Thai Trifecta - Where To Toss The Bags

Where To Toss The Bags

Bangkok’s international airport is the major travel hub for Southeast Asia. Thai Airlines offers non-stop flights from the West Coast while other airlines have connecting flights in Seoul, Tokyo and at various Asian gateways. You’ll cross the international dateline en route, so be sure to allow for the lost day in planning your itinerary. It’s also not a bad idea to give yourself a leisure day or two in Bangkok to recover from the jet lag and travel fatigue.

Bangkok is a crowded bustling city, offering modern conveniences along with world-famous shopping and nightlife. Traffic and resulting pollution are notorious, but the city is generally considered safe. Thailand’s health care is ranked among the world’s best. Credit cards are widely accepted in the cities, but you’ll want to convert to Thai baht for shopping, taxis, local dining and tipping your guides.

FishQuest fishing packages include tourist-class hotel accommodations in Bangkok and Ratchaburi, a unique floating house lodging on the Srinakarin Reservoir. Hotel breakfasts and all meals at Srinakarin are included, and you’ll find those “on-your-own” meals to be an inexpensive culinary adventure.

Heavy tackle is provided for battling the Mekong catfish at Bung Sam Lan Lake, while anglers typically bring their own gear for fishing snakeheads at Predator Lake. Locally made lures are also available.

FishQuest arranges small-group trips combining Thailand’s freshwater fishing hotspots, and can make limited arrangements and offer advice about touring other parts of the country. They also arrange special couple’s trips that include additional sightseeing and shopping opportunities at www.fishquest.com.

Bring Your Camera

Thailand is among the most photogenic places on Earth, with stunning natural scenery, awe-inspiring architecture and friendly people who collectively leave no doubt you’re in the land of smiles.

Determining where to point your camera is really a matter of taste. Some prefer day-touring the floating markets and breathtaking Royal Palace, while others wander wide-eyed through Bangkok’s notorious, neon-coated nightlife. Still, others head south to the beautiful beaches of Thailand’s southern islands, which was the setting for James Bond 007: Man with the Golden Gun. Another spot made popular in the film, Bridge over the River Kwai lies right along the way between Srinakarin and Predator Lake.

Before our fishing foray began, Andy and I ventured north to Mai Hong Song near the Burmese border. We chose to fly in, as land access from the nearest major city involves 1,864 curves of treacherous mountain roadway.

While lacking in much of the tourism infrastructure (and tourists) of the more popular Chiang Mai, Mai Hong Song had a simple small-town charm we found irresistible. We rented motor scooters for less than 10 dollars a day and explored the countryside, taking in a jungle elephant trek and meeting with local Long Neck tribeswomen in nearby Na Soi village.

Shopping in Thailand often involves a bit of bargaining, but you might want to bring a calculator for converting baht to dollar equivalents. In one local market, I haggled for almost an hour to get a beautiful carved tiger head down to what I figured was about $65. It wasn’t till after the deal was done that I realized the piece had actually cost me only $6.50.

Other Notes of Interest

About Thailand

• Capital: Bangkok
• Area: 198,000 sq mi (about the size of California)
• Population: 63 million
• Government: Constitutional Monarchy. Thailand’s King and Royal Family are widely revered.
• Religion: 95% Buddhist, 5% Muslim, primarily in southern areas.
• Language: Thai (official), English is taught as a second language in schools, but is not widely spoken outside tourist areas. Some ethnic languages are still spoken in remote areas.
• Currency: Thai Baht (32 baht = $1 US)
• Weather: Tropical and characterized by monsoons. Rainy and warm from mid-May to September, dry and cool from November to mid-March. The southern isthmus is always hot and humid.