The Wanderings of busman7

is a good policy to keep in mind where ever you may roam but in heavily touristic areas it is essential!

Can’t say for Phuket Town (which I have heard compares favorably with Antigua Guatemala—NOT imho)  itself as I only checked one hotel across from the bus station which was more or less reasonable for what was offered however as had checked my Lonely Planet  & it showed prices for anything, other than a couple hostel dorm rooms, to be on the pricy side figured might as well head for the beach.

Now the first place the sawngthaew stopped at was an absolute RIPOFF asking 1000 Baht for a windowless cubbyhole more the size of a closet than a room & when I told him that 200 Baht might be about right  he just said it was Chinese New Year. So the stories I had heard about southern Thailand being way too touristy, money grabbing & unfriendly are true in lots of places.

Ended up at The Boomerang Inn with a nice room complete with front porch & free Wi-Fi in the lobby for 1200 Baht, while in Pattaya I only paid 400 for a similar room with a balcony & Wi-Fi in the room, both were about a 5 min walk to the beach.

Next thing to beware of is the definition of a bus (unless you like surprises make sure to ask) as it can be anything from a sawngthaew (truck with benches), local transit type bus, old highway coach with seats meant for people under 5 feet tall weighing under 100 pounds with the floor & aisle used for cargo, up to a regular tourist coach with working (much too well) A/C. Also included are the dreaded sleeper bus & the ubiquitous 10 passenger (with NO luggage) Toyota van, both completely horrid means of transportation. However if traveling off the beaten path at times the only thing available is the Toyota van which usually comes complete with an insane person masquerading as a driver!

Speaking of drivers in all my travels by bus whether an overcrowded CA chicken bus, Asian local bus or regular tourist bus I have never had a bad driver & I have been in the bus business for over 25 years & am a certified driver trainer. Have to make special mention of the South Korean highway coach drivers who are impeccably dressed, polite, give a welcome talk, are excellent drives & very professional in all ways.  However the same can NOT be said for the majority of van drivers & a few taxi drivers.

When I checked into traveling from Patanga beach to Kuala Lumpur was told the bus should be around 1000 Baht but when she called the company they said that because of Chinese New Year the price had risen to 2000 Baht, NO way José so just bought ticket to Hat Yai 650 via van, where I was able to get a real bus on to KL for 700, a saving of 650 from the Rip-off quoted!

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 09:01 and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.