Thailand TDY

Took my first TDY (Temporary Duty) only 20 days after arriving in Japan. I went to Udon Thani, Thailand to help out with a few aircraft we had there. It was an interesting trip. I was there long enough and in a non-touristy enough area to really get a feel for the culture a little bit.

I left on my birthday (12 March). Flew from Tokyo to Bangkok. Landed a little before midnight. They have two airports there, which I know only as "the new one" and the "the old one". I landed in the new one. Problem is, I had to fly out of the old one the next day. I took a taxi...well it turned out to be a "limo service" which was using Nissan Maximas. I always heard Maximas were fast; the driver left no doubt. The trip which I had been told took about 1:15 was over in :45. The traffic wasn't especially heavy, but was definitely steady. We averaged 4-5 lanes on the freeway and we used every one of them in the weaving pattern. I convinced myself he was a professional and took in the views. Bangkok is big. Much bigger than I expected, although I never gave it much thought. I arrived at the motel not long after 0100 and went to sleep.

I had to check out by 1200 so I was out at around 1130. I was the old airport by 1145. My flight took off at 1845. So....I went exploring where ever I could get to by foot. What I saw (and more importantly smelled) took my apetite away for the better part of a day. Crowded, dirty market. Dogs scavenging around. Clearly homeless people occupying their spaces. A general sense of chaos and acceptance of it. I found an internet cafe that charged 15 baht/hr (about 40 cents). I sat and checked the news for a bit, although the computers spent most of the time lagging or locking up. I headed back to the airport, which is an odd site in and of itself. It looks like a train station out of the old days and is more than half way shut down. I'm guessing it's slowly giving way to the new airport. Anyway, I went through security and found a Burger King. At this point I basically hadn't eaten in a day. The food on the 7 hr flight from Tokyo was bad at best. No chance to eat that night. No way was I eating in that market. I ordered the double whopper combo thinking I would scarf it down, but after sitting down with it realized I just didn't want it. I ate maybe a dozen fries and nibbled on the burger. Finally my flight boarded and I made the short 1 hr flight to Udon Thani.

My boss was waiting for me. He took my to the hotel to get me checked in and swept me out to the bars. The bars themselves are actually a very cool atmosphere. Thailand is in general hot and muggy (at least in March). For the most part the bars are open air with limited seating inside and a few tables outside. Pretty much any of them are at the capacity they can handle about 15 people or so.






There are blocks and blocks of these bars. Drinks are fairly cheap- 80 baht or $2.50. The surprise that comes with the bars is the hookers. They are actually employed by the bar. So, their first job is to keep you at the bar. This means they flirt, try to talk to you although they understand about as much English we do Thai, and play games. It's kind of funny to sit at a bar with a buddy and play Jenga or Connect 4 with a couple of hookers. So their second move is to try and get you to buy them drinks. You find out later that "lady drinks" cost about twice as much as your drinks. This is because the bar gives them a cut for helping sell alcohol. Finally, hookers do what hookers do. To take one home you actually pay the bar "fine" of 400-600 baht $13-$20.

There were also the "lady men". I guess the girls get enough attention in Thailand that it is popular to take upon yourself to become one. There are many works in progress out and about. There are also some who I think take pride in fooling Americans. Most have had some the necessary surgeries to look the part, others just dress for it. I suppose they're just part of making Thailand what it is.

I went on some lengthy walks from my hotel while there. More poverty and people just trying to get by. I'm confident you could sustain yourself there for not much more than $1/day if you had to.

The streets absolutely hum with traffic, but maybe 15% of it is cars. The rest are tuk tuks and scooters. It seems everyone has a scooter there. Weave carelessly through slow and stopped traffic. Because they are so unpredictable, tuk tuks and cars don't even try to watch out for them. I saw one accident and many close calls. Tuk tuks are basically three wheeled motorcycles with a cargo bed.

They are commonly used as taxis for local trips. Instead of buses, they use what we call cattle cars.

The people just get off and go up front to pay the driver when they get off. They can be hard to picture so I took some snapshots.

One day I took a tuk tuk to a park I heard about to run. What a gem. A beautifully manicured park with a nice lake and a 2 mile running track around it. Had a nice relaxing run and enjoyed the scenery. My tuk tuk driver even waited for me. I think he was amused that someone would go to the park just run and get hot n sweaty. I tipped him nicely for waiting for me.

I also got to golf one day. There is a nine hole course on the base. We had to rent clubs, which meant caddies were mandatory. We paid $17 each for green fee, club rental, caddie, and a half dozen balls. The course wasn't fantastic or anything, but definitely a good track and we had a great time.

Of course, throughout all of this I had to work too. I worked nights 1430-everthing's done, usually around midnight. We stayed busy for the most part and kept the C-130's going. We had some impressive maintainers down there. I think it's going to be a good unit I'm assigned to.

After being gone 10 days I was definitely ready to come home and to see Jenni and Jackson. It was a good trip, a definite learning experience. Hopefully I'll get to see a lot more of the world while I'm here. I'll try and keep everyone updated.