going to Trat

5/3/10

I am heading to Koh Chang, an island off the coast of Thailand about 5 hours from Bangkok. My plan is to take the bus to Poipet at the border and then find a Thai bus heading south. However during my tour yesterday, I met a taxi driver while I was eating my lunch. Wth the ketchup bottle, the toothpicks and the napkin holder he showed me that I was going out of my way. The shortest physical distance was to cross at Prom. From Prom, I need to get to Ban Paket, then to Chantaburi and then to Trat. It sounds complicated and I am sure that it will take as long as my previous plan. But what the heck. It is possibly my last adventure this time around.

The share taxi comes at 8:00 am. There are 3 people sitting in the back and one moves to the front seat when I approach. I have paid a whopping $10 to keep only 3 people in the back seat and to get a window seat. Two people are now sitting in the front passenger seat. One has his buttocks on the bucket seat and his torso shifted towards the middle. I am happy to have my seat in the back.



It takes a while to reach the border as the taxi driver keeps trolling for more customers. When one gets out, he stops and waits for another. At 10:45, we get to the border. I am the last passenger. Leaving Cambodia is straight forward. A young man on a moto offers me a free ride to the Thai border. Nothing is free. He wants to drive me to Chantanburi for $45.



At the Thai border, they want a photocopy of my passp0rt and a photo. They send me to window 6 to get a photocopy but the electricity is down. Luckily I have a copy in my suitcase. It is 11:30. I stand outside the border office. A heavy sweating man with poor skin offers to take me to Trat for $50. He is actually offering me his friend who stands there in sunglasses with a serious look on his face. When I say it is too expensive, he suggests Chantaburi for $40. As I continue to refuse, he offers smaller distances at incrementally smaller prices. He finally offers me a motorcycle ride to the nearest pick up station for 100 baht (around $3) I accept.

A young boy places my suitcase propped up in front of him on a very small bike and I hop on behind. It is a 10 minute ride down the road. He loads my suitcase onto the sang thiew ( pickup truck with 2 benches for passengers). I have just enough time to eat a green papaya salad and we are off. Two hours later we arrive in Chantaburi. I have to pay him $3 because I have no baht. I try to get baht at the bus station but the ATMs are not working. The big bus is leaving for Trat in 10 minutes. I have just enough to pay the bus fare. 52 baht ($1.50) It takes an hour to get to Trat. The Trat bus station is deserted. The sangthiew is waiting to fill. It may take some time. Two monks are waiting onboard. They are willing to pay 100 baht each to get the driver to take us to the ferry dock. I agree. One monk pays for me so we can get going. The driver stops at an ATM machine so I can pay back the monk.He motions to me to put the money down on the suitcase between us. I cannot hand it directly to him. I offer him a mango. He is very pleased. We arrive at the ferry station. It is now 3:35. We have just missed the ferry. At 4:00 we get on the next one and arrive at Koh Chang just before 5. Almost there. But yet again, the sangthiew waits to fill. I arrive at my guesthouse at 7:30.