“One Night in Bangkok” and Other Adventures…

We took a minibus from Penang, Malaysia, to Hat Yai in the south of Thailand. We had been to Hat Yai once before when we were in Thailand for our honeymoon five years ago. At that time we took the train south from Bangkok with plans to visit the Tarutao National Marine Park. However once we arrived in Hat Yai it was obvious that there had been severe flooding in the area and we were advised that all tourist services were closed. We went back to the train station on got on the next train back towards Bangkok.

This time around we found a much different city: busy and prosperous with no livestock carcasses in the streets. We had a short stop there to stock up on provisions before making our way to the coastal town of Pak Bara where we had to spend the night in order to catch the next day’s ferry to the park. Tarutao National Park consists of numerous islands but our destination was the largest of them all and home of the Park headquarters, Ko (meaning ‘island’ in Thai) Tarutao. The island has an interesting history. It was originally used as an Alcatrez-esque prison in the early 1940’s accommodating both “common” and political prisoners. The waters around the island used to be home to deadly saltwater crocodiles and sharks which kept the number of successful escapes to a minimum. During World War II, a shortage in medical and food supplies from the mainland meant the prisoners were all but abandoned and many died of starvation and malaria. Some of them, including some of the prison guards, took to pirating and for a while the area was a very dangerous part of the Andaman Sea. Pirating was brought to an end by British troops in 1944 and the prison was abandoned completely. The existence of the prison meant that the island was never developed, neither commercially nor residentially, as were most of the other islands in what is now the park. More significantly, and in more resent history, one of Ko Tarutao’s beaches was used for the filming of “Survivor: Thailand”, which was won by the unforgettable Brian Heidik.

Our ferry dropped us off at the park pier and only a few passengers disembarked while the rest continued on to the more well-known backpacker island of Ko Lipe. This was fine with us: from the boat we could see a two kilometer stretch of white sand beach with not a soul to be seen. We checked into a large bungalow set back from the beach and settled in for a few days of solitary relaxation. The park is just getting up and running as the monsoon is just ending on this coast. The park facilities are numerous: there is a visitors’ centre, library, restaurant, canteen, and a variety of accommodation options. However with just a few guests around, the main restaurant was not yet open and we enjoyed many fine Thai meals at the small outdoor canteen. One day we had the canteen staff pack us a lunch and we set off on a 23km hike in search of a waterfall. Most of the walk was through the thick jungle along a dirt road, but the last three kilometers were a real effort as we made our way up the river, crossing back and forth through the water, scrambling over large boulders and occasionally along a narrow trail that is quickly being reclaimed by the forest. The reward at the end was worth the exertion, as we found a clear blue swimming hole and a beautiful waterfall.

Soon it was time to leave our tropical paradise and make our way north to Bangkok where we needed to apply for our Myanmar (Burmese) visas. We took a luxurious sleeper train (actually only second class, but luxurious compared to Indian trains). There was a dining car where you could order beer and a man came along in the evening to make up the beds with clean sheets, pillows and blankets. A curtain across the berth blocked out any would-be oglers (although this is not common here). Once we arrived in Bangkok we made our way to the infamous backpackers’ ghetto of Khao San Road and arranged for an agent to get our visas for us. This service costs a bit of money but the wait at the embassy was over five hours long so we decided it was worth the expense. We stayed on Khao San Road when we were here last time and although it is still the farang- (Thai word for foreigner) infested district it was before, there have been some changes. First of all, all the 7-11’s that were in North America in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s have moved to Thailand and multiplied like rabbits. There are several of them on the short, touristy road alone. We like to joke that in Bangkok you are never more than five minutes away from a 7-11. There are also two British Boots Pharmacies dispensing prescription medication without those pesky doctors’ notes required at home. And yes, Khao San Road even had a Starbucks. It seems that backpackers have evolved. Well, at least some of them: there are still the obligatory cheap clothing vendors, dreadlock weavers, pirated CD stalls, and bars full of their fair share of farangs in various states of intoxicity and cleanliness. By chance we ran into Jake, the young Aussie who we met while traveling in Goa, India. It was nice to see him and catch up over a beer in a quiet bar but we were happy to be spending only one night in Bangkok this time around.

Several months earlier I emailed the Canadian embassy in Bangkok for a list of Canadians incarcerated in Thai prisons who would appreciate a visit. I was provided with a list of three names, two of which were in the same institution: Bangkwang or “Big Tiger” as it is known. Bangkwang has a history that makes “Midnight Express” look like a stay at the Hilton. Kevin and I both read a book called “The Damage Done” by Australian Warren Fellows who spent 12 years in Thai jails, some of that time at Bangkwang. We could only hope that conditions had improved since his stay there in the 1980’s. We purchased some used paperbacks and magazines and made our way by boat to the prison where we had to register ourselves as visitors and have the novels we brought approved by the Foreign Affairs office. Shorts are not allowed so Kevin had to make a trip to the market to buy a pair of jeans. We had to leave all our belongings in lockers and then pass through a metal detector while our bag of reading materials was checked as well. We then passed through two huge, thick doors to a large courtyard with visiting rooms lining either side. We were told to wait in one of the rooms which contained about a dozen little booths with telephones. Visitors and prisoners are separated by a gap of about five feet with a glass wall and bars on either side. All conversations are conducted by telephone. Family members never get to touch their loved ones.

The names we were given by the embassy were Vahid Janneti and Adrian van Ommering. A bit of internet research told us that they are both serving life sentences for drug offences. Adrian gets more visitors as he holds Canadian and Dutch citizenship and indeed he already had a Dutch citizen visiting him that day. Vahid, on the other hand, is of Iranian descent (we have yet to meet an Iranian traveler) and rarely sees a visitor. It was great to see the big smile on his face when he saw us. He had no idea that we were coming and our visit would have broken up the monotony of what would have been another ordinary day. Kevin and I each took a turn speaking to him and he told us a bit about his life in Bangkwang. We were relieved to hear that it is no longer as horrific as Fellows described in his book, but it is still not an easy life. Vahid spends 16 hours a day locked up in a cell with 26 other inmates, most of them Thai. They sleep on mats on the floor and use a hole in the floor for a toilet. He told us the food provided is terrible but inmates are able to cook their own food if they can afford to buy it. There is a television in the building but it is rarely tuned to an English channel. The prison provided email services for a while but it stopped working and was never repaired, something Vahid told us is typical of everything in the prison. He has served 6 years and 7 months and has been appealing his conviction the entire time. He hopes to be released soon or at least transferred to a prison in Canada. He told us that last year the Americans did a prisoner exchange with the Thais and they are all now free in the US.

Vahid really appreciated the books we brought and as we left, we stopped at the prison store and bought some coffee, cigarettes, fresh fruit, and toiletries for him and Adrian. I would urge anyone visiting Bangkok to contact your embassy to find out if there is anyone who would appreciate a visit as much as Vahid did. For those of you not traveling in the near future, you can write letters or send books, clothing, packaged food and toiletries to Vahid or Adrian at:

Bangkwang Central Prison
Building Six
117 Nonthaburi Road
Suan Yai
Nonthanburi, Thailand
11000

Vahid admitted he is terrible at writing letters himself, but you only have to imagine yourself in his shoes for a moment to know that it would make his day to receive one.

After our visit we left Bangkok on the bus to visit Khao Yai National Park, three hours northeast of the city. We only had a short time to spend there so we booked a tour with our guesthouse and spent an entire day in the forest. Our guide, Puma, was very knowledgeable and had a great eye and ear for wildlife. He pulled over on the side of the road several times and set up his telescope to show us some beautiful birds. We stopped at a lookout and he heard an elephant breaking branches below so our group of six tourists and two guides crept along an animal trail through the jungle until we were within five metres of the giant, tusked beast. We were careful to be extremely quiet as elephants are notoriously dangerous animals. The peace was disturbed by another group of tourists who came crashing through the jungle and went even closer to the elephant than where we were. Wisely, we backed off a bit but all of a sudden the elephant trumpeted and did a short charge in our direction. “RUN!” yelled our guide and we all scampered our way up the hill to the road. Full of adrenalin we drove on to another more peaceful elephant sighting where a much smaller one was digging in the earth for salt. This one we could safely view from a distance.

Out of the truck again and dressed in our leech-proof socks (there are millions of leeches in the forest here), we walked through the dense jungle in search of the elusive gibbon ape and hornbill bird. We struck out with the hornbill (although Kevin and I had seen many on Tarutao) but Puma spotted a family of four gibbons. These apes never descend from the trees and are very hard to spot in the high jungle canopy but we got a really good look through the telescope. Puma also used a long stick to persuade a huge scorpion to emerge from his hole in the ground. The second largest species in the world, the thing was gigantic and disgusting but apparently not dangerous unless in hunting mode (see photo below). We had lunch and then went to see a big waterfall made famous in the Leonardo DiCaprio movie “The Beach”. We watched a beautiful sunset and did a night drive through the park where we spotted several types of deer, a giant porcupine, and a pack of jackals. It was 8pm by the time we returned to our guesthouse and we were starving. We had spent the previous two hours discussing food from home with another couple that has been traveling for as long as we have. It’s a topic that comes up a lot among long-term travelers, especially when you are hungry!

The next morning we took a bus back to Bangkok and then caught a connecting bus to the city of Kanchanaburi to the west of Bangkok. Kanchanaburi also has a famous movie connection as it is the site of “Bridge on the River Kwai”, a movie Kevin needs to watch every time it comes on the TV, which seems to be a lot. The history, of course, is larger than the bridge itself and we went to the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre which is a museum that tells the story of the railway and the tragedies that occurred during its construction. Across the street from the museum is one of two large Allied War Cemeteries in this area that contains the remains of over 7,000 Allied POW’s who died while building the railway. After the war, the remains were gathered from numerous makeshift cemeteries long the rail line and brought to larger, more central locations where the cemeteries could be maintained.

The next day we rented a motorcycle and rode to some waterfalls that descend in seven steps. We hiked as far as the fifth step and then stopped for a swim. The water is milky green from the minerals but the pools were beautiful and refreshing. It reminded us a bit of the waterfalls we saw when we were in Croatia so long ago.

After the falls we rode to the Tiger Temple which is actually a monastery that is famous for its resident tigers. As we had not seen a tiger yet on our trip, we thought it would be worth it to stop by the Temple to get a look. The story started when an orphaned tiger was dropped off with the monks. Ever since then, orphaned tigers (their parents are usually killed by poachers) have been dropped off at the monastery for safekeeping. There are now over a dozen tigers including at least four babies. The tigers are very docile and during the afternoon are kept at the dead end of a canyon where visitors are allowed to touch them and have photos taken. Unfortunately, our camera decided to crap out on us after the waterfalls but Fiona, a Kiwi volunteering at the Temple offered to take some photos on her camera and send them to us… thanks Fiona! The tigers were huge and beautiful and it was a bit scary to be so close to them but something we will never forget. After visiting the adults, we went to look at the babies as they were removed from their mother’s cage for feeding time.

Back in Kanchanaburi we had one more stop to make at the famous bridge itself. With the camera not working, we had to hang around for a bit until we asked another farang if he would mind taking our photo and emailing it to us. He agreed and it turned out that we had dinner with him (Kris, Sweden), his girlfriend Andrea (Netherlands), and two others: Peter from Belgium and Natasha from Ireland. We had a great meal followed by some good fun at a few of the local bars. Thanks Chris and Andrea for sending us the photos of the bridge and ensuing festivities!

After Kanchanaburi it was time to head back to Bangkok to meet Kevin’s brother Jim and his wife Heather. We have been counting down the days until their arrival for months and the day had finally arrived.

But I’ll let Kevin tell that story…

B.

PS: Congratulations Randall and Jen on your new baby boy, Kai!

Photos:
Kevin on Ko Tarutao
Us on Ko Tarutao
Kevin and "Wilson"
Brandy has an Idea
Waterfall Swimming Hole on Ko Tarutao
Us
Longtail Fishermen
Tarutao Sunset
Leech Socks: Functional and Stylish
Kevin and Scorpion
Allied Cemetery
Us at Erawan Falls
Kevin at Falls
Kevin and Tigers
Brandy and Tiger
Us at Bridge on the River Kwai
Us, Peter, Kris, Andrea, Natasha - Kanchanaburi