On My Way to Thailand

10 months after I found my ‘Three Weeks for the Price of Two’ offer and I was packing again. I was on my way to Bangkok and Cha-Am. I know that, these days, a trip to Thailand hardly qualifies me for a chapter in “The Illustrated Virago Book of Women Travellers” but it’s still far enough away for me to feel a bit adventurous. Having topped off the three weeks with a three-day extension in Bangkok, I would be away from home for just under a month.

Now you need a considerable amount of clothes for a month’s holiday and, despite my best efforts to plan ahead and not repeat last year’s feeling of panic as departure time approached, I was still packing and unpacking my case as my daughter arrived to take me to the station. (This is one of the good things about getting older – you swap responsibilities with your children and they give you lifts!)

I had to remove a fair quantity of clothes from my suitcase in order to close it – an action which, when done in such a hasty manner can have serious fashion consequences, as I found out later when I unpacked at my hotel.

Still, I made it to the train and arrived in London, where I took advantage of another excellent Saga service, whereby they arrange for a car to meet you and take you in comfort to the airport or your overnight hotel. The next morning, well fed and rested, I managed to drag my bags onto the ‘hopper’ bus and check in for my flight. To my embarrassment, my suitcase was immediately branded with a label marked ‘HEAVY’.

The flight was full but comfortable and fairly on-time. Though why the cabin staff had to change outfits mid-flight in order to serve breakfast remains a mystery. (I had a considerably more comfortable flight than another guest I met later, who had spent her entire flight with her space invaded – both physically and verbally - by a large American gentleman. Aged 68 and widow of several years, she was grilled about her life and asked why she chose to live alone and had never remarried. “Have you looked at many 68 year-old men recently?” she asked him. “That’s why”).

At 6am Thai time, after 11 hours flying, 2 OK meals and 3 of the most dire films to have come out of the cinema recently (a teenage mermaid who comes on land to try to find love and meets the handsome high-school kid…. Please!!) I arrived in Bangkok. Through immigration and customs, the ‘heavy’ case retrieved (by this time, I also have the additional purchases from the Duty Free shop bursting out of my flight bag), I set off to look for the Saga rep.