Travelling through Thailand – Part 1: The Train and The Fanfare

*another long overdue post about my Thailand trip last March*

I wasn’t planning to go Thailand this year but suddenly L’arc en Ciel announced it as one of the stops for their tour. As if seeing them in Hong Kong wasn’t enough, I justified to my mom that four years is enough time to justify the ticket purchase. I was lucky enough that my cousin is willing to accompany me for the trip since neither of us has been to the country before.

If you want a relatively hassle-free immigration procedure in NAIA3 (and you’re willing to use a lot of work leaves), fly out on a Tuesday night. There was virtually no one lining up for immigration and we have whole rows of seats to choose from while waiting for the plane. My cousin and I are surprised how peaceful (and lax?) it was in the otherwise-busy airport. We arrived at almost midnight and checked in our hostel in Asok, which is more or less in the middle of the main train system of Bangkok (our itinerary stops are all over the place).

The hostel was very clean and the internet was so fast, I can’t ask for anything more, hehe. The proprietors were good-natured and helped us locate a travel agency to book trips to the floating market and Siam Niramit. The travel agency actually offered way cheaper prices than those I’ve scouted online prior to the trip.

Asok Montri Hostel 

The first day (Wednesday) was the day of the concert (which I’ll expound on a different post), so we spent most of it getting our bearings and looking for the travel agency. Unfortunately, it was a holiday in Bangkok so most of the offices were closed. We decided to drop by the nearest mall from our hostel (Terminal 21) which had this world-trip theme and spent bulk of it taking pictures to kill time.

red phonebooth!!!

 with my cousin Echo

The skytrain is the most similar I’ve encountered (out of all the trains/subways I’ve tried) to our local MRT, although the Skytrain is still more advanced. Since I watched Bangkok Train Love Story a few months ago, I was kind of romanticizing all my train rides during this trip. Too bad I didn’t notice that the last scene of that movie was actually shot at the corner of our hostel, huhu, should’ve taken pictures of it.

at the train platform

I’m surprised at the number of Korean celebrities endorsing Thai products. They take up almost 80% of the commercials shown in the train’s TV screen. I didn’t imagine that the hallyu wave is this deep in Thailand. I guess this answers why Korean music shows and major concerts always have a Thailand stop.

b2st endorsing snacks

Thanks to the latest influx of Thai movies that my friends keep recommending, I also managed to identify some Thai celebrities...

ooohhh!!! the dude from Hello Stranger!

Next Thai post: The Temples and The Show