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It was a dream journey. A fantasy that came true and lasted for seven days. Beaches, rivers, mountains, forests, and a perfect picture of modernity presented by good roads, skyscrapers and sky-trains…. Yes, it is none other than Thailand, the tourist capital of Asia.

We, a group of three, had taken off from Kochi, changed the flight at Colombo, and landed at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport the next day (from Chennai, it takes only three hours). One of the busiest in Asia, only steel and glass seemed to have gone into the making of the airport. The interiors looked like a big shopping mall with all sorts of goods one can imagine of – from clothes of reputed brands to safety pins. It took only less than an hour to complete the formalities.

Bangkok – the Shopper’s Paradise

' Bangkok was alive with its famed night clubs, pubs and street hawkers. Here, the nights are meant for fun and merriment. The city never rests 'Outside the airport, Bangkok wore the manner of a long-time friend. There were smiling faces all around and the atmosphere was very pleasant. Soon we reached the hotel where our stay was arranged. It was located in the Sukhumith zone, an area bustling with foreign tourists and a great number of hotels. After a bath and a lunch we set out to see the city. We inched our way through the busy traffic to the sky train station. Two sky train routes linked the main business areas in the city and held service from 6 o’clock in the morning till 12 at night. We boarded the train from Nana and got down at Siam M.B.K., the location of the leading shopping centre of Bangkok.

The multi-storied building housed hundreds of shops. It was really a shopper’s heaven with all sorts of goodies from around the world. The mall also accommodated a theatre and a host of restaurants. It was dark when we managed to extricate ourselves from the mall and hit the streets again. Bangkok was alive with its famed night clubs, pubs and street hawkers. Here, the nights are meant for fun and merriment. The city never rests.

Beneath the façade of modernity, we detected a strong ancient base as well. We could observe the marks of the age-old Thai culture in many parts of Bangkok. There were Buddhist temples, palaces, monuments and museums, and most hotels offered package tours to these places on a daily basis. You should be dressed properly to be allowed inside the temples and palaces and a show of disrespect to the images won’t be taken in lightly. Women are not supposed to touch the monks. And no shake-hands. The Thai way of greeting is by offering the very Indian namasthe.

Off to the Golden Shores

We decided to explore the rest of Bangkok at a later time. Our plan was to reach the well known sea-side resort of Pattaya, situated at 150 kms south-east of Bangkok, at the earliest. A coastal village engaged in fishing up to the 1960s, the place acquired prominence after the Yankee army chose it as their favorite haunt. The place soon got a facelift with a port, airstrip, the tourist infrastructure and other industries related to them.

By dusk, we checked in to the Royal Plaza, a 3 Star hotel not far from the shore. In the morning, we set off in a speed-boat to the coral island of Ko lan which was 4-5 kms away from the mainland. A speed boat takes only 15 mts while an ordinary boat requires 45 mts to reach there. The initial mood of buoyancy gave way to terror as giant waves lashed at the boat and most of us looked pale and green upon reaching our destination.

The island was the biggest in the archipelago of Pattaya. There were a host of sea-food restaurants facing the sea. What not to miss there is of course the chance to watch sea-life and the coral reefs through the transparent glass-laid bottoms of the boats. And you can treat yourself to a range of water sports. There are also bikes for you to roam around the hilly areas of the island. Travelers can also avail of packages that enabled them to see the wreckage of ships that drowned near the shores of Pattaya during the Second World War. More exciting activities are there for the more adventurous ones in and around Pattaya.

After basking in that twilight, set ready for nature lovers by the setting sun and those golden shores, we returned to Bangkok. The city was getting ready for another night of revelry. But we already had Kanchanaburi (the land of that famous railway of death!) on our minds to give enough excitement that night.

The Death Railway and the Bridge on the River Kwai

It was raining when we reached Kanchanaburi, the place which was destined to witness the agonizing hardships of thousands of war-prisoners and a greater number of laborers. Our bus stopped in front of the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre. The heavens were offering a tearful worship in the war cemetery that was on the other side of the road. “We will go there after seeing the Railway Museum,” said the guide in English. He had a good accent. We got inside the museum through a gate which was built by fixing timber sleepers of railway on huge logs of wood. On the walls there were charts giving all sorts of information about the Thailand-Burma Railway. From the Nampladuk station in Thailand this Death Railway stretches for 415 kms upto the Thanbyuzayat station in Burma (The railway goes through Thailand for 304 kms and through Burma for another 111 kms). It was built by the Japanese to take munitions to Rangoon, the capital of Burma, during the Second World War. ' From the Nampladuk station in Thailand this Death Railway stretches for 415 kms upto the Thanbyuzayat station in Burma 'The construction of the railway was accomplished in 11 months by employing the British, Dutch and Australian war prisoners and over one and a half million Asian laborers. By the time it was completed, over a million had lost their lives due to extreme conditions of labour, diseases, and torture of the Japanese army.

In the museum, models of the railway, the camp and the hospital for the war-prisoners (built of bamboo reeds) etc. were exhibited. You can also watch the original video clippings of the hardships encountered by the prisoners and the bomb attack on the bridge on the River Kwai. Though the wooden bridge was completely destroyed in the attacks, the iron bridge was restored and declared as a war memorial. Now, there is train service through this bridge.

The cemetery houses some 7000 war captives who had lost their lives during the construction of the railway. We could see visitors laying flowers over the tombs of their long departed dear ones. Some of them had come all the way just to be there. We couldn’t stand there for long… our hearts too were weighed down with grief. We got out of the cemetery and headed to that legendary bridge – the Bridge on the River Kwai. Kwai was turbulent and tourists were jostling to take photos with the bridge in the backdrop. That renowned Hollywood film had made the bridge quite a celebrity all over the world.

The tour package included a trip through the Death Railway. The service will take you from the Nampladuk station to the Nam-tok station of Thailand itself. The station and the surroundings looked a lot like a North Indian countryside. The train made its way through rural areas that had huge haystacks and farms growing sugar canes. Far away, we could see paddyfields. It is said that rice cultivation had its origin in Thailand. The railway entered the hilly terrain and the train was now inching along winding tracks. We were seeing the River Kwai more and more frequently now. There was a long line of resorts on the other side of the river and a number of speedboats were charging through the yellow waters.

Our bus was waiting for us at the Nam-tok railway station. We set off to the River Kwai Village Resort and had a sumptuous Thai lunch. This jungle resort is 70kms from the Kwai bridge. A speedboat ride through the river was already arranged for us. But we wanted more. And that we got.

Don’t ever think that war memorials are the only attraction of Kanchanaburi which is situated 128kms west of Bangkok. You can go swimming or canoeing at Irawan or Sai Yok Noi waterfalls. There are bamboo rafts to carry you through a fantastic river cruise. You can go on a jungle safari on an elephant. If this is not enough, there is the Tiger Temple where the Buddhist monks rear tigers, the Three Pagodas Pass, and a number of Buddhist temples. There is still more in and around Kanchanaburi to strap you down with their magical strings.

More of the shores…and the Emerald Islands

Back in Bangkok we felt a yen to see more of the peaceful and tranquil face of Thailand. After much discussion with our tour operators we opted for the islands in the district of Phuket in southern Thailand, known as the Emerald Islands because of the thick tropical forests in them. Our focus of attraction was the crystal white sand beaches on their shores.

Phuket was 1300kms away from Bangkok. But we were told that it would take only one and half hours by air to reach there (fare was damn cheap going by Rs.2000/- per head). We boarded an aircraft owned by a local company and took off from the Suvarnabhumi Airport. As soon as the city was behind us, small islands began to appear in the sea – beautiful emerald islands sporting anklets formed by waves. And huge black rocks encircled by the blue sea with clumps of trees on top of them. It was a breathtaking sight. We landed at the Phuket International Airport by 1 o’clock. Though the airport was at Phuket, the tourist site was about 60kms away at Pattong. It is from there that the boats to the islands start their trips. Continued...

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