back to bangkok

Day: 26. Location: Bangkok. Weather: Gas Mark 7. Time: 12.15pm.

Boarded a public bus in Phuket station yesterday morning at 6.30am, and left for Bangkok about 15 minutes later. The bus passed through Takua Pa, Ranong, Chumphon, Bang Saphan, Hua Hin, Petchaburi, and Samut Sakhon, and finally arrived at the Southern Bus Terminal in Thonburi, Bangkok, 15 hours later at 9.45pm. My ticket cost me 501 baht (7 pounds, 16 pence).

The journey was pretty good, and I'm glad I chose to travel by day rather than night (you can see more). I'm also glad I travelled on the Thai bus system (as opposed to tourist buses), as I was the only non-Thai on board. It felt authentic and helped me feel as though I was beginning to earn my wings as an independent traveller. The downside was that no-one could speak English, including the driver and conductor, so communication was limited.

As we neared Ranong we ran along the border with Myanmar (formerly Burma). The Thai-Myanmese Border can at times be volatile and this was evidenced by our being stopped and searched by the Thai Army and Police three times at checkpoints. I wasn't, but some passengers were searched by blank faced soldiers in khaki uniforms, and had their belonging rifled through.

The journey was slowed by what I felt were an excessive number of stops for breaks. We must have stopped six or seven times, and this inevitably contributed to our eventual arrival three hours later than scheduled. I took the lateness in my stride, and no-one else seemed to bat an eye lid. As we got later and later I imagined the complaining and whining you would get from passengers in a similar situation in England.

It made me think of the time last year when I was on a train in Berkshire which hit a teenager crossing the tracks. The train ground to a halt with the teen still alive underneath, and a two hour delay ensued as emergency services tried to extricate him and get him to hospital (I know this because they kept making announcements, and it was also reported on the BBC website). It only took about 15 minutes for people in my carriage to start muttering intolerantly, 'they just don't think do they, these people, about the inconvenience it causes others,' oblivious to the idea that a young person might be dying beneath them. One complete arse demanded free drinks from the obviously shocked and distressed conductor, who had just returned from under the train. He was rightly told to sit down and shut up. How would such people handle the Thai bus system?

Anyway, on a lighter note, now I'm back in Khao San Road, staying at the Chada Guest House, in homage to my good friend Raj Chadha (sorry I couldn't find a place with an 'h' in the name - slightly too tall an order). Like the man: it's hot as hell, right in the centre of things, and doesn't cost you the Earth.

My room, Room 408, is completely tiled, with the effect that it feels like an excessively large shower cubicle. There's no furniture, just two single beds with linen covered in images of Snoopy. It's a bit odd, and I'd imagine could be rather disorientating to be in if you were drunk, or high, or just tired and emotional.

Some bright spark has graffitied the door of my room with sentiments regarding future Israeli/Palestinian unity. In a futile gesture, I have added below in biro that Israeli is spelt 'Israeli' not 'Isreali' just in case the naive teen responsible for the black marker daubings nostalgically returns.

This is hotel number six, by the way.

Monday (today) being the day of rest, I'm taking it easy. The rest of my day will be spent: eating, reading, eating, planning this week, eating, and perhaps watching a couple of movies in a bar. And then eating. I haven't seen 'Snatch,' or 'The Da Vinci Code' for a few weeks now so maybe it's time for a revisit.

Laa Kawn.