Thailand Then and Now

I travelled to Thailand in 1986.  I came up from Malaysia, travelled through the southern islands (that were known then as a tourist destination) and met with my then boyfriend in Bangkok.  Together we went up to Northern Thailand and did a hill tribe trek and visited the Golden Triangle.  Apart from a holiday in Phuket in 2018, I had not returned. Like Bali, there is good and bad in coming back to a place that holds good memories from a time when travelling was very different. Some things are easier, some places didn’t even exist as a ‘thing’ then, but on the whole I think I preferred it before smart phones, the internet and millions of tourists!

I went to Phi Phi Island (of ‘The Beach’ fame) when there were only a few places to stay.  You can’t call them hotels as they were a cluster of bambook huts and open air restaurants.  As we were there, more huts were being built further away from where the boat lands.  I  didn’t go there this time, and will probably never go back.  I understand there are now 5 star hotels, small shopping malls and it is packed.  You can also hop between a large number of islands which in my time, didn’t have any tourist infrastructure. 

The Grand Palace in Bangkok was packed to the brim with tourists and I hated it.  It did detract from the experience, but didn’t stop me remembering the awe of the buildings and bling.  

My 4 day/3 night hill tribe trek was an experience and a half.  We were a small group and walked quite deep into the jungle and stayed at different hill tribes each night.  Opium poppies were grown freely at the time. Our porter used to smoke it each night, lying on his side with a pipe.  We were also offered the chance to try it, which we did.  Did nothing for me, but others said it was a pleasurable experience.  I remember that we arrived in one village and a young guy had badly hurt himself with an axe and his leg had a large open wound.  We were asked if we could help, as it was several days walk to a hospital.  We gave him what painkillers we had on us and used tampons to pack the wound before bandaging it.  

Now there are still hill tribes, but it is a long trek to go and see them.  There are more ‘tourist’ villages where you can see long neck women and other tribes.  I didn’t go.  

The Golden Triangle was a quiet place with fields and open areas.  Now there is a huge Buddha and across the river Laos has built a huge casino and international airport and the Chinese have bought up many of the apartments the large apartment blocks.  It is unrecognisable.

I have fond memories of the small town of Mae Sae on the river border with Myanmar. Pictures of flowers and monks, a wooden bridge you could walk across and a small market with tribes people selling their wares.  It is now a very busy crossing point with a large border station, which we were not allowed to cross.  You can’t walk on the bridge anymore.  Many Burmese come across to work or shop and we saw them with their white faces (sunscreen) on the streets. There has always been a temple there up the hill, and I can’t recall if I visited it, but now it is the ‘purple’ or ‘scorpion’ temple and they have build a skywalk, a high up walkway with glass to walk on.  It was actually really scenic and photogenic, so an addition to a place that has changed beyond recognition.

I am not sure if I went to Chiang Rai, it certainly doesn’t hold any memories for me, but I enjoyed my time there. There is a white temple which has  become just a tourist attraction which I loved (outside of the busiest times) and a blue temple which was most spectacular lit up at night.  Neither of them existed in 1986.

I stayed in Chiang Mai for 9 days and checked it out as a place I could possibly live for longer.  I will say more about that in another post. 

Revisiting Thailand after so long has been a good experience. I have enjoyed seeing the sights and being able to take hundreds of photos of some truly beautiful places and buildings. Thailand is not as dirty and full of rubbish as Bali, but still doesn’t take care of the environment, too much wasteful plastic, but not quite as bad as Bali.