The Travels of Päivi and Santeri

We found ourselves back in Southeast Asia (SEA) seeking refuge from the evils of the world after mugging in Panama City . The borders had just re-opened and we started from Malaysia where many things had changed since our previous visits in 2006 , 2011 , 2016 , and 2017 .

It's no news that Thailand is touristy. It has been that way for decades, but still the number of holiday-makers is disconcerting to us.

We will not miss Ao Nang, but it was a soft landing for Päivi's parents with great weather, blue sky, and no jellyfish.

We recommend the third class with wooden seats for more cultural experience. Video impressions of travelling by train in Thailand.

Watch a video of our visit to monkey temple in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand.

Bangkok was in chaos because of "Truth Today" demonstration by the Red Shirts who oppose the dictator and army.

Thailand visa-run system humiliates foreigners and favours sex tourists making long-stay in Thailand unpleasantly bureaucratic and erratic. Yesterday we travelled to Myanmar, which is another neighbouring military dictatorship. Our motivation was to try out the so called visa-run. We wanted to test and document it so that you don’t have to do it unless you really want to. All foreigners staying in Thailand are forced to travel every 1-3 months to the border, exit the country, and return with a new stamp in their passport. Immigration rules enforce this procedure, and the penalty of failing to do so is 500 baht/day (~ 11 €). Those who travel to Thailand for work, retirement, or for renting a wife are granted a 3-month stay between the visa-runs. Ordinary long-stay tourists usually have to do the trip every month. The Argentinian visa system gives an example of another extreme. There you can overstay as long as you wish. When you leave the country you just have to pay a US 15$ fine...

Recent lack of freedom in Thailand have been business as usual in Singapore for years. Both countries are dictatorships. [Suomeksi] We visited Singapore for a few days trying to sort out Thailand visa mess. The 30-day permission to stay had to be changed to a visa that could then—possibly—be somehow extended. Not too complicated, fortunately. And the obvious motivation behind this seems to be ripping off tourists.

Before entering Thailand we knew that the King is extremely respected and revered in Thailand. And that it is illegal to insult him or the monarchy in general. This raised some contradictory thoughts in us and sounded quite pre-historic, very far away from the anarchy we support or from the republic states that we were used to. When we entered Thailand there was a film shown on the flight before landing. In the film an older couple was walking around in fancy clothes and distributing presents to peasants. There were also some pictures of the couple when they were younger, and the old man took pictures of the people that worshipped him. Funny thing, we thought and continued sleeping.

Thai Military seized power in Bangkok on Tuesday night, the 19th of September, just a few hours ago. They occupy now every crucial corner in the capital, among others government building and the Prime Minister’s office.