Ang
Thong province
General
information
Ang
Thong province (จังหวัดอ่างทอง), not to be
confused with the Ang Thong Marine National Park (same spelling in English and
Thai) is a province about 100 km north of Bangkok. My reason to go there was to
visit the giant Buddha statue at Wat Muang (วัดม่วง), the largest Buddha
in Thailand and the largest sitting Buddha in the world (but there are bigger
reclining or standing Buddhas).
There
is a lot of confusion about this subject on the internet. The reclining Buddha
in Wat Po is the third largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. More on Buddha statues here:
The
trip described in the following articles could easily be done as a day trip from
Bangkok, with you own car or by public transport. I chose to do it as two
nights one day because I don’t like to get up early in the morning and to get a
change from Bangkok.
I
recorded all expenses to show how cheaply you can travel in Thailand.
Friday
23.05.2014
From
Sathorn, take bus 74 to Victory Monument (8 Baht, 12:50-13:18). Walk, arrive at
the van station 13:24 and pay 100 Baht (there is no ticket, I asked.) The van
is supposed to leave 2 pm, so I have half an hour to stroll in Fashion mall.
There
is a fortune teller who addresses me. He speaks good English and I have nothing
else to do, so I sit down and let him talk.
“Do
you have a girlfriend?”
“No,
I am single.”
“I
can tell you when you will get married.”
“Thank
you, but I don’t have time now. I am just waiting for my bus.”
“Where
are you going?”
These
questions clearly disqualify him as a fortune teller.
Back
at the van station 13:46. The 2 pm van has left already (but the staff
remembers me and I can take the next van, remember: I paid 100 Baht and didn’t
get a ticket). This time I wait in the van. If you come early, you can hog a
seat in the front. There are three: one for the driver and two for passengers.
I take the left one, is has most space for my legs. The middle seat has little
leg space, I would have to twist my legs. The rear seats are narrower than in
an airplane and the view is poor.
The
ride is 14:13 to 15:43. The van goes on the elevated tollway, no problem with
traffic jam and good view. In Ang Thong van station (just a spot at the road 14.5931939,100.4522262= 14°35'35.5"N 100°27'08.0"E), 5 minutes orientation (GPS and map on
my mobile, read files I downloaded in preparation for this trip), then walk to Ang
Thong hotel (14.5941815,100.4488461 = 14°35'39.0"N 100°26'55.9"E) and
check in at 16:00. Room with fan looks fine and isn’t too warm, 300 Baht per night. From
the 4th floor of the hotel, I can see the head of the Buddha statue (about 8 km
away), and from an open fire exit door I can get on the roof, from where
the statue is clearly visible.
In
front of the hotel is another van station, which has vans to Victory Monument.
One of the staff is a ladyboy and seems interested in me. We immediately
recognize each other as homosexual. I should have ask her/him where in town I
can meet gay boys, or if he/she knows boys he/she can pimp out to me.
Have
dinner (30 Baht) and a brownie (40 Baht) at the market. Walk around in town. There
is a bus station, but no buses arrive or depart there any more (I asked). Walk
past a mocy repair shop with a very cute boy. Someone else in the shop says
hello, so I stop for a chat. Unfortunately, the cute boy isn’t interested in
talking with me. They offer me a ride to Wat Muang on Saturday, but it’s not
clear who will drive.
Continue
stroll through the town. Find a 20 Baht note and a 1 Baht coin. Walk along the
river (Chao Phraya, but not as wide as in Bangkok, with a shore and dam).
Near Wat Ton Son (วัดต้นสน) there is a
group of boys with mocys, one of them says hello and offers me a free ride to
the Wat (just 100 m away). Buildings are closed.
When I am back at the river,
the boys are gone (should have waited there, as this seems to be a meeting spot).
Walk back through fish market. Have never seen that many fish in my life. Buy
drink 27 Baht in 7/11.
Walk
past a food stall opposite the hotel, where some Thai boys are sitting and
eating and drinking. One says hello to, he and another one are cute, so I sit
down. They offer me beer and Gao Lao soup (gao lăo เกาเหลา). I have read
somewhere before that it’s spicy, so I take only a small sample, and indeed it
is too spicy for me. Some leave, then I am left with the two cute ones (Noke โหนก and his younger
brother Nok นก). Beer is
empty, so they ask me if I would buy some more bottles and I agree. Noke takes
me on his mocy to a shop (less than 200 m away, but if Thai boys have mocy,
they want to drive it). Put my arm around his abdomen (slim) and press my face
against his neck (short of kissing his neck), no objections. Three bottles of
Leo, 165 Baht.
Back
at the table, Noke offers me to drive me around on Saturday (his day off work)
and gives me his phone number (but doesn’t ask for mine, so I don’t give it to
him to keep the situation under control: I can call him when I want to, but he
cannot call me. I might go back to the mocy shop and ask the cute boy if he can
be my driver and guide). They order non-spicy Gao Lao soup for me (without
asking me, you can interpret this as hospitality, patronizing or idiocy), 30
Baht. I notice a tattoo on Nok’s ankle and ask about it. Talking about tattoos
is a good way to get Thai boys to show theirs (lift shirts, you can look, take
pictures and even touch). Then Nok produces a small transparent plastic bag
with a tobacco like substance, and they excuse themselves for smoking and ask
me to wait.
While
I am sitting there, groups of Thai boys on mocys drive past, to and fro (I
recognize T-shirts and caps). The faster they drive, the cuter they appear.
Noke
and Nok return. Noke asks me about girlfriend and something about girl and
hotel room. I tell him that I am bisexual and admit that Nok is cute. Noke
insists on bringing me back to my room. In the lift he asks me, if I would like
Nok to stay with me overnight, but Nok rejects this idea.
Back
in my room, I take off my shirt and put it in the wardrobe (together with my
backpack which contains passport and money). I want to take a shower while they
wait in my room, but they say goodbye and leave. I wait half an hour for a
knock on my door, in vain.
22:05
go out again to check how the curfew is observed and to see if there is any
nightlife. Traffic in town is as I would expect it without curfew. Only signs
of curfew are on 7/11 (closed from 22 to 5). The problem with these night walks
is that you have to watch out for dogs. Even in public areas, they bark at me
and sometimes follow me.
I
walk past two Farang in an open restaurant. They say hello to me, so I sit down
for a chat. They teach English in Ang Thong. Prices for rooms and houses to
rent are ridiculously low. There is not much nightlife, and the boys drive on
mocy because they have nothing else to do.
Back
to my room 22:35. Expenses on Friday: 700 Baht.
Saturday
24.05.2014
Call
Noke and ask him to meet me in 20 min, I will have breakfast first. But he is
quicker, when I leave the hotel he is already down on his mocy. Drive to the
market. Breakfast 35 Baht. Spend about one hours driving around town and
visiting various relatives, finally taking Nok with us. He takes me to his local
wat (Wat Tai Yan วัดท้ายย่าน with a large
reclining Buddha, 20 Baht donation). He stays in town, drinking with relatives
(one of them already drunk in the morning) and sends Nok to take me to Wat
Muang (ride 10:28-42). Details see separate post.
Total
of 70 Baht donations at the wat. Leave 11:47 (after some calls from Noke) and
Nok hinting that he would like to return. It’s midday, the sun shines
relentless, so I agree to have a break at Big C. We take Noke's son (about 5
years old) with us, that makes four on a mocy. 73 Baht lunch for me, 100 for
them for Karaoke. Spend about one hour there. Then back to his relatives. I
mention again that I would like to go to Wat Tha It (วัดท่าอิฐ), so we go all
four. Details see separate post.
At
Wat Tha It spend 20 Baht for flowers. Give Nok 50 Baht for petrol. Back in town
3 pm, chatting with relatives. 200 Baht for drinks, 20 Baht for Nok. If I don’t
do something, we would probably spend the rest of the day there (they drinking,
I paying). I tell them I would like to go to Wat Ton Son (either walking or on
mocy) and Nok takes me there. There is a raft in the river where you can feed
fish. Icecream 10 Baht, donation at the wat 20 Baht. There are some boys on
mocy near the wat, but when I return they are gone.
View from the raft to the shore:
Sitting Buddha in Wat Ton Son:
Sit down in a shop nearby,
have a drink 12 Baht. Other boys come, but none of them is cute. Walk back via
market and mocy repair shop. Chat with some of the staff, but the cute boy who
works there shows no interest in me. Dinner at market 40 Baht, walk around,
back to room 8 pm, watch movie on my mobile phone. There is nothing else to do.
Expenses:
972 Baht.
If
you add up the ancillary expenses for the free ride to the wats, you could hire
a driver for that money. So you have to balance the insight into Thai life
gained by socializing with Noke and Nok and their family and friends with the
slight inconvenience of some detours and following their plans instead of mine.
Sunday
25.05.2014
35
Baht breakfast, 100 van (in front of the hotel), get front seat, wait 15
minutes until departure, 9:36-11:34 Victory Monument (near Koh Phaya Thai).
Return is slower because the van doesn’t use the expressway and lets out
passengers on the way between Rangsit to Victory Monument. Bus back home 8
Baht.
Expenses
Sunday: 143 Baht.
Expenses
total: 1815 Baht.
Copyright 2014 ChristianPFC
