Life in Thailand

[OctaviousBP]

Hosting and Posting

Just a quick question about hosting and posting pics. Firstly, does the forum support pics? And secondly, if it does, will somebody host them for me. I wasn't going to develop any film until I got home (my girlfriend is bringing my digital camera in two weeks) but I have a whole roll of film with a few pics I'd like to share. I'll take the time to develop and scan them if someone can host, and it is possible to post em. Thanks.

David

PS - Much info to come on Krabi Krabong, the Colonel and "Fair Tax", but I am currently in Ko Samet enjoying a little beach time.

[OctaviousBP]

Training with the Colonel

This is a little bit of a rushed post as for I am in the midst of much uncertain traveling. I am currently on Koh Samet, and will be leaving tomorrow morning to Bangkok, and then right away we're taking the night train to Chiang Mai.

So anyway... Earlier in the week, I had the pleasure of training with Colonel Nattapong in Krabi Krabong in Bangkok. This had been something I was very much looking forward to ever since Oregon Camp 2000, which I was not in attendance. However, I did recieve so much positive feedback from people who were there, regarding the Colonel, that I jumped at a chance to train with him myself.

The meeting was setup through Ajarn Chai. Another TBA instructor and myself were to meet the Colonel at Ajarn Chai's house. We met the Colonel, and he took us to the National Stadium, where we spent the afternoon training in the shadow of the building. The Colonel, whose English is getting much better I'm told, took us through some basic exercises with wooden daab for about 20 minutes, and then seeing that we more or less had the hang of it, let us go at it with the steel training daab. This was quite an experience. We were angling down on each other with quite a bit of force as the Colonel would yell "Yes, Yes... faster! Ha, ha" Sparks were flying and a small collection of Thai's had gathered to watch the two farang go at it. It was good fun.

The Colonel has a fantastic sense of humour and was always smiling... it made the intense Bangkok heat almost bearable. All and all, a great experience.

Before I forget, I would like to let everyone know how great Ajarn Chai has been this trip. I have been to his (mother's) house twice since arriving, and both times he bent over backwards to accomadate me. He is supposed to be on vacation, and within the 1 hour I was sitting in his guest room, he recieved no less than four telephone calls from people all over the world. He is a tireless worker with a golden heart. When I first visited him, he told us the story of "Cindy from Australia" who was training at a camp here in Thailand. He asked her to fight as a favour to him, because he said that he knew she would win. A fight was arranged with a current champion, which is a fact Cindy was apparently unaware of at the time.

The next time I saw Ajarn, he was beeming from ear to ear, because Cindy had knocked out the champ in the third round. He very much treats his students as his children, and you could feel the pride eminating from him.

A quick post on Fairtex to follow.

David

[OctaviousBP]

Fairtex

I finally met up with my friends from home, and got a chance to pick their brains a little about training at Fairtex, Bangkok. Please, keep in mind this is all secondhand information on account that I was not at the camp myself (this was happening concurrently with Krabi Krabong training.)

There were 9 of them in total, 4 of which were women that came from Ottawa to train. The workouts were the same for men and women.

The days were split into two training sessions. The first started between 6-7am with a 1 hour run to loosen limbs and workout kinks from the previous day. Then two hours of training ensued, with everyone training with their own trainer while Ajarn Apidej (the man, the myth, the legend) watched on. Drills included mostly padwork, with the trainer calling out shots or combos, and the fighter responded.

There then was a lunch break, where many slept and recouped for the afternoon session.

The afternoon session usually lasted two and a half hours and involved more sparring and grappling (plumb for those familiar with Ajarn Chai's vernacular). The end result seemed to be the trainers pushing the fighters to the point of sheer exhaustion, with good, hard work.

The group trained the week there, and upon completion felt great. They all agreed that the staff was super friendly, and very much concerned with the health and safety of all the people training there. Everyone also thoroughly enjoyed the training environment (quite picturesque from what I'm told), and all felt like they had learned something new and were well worked.

At the end of the last day, Mr. Wong invited the entire group (myself and Mr. Graves included) to sit with him as his guests ringside at Lumphini stadium. As the flyer stated, there were many fighters from "Fair Tax" gym fighting tonight. The fighters did very well, with only one defeat, and two knockouts for "the good guys". It was great fun, and Mr. Wong was a fantastic host... much thanks go to him.

(I may edit this info later, just wanted to get some of it down while I knew I could...)

David

[OctaviousBP]

More...

I've been in Chiang Mai for a week now, and am just getting ready to head back to Bangkok on the overnight train to pickup my girlfriend. Incidentally, I highly recommend the overnight as a means of getting from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and vice versa. The cost of an upper berth sleeper is 429B and a lower is 471B... It's a fairly noisy ride, and definately don't sit near the pisser. People smoke, drink, sing, and of course piss there. Not an easy sleep. However, if you get the middle of the car, then you save yourself the cash for that nights accomodations, and you miss out on all the hair greying driving of a hocked up minibus driver.

The weather is so nice in Chiang Mai, fairly warm days, and fairly cool nights. Much easier to sleep in. Everything (for the most part) is cheaper here as well. If trekking is your bag, then there is lots of that kind of stuff here. My buddy and I set out on our own to Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain, and slept on in a tent near a waterfall. It was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, I've been under the weather with something which I am assuming is viral, so I'm just riding it out and taking it easy.

I did however get a chance to check out the camp, and briefly peruse some apartments in the area. I figure I should find a place for no more than 4500 Baht (102 USD/180 CAD) a month. The camp looked great, with really friendly people and insanely experienced trainers... can't wait to be back in a couple of weeks.

D

[OctaviousBP]

Back in Bangkok

Okay, it's been a month in Thailand... I cannot believe it. I just returned from extending my visa for only 10 days, which means a sooner then expected trip to Burma or Laos.

I just got back from Koh Pha Ngan, and I have some observations.

I trained at a gym there geared towards foreigners. There weren't any Thais training there, and I gathered that the gym was meant to catch the odd foreigner looking for a break from partying on Haad Rin. Needless to say, my expectations were low, but it was nice to be hitting pads again after lazing around on the beach.

It was a relatively light workout, but it did the trick in terms of allowing me to workup a sweat. The session was two hours, and covered the basics of muay thai. The session consisted mostly of people new to Muay Thai, and two gentlemen who were supposedly training for a fight. However, perhaps more importantly, I came to a realization, which I guess has been lingering in the back of my head since I got here... and that is the dangers of fighting in Thailand.

For starters, there is no blood work done here at all for fights. You have no idea who you are fighting, and what he may have running through his blood. Often times, gloves are communal for the fighters, and you will be putting your hands into the same gloves as the previous 6 guys... not a pleasant thought.

Weigh ins seem a little wonky, at best. Last week, a friend of mine fought in Koh Pan Ngan (although he was training out of Koh Samui) and ended up severly damaging his opponent in the 4th. Apparently, both fighters left with concussions, and the poor Thai who weighed a good 20 pounds less then my friend had such serious trauma that he lost some control over his bodily functions. Not to mention this fight was fought with 6oz gloves... It was ridiculous. I wasn't there to see this, it happened a week prior to my arrival in Koh Pan Ngan.

There are other factors that are crossing my mind with regards to fighting, but I think the best you can do is educate yourself as much as you can to the situation, find a gym/trainer you can trust that has your best interest in mind and stays away from gambling, and hope for the best. This may sound naive, but what can you do if you want to fight in Thailand?

More to come...

D

[aseepish]

Living expenses

Originally posted by OctaviousBP
I figure I should find a place for no more than 4500 Baht (102 USD/180 CAD) a month.
D

Man, I envy you! That's what I typically pay per week only on food here! I don't want to consider rent!

-Tony

[OctaviousBP]

More info on traveling...

For starters... the Costa Rican flag on the TBA logo on the header is driving me nuts, but I digress....

I know many of you are probably getting sick of basic traveling info, and want to hear all the grueling details of training 6 hours a day, and horrific fight stories, but that will have to wait about 2 more weeks. As for... I am still on vacation!

I am in Pai, and it is my girlfriends favourite place in Thailand. She spent a month here about three years ago, and though it has changed quite a bit, it still maintains much of its natural beauty and charm.

To get here from Chiang Mai, we took a bus from the Arcade Bus Station. The cost for this "Special Air Con" bus was 84 baht... quite pricey. We found out what was special about the Air Con, it didn't work! Not only that, I had to stand the entire 4 hours (my 6'1 [186cm] body hunched into a 5'9 aisle) which was not pleasant. Being the tallest person on the bus, many compassionate (/sacrasm) foreigners just stared at me, probably wondering just how much my back and neck hurt from craning it to the side. Heaven forbid that one of them had the human decency to offer me their seat for a few minutes. I was particularly furious, because the reason I was one of the last people on the bus was because I was helping the bus driver load all the bags onto the roof. Anyways, that's all for my venting.

Once we got here, it was a pleasure from the start. Pai is still very affordable for the budget traveler, who is saving his pennies to train muay thai in Thailand for 6 months. Rooms are as low as 40 baht if you split them with someone. When I say "room" I mean bamboo hut, sans facilities. And let me say, it gets mighty cold up here during the night, and the loosely tied bamboo walls don't offer much insulation. But it is quite a refreshing change from the stifling hot nights of Bangkok, and the South.

Food is also cheap, cost between 20-100 for "entrees". Fruit shakes are 10 baht on average, which translates to roughly 12 cents American, or 20 cents Canadian. Plus the northern cuisine is fantastic. I love Khao Soi, in particular.

Shan influence is everywhere in the architecture here, so it is an aesthetically pleasing site. Especially with the rolling mountains as a backdrop. I make for Burma in the next couple days to renew my visa. Kind of a pain, but a must.

On a side note, I'm trying my hand (or foot/knee/head/elbow, as the case may be) at Sepak Takraw. That's the little rattan ball that the locals hack around like they were born with it already dribbling off their various body parts. I became fascinated with it in Korea when I watched the Thais destominate (I made that word up) the competition at the Asian games. Marvelous. More to come as the weeks roll by. I can't believe I've been here for over a month.

David

PS - If there are any specific questions, don't hesitate to ask or email.

[platinum_angel]

where you supposed to be on vacation all that month or what. and how much time are you going to spend actually training. and are you going to have to fight a match.???

[aseepish]

Burma crossing

Is it possible yet to get a Myanmar visa when you go overland from Thailand? Given the chilly political relationship between those two countries I'm not sure if it's possible. Cambodia or Laos might be a better bet.

If Malaysia is an option, I would suggest going down to Georgetown/Penang for a weekend. Johor Bahru was always my visa run of choice when I was staying in Singapore.

T.

[OctaviousBP]

Platinum: Yup, definately supposed to spend this much time vacationing. Thailand is absolutely beautiful, and I would recommend that anybody who is going to spend the money to fly over here to train, spend the extra time and move about the country a little. There is a whole lot to see, and a whole lot to learn.

It's hard to say how long I'll be here, but my plan is to fly back to Ottawa via Oregon around camp time. This would enable me to kill two birds with one stone. I could make the TBA Oregon camp, and not have to fly back out to do it. I was also considering doing a stop over in LA, and visit the Inosanto academy on my way back, however, that would be costly. So I am here for another six months, and will be training for most of them. I will not "have" to fight, however it is my intention... but we'll see!

asheepish: Since I am already near the northern tip of Thailand, it makes good sense to go to the Burmese border. This is especially true now, because the Cambodian border is closed due to the actions in Phnom Phen. As far as I know, the Mae Sai border is open. Hopefully, it will be a peaceful crossing.

[OctaviousBP]

The Visa Run from Chiang Mai to Burma

Okay, just a disclaimer, this one is boring, but it's information I sure wish I had yesterday.

These are the ins and outs of the "Visa Run", which is something you'll have to get used if you're in Thailand for any length of time.

A standard "stamp-on-arrival" visa is good for 30 days, unless you're from New Zealand, Korea, or Brazil, in which case it's 90 days.

So if you're gonna be here for more than that, I would advise paying the 10 USD and getting a 60 day Visa BEFORE you come to Thailand. Just go to your nearest Thai embassy at least 2 weeks prior to departure (in case of any complications).

Okay here it is, from Chiang Mai, to Mae Sai, to Tachileik, Burma.:

1) Take the city bus from the Arcade Bus Terminal to Mae Sai, the one I took left at 9:15am. The cost is 171 Baht, and the duration is roughly 4 hours. There is a brief stop in Chiang Rai.

*Important* Buy your return ticket at the bus station for the 3:30pm return bus to Chiang Mai right away! You don't want to get there at 3:25 and find out there sold out, and you are stuck in Mae Sai for the night.

2) Upon arrival in Mae Sai, hop a sawng-taew heading for the border crossing, BUT DON'T GO TO THE BORDER!!! I made this mistake on some erroneous advice. You must go to THAI IMMIGRATION, roughly 2km's away from the border, to get your DEPARTURE STAMP.

3) Once you get the stamp, you are allowed to leave the country, so head to the PASSPORT INSPECTION booth at the border crossing.

4) When that is cleared jump on through, over the bridge, and head to Burmese customs. There, you pay 250 Baht, or 5 USD, and obtain your 1 day Burmese Visa. You hand over your passport, they give you a pink slip, you keep the slip, they keep your passport.

5) Snap a few pix, and turn around, cause your bus leaves in half an hour! (This is of course if your sole purpose of the trip is to obtain a new visa, and not to site-see, in which case, you'll have to spend the night in Mae Sai, or Chiang Rai...)

6) Head back to Burmese immigration, pickup your passport after five minutes, (much to the amusement of the workers there) and head for Thai Immigration.

7) Fill out another pointless arrival card that is identical to the first one you filled out when you first arrived in Thailand, get stamped with your shiny new 30 day Thai visa, and you are set.

8) Hop a sawng-taew back to the bus station (5 baht). No need to panic about a seat, cause you did the smart thing and bought a return ticket upon arrival. Grab a beer for the last 10 minutes you'll have to wait before your bus leaves, because you sure as hell are gonna need it since you've been on a bus for 5 hours already, and you're about to spend another 5 on it again.

9) Arrive back in Chiang Mai by 8 o'clock with only one day wasted because of one whacky Thai law. I hope the irony of having to leave the country for the purpose of staying in it isn't lost on anyone.

Once again, sorry about the boring post, but if this info helps just one person... it was worth it.

David

[aseepish]

Glad you didn't have any problems other than boredom!

I'm sure at some point in the future you'll look back and think it was a marvelous adventure. To me that wasn't a boring post at all - I thrive on this kind of thing!

When I have to change to a proper work visa I also have to leave the country, the cheapest way being a flight to Kagoshima and then the overnight ferry to Pusan. I might splurge and take the flight directly to Seoul - I've got friends there to visit, but immigration laws suck.

That post is going in my MT archive!

Thanks for the info,

T.

[OctaviousBP]

That's too funny, we used to have to do the reverse trip from Busan to Fukuoka...

D

[OctaviousBP]

Pics

Alright, here are some pix. I'm trying to find a good place to host them, so I can just post them right into the thread... sorry about the link.



David

[platinum_angel]

i like the chicken and the roach