Good bye Malaysia, Hello Thailand

• Ryota's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Trang

Trip Start Nov 01, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Apr 10, 2007 Next
Entry

  Trang, Thailand
Saturday, December 16, 2006

Salamat Tinggal Mayalsia!  Sawadee gap Thailand!
 
It's been nearly a week since I entered Thailand.  I spent five great days in Penang.  The food, the people and the archtecture were fantastic.  In Penang's plush shopping centres one can now sip coffee at Dome (surprise, surprise for WA people) as well as other globalising coffee shops.  But those places slap you with a 10% service tax and a 5% GST, which comes down to about RM 7.50 per cup.  Penang is by far my favourite Malaysian city.  (Malacca is getting done up too much.  I cannot comment on KL because I was there only for two nights and was busy sorting out where to go next.)  I actually ate a lot of Indian food, knowing that I wouldn't see it in Thailand.
 
The best coffee by far is 'kopi-o'.  The locals lash out on sugar so much so that one has to insist on 'kopi kosong' (plain coffee) and 'tanpa gula' (no sugar) three times before it is served.  These words are most useful for the caffine burst a mere 60 cents can give.
 
Travellers kept telling me different stories about Thai tourist visa.  The staff at the Thai consulate in Penang were tightlipped and they just said 'immigration, immigration' when I asked more pointed questions.  I parted with RM100 and got myself a 60-day visa, which probably was the better option than a mere 30-day visa on arrival.
 
Most travellers enter Thailand from Hatyai then go north, or take a ferry from Penang to Langkawi and another one from Langkawi to Satun (a very costly option).  I went to Kuala Perlis, a sleepy border town in teh far north of Malaysia, and took a rickety ferry into Satun.  My first impression of Satun was of 'it looks like Malaysia!' apart from the obvious: national flag, Thai script, a few wats, and theubiquitous portraits of the king (in a much better state than the portraits of the Malaysian PM, dare I add).  My favourite portrait features the king with a camera dangling from his neck.  He looks like he is visiting a rural rice paddy.  A drip of sweat hanging on the tip of his nose.  Arbeit macht frei?
 
I arrived in Satun on Saturday.  On Saturday nights Satun gets busy with night market.  At the market I saw one lady selling Chinese dumpling, kuchai.  My Thai being more than rudimentary, communication was difficult.  Then she began talking in perfect Japanese!  It turned out that she spent 16 years in Japan, working and living, and returned to Thailand ten years ago when her Japanese husand deceased.  She worked in a Japanese restaurant as a manager in Phuket until the tsunami.  Machiko-san (her Japanese name) put me up for a night and showed me her relatives' restaurant and her making the kuchai.  She was so pleased to meet me and to have me around because she barely spoke Japanese since her return to Thailand.  Kuchai tastes great!  Also at the night market was a local puppet theatre - more like stencil screen act - done by one man.  It was an impressive act.  Machiko-san wanted me to stay a few more nights.  But this was becoming like Hotel California.
 
I left for the famed islands of Ko Taruotao and Ko Lipe.  Taruotao has nicer and quieter beaches than Ko Lipe, but the water is not so clear.  Ko Lipe is very much 'developed' for tourism, but excellent for snorkelling and diving.  I met a traveller who had snorkelled all over the world and told me that Ningaloo in Western Australia was the best place.  So I was happy to swap the beach for the bike.  I was also wondering if the inflated island cost of everything was worthwhile and seeing too many expats to enjoy being in the middle of S. E. Asia and enjoying the local people.
 
The people always curious to ask me a list of questions:
where do you come from?
where do you go?
are you married?
do you have children?
how old are you?
 
I am not at all offended.  The first question is the hardest to answer.  I tried different combinations, but they confused me as much as the locals.  I say "New Zealand".  But they look confused because I am 'Asian'.  I resign to answer I was born in Japan.  Then the locals respond "Ah! Japanese!!  Ohayo gozaimasu!".  Again, I meet a number of people who have had affiliations with Japanese companies and business (like Machiko-san).
 
Cycle rides?  Mainly flat, but from Satun to Trang there are several undulating hills.  The landscape varies: rice paddies, plantation trees, limestone mountains (very imposing and impressive).  In Thailand I see more cows, so drivers take care.   More than in Malaysia I see more bikes and scooters - and more bikeshops.  This is good for my emergency pit stops.  In Thailand kids get on scooters as soon as they can stand on two feet almost!  Helmet?  Licence?  What are they!?  On the roadside those cheerleaders encourage me with chorus of 'hello'.  I respond 'sawadee gaap!  Sabai dee mai!?' (Hello, how are you?).  I hear a shrill of 'yee hii hii' and 'ha ha ha' as I get past them.
 
Thai food is not all about spices.  In fact, I got to like the Thai noodle joints.  They give you a bowl of noodles with some sauce.  At the table are several side dishes: green vegs, dried fish, pickles, green papaya pulp.  You just help yourself to them - and costs only 15-20 bahts.
 
I woke early to leave Ko Lipe, and cycled 116km to get to Trang.  I aim to go up north towards Surat Thani.  The famed Krabi and Phuket don't quite appeal to me.  I had my fair share of the beach, and will see more of it on the way to Bangkok.  Excuse me but got to hit the sack.
 
Ryota

Trang hotels Slideshow Share

Previous Entry Next Entry