After Ko Lanta I had to head to Bangkok to meet the family when they arrived, so I got there a day or two early, meeting up with Daniel & Danielle, both from the South-East Asia 2010 Facebook group I keep harping on about (JOIN NOW!).

We had a good couple of days – went shopping, watched the Red’s before things turned ugly a few weeks later, and drank (3 Brits meeting up for the first time it goes without saying really!) in various bars around the Khao San.

Then my family arrived.

I met them out at Suvarnabhumi Airport and got them to their amazingly good hotel – they stayed at the Imperial Tara just off Sukhumvit Road – and dragged them to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar for good food and some shopping. I really hate to shop now. However, they enjoyed it – their food was good and they got to bargain with the vendor’s, which is one of the fun things to do in Thailand.

We had agreed that their time in Bangkok and it’s surrounds would be the usual array of sightseeing, followed by a day trip to Kanchanaburi. Without rushing them at all, I got them round the main Bangkok sights on their first proper day as well as ensuring they knew their way around the sky train themselves and then arranged to meet them down the Khao San Road that evening for dinner, so they could see how the other half live.

They, like so many others before them (mostly backpackers at that) loved the KSR. Had a little of everything they expected in Thailand, yet with the familiarity of the atypical holiday town, just a tad noisier than they are used too. I was quite pleased they enjoyed themselves on that most infamous of streets, as Ao Nang where were headed in a day or two is very similar, just more up market.

I really cannot say much about their visit to Kanchanaburi – I went with them – as I had been up drinking with Kelsey & Marcus amongst others till 7a.m. and only grabbed 2 hours sleep before meeting them. I do know doing anything like that still drunk and on little sleep was a bad idea. Not that bad as I did the same thing that night.

We flew down to Krabi – closest airport to Ao Nang – following that second all-night bender of mine.

Edit: Pictures to be added once uploaded.

I got robbed.

Yes, robbed. Luckily I only lost actual money and nothing else, unlike other people I have spoken to since, who also experienced theft on Ko Chang in recent weeks. What makes my loss really sting is it was by a fellow backpacker. Admittedly I had only just met him, however I have shared rooms so often on so many trips that it did not even occur to me that this sort of thing could happen to me, despite knowing of times it had been done to others.

So thanks to this I no longer felt able to enjoy Ko Chang, I was looking over my shoulder too often to notice the beauty of where I was. Ko Lanta beckoned me from the other side of the country.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kanchanaburi was a nothing little place in a backwater part of Thailand, up until the Japanese arrived during the Pacific War – the regional name for this rather brutal theatre of World War II – and made it the central holding centre (prison camp) for allied prisoners forced to create the necessary rail link with Burma that would enable them to invade India, then the shining jewel of the crumbling British Empire.

Tens of thousands of captured Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen, as well as upwards of one hundred thousand Malay, Indonesians and Koreans found themselves drafted into “service” constructing a rail-road though some very unforgiving terrain, in weather that was the just as harsh and of course suffering under the brutality of their Japanese captors. By the end of war, over 6000 Allied servicemen had died in the creation of what became known as the “Death Railway”.

I only stayed a few days in town, there is a slightly sleazy feel to the main tourist drag – Thanon Maenamkwai – but if you stick the traveller haunts you wont really see that side of it much; although I did find the BEST English food outside of England at a bar on that road, including real back bacon and HP sauce.

As well as the Bridge, Hellfire Pass and the Cemeteries, there are other draws around town, including a couple of good museums, river rafting, waterfalls (Ere wan falls is possibly the nicest set of waterfalls in the region) and trekking of various sorts. However this time round I was just there relax and see the highlights before I headed off to Ko Chang for some beach time.

The country itself is a melting pot of culture and cuisine, beaches and ruins and all the things in between.  From the islands in the Gulf of Thailand to the hills of the North I am planning to spend at least 10 weeks in country spread over two 60 day Tourist visa’s. From when I first land in Bangkok to when I leave for Laos weeks later, I know I’ll never be short of places to go and sights to see.

Obviously I’ll be spending time in Bangkok – hey I need to re-arrange my return flight for a later date than it is currently booked for – however, having experienced alot of what that city has to offer, I’ll be getting away from there as soon as I can.

On my list of places to see during all the time I spend in Thailand are:

• Chiang Mai / Pai / Mae Hong Son:  Trekking, cooking classes and generally a laid back life in the mountainous north;
• Kanchanburi: Visiting the death railway and WWII cemetary – under order’s from my mother. As well as the Erawan falls and going up to Sangkhlaburi near the Burmese (not Myanmar!) border;
• Gulf islands: from Ko Chang in the north down to Ko Pha Ngan – home of the world (in)famous Full Moon Party;
• Andaman islands: The famous Phi Phi Leh – where The Beach was filmed – is one of several destinations I have over this side of the Thai penisula.  Others include Ko Lanta & The Similian Islands;
• North-Eastern Thailand: Thanks to articles over on Travelfish, I certainly shall be spending time in this area of Thailand, its little visited, has some great trekking and is close to Laos, all in all has a good set of reasons to take some time going through the region.

So as you can see quite a range of places I’d like to visit – obviously despite not mentioning it, I will be going to Sukhothai to see the ruins of former Siamese glory found there.

Other posts will come on the other countries within South-East Asia that I am aiming to visit, so keep on reading!!!