Even though I have lived here for five years, there are still a few items on my "Places I really want to see" list. So, Piyawat and I are taking advantage of the long holiday weekend to make a little road trip to Isaan to cross off a few of those items.
We left Friday afternoon and drove east from Bangkok, through Korat and Buriram, and finally decided to stop for the night in the provincial capital of Surin. I have to say that my brief time here didn't leave a very good impression. It was probably the most "down and out" province I have been to in Thailand. The streets were dirty and the shops were all dingy.
As we walked through the streets near our hotel on the way to and from dinner, we were greeted with a lot of unwelcoming stares. In fact, we both felt a little unsafe. It was very strange to have that feeling in Thailand -- Land of Smiles. The only reason I could think of was that we were so close to Cambodian border, and I think a lot of the people there were Cambodian, and we all know that Cambodians haven't exactly had an easy time over the past few decades. Maybe that's why no one was smiling.
This morning we headed out and continued our trip east to Si Saket province. One of the "to-dos" on my list was to see the Khao Phra Viharn temple on the Thai and Cambodian border. The temple itself is officially in Cambodia, but literally 500 meters over the border. In fact, Thailand and Cambodia went to the World Court in the 1960s to fight over this temple, and Cambodia won.
Just as a side note, I disagree with this ruling. The easiest way to access the temple is from the Thai side, while on the Cambodian side there is a huge cliff. So the temple seems like it is more attached to Thailand, being hundreds of meters above the plains of Cambodia. But when the ruling was made, no one asked me.
In any case, I am really glad we had a chance to see the temple. It is an old Khmer-style temple, perched as I said, on top of a mountain next to a tall cliff. It's a great location. Unfortunately the temple ruins themselves are a mess. It's a huge complex (850 meters long) but it has not been restored to the grandeur of the temples at Angkor or even the ones in Thailand like Phanom Rung and Phi Mai.
The only other downside was that I had to pay the farang tax of 400 baht (US$11.75), because the Thai side is a National Park. Then I had to pay another 200 baht to enter the temple. Luckily, there was no passport or visa needed, even though I was officially outside of Thailand for a couple of hours.
After a lot of picture taking and waving off kids selling postcards and shady Cambodians selling cigarettes, liquor and "Khmer porno" (!) we were back in the car and on our way to the next province over: Ubon Ratchathani.
Point Roberts in Washington State can only be accessed via Canada, but it is still part of the United States. Khao Phra Viharn can be accessed via Cambodia, although its a bit out there.
I've been there a couple times, and have always enjoyed the place. With the new park pricing scheme I will not be going back, 400 baht to go down a road is a lot of baht.
Bob: Yes, apparently you can take an arduous motorcycle ride up the mountain to access the temple from the Cambodian side. But it still *seems* like it should be part of Thailand.
And I totally agree with you on the National Park fees. Ever since they were doubled to 400 baht (from 200 baht) I have boycotted all Thai National Parks. This is the first time I have stepped foot inside one since then. Actually, on this trip I went to two, the other being Pa Taem in Ubon. But it will be the last time I go to a national park for a long time.
And let me just say that it's not so much the price (I can afford 400 baht, although in this case you are right, it's a bit steep for just a drive along a road) but it's the fact that as a farang (who has paid income tax in Thailand for 5 years) I am charged TEN TIMES the price of a Thai person.
So, although there is nothing I can do about the government's racist policies, I can still vote with my wallet and not take part in the scam.