Skip to main content

The driver who never stopped eating


We took the 3 hour, 45 minute coach ride from Bangkok to Chanthaburi. At an expensive price of £11.34 for 2 tickets. 

Our coach left approximately 30 minutes late from the bus terminal. Which isn't bad for Thailand. However the coach wasn't stuck in Bangkok morning traffic as you'd think. In fact it was already at the terminal parked at the very back out of sight. 

We watched from our waiting room seats as the ladies were furiously cleaning the coach inside. Whilst they were doing some hard grafting, the coach driver walked around without a care in the world (or for the time) in nothing but a towel. He was in absolutely no hurry to get dressed and pick the people up who were eyeballing him. 

When we eventually boarded we were sat right at the front behind the driver. And then the spectacle began as he proceeded to eat throughout the entire journey without taking a breather. He also stopped twice whilst he hopped off for extra food. 

You think he'd opt for easy food that was safe to eat whilst driving a coach. But oh no - he had a whole heap of crap that you had to use both hands for.  Leaving the pressure on his knees to control the steering wheel at high speed. 

He enjoyed many delights during his journey including multiple corn on the cobs, and meat balls wirh pickles that required stabbing with sticks in a bag. 

My favourite was a pudding which looked like jelly pieces in a plastic tub with milk. I watched in awe as he fiddled to get the plastic wrapping and cap off. Then proceeded to bend forward under the wheel to find a spoon before delicately eating and eating two of them with both hands. 

And to top it off, he opened the window, ignoring any car behind him, and threw all the rubbish straight out of the window 😳.  

What a charmer. 




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sri Lanka: the highs and lows of a month long trip

After a month of exploring Sri Lanka, we've packed our bags, ready to head back to the UK. I want to share some of the highs and lows of our adventure. Highlights Cheap : Our British pounds stretched remarkably far and we only  spent a total of  £1440 per person. The breakdown: £750 - Etihad indirect flights (1.5 hour stop off in Abu Dhabi)  £690 - Bed & Breakfast, dinner, all transport (bus, train, taxi), cultural entrance fees, hospital treatment, laundry and grocery shopping.  The People : Incredibly warm and hospitable, very friendly and eager to help. They really enjoyed stopping for a friendly chat on the street, and we felt genuinely welcomed as English tourists. Scenery : The views were breathtaking, particularly the hill country from a train.  Weather : Consistently hot and sunny. To avoid the intense heat, we found it best to travel very early morning.  Lovely Beaches : Beautiful and clean, though the steep drop off and powerful waves made sw...

Big Buddha

This week I visited Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen in Bangkok. The temple dates back to the Ayutthaya period, but a lot of what you see today is newer. The most striking feature is the massive Buddha statue (about 69m tall), completed in 2021, made of bronze and visible from quite far away. There’s also a large stupa (around 80m high) with detailed interiors, glass, green tones, and a central crystal structure. Getting there is easy via the MRT Blue Line or taxi. Definitely worth a visiting if you're exploring the Thonburi side of Bangkok.

Onwards from Sigiriya to Galle

Our journey from Sigiriya to historic Galle was a tale of two trains – one a nostalgic throwback, the other a test of endurance.  We began our day by heading to Habarana train station. H abarana, like many stations in Sri Lanka, felt like stepping back in time.  The ticketing process was entirely manual, with a gentleman appearing just before departure to issue tickets – cash only, of course!  Another employee manually lowered the crossing barrier.  Our previous train journeys in second class had been comfortable, but this 5.5 hour trip to Colombo was a different story. The seats were grimy, and the heat was stifling. We were thankful to finally pull into Colombo, an hour behind schedule, which meant we missed our connection. Luckily, we only had an hour's wait before boarding a new second-class carriage to Galle.  This train was a marked improvement, and we settled in for the final leg of our journey along the coast.  Galle city is a UNESCO heritage site, ...