Thailand - Blend of Culture, People & Beaches

Vacation In Thailand

Pattaya Beach

For a long time, I was planning to visit one of the most beautiful country in south east Asia Thailand. Thailand is famous for both its urban city life like Bangkok and natural beauty like Coral island.

Landing at Thailand

Bangkok City From Sky

Since, I reside in India, journey to Thailand is not very long and take mostly around 5-6 hours, more if there is a halt in between. I landed in Bangkok to a warm welcome! Since, I haven’t applied for visa beforehand, I had to take visa on arrival. I must say the green channel express service was very fast and it took not more than 15-20 minutes to get the visa on my passport. I was charged 400 Baht for the service which is nominal. The visa fees itself was slashed to 50% for tourist promotion during that time (January). The people were courteous and very prompt. 

The Airport

Me at Suvarnabhumi Airport

I landed on Suvarnabhumi airport, which itself is very vast and huge.The airport was busy but crowd was at comfortable level.  It was a major feat for Thailand due the sheer size of the project. 

Warm Welcome at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Suvarnabhumi Airport was built on lotus marshes. The airport has some food joints where you can visit for snacking. The major portion of the airport was filled with taxi, forex and tourist union shops. Thailand takes tourism very seriously and there are tourist protection laws in place for this. 

The Essential

My first stay was at Pattaya but before proceeding, it is good idea to purchase local tourist sim card. There are many companies which gives tourist sim card with loads of complementary services like 40 baht talk time, incoming free and 2GB of 4G data. I randomly pick one company which in my opinion was giving me the most out of my money. 

Travelling through Cab

The journey from Suvarnabhumi is 2.5-hour drive to Pattaya. I hire a cab relatively easily through one of those taxi service outlets inside the airport. I placed my luggage in the cab.  I was advised to travel by meter all across Thailand as the meters are connected with GPS with control room, where they monitor the movement of cab and penalize the cab if the distance covered is more than ideal distance and your ride will be free. There is a control room number written inside of every cab for this. However, I didn't faced any such difficulty and I was of to Pattaya.  

Pattaya

Pattaya Beach

Pattaya is a breathtakingly beautiful beach destination and is famous of its open culture where you can sit in the bars, bask on the sands, shop till you drop, spoil yourself with a massage and relish mouth-watering Thai cuisine. Nightlife in Pattaya is one of the most happening in the world. You can spend the evening at leisure visiting local night markets. 

The Alcazar Show

Alcazar Show

However, I visited the Alcazar Show, a world-famous cabaret. It has a grand theatre with 1,200 seats and a state-of-the-art light and sound system. The Alcazar is a larger than life show with a unique blend of acting, stage design, costumes and glamour.

Alcazar Show

Alcazar Show

There are several local restaurants to enjoy a sumptuous dinner at. I chose one happens to be Indian restaurant.

Comfortable Stay at Hotel

The Hotel was very promptly located and the room was very spacious and comfortable with all the basic amenities. 

… (To be continued)