A Visit to Thailand

My visit Thailand in December 2015, cities which I covered were Pattaya and Bangkok!

Day 1: Checked in Hotel (Pattaya):

The hotel in which we stayed was near to the Pattaya Beach. The city is calm and full of fun. The feel and look of the city is way different in day as that in the evening. As we reached late due to delay of flight, the evening was free for us to explore the nearby areas.

We decided to go for a walk on the famous Pattaya Walking Street which is mainly famous for its activities later evening. Though I would say the place, specially the night streets are for adults. Alcohol at such places are overpriced.

Day 2: Visit to Pattaya Beach and Coral Island:

We went to Pattaya beach from where through a speed boat we could reach Coral Island. The Coral Island is famous for its name and few sports. Whereas the journey between Pattaya Beach and Coral Island has two stops (platforms) in the middle of the sea for tourist to enjoy sports such as Parasailing, Underwater Sea Walk. Whereas sports such as Banana Ride, Jet Ski, Bumpy Ride can be done at the beaches.

There are shops for tourists to buy some stuffs for which they charge a lot.

Try to avoid doing Jet Ski in Pattaya as there are many scams found related thereto. Most of the sports are same like those in other country beaches. It is important which tour packages for sports you choose as most of them does not provide you much time and are very short in duration.

To enjoy amazing beaches and water sports, one should rather opt for other places of Thailand such as Phuket, Karbi.

The parasailing sport is fun with dip sea. If you are planning to visit Bangkok, avoid shopping in Pattaya as they charge to high.

You need not take your camera as after coming back from Coral Island to Pattaya Beach, you'll find your photos are placed near the beach before you arrive and they offer at some nominal amount.

Also for underwater sea walk, you can opt for camera on rent offered by the crew there and they click photos and video of yours which can be shared and amount can be divided within the group that means camera rent amount is not charged on per person basis.

Day 3: Tiffany Show and Sriracha Tiger Zoo:

The Tiffany show is something different not only because of it's performances but also because of it's performers. The show timings starts from 6:30 pm onward and the performers of the show are lady-boys. And believe me you wont be able to figure that out as those lady-boys are so beautiful then any other girls.

The performances mix of various cultures such as Thai, Chinese, Indian and so on. It is pleasant to watch the show which is nearly for an hour.

The co-ordination between every performance is epic as they change the set within couple of minutes with amazing ambiance.

Beware of those lady-boys who insist you to take photos with them. They charge you for that and that too 200 THB per lady-boy (i.e. Rs. 400). The location for the show is not far from the pattaya beach and is at the prime location.

Sriracha Tiger Zoo has four shows within a gap of 30 mins. The shows are Crocodile Show, Tiger Show, Elephant Show and Pig Race. I would say the shows are good for kids not for adults as nothing great happens there. I would rather suggest to opt for Snake Show if you are comfortable watching and carrying snakes for photos.

Day 4: Safari World and Marine Park (Bangkok):

We moved from Pattaya to Bangkok and visited Safari World and Marine Park. Though the wild life wasn't so interesting as expected, the Dolphin Show was pleasant though. We expected Lions and other wildlife animals and found few Bengal Tigers lazy lying under the shadow of the woods. Some other animals found were Hippo, Giraffe, birds, Deer, Wildebeest, Crocodile and so on.

After Safari world, there are few shows such as Monkey Show, Sea Lion Show, Cowboy Show, Dolphin Show.

The gap between the shows are around 40 mins and it recommended that you rush to the next show as soon as possible to get the desired seat. There is River Safari as well in this area but most of the people don't opt for it as it is not so happening to attend and that will simply consume your time. Do carry water along with you also you may wear hat.

Select seats in summer time near fans so that you feel cool while watching shows and enjoy.

You can get your photos clicked with all these animals after shows and trust me they are amazing. You can also feed them by buying stuffs provided there and get your photos clicked.

For Dolphin Show, my recommendation would be to have your lunch before it and there'll be more than an hour gap before it starts and stand near the gate of the show so that you can grab the desired seat. There be huge rush for the Dolphin Show just to get a nice seat. The crew open the gate just before 30 mins of the show.

There is one more way near Macow Land, the place where you'll find lot of colorful parrots, the way takes you to watch crocodiles, pony tail horse, white tiger, and lot of other interesting things. Do not miss them.

The Cowboy Show is fine to watch. Not so great just a one time watch show. The only problematic thing with these shows are the language as the speaker just use Thai language which is a disadvantage for the foreigners to catch the joke.

Day 5: City Tour and Shopping:

Thai people worship a lot and they believe in Hindu Gods but with their own stories. We visited Golden Buddha Temple, Reclining Buddha Temple, China Town market.

Golden Buddha Temple is made up of Gold. Thai people don't make gold beyond 18 carat as they believe till that measure the gold remains soft.

The Reclining Buddha is though not made up of Gold, it just have gold color on it. There are some ritual methods of funeral adopted by Thai people followed since years which includes burial of bones in pagoda, below the Buddha built up for each person (no more allowed), flow in the river.

Later to visiting temples and nearby places, we decided to enjoy one of the famous activities in Bangkok - Shopping!
We were lucky that we were there on weekend and were able to visit Chatuchak Weekend Market. Also we visited some malls such as Platinum Fashion Mall, Central World, Terminal 21.

Tips:

To travel in local, avoid taxi and Tuk Tuk (auto rick) the best means of commutation is BTS, they are reasonable, fast and convenient.
Avoid Jet Ski sport as many scam related thereto found.
Avoid taking photos with people who comes to you for it as they ask for money later.
Don't argue with taxi drivers and always go on meter.
If you go on shopping, do carry cash as the local seller don't accept cards.
There are pocket picketers at many tourist places, carry cash at these places only if required.

UM's Travel Stories