29th of March, 2024.
Hitchhiking in Thailand: Phanat Nikhom to Phuket
School Summer Break! YES! I will hitchhike all the way to Phuket, my first destination in Southern Thailand. From Phanat Nikhom, is about 14 hours driving, so I am giving it 2 days to arrive there.
Right at Phanat Nikhom, I get a lift all the way to Samut Sakhon, right after Bangkok. What? Yep! Eak is a very nice guy and it is super nice to travel with him. He is going to Bangkok, where he works with IT, but he decides to drive me all the way to the exit to Samut Sakhon, so it is easier for me to hitchhike. How thoughtful!
The road is still quite busy, so I am hitchhiking by the exit of a PTT Station. Some people pass by and smile; others show a semblance of admiration; someone gives me a bottle of water; and one very simple guy asks to take a photograph of me.
In about 20 minutes, a lady comes out of her car and even though I cannot understand clearly where she is going to, I can distinguish that she says “Hua Hin”, which is the first place I stayed when I came to Thailand, where I did my volunteer work. I know that it is some good 2 hours driving from here, so I take it.
Mew, Pai and their little girl Bonus (4) are a lovely family and even though they cannot speak English, we have a good time travelling together. We stop to have lunch in the food court of a PTT Station. I love these places because you can have very good food for the local price. For example, I have a portion of rice, stir-fried vegetables and an omelette for 50 THB, which is about 1.4 USD. In the end, the family is going after Prachuap Kiri Khan, meaning we drove together for about 4 hours, which is great! Yay!
I am already pretty happy with my progress because I still have a few hours of daylight, and I am certain I can travel for a few more hours, and so on to achieve the half of my journey to Phuket, as I wished.
I am walking alongside the road, while holding my sign, when a pick-up stops a bit ahead. When I get nearer them, a woman comes outside and tells me they are going to Phuket. What? – I ask her. Yeah, yeah, they are going all the way to Phuket! Unbelievable! Of course, that this means I will arrive super late in Phuket, around 10 or 11 p.m. but who cares? Let’s go!
Koon and her husband Che live in Phuket but are coming back from Bangkok, where they were accompanying their young daughter (16) to a Taekwondo competition. The girl won a medal! That’s awesome!
Once in Phuket, Koon and Che drop me off by a temple, right in the centre. It is late, so the temple is closed already. What to do?
I start walking towards my destination for tomorrow: Promthep Cape – a place in the most South part of Phuket. No, I am not visiting the town, thank you!
I eat some noodles in a small restaurant and then carry on.
I am shocked about this night life. Everything is on and so many people are out! It’s crazy! I can’t even imagine how people can live like this, always “on”. It must be exhausting!
I end up in what seems like almost desert roads, which makes sense because it is towards the outskirts of town. But all of sudden, I see a group of women and children, by some sort of monument, so I decide to come and ask them for some directions.
I talk with Nit and Mui, two lovely women enjoying some time with their families. Nit is with her husband and her small boy, while Mui is her sister-in-law and is with her 5 years old girl. Asking for possible places to camp around, they tell me it is not really OK for that, but they can’t invite me to their homes either, because of their family’s situation. The solution comes from Mui, who offers for me to pitch my tent at her fruit shop, which is now closed. I accept!
We go to Mui’s shop by this very traditional vehicle in Thailand: a side-car motorcycle, which is covered to protect against the sun and the rain; you can carry goods and people, and it is cheap. Lots of people use it to sell food, fruits and vegetables, ice-cream, and really basically everything.
The shop has walls made out of wire, which is also very common in Thailand. But it has doors and locks. Nobody will come and see me at this time anyway, so whatever. It is right by the street, so it will be noisy, but what to do? Nit and Mui are very nice to show me everything about locking the doors, the lights, and the fan which I am most welcome to use. And before leaving, Mui even gives me two huge and gorgeous looking mangoes. Yummy!
I struggle a bit to sleep at first. Inside my tent is too damn hot! Outside, mosquitoes. I finally chose the latter, opting for getting inside my sleeping bag (even though it is a bit hot) and covering my face. The fun actually saves me!
At some point, it starts pouring rain. What a surprise when Mui shows up with a guy, just to check on me, in case the shop had flooded. That’s so adorable! I assure her that I am fine and actually a bit grateful for the rain, so it cools down the temperature a bit.
I leave next morning near 8 o’clock.
10 Years Around the World 