Laem Chabang, Bangkok, Thailand Day 1 of 2

Lame Chabang, Bangkok, Thailand. Lame Chabang is the name of the port town where we docked. It is strictly an industrial dock with huge numbers of cargo loading cranes. At about 9:20 AM we boarded a bus for the 2 ½ hour ride to Bangkok. The entire port area was covered with thousands of cars and small trucks of various makes. They were all for export and all had been manufactured here.

After a rough ride for about 5 or 6 miles we entered an expressway that was slightly less bumpy. We were on our way to the Peninsula Hotel. We were told it was the finest hotel in town. Once into Bangkok and off the expressway, traffic did not move. It seemed to take forever to get the few miles to the hotel.

The hotel was very laid back elegant. There were employees everywhere to guide you to different areas. The check in was quick and easy. They had an area set up for us with tables to sign in. There were signs with last name initials. All the information had been previously filled in and all we had to do was sign and get our keys. If you asked an employee for directions on how to get somewhere in the hotel they would walk there with you. Any time you talked to employees or just walk by them, they would put their hands together as if praying and bow to you.

Our room was beautiful. It was on the 31st floor and had a great view of the river. It was not a suite but was large and had very nice furniture. There were all kinds of electrically run gadgets like buttons to open and close the drapes. There was a triangular shaped bay with windows about eight feet tall. The ceilings were high and coffered. The bath was very large with a separate sink and vanity on each side, a large deep tub and a separate glass enclosed room for the toilet. Floors and walls all marble tiles. Behind a glass panel, at the foot of the tub, was a TV with controls for it and the lights on the wall just above the side of the tub. The towels were larger and thicker then those on the ship. There was a foyer with two closets.

Next we went to the ballroom for lunch. Lunch was buffet with dozens of items and several stations spread around the room. There were so many things to try you could not fit all on one large plate even if you took just a tea spoon full of each. This was food to die for. Char sui was by far the best I have ever gone near. That’s those little slices of pork that have been marinated, BBQed and steamed. Sliced duck breast in duck sauce was not to be believed. They had some kind of pork stuffed into tennis ball size dough, that you could not stop eating. The lamb curry was fantastic. The rice was Thai style. Sticky and sweet with a hint of coconut flavor. And on and on. I found it very hard to leave this room.

After lunch we had a tour called Bangkok canals and Royal Barges. We walked to the back of the hotel to board a river boat. The river traffic is almost as bad as the street traffic. All sizes of boats and ferrys going just across and up and down the river. Almost all the boats are weird. These people are bananas.

Everywhere else I have been or seen large waterways, in the world, the ferrys are catamarans or hydrofoils. Tug boats are short and wide and boats generally look and run like boats. Not here. Everything is long and narrow to different degrees. Many are built as they were fifty years ago and longer, with truck engines. When marine engines cannot be found or afforded they use regular truck engines. These engines are mounted on a pivot that lets the entire engine turn side to side and rock up and down. Attached directly to the rear of the engine is a long shaft with a propeller attached to the other end of that shaft. The driver operates or rather attempts to do so by having to turn this huge and heavy engine and rock it up and down using a pole attached to the front of the engine. You see props spinning wildly out of the water and just at the surface causing all in the immediate vicinity to get sprayed. The propellers may be 20 feet behind the boat. That is why they call them long tail boats. There are dozens of these all over the river and canals and they are usually going very fast. That might make you think these guys are very good at driving these very hard to control boats. Forget about it. They haven’t a clue. I watched them pile into one another and by the Royal Barge dock I saw one clown slam the pier really good while trying to figure out how to park the thing. He put very nice crack in the side of the boat. You see these boats tied to bridges and piers everywhere because they are sinking from running into each other and anything else.

Another cute practice is pulling 4 huge barges with one of these tiny canoes. It looks and is, I am sure, an accident waiting to happen.

The boat we got into was long and narrow like a canoe but was not one of those nut case boats. It had two regular marine engines and could hold about 30 people. We were about 20. Still these boats were very hard to turn and control especially with the strong flow of the river. Quite often we would suddenly be in full reverse because some other larger and/or even less controllable boat was headed right at us. Ignorance really is bliss. Almost no else noticed these near disasters. A few wanted to know why he kept doing that, as it was uncomfortable but most paid no attention. Nor did any notice there were no such things as life preservers. I guess they haven’t invented them there yet.

The waters are the color of dark mud. Many of the people wash clothes, bathe, brush teeth, and drink this water as well as dump human waste in it. From the looks of the garbage everywhere, they must dump everything in it even though the tour guide claimed they had daily garbage pickups for all the houses on the canals. He also claimed they all had septic tanks. Sure didn’t look like it.

We went up and down the river and made a big circle through a series of canals. There were all kinds of houses on stilts. The better ones would be on concrete stilts but most were wooden and many were sagging and falling apart. There were a few very nice ones with TV antennas and air conditioners. There were dozens of temples.

We stopped behind one of these temples. The guide claimed there were fish in this river. Mainly two kinds of Catfish. They gave us all bags of bread to throw to the fish. Sure enough, swarms of fish appeared on both sides of our boat. You didn’t really have to throw the bread as they would take it right out of your hand and fight for it. If you threw bread far enough to be behind the building next to the temple, the fish would not go after it and let it just float away. If I had not seen it I would not believed it. The guide explained there is no fishing behind these temples. They do not believe in harming any animal and do not allow fishing. Somehow, over the years, the fish figured this out. They do feed them as they will starve before they will eat off the property.

We stopped to see the Kings barge and the barges of his entourages. They are ceremonial and are on display out of the water in a museum with a dock on the river. There is a 75th birthday celebration coming up for the king. There will be many foreign dignitaries. The king is just a figurehead like the queen of England but is the grandson of the king from the movie, the King and I.

We also stopped at a large temple on the river. It was now almost time for dinner and we would all need showers. It was well over 90 degrees out and everyone was soaked.

It was a good large shower with a seat and a hand held head as well as the regular one. We barely got done in time but of course could not miss a meal. We had a choice of several restaurants we could go to. The Thai sounded like the best idea since we were in Thailand. Some friends who had gotten to the hotel early, from a morning tour, had made reservations for us. When we got to the hotel we found the Thai restaurant to be outdoor. We had enough outdoor and changed the reservation to a Chinese restaurant.

They had a fixed menu for us that included everything and more. There were about 8 courses including an unmentioned special appetizer. I don’t want to talk about the food because it will just make me cry. Let it suffice to say I did ask if I could move into that restaurant.

We were going to take the hotel ferry across the river and get a cab to the night market but ran out of gas and went up to our room to pass out.

Riverboat Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)