Bangkok, Phuket - Thailand

Thailand, one of the great touristic locations in South East Asia. Never expected that this country would be so awesome for tourists. If you are beach lover and sea food eater, then definitely Thailand should be in your list. First landed in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. Indians receive on arrival visa and Germans need no visa for Thailand. The time difference between the connecting flights from Bangkok to Phuket was only two and half hours for us. I misjudged that one can get the on arrival visa in Phuket. But one has to get the on arrival visa after arriving in Bangkok.

There was a huge queue for this on arrival visa. I literally thought that we are gonna miss the flight. We finally made it as a last passenger just before five minutes before the take off from Bangkok to Phuket. Never had such an experience before with all the stress and hassle before boarding a flight. Phuket is definitely an island which one shouldn’t miss in Thailand. The city runs completely with tourist. One can hire a motor bike and explore the whole of Phuket. The Big Buddha statue situated on the top of Phuket is a must see location in Phuket. The drive to the top in motor bike is something one shouldn’t miss out. One gets a panoramic view of the city of Phuket and Andaman Sea from the top. Wherever you go in Phuket, you end up in one beach or other. Patong being the best one with many activities like surfing, jet skiing, speed boats, night life etc.

Another island which is near to Phuket is Phi Phi Island which is worth exploring. There are various ways of reaching this beautiful and scenic Island (speed boat, motor boat, ships). One gets a chance to do snorkelling with goggles to see the coral beds underneath the sea. What’s unique about Phi Phi are the mountain ranges present in the middle of the sea. The water is so clear that one can see the coral bed from the top. The ship ride from Phuket to Phi Phi takes about two hours in Andaman Sea which was breathtaking. The street side restaurants in Phuket are the more delicious ones which offer wide varieties of sea food. Honestly, I was surprised with Thai cuisines with vast varieties of sea food.

After exploring Phuket, we landed once again in Bangkok. As any other Asian city, Bangkok was highly crowded, congested and polluted. But the metro trains in Bangkok makes it easier to go to important locations. The most important place to visit in Bangkok was the Grand Palace. It takes nearly half a day to cover this grand palace. The emerald Buddha in the grand palace was simply awesome, the Buddhist monasteries was pleasing to the eyes. I was just wondering, Buddhism was found in India but never flourished in India but spread to Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar etc.

Out of many Buddhist temples in Bangkok, the masterpiece was Emerald Buddha, Sleeping Buddha, Wat Phao situated across the shores of the river. One can explore important touristic places by travelling in boat. The giant wheel situated across the banks gives panoramic view of the city. The shopping malls in Bangkok are worth mentioning with gigantic skyscrapers, artistic decorations and pleasing entrances. The Swarnabhoomi airport in Bangkok was a masterpiece probably one of the biggest and largest in Asia. One can see the statue of Vishnu Bagawan in the middle with Devas and Asuras  churning the ocean shows the strong influence of Indian roots in Thailand.

What I was really surprised was the love and affection which the Thais have for their king. Everywhere one can see his cut outs and portraits; it seems he has done a great job in uplifting the nation to a higher level. I presume the country’s major economy is tourism besides exportation of rice to various nations. What I really liked in Thailand was the openness of the locals to accept western culture -people from western countries to roam around easily with Bikinis, kissing around, alcohol and night life which is not normal in Asian countries to accept it. When northern hemisphere is freezing with cold, definitely an ideal place for holidays on the beaches of Thailand.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S