Roadside Junk and Strong Smells
Surat Thani -> Chaiya -> Bangkok, 30th March 2002
I managed to squeeze myself onto the train to Bangkok tonight, there
was one spare bed and I managed to grab it. I actually wanted the
train that left at 6:40pm and got to Bangkok just before 8am the
next morning, but that one was booked solid. Instead, the train I
got left at 6:00pm and gets to Bangkok at 6:30am. A little early for
me, but it'll do!
As the train wasn't leaving until the evening, I was left with a day
to fill. I'd planned to visit Chaiya by bus, then come back by train
and catch the evening train to Bangkok. However, 2 things showed
this wasn't a sensible idea: 1)The hotel charged a ridiculously high
fee of 50B to leave luggage there. 2)The train to Bangkok, goes from
Surat Thani, then to Chaiya then onwards to Bangkok. Going back from
Chaiya to Surat Thani beforehand would be back tracking and a waste
of money. So, I decided to take all my stuff with me to Chaiya, in
the hope that I could leave my bags in the train station for the day
while I explored the town. There was no guarantee of this, and if I
couldn't I'd be lumbered with my huge rucksack all day!
After breakfast, I gathered my stuff together and lumbered down to
the bus station. When I reached the bustling station, I looked
round, a little lost. All the signs, in Thai, were of no help to
little old English-speaking me. Luckily, after a minute or two of
wondering around, someone asked me where I was going and directed me
to the correct coach. I jumped on and sat near the back so I could
keep an eye on my bag. The coach was full with local people, not a
single farang in sight - just me.
The journey was quick and easy, plus at only 25B (less than 50p) for
an hour's journey, it was darned cheap! The transport isn't too bad
in Thailand. The trains and buses aren't exactly modern, but they're
clean, efficient and comfortable.
A lot of things happen on Thai transport that doesn't happen in
Europe. At every stop, a group of people board the train and walk up
and down a few times trying to persuade you to buy some food, drink
or magazines. Some of the food looked a little strange, the truth is
I wouldn't know how to eat some of their snack food! Also, some of
it looks like it was cooked a couple of days ago! Thai stomachs can
probably handle tainted food, but Western people shouldn't risk it.
It's also quite funny how drinks are sold in plastic bags with a
straw poking out. This is because there is usually a returnable
deposit on the bottle, a few Baht is given back to you if you return
the bottle to be re-used. The Thai vendors sell the drinks in bags
so they don't have to charge you the 'bottle fee'.
A major problem here, in my eyes, in the amount of rubbish that
litters the length of the railway tracks and main roads. In
Thailand, people think nothing of throwing empty bottles, tins,
bags, food boxes and anything else, out of the moving vehicle. The
rubbish then just lies indefinitely where it lands. Because most of
it is plastic, it'll be a long time before it decomposes. It's a
real problem, if not just an eyesore.
After about an hour, the conductor told me to get ready, then the
bus stopped and I jumped off, he indicated I should cross the
highway using the bridge and the town of Chaiya was just over there.
Actually, the cheeky monkey had dropped me off on the highway, about
3km from Chaiya. It wasn't a direct bus and so it turned out that it
is normal practice for these buses to go past Chaiya, not through
it.
I started the longish walk to town. Luckily, although the sun was
shining strong, there was a nice cool breeze. I was very thankful,
no breeze would mean drowning in my own sweat carrying these bags in
this sun!
I quickly found the train station, not too difficult, just find the
railway track and it's bound to be nearby. I went up to the counter
and asked if I could leave my bag for a few hours. He didn't
understand me. I pulled out my Thai phrase-book and said the phrase
in Thai. He still didn't understand (my bad Thai). So I pointed to
the Thai script that was written in the phrase book next to the
phrase, and finally, he understood. Thank God for phrase books! He
nodded, so I nipped round and left my bag in there. Great! I don't
have to lug my rucksack around for the day, plus it's free!
I had a quick walk around Chaiya. There wasn't much to see, I did
note that I was the only Farang around. I walked around looking at
the shops and the people. One of the fun things to do in foreign
countries is simple people watching. Looking at how people go about
their lives and interact with each other. When I entered the market,
I sped through due to a very pungent smell, I think it was the warm
raw meat. The uncooked meat and fish just lie on the counters all
day, with flies occasionally landing on them. Hmmm, is that
hygienic? I was also amused to find two whole pig heads lying on one
counter.
I decided to take a motorbike taxi to the nearby forest temple. It
was a short drive, but too far to go by foot. The guy dropped me off
just outside and waited for me to have a look around. I told him I'd
be 20 minutes, but unfortunately I found this didn't leave me enough
time to have a proper look round. I thought it would be a small
temple on a hill top, but it is in fact a huge sprawling complex of
buildings. Also, there were no signs. So in the end, I just watched
a bit of a Buddhist religious 'service'(?) that was going on. A
small group of monks sat cross legged in front in a congregation and
some words in Thai were being chanted. I had no idea what was going
on, and I couldn't find anyone to ask, so when the 20 minutes were
up, I went back to town.
I got to the train station in plenty of time and sat on my backpack,
waiting near the platform. Again, as I was the only Farang around, I
was the focus of amusement for some locals. They were obviously
talking about me and laughing, in a friendly way, not at all nasty,
but I had no idea what they were saying, so I just sat and grinned
like a chimp. Every person I smiled at, returned the smile
enthusiastically.
The train was quite similar to the Malay one, except they have
luggage racks. Yeay! I'll have some space on my bed tonight! I
zipped up my bag in the flight-bag and locked it the luggage rack,
before settling down in my bunk. Looking around, I noticed there
were 1 or 2 farangs already on the train. Also, about 4 hours later,
everyone was awoken by 2 loud German girls who boarded the train.
The rest of the night passed quickly, being rocked to sleep by the
train...
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