In Search of the Lost Paradise

After two weeks soaking sun in the south of Thailand , sipping cocktails on the beach, I decided to go in search of the traditional Thailand. I looked at the Lonely Planet and the north-eastern part was the only area that there were not any tourist attractions. So I randomly picked one town in that area as a final destination and I headed in that direction.

My first stop was Auythaya, the ancient kingdom of Thailand. It is situated only one hour away from Bangkok, but I was surprised to find out how few tourists were around. So much so, that in the guesthouse that I stayed me and a Korean couple were the only visitors. That worked quite well because the owners treated us as family guests rather then paying clients. There were no menus; we just got the food that was cooked for the house.

After two days of wats (Thai Buddhist temple) and a lot of warnings by fellow travellers that the east is the poorest part of Thailand and I should be careful, I got my train ticket to Buriram. 6 hours later I arrived at the provincial town of Buriram. And even though I didn’t find any tourists with big suitcases and fast tan, I did find mega Tescos and Boots in those “dangerous”, “poor” parts of Thailand.

Even though the remoteness of this area has not protected it from the arrival of the mega stores, billboards, the lack of beaches with booze and any major attractions have protected it from the arrival of mass tourism. So the local people see very rarely foreigners and are very curious to talk to travellers.

At Buriram I boarded the bus to go to another small town called Nang Rong. While I was reading my book two girls from the seat behind passed me a little note with request to practice their English with me. And after 10 min of conversation I was invited to stay at their student residence. I didn’t think twice and accepted the offer.

Once at their place the news that there was a “foreigner” in the residence spread out and I was quickly surrounded by more than 20 students!!! It turned out that they were trainee teachers so next day I was taken to the local school, where I had to improvise a series of English lessons. Lunchtime I was assigned a little chair and students could come and talk to the “foreigner”. And in no time there was a queue of pupils wanting to find out if I support Arsenal or Chelsea.

And as the school day was drawing to an end and I was planning to continue my journey, one of the English teachers invited me to stay at the village of her mother for the night. I was taken there by car, shown around, at dinner the best part of the fish was served to the guest …and in the morning I was even taken to the bus stop. I spend with the family only one day, but because of their hospitality I felt like we have known each other for ages. I was really sad to leave.

Next stop on the itinerary was Surin, where I spent just few hours while waiting for my bus to Ubon Ratachani. Ubon is another sleepy provincial town, where there is not much to see apart from the many wats and the stray dogs (which kept on terrifying me). And if it wasn’t for the people one night would have been more than enough.
Today yet again I was amazed at the friendliness and the readiness to help of the local people. They share the same attitudes that I encountered among the Tibetan people in Nepal. They are both Buddhist nations: The Tibetan are Mahayana Buddhist and the Thai are followers of an earlier tradition of Buddhism, Theravada. Being Buddhists, they believe that being selfless, mindful of the others, helping will bring them good karma and ultimately liberation. The religion is inseparable part of their life and thus becomes a way of being. This generosity and openness, which I have seen in the Tibetan villages in the mountains of the Himalaya and the plains of Thailand, seems to be common to people of all walks of life in every situation.

Today as I was rambling around town, map in hand, an old person in barely comprehensive English asked me what I was looking for. When I named the temple, bless him, he tried to explain to me, but giving direction in English turned out quite challenging for him and I must have still been looking quite confused. Then a lady who owed a small roadside restaurant pointed at her motorbike and spoke to me in Thai. I still couldn’t understand…!! At this point everyone around got involved and finally after a lot of miming it became clear that she wanted to give me a lift to the temple in her motorbike. My objections didn’t stop her. Still wearing her apron, she jumped on the bike, dropping everything else and cruised through the street with me at the back to the very entrance of the temple!

After that I decided to pay a visit to the tourist centre, get some free maps and ask how to get to a temple outside the town. The lady behind the counter said that unfortunately there was no public transport and taxi would be expensive but if I had time tomorrow she would take me by her private car!!!!! So tomorrow I am off to the countryside with the car of my personal guide.

I read in LP that recent Government Well- Being index indicates that people of the northeast are happiest, despite of being the poorest region of Thailand. I can see why!!!

It seems that i might have found the lost paradise in rural areas of eastern Thailand.

View Larger Map