Ayutthaya - the good and the bad

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

Spend last Saturday in Ayutthaya with some friends, here are my impressions.

The bad:

Double pricing is rampant here. All the places we visited had dual pricing, either free for Thais and 20 Baht for non-Thais, or 10 Thai - 30 non Thai.

And it did not stop with the admission fees either. The first thing we did after arriving was eat (hey, we were with Thai women ) at a small noodle shop. Inside was an old Thai lady. After listening to us speak Thai she said that it was good that we speak Thai otherwise we would have to pay 100 Baht. I snapped back that there was no way I would pay 100 Baht for a bowl of noodles. Luckily for her I did not want to cause a scene, but I was ready to explain a few things to her.

Same deal with the vendors at the tourist attractions. My friend bought some water, 20 Baht for a bottle! Next stop his girlfriend bought 2 bottles and a can of Pepsi, 28 Baht. She was told flat out that she only had to pay the Thai price.

Another thing that really pissed me off was a drunk coming over to our table in the morning asking for money. That in itself would not have pissed me off, I just ignored him. What pissed me off big time is that after getting 20 Baht from my friend's girlfriend, he seemed to be mumbling that it was not enough and that we were stingy!

I was not certain though, even though my friend had the same impression, otherwise I would have taken the 20 Baht back.

Not all the bad came from the Thais though.

The first incident was at the Hualomphong trainstation. A backpacker comes up to the fruitcart, which we were standing close to, and wants to buy some fruit. He asked for the price, 15 Baht, as was clearly stated on the cart, and then counters with 10 Baht. The lady refused, he walked away.

Minor incident, I suppose, but still... Can't they learn that you don't have to haggle over everything. I guess that the 5 year old lonely planet guide he bought at a second hand store said fruit costs 10 Baht.

And then there were the farangs in Ayutthaya...

Here we are at a site with substantial historical, cultural, and religious significance, and how do some of the farangs dress? Yep, shorts and a T-shirt tied around their waist!

Did kinda put the double pricing and lousy attitude of the Thais in perspective.

Luckily it wasn't all bad, so here is..

The good:

The price for traintickets to Ayutthaya is ridiculous, 15 Baht! for a 1.5 hour trip. Hard to beat that, even if the train was packed and left 20+ minutes late.

The minivan we used for the return trip was also a pretty good deal, 45 Baht to Victory Monument.

To offset some of the bad experiences with Thais, there were some good ones as well. The first happened in a temple were the girls went to 'tham boon'. Two monks were hunched over a piece of paper and, when they noticed me, asked me if I could help. Turned out they had to write the names and addresses of 5 monks in English, and were having a hard time. Could I help them?

I did and they were very grateful, big smiles all around.

Later in the day came the second incident. We were walking in one of the big ruin complexes when possibly as much as a hunderd schoolkids appeared. The boys, not surprisingly, seemed to be making fun of us judging from the laughter. It was the girls though that brought smiles to our faces (not an unfamiliar feeling for most here, I bet ).

A bunch of them came up to us asking if we could take a picture. Sure, I said and reached for the camera. Wrong! They wanted to have their picture taken with my friend and me. We obliged and were threated to lots of smiles and wais afterwards.

I wonder if they asked the shirtless farangs as well?

So, did the good outweigh the bad? Most certainly.

All of us had a great, albeit exhausting, day.

Sanuk!

[JJsushi]

What was your impression of the temples and ruins?

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

They were rather impressive, the ruins that is. I have already seen too many temples.

Sanuk!

[Guest]

I'm quite awed by the ruins. I did a short afternoon jaunt to Ayutthaya first and got hooked. Like Khun Sanuk, I took train out there, returned by bus (oh my! taxi from Northern Terminal to Sukhumvit was the most expensive part! I was too lazy and tired of walking to make it to Mo Chit BTS.)

Last trip I went out to Khorat (by train again) and spent a day around Phimai/Prasat Phanom Wan. For those contemplating the same, be sure to include Phimai National Museum where you can get good overview of the cultural history of the region as well as see many of the artefacts that used to grace the ruins.

I like Bangkok, especially the Sukhumvit area for all the fun activities available, but I hope to include a trip out to other ruins or landmarks every trip. Next time either Sukhotai or Phanom Rung.

Ciao!

micsnee

[Guest]

quote:

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Last trip I went out to Khorat (by train again)

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Last I checked there were two trains both of which left BKK late afternoon or evening and arrived to Korat after midnite. Are there other options available?

I don't really mind arriving late, but I would like to see the coutryside.

[Guest]

Hi Mad Max

There is a diesel car express (EXP. DRC #71) bound for Surin leaving Hualamphong (Bangkok) at 11:05 and arriving Khorat at 15:33. It's 2nd class reserved seating and not really fast (I believe tracks aren't tip-top). The total one-way fare this October was 275 bahts. Incidentally, I returned to Bangkok on bus.

Like you, I don't like night trains because I like to stare at the scenery when travelling. However, it seems passenger trains are mainly scheduled to run during the night in most developing countries.

Ciao!

micsnee

[augustart]

Khun Sanuk,

Enjoyed the report. For those who haven't been to Ayutthua, I definitely recommend it.

Went there in September for a full day and I really enjoyed it. Wish I had more time to spend there. It was nice seeing you again at Woodstock. Should be back in March. This time without my Chinese girlfriend.

augustart