Author: Joel

Well, Ubon has turned out to be somewhat of a fizzle in my eyes. I have a feeling there is a bit of a push to promote this region of Thailand. Tourism here seems largely undeveloped, probably due to the fact that it was more or less off-limits to tourists for security reasons up through the late 1990’s with Khmer Rouge activity in the area.

Perhaps the feeling is that tourists need to come first before tourist businesses are worth setting up. There are a few things to see in town, including a decent historical museum, but I managed to get through most of what’s available in less than a day. The surrounding area is supposed to have some worthwhile excursions, but there aren’t any tours heading to them because, I was told by the Thailand tourism authority, “There aren’t enough tourists”. And while you could try to negotiate transportation with a local driver, it is hard to find anyone who understands what you want. Most businesses here, including my hotel, seem to treat me as more of a nuisance than anything else. I get the impression that most Westerners who visit here are only stopping on their way to or from Laos (which is just over the border).

Instead of spending the next five days here, milling about town and seeing shops like those in other parts of Thailand, I think I’m going to hop the overnight train to Bangkok and an early-morning bus to Kanchanaburi, clear over on the other side of Thailand near the border with Myanmar (aka Burma). Hopefully they still have sleeping berths available!

After a bit of debate about where to head next, I was enticed into riding the rails to Ubon at the end of the eastern train line. Not only was Lonely Planet hyping its “emerald triangle” status, but local Thai tour industry professionals also advised me it was worth a visit.

I enjoyed my stay in Pak Chong and found the small city to be quite nice to hang out in. It wasn’t too big, and it seemed very well groomed and cared for. It actually reminded me somewhat of a Thai version of small-town America. Even the night market there seemed exceptionally clean and diverse, with a wide range of luscious foods to try and things to buy. But my time had come to get back on the train and keep heading east.

I carefully scrutinised the train schedule to make sure I didn’t end up on another 3rd class-only train, but that is precisely where I ended up for the scheduled 7-hour journey to Ubon Ratchathani. This time the train wasn’t so crowded, but the comfort level was otherwise the same: hard wood bench seating and big open windows.

I managed to find a group of six bench seats to call my own and spread out over, which didn’t make it so bad. It’s nice to be able to gaze out the window without anything obstructing your view. There were endless fields of cassava (manioc, which we learned about in geography class years ago) and rice paddies, although not much rice growing this time of year (the dry season). There were also quite a few mysterious plantations of what appeared to be blue gum trees that reminded me somewhat of Australia. There were quite a few water buffalo wandering the fields and dunking themselves in ponds near the tracks. Occasionally, the train would have to stop until one of them got back on the tracks.

The most frustrating delay came at the Korat train station, where we just sat for 1.5 hours with no explanation. Or, at least, no explanation in English! I could not tell what was going on and couldn’t ask anyone else because I was the only Westerner on board. It was quite frustrating and uncomfortable to bake there in the heat of the day with no breeze, but eventually we got going again. It seemed there was some problem with the engine, which they eventually replaced. Throughout the ordeal, a nonstop barrage of food vendors would walk past the windows, shrieking in your ear as they tried to hawk their snacks and meals in Thai. I just had to point at what I wanted to get fed. They would trace the number of baht required for payment on the palm of their hand to tell me how much it cost.

Eventually, about 2 hours late, we arrived at the distant city of Ubon Ratchathani (or just Ubon, as they seem to like to call it). It was getting late, and I hadn’t eaten a decent meal all day, so I hit the streets after checking into my hotel and mimed my way into some food. Nobody seems to speak English here.