Loi Krathong Festival in Phitsanulok

Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month on the traditional Thai lunar calendar. On the western calendar this usually falls in November.

"Loi" means "to float" and a "krathong" is traditionally made from a section of banana-tree trunk. Modern krathongs are more often made of bread or styrofoam. A bread krathong will disintegrate in a few a days and be eaten by fish and other animals. The traditional banana stalk krathongs are also biodegradable, but styrofoam krathongs are frowned on, since they pollute and may take years to disappear. Regardless of the composition, a krathong will be decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. A low value coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits.

Our journey of love

Thanks for being beside me whether good or bad. I will try to make every day of our lives worth living.

Sunshine Days in Koh Si Chang

Koh Si Chang is a small island in Chonburi province, the east coast of Thailand. It’s only about 65 kilometres from Bangkok.  There are many ways to travel to Koh Si Chang such as bus, van, car, or taxi. We took a van from the Victory Monument: Bangkok - Siracha. The tickets cost around 100 baht each. We told the van driver to drop us off at Siracha Robinson Mall because it’s closer to the pier than the van station. Then, we took a tuk-tuk (three-wheels motorcycle taxi) to Jarin pier where we could take the boat to Koh Si Chang. The boat costs 40 baht each for a 40-minute journey to the island. The boats from Jarin pier leave hourly from 07.00 a.m. to 08.00 p.m. and boats from Koh Si Chang to the main land are also hourly, from 06.00 a.m. to 06.00 p.m.

Sushi Class

My Colleague asked me to join a one day sushi class. I found it very interesting  so I joined them. We enrolled in a class at Lek Cooking Center. The class went from 10 am. to 16 pm. The school has every tool and ingredient, so there was no need to prepare anything.

Promenade in Supanburi

Supanburi is one of the cities in the central Thailand. It's 107 km. from Bangkok. We took the van from the Rajadumnoen Road, the tickets cost 100 baht each. It takes around 1.5 - 2 hours to get there.

We stayed at the Songpanburi Hotel. The room has all basic utilities, there are two swimming pools, good food in the hotel restaurant and helpful staff. So, I think this hotel is a good value for money.

Pleasant Ampawa

Ampawa has become a very popular weekend getaway in the last few years. Homestays and resorts have been built to welcome the high number of tourists. Ampawa is the home of the well known Ampawa floating market. The market only opens in the evening on the weekend.

Ampawa is a district in Samutsongkram province, the distance from Bangkok is about 80 km. It takes about 1 - 1.5 hours by car, bus or van. We took the van from the Victory Monument, the tickets cost us around 60 baht each. Our accommodation was close to the floating market. From the Van Station we needed to take the taxi truck there, you can ask people in the market where you can get this taxi. It costs only 8 baht per person to the floating market.

Fine days @ Koh Larn, Pattaya

Koh Larn (Larn Island) is a place to get away from Bangkok to have a chill weekend. It is about 30 minutes by boat from Pattaya. (According to Wikipedia it's 8 km)

I have been to Koh Larn several times because the beaches on Koh Larn are very beautiful. Even though it's near Pattaya (well known for partying, nightclubs, & bars), Koh Larn is very clean and peaceful. The most important thing is that it's only 1.5 hours away from Bangkok, so I can come here more often than the beautiful places in the South.

Mini Trip to Laos - how to get a Thai visa

For U.S. citizens, you can come to Thailand and stay without visa for 30 days. But if you want to stay longer you need to get a visa ahead of time. A tourist visa will be valid 90 days. After 90 days, if you want to stay more, you need to leave the country and get another visa from a Thai Embassy outside of Thailand. And now we go to Laos...

We left Bangkok around 9 pm. Our destination was Nong Khai: a border city in the North East of Thailand. We took the bus from the Air Udon company, it was quite comfortable though. The bus cost us 450 baht each (around $15).

The bus ride took around 8 hours to get to Nong Khai. We arrived at 5 am. The weather in Nong Khai at that time of the year (Jan-Feb) is always good. The temperature was around 20°c.

After we arrived at Nong Khai bus station we needed to take a tuk-tuk to the border. Tuk-tuk costs around 100 baht (around $3). From the Thai border office, there was a mini-van service to take us across the bridge to the Laos border office.

For Thais, you do not need a visa to enter to Laos, and you can stay up to 30 days. For U.S. citizens, you can get visa on arrival. It will cost you 1,500 baht (or only $35 if you pay in US dollars). You also need 1 two-inch photo for the Laos visa, and the wait is around 30 minutes if there aren't too many other people.