Out of the sleepy Isthmus into bustling Bangkok
Releasing a krathung, a floating offering, into the makeshift “river” of my hotel.
Route: Cha-am to Bangkok
Distance: 150km
Time: 3hrs
Thoughts: Towards Bangkok, lanes are divided into different speed limits. To enter Bangkok by bike, set “Avoid tolls” in Google maps, as motorbikes are not allowed on the highways.
I made it out of the Isthmus of Kra after six days of riding and have covered 2000km since I left Singapore. After reading so much about it in school, I finally experienced it first hand many decades later! The words I would use to describe it would be tired, lackluster, uninspiring and dull or more colloquially, “meh”. The entire strip had a very “meh” kinda vibe, scenery, environment and people too. There is a noticeable lack of energy and passion and on my monotonous highway ride, I pondered about why.
In the book Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, he proposed an interesting hypotheses about the orientation of a land by axis, namely east-west and north-south, and how that impacted the pattern of history. According to him, civilisation flourished in Europe and Asia due to an east-west alignment of the land, which meant that the whole area had a similar climate, facilitating the movement of people, animals, crops and trade. In contrast, the Americas had a north-south alignment, which meant that it had different climatic zones, inhibiting movement and trade.
This doesn’t quite apply to the Isthmus of Kra as it is within the same climatic zone but maybe, there is some relevance about the shape of the land. A Thai friend told me that the capital Bangkok siphons all resources out of the Isthmus without reinvesting in the area. People there are seen as poorer, working class citizens to serve the rich, rather than citizens to be taken care of. Taking a more geographical approach alongside Jared Diamond, I wondered if the long, thin strip of the Isthmus land makes it hard to organise resources and set up businesses, thus it was largely ignored by the government. If so, this maybe another one of the examples of our fates being determined by where we are born.
As I headed out of the sleepy Isthmus into the outskirts of Bangkok, people gradually came alive with energy and passion. The difference can be felt quite noticeably while interacting with people at the petrol stations. Traffic got steadily heavier too and I had to actively dodge the cars. My left hand was having a good workout as I had to keep clutching in to change gears. I felt like I was playing a computer game but in real life! The busy traffic was a much welcome change to the dull tedium of the previous stretch.
Bonus that it was the Loy Krathung festival. Everyone was in good spirits when I arrived at my hotel in Bangkok. I joined in the celebrations, closing day six with joy, gratitude and new beginnings as I release a krathung, a floating offering, into the makeshift “river” of my hotel.