around touristic attractions can be considered safe now. Thanks to the enduring effort of humans involved here. Much has been done and quite some sweeping task accomplished, but mines are an ever present danger and will remain this for a some more decades of intensive mine sweeping. Some areas were cleared and are considered safe now, but experts estimate another hundred years for Cambodia to be considered mine-free again.Next to landmines, unexploded ordnance and bombs or grenades do yield danger potential just as well, they also have to be dug out carefully and defused or dissembled by specialists.

The are along the Thai border is considered densely mined, some floods or erosion may have even moved the mines and spilled them on Thai soil! Minesweepers have been visited by the author in the Provinces of SaKeo and Buriram. There are areas in Chantaburi and Trat as well as in SiSaKet Provinces, which are also considered unsafe to trespass for humans. Mine clearance there is on it's way. Thai territory will be mine free in the near future.

If you encounter any warning signs, please pay attention and do not venture into the wild. The unsafest spot may be right under your foot doing the next step. If you find any unexploded ordnance, please see immediate help from local authorities, they have the proper personnel and channels to deal with this. The below picture shows me with my Austrian friend Stefan P. in Cambodia, where he got the crash course in dealing with these matters. Stefan is a professional Teacher at some college near Vienna and a certified pilot instructor in his regular time. He made a tremendously gifted travel companion for me during our excursions into rural Cambodia.

My son Frank jr. is displaying a mockup built from a defused anti-personnel-mine. Junior accompanied me a few years back on a number of trips and had shown great interest in landmines and especially de-mining activities. You can see it won't take much to hide such a device in any ground and the aren't any less lethal as the bigger ones. They trigger at around 10 pounds of pressure on the top part, any human will enforce much more with every step they take.

UXO or unexploded ordnance falls into the same dangerous category. A fired artillery shell or a grenade remains "hot" until safely defused, dismantled or simply blown up by secondary devices. Field teams of sweepers hate them a lot and extreme caution has to be the utmost priority in dealing with them. Often they cannot be defused on-site, blowing them up or transporting the dangerous explosives to a safe dump or special lab are the common valid options. This dump here shows the daily finds from one single specialist-team in Cambodia:

Don't let a corroded exterior fool you, the dangerous mechanisms and chemicals are well protected inside, just waiting to ignite! Bombs are hard to identify, they are usually partly or completely buried. Call for professional help or notify authorities should you encounter any such objects! Do never touch or handle them yourself!

Divers, please beware when doing your recreational dives in the Gulf of Thailand near Cambodia or in Cambodian waters. Naval ordnance has been discovered near coral reefs, there is still plenty of it unexploded and rotting away on the sea-bed. Some reefs or even rocks and islands have doubled in the past as naval targets, it can't be considered safe until checked by professional divers and Navy staff.

Any landmine and unexploded ordnance must be handled by experienced de-mining specialists. retired armed forces engineers and explosive-handlers make up a large percentage of the volunteer force that is aiding the NGOs in their tasks to make this country safe again. Other specialists worry about geopositioning and gridmapping the questionable turf. Anti-tank mines are rare, and the Cambodian train from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville doesn't require to push a ballast wagon in front of the diesel engine anymore. This was a common procedure up to the millennium and saved a number of expensive diesel engines!

The airfield of Koh Kong had an incident, where the domestic inaugural flight from Phnom Penh hit a mine on the dirt runway. Nobody gut hurt then and any damage was restricted to the wheel of the airplane. This incident however marked the end of civil aviation in Koh Kong, just after the inauguration of it. Airplanes are a treasured commodity in Cambodia and minefields don't make perfect runways.

Modern mines, like the directional "Claymore" mine were not widely available then. and pose no danger in this scenario. Their added danger is that they can be triggered by trip-wire, infrared beam or other sophisticated ways, they rarely are dug in but can be used in many ways from overhead to any possible upright position. My son Franky is displaying Claymores here:

Clamores are not found in Cambodia for a long time now, their defensive Character and high price made their presence here a rarity, they pose however a big danger in other worldwide theatres and are due to their directional killing potential a very dangerous object to deal with.

Hundreds of small steel balls or bullets are encased in a single Claymore-mine, the load behind them blasts them to a given direction, hence the term "directional mine".

The 700 steel balls are propelled by the mines C4 load to a high speed of about 1200 m/sec. The projected shrapnell pattern is 2 m high, about 60 degrees in an arc-shaped pattern and very effective up to 50- 100 m in range. M18A1 is their military code and they are worldwide used and copied. They are said to be slowing an enemies pursuit-speed and efficiency in times when forward deployed teams are withdrawing and being hunted. Their ease of operation and fool-proof setup with so-called "command detonation options" brought them out of the "victim triggered" reach of international mine-treaties and landmine-bans.

Most of the horrific landmines in Cambodia are of Chinese or Vietnamese origin, they were used very uncontrolled and deliberately by all war parties. The lack of metal on some models makes it hard for clearance-teams to identify a hidden mine. Areas with a high landmine probability still put a stranglehold on agriculture and the people. Please be careful and use extreme caution when you see the specialists doing their hard work.

© by Frank P. Schneidewind

Der Markt für Märkte - Thalaad Thai - Pathum Thani

2009-09-28T18:52:00.055+02:00

Video © by Hinigugma

Auf gut über 800.000 m² Fläche präsentiert sich im Norden der Hauptstadt Thailands der wohl größte Frischmarkt Asiens in der Bangkok angrenzenden Provinz Pathum Thani. Von hier wird die Millionenmetropole Bangkok angedient und fast alle Händler auf den Wochenmärkten im weiten Umkreis beziehen dort ihr Warensortiment.

„Thalaad Thai“ wird er genannt, was soviel bedeutet wie: „Der Markt Thailands“. Was macht denn nun einen Großmarkt für Touristen genau so attraktiv wie für Geschäftsleute?

Es ist die vielleicht die schiere Einzigartigkeit, die gewaltige Größe und die märchenhafte Vielfalt dieses Marktes. Erste Tourveranstalter in Bangkok nahmen den Markt bereits in ihr Tourprogramm auf und an Fotomotiven und Gaumenfreuden sowie eindrucksvollen, exotischen Geruchserlebnissen mangelt es hier wahrhaftig nicht. Der Eintritt ist frei und die Anreise ist auch wirklich sehr leicht aus Bangkok selbst zu organisieren!

Auf den ersten Blick erscheint der Markt einfach nur riesig, aber er ist gut durchorganisiert und der Zu- und Abfluss von Warenmassen und Käufernscharen erfolgt reibungslos über direkte Anknüpfungen an Hauptverkehrsschlagadern, welche von hier in alle möglichen Himmelsrichtungen führen.

Im Marktgelände wird man am Hauptportal landestypisch von einer großen Buddhafigur begrüßt und wenn man die Kanalbrücke überquert hat, ist man bereits mittenmang im Marktgeschehen. Zur Rechten und zur Linken ziehen sich schier endlose Ansammlungen an riesigen Markthallen und Verkaufsständen in langen Reihen hin, eine jede davon hat jeweils eine besondere Branchengruppe beheimatet. Direkt links befindet sich eine für Schnittblumen, Topfblumen und religiösen (buddhistischen) Ge- und Verbrauchsmaterialien, etwas weiter folgen noch wesentlich größere Hallen für einheimische Früchte und Gemüse. Großzügige Parkflächen zwischen den Hallen sind voller Kleinlaster mit Nachschub und reihenweise Pickups, in denen Absortiertes und Erworbenes später abtransportiert wird.

Linksseitig befinden sich dann noch weitere Geschäftshauszeilen mit ergänzendem Sortiment und der unverzichtbare Umschlagplatz für das Umpacken frisch angelieferter Produkte auf kleinere LKW oder Marktwägelchen. Zahlreiche Gelegenheitsarbeiter tragen eine bunte Weste als Uniform und bieten hier praktischerweise ihre Hilfe samt Marktkarre an.

Vielen dieser flinken Helfer begegnet der Besucher überall im Gelände, denn nicht selten heuert ein Markthändler einen oder mehrere dieser Gesellen an, um sich sein Sortiment aus den vielen Abteilungen und Markthallen hier zusammenzustellen.

Nach rund 1,6 KM erreicht der Besucher kreuzungsfrei das östliche Ende des Thalaad Thai, unterbrochen war der Verkehrsfluss nur vom zentralen Kreisverkehr.

Im hinteren Marktbereich hier haben sich vorwiegend die Anbieter von Kühlmöbeln, Vitrinen, Restauranteinrichtungen und Geschäftsausstattungen angesiedelt aber es gibt hier auch ein riesiges Angebot an Zierpflanzen und Gärtnereibedarf. Plastikwarenfabrikanten haben ein kunterbuntes Sortiment im Programm, welches von kleinen Haushaltsgegenständen bis zu überdimensionalen Eisboxen oder gar Ruderbooten und Kanus reicht.. Hinter der Kreuzung, vorbei noch am Guardhäuschen, befindet sich in der unmittelbaren Peripherie das Busterminal Thalaad Thai, Endstation etlicher Linienbusse aus anderen Regionen Bangkoks.

Unmengen an Waren, immer nett präsentiert

Die südliche Hälfte des Marktes beginnt schon nach wenigen 100 Metern mit sieben Seitenstraßen, welche durchgehend beidseitig flankiert von thaitypischen Geschäftshäusern sind. In jeder dieser Straße liegen Unmengen an Kokosnüssen oder Wassermelonen in Pyramiden im Erdgeschoss gestapelt. Ob man hier ein Stück oder einen ganzen Zwanzigtonner voll ersteht - im Gegensatz zu europäischen Großmärkten verkauft man hier auch gezielt an den Endverbraucher, den Familienclan oder das Kleinrestaurant. Die südliche Verbindungsstraße hinter den Pyramidenreihen beheimatet in erster Linie Markthandelszubehör wie Verpackungsmaterial, Kartonagen, Einkaufstüten oder Waagen. Getrocknete Früchte oder verpackte Gewürze kann man hier aber auch erstehen.

Ein offener Marktbereich, hier westlich anschliessend, weist ein Querbeetangebot ausschließlich für Kleingebinde auf. Frische Gewürze und Kräuter sowie Zwiebeln und Knoblauch in vielen Grössen reichen dann flächendeckend bis in eine weitere Riesenhalle, die exklusiv manchen in Thailand sehr beliebten Gemüsesorten vorbehalten zu sein scheint. Manches wirkt auf den Betrachter schon sehr faszinierend, denn mit unendlicher Sorgfalt sind selbst Lauchgewächse oder Wasserkräuter zu Bündeln gestapelt, welche teilweise vom Boden an mannshoch sind.

An diese Halle schliesst dann wieder ein riesiger Marktbereich mit Kleinständen an, neuerdings ist dieser Teil sinnigerweise vollüberdacht. Hier gibt es übrigens entlang der Hallenaussenseite alles für den Faranggaumen. Hotels und Restaurants mit Fremdländern als Zielgruppe schätzen die mannigfaltige Auswahl an einheimischen und importierten Feldfrüchte, das gesamte Kohlprogramm sowie Kartoffeln aus der Lüneburger Heide, Aardappels aus Holland und Potatoes aus Australien, ja sogar solche aus Idaho/USA sind hier präsent und die Preise erscheinen durchweg sehr attraktiv. In Thailand selten anderweitig gesehene agrikulturelle Raritäten wie Speisepilze, Chicoree oder Paprika sind hier fotogen in nett hindrapierten Auslagen feilgeboten.

Der Warenumschlag ist hier in den frühen Morgen- und Abendstunden besonders hoch, der Nachschub fliesst den ganzen Tag über permanent weiter.

Unter dem grossen Dach findet der Liebhaber der thailändischen Küche sein Eldorado, tonnenweise Chillies in allen erdenklichen Formen und Größen hat es hier. Riesenstapel an Thaiküchenkräutern, Ingwer und alles, was man für die hiesigen Kochkunst benötigt, findet man hier an Hunderten von Ständen mit stets freundlichem Personal. Täglich wird hier mehrfach frisch direkt vom Feld angeliefert.

Fleischabteilung, fast wie in Südeuropas Großmärkten

Kein Markt ohne Proteinangebot in Asien, auch dieser nicht, denn die letzte grosse Halle auf der Südseite des Thalaad Thai ist der Ort, wo Großschlachter ein Filet oder gleich eine oder mehrere Schweinehälften verkaufen. Geflügel und Eier gibt es ebenfalls und Rindfleisch meist aus nur minutenalter Schlachtung. Dörrfleisch und Thaiwürste warten neben Riesenhaufen von Gewürzpasten und dem stark riechenden, in Thailand aber absolut unverzichtbaren Nam Pla auf Käufer. Im Obergeschoss dieser Fleisch & Geflügelhändlerschar haben sich nun Kaufleute etabliert, welche ein Sortiment von Textilien über Unterhaltungselektronik bis hin zur kompletten Handwerkerausstattung an Werkzeugen im Programm haben, die Aufgänge sind im Bereich der Stirnseiten der Halle zu finden.

Eine Gasse für tiefgefrorene Halbfertigprodukte der hiesigen Agroindustrie schliesst sich nun an. Hier gibt es Kilobeutel an vorfrittierten Hähnchenfilets, Chicken Nuggets aber auch vorgebackene Fischprodukte und Schweinefleisch, Rinder-, Lamm- und sogar Ziegenspezialitäten. Portionsgerecht geschnittenes Fleisch, tiefgefroren in Gebinden für den Großverbraucher aber auch in Kilopacks. Die Batterien der grossen Tiefkühltruhen erstrecken sich fast vom südlichen Perimeter bis zur zentralen Zufahrtsstraße.

Ein Reihe Obststände vor der nördlichen Stirnseite der Halle dient eher dem Endverbraucher, aber eine mehrgassige Budenreihe zwischen dieser letzten Grosshalle und der Hauptzufahrtsachse hält fur die Naschkatzen unter uns noch ein besonderes Angebot feil, denn hier kauft der Insider preisgünstig Cashewkerne, Erdnüsse, Süßigkeiten sowie oft farbenfrohe, aber schmackhafte Thaisnacks jeglicher Art.

Frischfisch & Seafood aus fernen Provinzen

Einen weiteren, wichtigen Bereich haben wir nun noch übrig, den Frischfischmarkt. Dieser ist von der Tiefkühlreihe neben der Proteinhalle, nur noch durch einen Parkplatz getrennt westlich gelegen (also der erste Marktbereich, vom Haupteingang an der Pahonyothin Straße aus gesehen, zur rechten Hand).

In mehreren Reihen bieten hier Fischdealer so ziemlich all das an, was die Gewässer Thailands aufzubieten haben. Flussfische aus Zentralthailand, Seefische aus dem Golf und sogar der Andamanensee und selbstverständlich auch Shrimps in jeder nur erdenklichen Variante. Vieles hier lebt noch und wird in belüfteten Wannen gehalten, Grossfische liegen meist auf wahren Bergen von Eis und selbst in der Trockenzeit kann man sich hier nasse Füße holen, denn von jedem Markttisch tropft das dahinschmelzende Eis ab.

Kundenfreundliche Rund-um-die-Uhr Behörde

Mit dem POSSEC (Perishable One Stop Service Export Center of Thailand) hat man eine neue, kundenfreundliche Behörde vor Ort kreiert, die synchron mit dem Markt rund um die Uhr an 7 Tagen je Woche geöffnet hat. Diese Behörde wickelt auf Wunsch des Käufers alle Ausfuhrformalitäten in lebensmittelrechtlicher und zolltechnischer Hinsicht ab. Tatkräftige Hilfe bei logistischen Problemen verspricht man umgehend. Kühlhäuser, fachgerechten Transport und Exportverpackung bietet man ebenfalls an und natürlich auch alle Zertifikate und Bescheinigungen, welche der Exporteur bei der Wiedereinfuhr in ein Land seiner Wahl benötigen wird.

Selbst eine Röntgenstation steht hier bereit um die Luftfrachten gemäss den Bestimmungen und Sicherheitsgesetzen zu gewährleisten. Ob Luft- oder Seefracht, das Cargo kann hier an Ort und Stelle bereits eingecheckt werden.

Wo früher etliche zeitraubende Behördengänge erforderlich waren, reicht heute ein Kurzstopp beim POSSEC. Labortests zur Kontrolle der Beschaffenheit, Qualität und auch Tests betreffend Pestizidrückständen an Lebensmitteln werden in Laboratorien vor Ort, welche dem Agrikulturministerium unterstellt sind, im Handumdrehen durchgeführt – man garantiert dem Einkäufer und Exporteur bestmöglichen Service aus kompetenter Hand, eine wirklich beachtenswerte und funktionierende Wirtschaftsförderungsmaßnahme der Regierung Thailands.

Weitere Informationen siehe hierzu: http://www.possecthailand.com (engl./thai Website)

Fachberater für Anfragen von Interessenten helfen gerne mit Bezugsquellen für thailändische Agrarprodukte, Rosen und Orchideen gehören neben Gewürzen auch zu den Exportschlagern.

Anreise zum Thalaad Thai

Der Markt befindet sich an der verlängerten Hauptausfallstraße, welche von Bangkok am Don Mueang Airport vorbei in Richtung Norden führt. Kurz hinter Rangsit endet die Hochstraße (Tollway) und ca. 15 KM nach dem Ende derselben erreicht man den Pathum Thani Bezirk Klong Luang. Zur Linken befindet sich das Riesenareal der Thamassat Universität und direkt vis-à-vis ist die Hauptzufahrt zum Thalaad Thai, gut zu erkennen an zahlreichen Großschildern und dem überdimensionalen Buddha in der Einfahrt zwischen den Fahrspuren.

Ein Taxi hierher aus Bangkok kostet ab Chatuchak ( BTS: Mor Chit) geschätzte 200 bis 250 Baht. Wesentlich preiswerter sind Stadtbusse (z.B. Linie 29 ab Hua Lamphong oder Victory Monument in Richtung Rangsit) oder Minivans ab Victory Monument (30 Baht), welche den Thamassat Campus als Endziel haben. Da Letztere den Tollway benutzen, sind sie nur unwesentlich langsamer als ein Taxi das wäre. Wer schon in Rangsit ist, der nimmt den Bus der Linie 338 bis zur Uni (Fußgängerbrücke über die Schnellstraße zur anderen Seite nehmen) oder pfiffigerweise den Bahtbus (Songtheauw), der vom Haltepunkt gegenüber dem Future Park Rangsit (Shoppingmall) bis auf das Marktgelände für 15 Baht fährt. Buslinie 510 bedient ebenfalls das Terminal im Markt.

Selbstfahrern bleibt es je nach Anfahrtsroute überlassen, ob sie über die Outer Ring Road (Nummer 9, Exit: Klong Luang) kommen oder aber über die Pahonyothin (Nummer 32, Asia Highway) bis zum U-Turn hinter der Thamassat Universität fahren (der U-Turn heißt: Navanakorn), nach dem U-Turn ist die Haupteinfahrt links bei der Buddhafigur. Für diejenigen, welche über die Klong Luang Road aus Richtung Outer Ring Road kommen, gibt es an der Ampelkreuzung hinter der Ortsdurchfahrt Klong Luang eine Abkürzung nach rechts zum östlichen Thalaad Thai Eingang, dieser erspart den U-Turn auf der Pahonyothin.

Speisen und Getränke werden im gesamten Marktbereich an vielen Stellen zubereitet und angeboten, Hunger oder Durst muss hier wirklich niemand haben.

Text © Frank P. Schneidewind
Pics © HINIGUGMA
Some Pics © Thomas Strähle