My Thai Experience

I had the opportunity to travel to Asia over the summer. Although I have been to India on numerous occasions, I never really had the opportunity to see all of the other things that Asia had to offer. I started my journey in Bangkok, Thailand at the beginning of August. Bangkok is vast metropolis that has everything a person could want including fantastic food, a bustling nightlife, and plenty of sightseeing for tourists. One of my favorite places to eat was a food stall district on Soi 38. ‘Soi’ in Thai means small side street branching off a larger one. This area was full of local food vendors serving everything from delicious satay sticks to fresh crab yellow curry! I have never eaten so much in my entire life. The best part is the price as most meals cost an average of 50 – 100 Bhat (about 2-3 U.S. dollars). 

The next place I went to was Phuket, an island off the coast of southwest Thailand. Along with the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen in my entire life, this place had some of the best seafood that my palate has ever encountered. I stayed at the Patong Paragon Hotel, one of the nicer hotels in the area that has a fantastic pool. While on the island, I snorkeled every day, visited numerous Buddhist temples, and purchased plenty of art from the local markets. I highly recommend visiting this place during the low season (from June to October) as it becomes very crowded after the monsoon season ends. 

My trip ended with a visit to Pattaya, which was not as good as the other two places I visited. I attempted to do some parasailing on one of the nearby islands, but after waiting in line for nearly 30 minutes, I was not allowed to go because one of the guys running the attraction thought I wouldn’t be able to handle the landing from the parachute. I have no idea why he thought this, but I was unable to understand his broken English, and he lacked the patience to explain it to me.  Overall, it was a very disappointing experience.  The rest of the Pattaya trip was salvaged by the underwater “ocean walk” experience. It involves walking along the bottom of the ocean wearing an old school underwater diving helmet that is pressurized by an air hose. I touched a sea urchin and stuck my finger in large clam shell. I also walked around a large brain coral and hand fed various schools of fish. This was by far one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life.