After a couple days in Bangkok, I started my journey to Cambodia. I caught the bus to Trat from the Ekkamai bus terminal that left at 9:30 am on March 8th. Along the way, I met Paul from Minnesota who had taught in Thailand and was married to a Thai woman. Her extended family had a big compound in Bangkok, and she owned a farm that grew Durian, Rambutans, and other fruits and vegetables that was run by a renter. In a sense, Paul was a Durian farmer. The prices of Durians have jumped in price because of the big demand for them from China. He said many farmers in the Trat area are converting their crops to Durian to take advantage of this price jump.
The Trat Center Hotel was just about 600 Baht—$17— per night and my room was great—clean, spacious, with one English language TV channel—from Myanmar—a mini refrigerator, an excellent wifi connection, and a hot shower. Paul also stayed here and checked out his farm the following day using a motorbike with a day rate of 150 Baht—$4.25.
Both nights we ate at a local restaurant and he ordered dishes in Thai—I was impressed.
I enjoyed the boardwalk that ran along this canal.
On March 10th, I took an hour minibus ride to Hat Lek at the border to Cambodia where both Thai and Cambodian Immigration officials told me I could not enter Cambodia since I had less than 6 months before my US Passport would expire. I even showed them my return air ticket that showed I was returning to the US on April 16th. That did not matter to them. The two pictures below show the border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia.
I remember hearing that you SHOULD have six months before going on international travel and now I realize that that warning should be you MUST have six months remaining since some countries like Cambodia will not let you enter.
The Thai official told me I had to go back to the Immigration office in Bangkok to get another 30-day extension on my Thai visa which was expiring on March 17th. I figured I could do one of three things:
1. Get a 30 day extension on my Thai Visa,
2. Get a new US Passport at the US Embassy and make my way back to Cambodia before March 17th, or
3. Return to the US by March 17th when my 60 day Thai visa expires if I am not granted a 30 day Thai Visa extension.
I returned to the minibus station and found the same driver who returned me to the Trat Bus Station just 1/2 hour before the big blue bus was returning to Bangkok. While on the bus to Bangkok, I used my cell phone to book through Booking.com my Bangkok accommodations from March 10 to the 14th at the Crown BTS Nana Hotel near the Nana Sky Train Station for about $34 per night.
It was more than “One Night In Bangkok” where I enjoyed going to several entertainment venues including places that had live music.
On Monday, I headed to the Thai Immigration office using a combination of metro and taxi, Unfortunately, I had to show my taxi driver how to get there by using my Google Maps and the 45-minute taxi ride was just 171 Baht on the meter—-about $5.
Once there, I filled out the paperwork and had to find a copy store to copy my passport picture page and my 60-day Thai Visa passport pages. On the paperwork, I had to paste a passport picture and explain why I wanted the 30-day extension—It looked like this would not be just a rubber stamp process.
I got into the queue for the 30-day Visa extension at 10 am and I was still waiting until noon when they shut down the office for an hour lunch break at noon.
I got some local lunch at the food court in the building which included a cup of sweetened corn, 3 chicken satay sticks, and Thai iced coffee. Good thing I brought along my pocketbook to read—a Lee Child Reacher book.
At 1PM it was another 1/2 hour before I saw the Immigration official and gave him my passport and paperwork plus the 1,900 Baht fee—about $55. After another 10-minute wait, I was approved for a 30-day extension to April 16th—my plane departs on the 16th. It must be the 1,900 Baht fee that was the most important factor unless you have committed some crime while here.
I immediately caught a cab and had him drop me off at the Mo Chit Sky Train stop which cost about 120 Baht—-$3.50—for a 1/2 hour drive. From there, I got back to my hotel and booked myself at the Runa Runa Best Samed Island Guesthouse for 7 nights—the cost of $24 per night— since my favorite, the Blue Bay Bungalows was booked up.
I decided that I would just relax for a few weeks on my favorite island in Thailand: Ko Samet. I again took the Sky Train from the Nana stop to the Ekkamai bus terminal where I took the minibus at 9:30 am to Ban Phe and arrived there for the 1 PM 1/2 hour ferry boat to Ko Samet Island.
There was no beach view at the Runa Runa Guesthouse and it was in the center of the small village just off the White Sand Beach. The staff was very friendly and helpful and the room was immaculate. The A/C and showers worked well and the TV just had Thai language channels so I had lots of time to update my blog note that I am not blocked here and get some more reading done.
After my morning breakfasts and one-hour massages from Da, I walked along the white sand beaches until I came to some cushioned beach lounge chairs in the shade by the Tok Resort where I spent time reading mystery and crime novels as well as taking a dip in the blue-green sea that was 80 degrees plus.
I then had early dinners at some of my favorite new restaurants--The Reef at the Blue Bungalows at the Ao Pudsa Beach which was the site of the Ao Pudsa Bungalows that I had been staying at for the past 18 years whenever I came to Ko Samet.
Filet with assorted mushrooms, garlic, onions, and cut potatoes.
Sea bass in curry
Chicken Musaman curry.
Mango smoothie
This is the nearby TubTin Resort and Restaurant.
It was also fun to walk down the length of the east side of the island to see the numerous beautiful coves where some of the more remote resorts are located. It was about a six-mile round trip that ended for me at a steep rocky shoreline.
From north to south from Ao Pudsa Bay, I hiked past Ao Nuan Bay, Ao Chao Bay, and Ao Wong Deuan Bay, but the beach trail ended at this rocky shoreline so I returned to the Blue Bay Bungalows.
At these more distant resorts, most people take speedboats from Ban Phe and wade ashore to their more distant resorts.
I stopped by the Blue Bay Bungalows to see if anything was available and the receptionist, Beem, first said no, but then she said they had a bungalow in the middle of the construction area where several customers had canceled once they saw where it was. Here is my view from the front patio.
She offered me 800 Baht—$23— per night— and she said that construction goes from 8 am to 5pm. I told her no problem for me and reserved it for 8 nights from March 21st with a departure on March 29th. I am usually up and around by 6 in the morning anyway. My bungalow had been remodeled with attractive decor and amenities such as a refrigerator, hot pot, and goodies to purchase if the mood strikes you.
The A/C worked except when the whole island shut down all electricity for one entire day. Everybody including Thais headed to the beaches for the day to enjoy the cooling ocean breezes and swim in the waters. One morning I had no water, so it was a good thing I had showered the night before. They and all resorts rely on boats to deliver them water since there is very little naturally occurring water on Ko Samet.
I had flashbacks to our early days of owning our Loreto Bay casa which was also in the middle of a construction zone and the electricity and or water would go out because someone had cut the lines.
Throughout my time in Thailand, I have been amazed by how many Russians, mostly couples and families, I have seen and heard here. I checked the Thailand Tourism website and they had this chart of tourists visiting Thailand by the country for 2022 and the first two months of 2023 and it confirmed that many Russians were tourists here.
Although it shows Malaysia as being #1, this is distorted because they typically cross the southern border they share with Thailand to just shop for a day or two or visit relatives.
You see that in 2022, Russia was #9 and China was not even listed because they were quarantined in China, and only in mid-February was the quarantine lifted. Before COVID-19, tourists from China represented about 1/3 of all tourists visiting Thailand.
In just the first two months of this year, Russia is now in the #2 spot just behind Malaysia and has almost as many tourists visiting just these two months compared to the number of Russians visiting during the entire 2022.
What are the reasons for this big jump in tourists from Russia? Could it be to travel to somewhere warm? Is it pent-up travel desire now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in both Russia and Thailand? Is it to escape for a time from all of the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West? Is it to escape becoming cannon fodder in Putin’s war with Ukraine? I don’t know for they are not a chatty group and tend to stay with each other soaking up the sun and enjoying the food, drinks, and entertainment that is in abundance in Thailand.
On Ko Samet, I have also noticed the gradual return of the Chinese tour groups that usually come for the day and all eat together in the restaurants that earlier had remained empty. In groups, they tend to run down to the beach and take lots of pictures of their friends splashing in the surf as well as taking selfies. They eat together and then leave usually following the tour guide with the flag. The picture below is of a restaurant that catered to Chinese Tour groups—empty from March 2020 until now.
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This is quite the itinerary. Thanks for both the reflections and videos. I enjoyed it vicariously. Good catch on the Visa issue. You’ve had quite the challenges getting into Cambodia. Where there is a will, there’s a way.
ReplyDeleteThanks--maybe Cambodia next year once I get my new Passport.
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