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**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 01:58 AM

The Journey to Bangkok

After spending a day and half in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia catching up with relatives and old friends I hadn't seen in decades, it was time for me to go to Thailand. I opted for Lufthansa as it fitted perfectly with my schedule, and it was the cheapest on that day among *A flights. I took the KLIA express rapid train to KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL)) in the late afternoon of Thursday June 3, 2010, and arrived at the airport around 4:20pm. Unfortunately for me, The Lufthansa counter was only going to open between 6:15-6:30pm, so I had 2 hrs to kill before I could check-in and use the lounge. I spent the 2 hours taking pics of planes from the viewing area, and also playing with my cube.

Soon it was time to check-in, and I made my way to the Lufthansa Business Class line. I was initially going to fly Economy on this sector, but when I actually booked the flight, the price difference between Y & C was only around $35US for this specific date (other dates had a much cheaper Y fare), so it was a no-brainer for me. I also specifically chose #1A for this flight.

Lufthansa LH783
Aircraft type: Boeing 747-400
Reg #: D-ABTB
Seat #: 1A

After checking in my luggage, and getting my LH boarding pass, I cleared the first security scanning and exit immigration before arriving at the Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge. The choices in this lounge was fairly decent on this day: Steamed rice, sweet & sour fish dish, steamed vegetables, assorted sandwiches, pastries, and plenty of pop (soda), juices, and some beer and liquor choices!! These were all adequate for me before the flight.

After having few bites and drinks, spending an hour on the internet, and taking a mini nap in the lounge, I cleared the second security scanning at the gate, and boarded D-ABTB, which happens to be one of LH's older 747-400s (even older than 9V-SMU, which is SQ's oldest aircraft). There weren't any significant delays on this night. I chose champagne for my pre take-off drink and my meal choice for this flight was the chicken parmesan with pasta, garden salad, and fresh fruits for dessert. The drinks I had were a can of sprite and a cup of plain tea.

After a couple of hours, we landed at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). After clearing immigration and customs, I made my way to the Grand Tower Inn (Rama 6) Hotel to get my much needed rest!!

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:04 AM

Hanging around Bangkok and the outskirts

After a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, one of my friends in Thailand came to pick me up and take me around. Some of you who watch the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) TV News or other news in Thailand may know her as the newsreader Patchari Raksawong. To me, she is Pat, my old childhood friend turned celebrity friend. But she is still sweet and humble as always!! She drove me around in her Mercedes through the city. We even drove by the Silom area, where all the "action" was happening a few weeks prior, and a lot of the areas are now left vandalized. Unfortunately, I was busy catching up that I had forgotten to take pics of this area.

We soon went to the Snake Farm in Bangkok, which is a research institute for snakes. I opted for this venue because, in addition to animals, I'm also a reptile lover!! There were several species of snakes in this institute, with a few found in other continents, but most were local to Thailand, and the neighboring countries. There was even a show where they demonstrated milking King Cobra's venom.

After exploring the Snake Farm, we met up with Pat's mom, and one of Pat's friends “Dream.” We ended up having lunch at MK, which is a hotpot/steamboat restaurant, and then, we made our way to the Crocodile Farm (also called the Samphram Elephant Ground & Zoo), which happened to be a little west of the city of Bangkok in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. This was where I saw a couple of poor tigers in chains, and a couple of animal shows as well, including an elephant show. The elephant show consisted of elephants dressed up as soccer stars kicking the soccer ball around, a demo of how tame elephants are used to help capture wild elephants at a young age, a demo of how elephants were used in logging camps, and also a battle scene on how war elephants were used during the ancient Siam/Burmese wars from centuries ago.

After the elephant show, there was the crocodile wrestling show, which included trainers sticking their hands and heads into open mouths of crocodiles. Thankfully, there weren't any incidents today where the crocodile decided to close their mouths, which unfortunately for the people, tends to happen every now and then.

I even got to hang out at the ASEAN TV News Studio where Pat had to do the taping for the news. I even had the opportunity to sit on the hot seat as well, but since I'm not as pretty looking as Pat, I opted not to read the news for the night.

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:08 AM

The Journey to Buriram and First day of World Environment Weekend

On June 5, 2010, I was going to the Buriram area to volunteer for the World Environment Weekend at the Elephant Island. This is another elephant sanctuary that was started by Miss Antoinette Vandewater, a Dutch lady who is now making her living in Thailand, caring for the nation's elephants. She actually volunteered at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai several years ago, and decided to re-locate herself to Thailand and start her own project "Bring the Elephant Home" Foundation (www.bring-the-elephant-home.org). She is also the co-author of the book "The Great Elephant Escape" with Liesbeth Sluitor:

http://www.amazon.ca/Great-Elephant-.../dp/9749511646

The World Environment Weekend was a 2-day program that consisted of planting trees at the sanctuary for the elephant. There used to be 2 resident elephants at this place, but unfortunately, 2 weeks prior to my arrival, one of the elephants Nok Noi has passed away due to illness, so there is currently one, Sri Prae, residing here now. But there is hope that more will join her later on. A very large majority of the volunteers that showed up for this happened to be Thai. Beside myself, there were only three other foreigners there, including Antoinette.

Pat arrived at the hotel to give me a ride to the bus terminal. Before taking the bus, we decided to give alms to Buddhist priests, which is a common practice in Thailand. It was definitely a very refreshing experience.

Soon, it was time to board the bus to Buriram. The Bus company that is involved here was Nakhornchai Air Co. Ltd (NCA), and the bus to Buriram was actually a gold class service, which included meals, snacks, and drinks, and it also had a bus hostess as well, which was a first for me (I don't recall ever getting that on the Greyhound buses in North America). The legroom in this bus was very generous, even more generous than most (if not all) Y class aircraft seats I've had. There were some volunteers for the same program I was part of who were also in this bus.

After a 5 1/2-hour journey, we arrived at the Buriram Bus terminal. There was a village representative who brought out his bus to transport the volunteers to the Isarn village where the Elephant Island is located. The ride to the village took about 30-45 mins.

We planted a few trees upon arrival (all banana trees), and then walked on the scary Indiana Jones-like bridge to the island to feed Sri Prae. Sri Prae is one of the landmine victim elephants and a small chunk of a front leg is torn as a result, which makes her movement difficult.

After dinner, we had a welcome ceremony at the Isarn village that consisted of a traditional dance. I apologize for not having any pictures as my camera battery was being charged at this time!

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:11 AM

The Second Day of World Environment Weekend & Journey to Chiang Mai

On Sunday June 6, 2010, we were going to plant the majority of the trees. Mr Plai Soisaklang, an 80-yr old gentleman who won farmer of the year award in 2010, joined us. He did the christening by planting and blessing the first tree for the day. Most of the trees planted were banana trees. This tree plantation is the first step to giving the elephant (and any future elephants that'll arrive here) a natural habitat and plenty of food, so being a part of this was definitely worthwhile!

After lunch and feeding Sri Prae, it was time to shower and head to the Buriram Bus terminal. Some of the local village kids who became attached to us in the 2 days accompanied us on the bus ride to the bus terminal.

We soon arrived back at the Buriram bus terminal. We said our good-byes to the village kids, and went to our respective buses. I was taking the 5:40pm bus to Chiang Mai, which was also operated by Nakhornchai Air (NCA), but this bus was a silver class one. Legroom was not as generous as the previous one, and we were just given drinks and snacks on this one, no meals. There was a bus hostess in this one as well. The bus ride happened to be between 13-14 hours, which was not very fun, but I had taken a 30-hr Greyhound bus ride before, so it wasn't as bad as expected. The only downside is that, with the Greyhound, you get 10-15 min stops every 2-3 hours to get out and stretch your legs, but that was not the case with this bus service. During the intermediate stops, only passengers getting off were passengers to those respective destinations.

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:13 AM

Arrival at Chiang Mai & Elephant Nature Park (ENP)

We arrived at Chiang Mai on Monday June 7, 2010 at around 7:00am. I took the Red Taxi to the ENP office, where I would catch my van ride to the park itself. I was there for a shorter stay (stayed till Friday June 11, 2010), since my vacation time was somewhat limited on this trip. I completed the registration for this volunteer program and was ready to take the transport van to the park.

The park still consists around 30 elephants, but unfortunately, a few elephants had died. A couple of elephants, which weren't owned by the park but were there on a temporary basis, had been returned to their respective owners. But the majority of the common ones are still residing there. One of the females, Mae Bua Loy, still remembered me from a few months ago, so that was cool. We fed & bathed the elephants after arrival.

Later, Lek (Ms Sangduen Chailert) arrived at the park to announce that ENP was participating in a special campaign where the volunteers and some ENP staff are invited to walk 2 trekking elephants, that had been working at one of the trekking camps located near the park, to the Karen village in the mountains of Chiang Mai province, namely Mae Chaem district where the elephants had originated from. The elephants would not have to do anymore hard trekking after arrival at their homes. This walk was a 6-day 160 km walk from start to finish, spending each night at a local village where food and accommodation are given. The toilets are of course the squatting kind that aren't exactly super clean and actual shower heads are absent, so one would have to settle for baths from large buckets. Volunteers could do the walk for whatever number of days they desired, up to the 6-day completion. There was a daily truck that would transport volunteers between the park and the location of the walking elephants on that specific day.

Since I had done the tasks at the park before, I decided to try this elephant walk out. If my vacation time were longer, I would've opted for the entire walk, but since my time was limited, I ended up doing the walk for 2 days & 2 nights. I figured a couple days is better than zero.

That night, before dinner, we had our welcome ceremony at the ENP.

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:20 AM

The Elephant Walk (The First Day)

On Tuesday June 8, after a very early breakfast at 6:30am, we boarded the back of a Hino truck, that was transporting us from the park to the meeting spot of these 2 trekking elephants. The ride was about 2-3 km outside the park. The elephants that we'd be escorting are Poochy, a large bull elephant who was almost 45 years old, and Mae Ka, a slightly smaller 20-year old female. These elephants had been working as trekking elephants in a trekking camp very close to the ENP grounds, giving rides to tourists through the jungle area there. They had been wearing the carriages every working day, which would’ve caused long-term back problems. Thankfully, these 2 elephants would be free of that once they are returned to their home village to the Karen hilltribe in Mae Chaem district. Poochy, as seen in the pics, is an unfortunate victim of having his tusks stolen from him, which has happened to several tuskers in Thailand.

Once the elephants had arrived, the chains they’d normally be wearing around their legs were soon removed, and the long walk began. We walked on the side roads going through local schools, stores, villages, and temples, receiving a lot of attention by various onlookers. The elephants, especially Poochy, were also snacking along the way, grabbing leaves from trees, and stealing banana trees along their way. Poochy, who did most of the snacking, certainly did have an “appetite for destruction!”

Probably the best shot I took!!!

We also walked through dirt roads where you get see a few motorcycles and the odd pick up truck driving along. The scenery was quite interesting, definitely something different to what I’m used to in my everyday life. We stopped for lunch at a local shop where our meals were Thai soup noodle dishes with beef, pork, chicken, and vegetarian options. During lunch breaks, elephants had to continue with the walk because mahouts weren’t allowed to park their elephants near the stores.

After lunch, we’d try and catch up with the elephants, sometimes with the aid of the ENP pickup trucks that’d come with supplies for the volunteers and elephants during the walks. Volunteers who were practically exhausted also had the option of taking the trucks to the specific villages where we would stay for those nights. While some took advantage of this, most of us decided to walk with the elephants instead, since this was also a rare opportunity that should be seized when given the chance. We also did feed the elephants with plenty of bananas and cucumbers along the way.

The last park of the walk for this day was mainly an uphill walk through a national park where Mork Fa Waterfall was located. Unfortunately we had arrived at the park late, so we couldn’t take the elephants into the waterfalls for a bath.

After several hours, we finally arrived at the village where we were going to stay for the night. We arrived an hour after sunset. The entire walk (excluding the truck rides) was probably between 35-40km. We had tea & dinner upon arrival. Meals included sticky rice with a chicken dish, tofu dish in green curry, mixed vegetables, and jelly with coconut sauce as dessert. We also had to set up our mosquito nets where we had our sleeping mats. As I’ve mentioned before, the accommodation and bathroom facilities weren’t exactly up to par, but we survived!!

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:24 AM

The Elephant Walk (The Second Day)

The next morning (June 9), after a light breakfast, we assisted with treating a few of the village dogs for ticks and fleas. Besides elephants, ENP also specializes in providing vet services for dogs as well, especially the numerous dogs at the park. After this, we walked to the area where the elephants were chained for the night. Before commencing with the walk at around 7:30am, we fed the elephants with plenty of bananas, cucumbers, and pineapples, which should give them the needed boost for the long trek we had ahead of us.

The majority of the walk on the second day, which had a little less distance than the previous day (25-30km), included walking through the jungle paths where it was definitely much more challenging than the first day. We even had to carefully cross the river on scary rope bridges and unstable log bridges. There were lots of moments when the rest the group would be elsewhere and I’d be walking alone with the bull elephant, with his mahout way in the back. Normally I’d be nervous, especially since bulls are unpredictable, but he was a gentle bull, so I was at ease the entire time.

There were also plenty of leeches in this area, and yours truly got hit with 8 or 9 of them. When I made this trip to Thailand, I was advised by many not to wear or bring anything red in color. However, the plenty of leeches that found their way inside my shoes turned my white socks into red. Needless to say, I ended up throwing that pair of socks away. We even spotted a couple of dead rat snakes along the way (sorry, no pics).

During the lunch break, I received some treatment on my feet for the leech bites. We had pre-packed lunches for this day. Each meal consisted of sticky rice with tofu, soy meat, and cashews, wrapped in a banana leaf. This little lunch pack was actually quite filling.

During the last few hours, the rain started to come down hard, which prompted most of the volunteers to take the truck to the village. A few others and myself decided to continue walking with the elephants, getting soaked along the way. Walking in heavy rain on an uphill dirt path, which ended up being slightly slippery, was probably the most challenging out of all situations among the 2 days. Unfortunately my camera was not waterproof, so I left that for safekeeping with one of the other volunteers who opted for the truck ride, which meant I couldn’t take pics of this fun part of the trek in the rain.

We arrived at the village at around 5:30pm this time, with the elephants taken to their respective spots to be chained for the night. Since this was my last day for this walk (as mentioned, I had limited vacation time), I had one final emotional goodbye with the elephants, especially Poochy, who became my buddy during these 2 days.

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:26 AM

Leaving the Village and returning back to ENP

The next morning (June 10), after breakfast, and handing out toys and goodies to the village children, several volunteers continued the walk with the elephants while a number of us took the truck back to the park. The ride from the village to the park, which was probably less than 80km, took us almost 5 hrs because of the conditions of the roads, also due to the fact that our driver got lost several times during the journey. We even sat in the back of a pickup truck for almost 2 hrs of the ride.

We arrived at the park in the late afternoon, all tired and in need of a long shower. Even though the park’s accommodation facilities were quite simple, after a couple of nights at the remotes villages made the park’s facilities suite-like!

We even had an opportunity to bathe the elephants by the river on this late afternoon.

After dinner, some of us had a few beers to get a bit of buzz and a good night’s sleep.

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:31 AM

The Journey back to Bangkok

Friday June 11, 2010 happened to be my last day at the park as I was catching a morning flight (TG103) back to Bangkok. I said my good-byes to all the people and the elephants and took the van into Chiang Mai Airport, arriving there just before 8:30am. After the security at the airport entrance, I walked to the TG Royal Silk counter to check-in. Just like before, since it was a 747 flight, I tried requesting an upper deck seat, hoping that if it was not available, they’d give me a first class seat as consolation. I was a little skeptical about my “hustling” technique working this time because the aircraft was supposed to be the refurbished 747-400, and others have said that usually with this version, they’re pretty strict about seating J class pax in F deck. However, to my surprise, I was offered the seat in the new first class deck, since the upper deck was closed off. I had #2K.

Thai Airways TG103
Aircraft type: Boeing 747-400 (refurbished version)
Reg #: HS-TGK
Seat #: 2K

After the gate security, I went into the Royal Silk lounge. Choices were assorted sandwiches, pastry dishes, cakes, and fruits, with plenty of juices & pop. I used up my time to catch up on all my email/facebook updates that weren’t doable when I was at the park and the jungles.

We then boarded HS-TGK, and it was quite refreshing to sit in the new first class deck of TG’s 747-400 for the first time. I was glad to choose this flight over the A300 flight. My pre take-off drink was a cold tamarind tea. For meals, I had sticky rice with spicy shrimp and fried egg with coconut sweets as dessert. I also had a glass of coke and a hot cup of plain tea to go with it.

I have to apologize in advance again, but as seen in the pics below, I rested my dirty shoes (mainly from the jungles) on the footrest for a few minutes before I actually remembered to remove them. So, sorry again to those who sat on #2K on TGK after June 11. But I’m sure they cleaned it out after my flight.

Also, sorry SQflyergirl for getting another couple of legroom shots (with dirty shoes instead of pretty toes), but these were the last ones for this TR.

Flight arrived a few minutes early at gate #A5. After collecting my luggage, I was transported to the Best Western Premier Amaranth Airport hotel at Suvarnabhumi for a very much-needed rest.

**sumitsan** · 6 August 2010, 02:33 AM

My last day in Thailand: Breakfast on the Floating Market and Hangout at the beach in Cha-am

Saturday June 12 happened to be my last day in Thailand. I used this day to check out one of the floating markets located just outside Bangkok. For those who aren’t aware (I’m sure most here know), floating markets are where sellers come in their boats with goods like meat, vegetables, and fruits, and meet with other traders to exchange for other goods. I hung out there with Pat, her friend “Dream,” and Bob (Pat’s brother). We had a late breakfast there. Food here and the remote villages in the Chiang Mai province tasted a little better than those at restaurants in Bangkok (which were also very good), but that’s just my opinion, based on my personal experience. This type of atmosphere is definitely one of a kind that I had never experienced anywhere else.

After breakfast I headed out to Cha-am, which is located on the east coast about 100-150km outside Bangkok, with Bob. The drive, without traffic is about an hour, maybe a little more. We basically hung out by the beach under a shelter, having beers and munching on seafood, namely squid, crabs, large shrimp, oysters, and mussels. Sorry again for being a guy who’s not into taking meals pics! For beer we pretty much consumed Singha and Chang Drought.

We also spotted an elephant on this beach, and even though I’m an elephant lover, this was definitely a sight I wish I hadn’t seen. This was a street begging baby elephant accompanied by 2 people (one mahout & one food supplier), selling foods to feed the elephant, just like your typical streetbegging elephant you may see from time to time in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. As sorry as I was feeling for this poor creature, I definitely do not support the promotion of this, and opted not to partake in this. The whole scene was pretty heartbreaking.

Soon I made my way back to the Best Western Airport hotel in Bangkok where I would catch a couple hours sleep, take a shower, and go really early to the airport to catch my UA flight out of BKK.

All in all, I have to say that my entire vacation in Thailand was great. Even though I didn’t go to Phuket, another major tourist attraction, I got to see a little of everything in Thailand: Busy city life in Bangkok, the floating market experience, the different villages in the rural areas (Buriram area & Chiang Mai province), ENP of course, the jungles of Chiang Mai province, and the beaches in Cha-am. With the exception of June 3 (the night I arrived in Thailand) and June 13 (the morning I left Thailand), I saw at least one elephant on each day I was in the country, although the last encounter was one I wish didn’t happen.

Thank you for taking the time to read my second TR for sqtalk. I have a feeling that those who enjoyed my first TR definitely will enjoy this one. Feel free to leave comments: positive or negative!!

**SliverKris** · 6 August 2010, 09:12 PM

Wow, what an adventure!

**SQflyergirl** · 7 August 2010, 12:48 PM

Sawasdee Ka from Chiangmai - love the format of the pics, and great TR. It's great what you're doing with these elephants.

I'll excuse the dirty shoes

p.s. Would love to go to see the animals, but I think i'm too fragile for these trips

So i'm going to the central airport plaza instead.

**sumitsan** · 8 August 2010, 01:26 AM

Originally posted by SliverKris View Post

Wow, what an adventure!

Thank you. It was definitely an adventure of a lifetime, especially walking the elephants to their freedom.

Originally posted by SQflyergirl View Post

Sawasdee Ka from Chiangmai - love the format of the pics, and great TR. It's great what you're doing with these elephants.

I'll excuse the dirty shoes

p.s. Would love to go to see the animals, but I think i'm too fragile for these trips

So i'm going to the central airport plaza instead.

Thank you (or Khob-kun-krab as the Thai would say), and thank you also for excusing the dirty shoes.

I guess the walk was challenging, but visiting the park for the day is still do-able among the "fragile" people.

If you get a chance to go there, you should check it out. Definitely a unique place.

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A Memorable journey to Thailand: The Jumbo to Jumbo Trip #2

A Memorable journey to Thailand: The Jumbo to Jumbo Trip #2

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