As December came back around, it was time for another (my second) Amazing Thailand Marathon 2024. Last year’s was my first marathon, so I wanted to do it again this year.
Getting There
Getting there was the worst part. I made the mistake of taking a Grab and due to extensive road closures, got dropped off 5km away from the start line. With the clock ticking, I started running towards the venue. On the way, I came across a shuttle bus which was ferrying people who had abandoned the 42k/21k and hopped on it. However, soon, its way was blocked by runners and I spent 20 mins in it while it was sitting stationary while 2 women fainted.
Eventually, I got back off and ran the rest of the way to the starting line & reached just on time.
The race
This race was special, because Eliud Kipchoge was running with us (yes, in the 10k).
They put me in Block D at the back (1h45m finish) and it was agonising trying to outrun the slow pokes and move ahead. The first 2 splits were spent trying to find openings to overtake them. After that it was much easier to run freely.
The weather was cool enough to be comfortable. The route was pretty scenic, passing next to some of the most well-known and beautiful landmarks of old Bangkok.
Scenic route of Amazing Thailand Marathon Bangkok 2024
I was surprised to catch-up to Kipchoge (and the queen), around the 5th split and it was exhilarating passing them. It was nice to see that instead of showing-off and leaving everyone in the dust, he took it slow and let many people pass him. He certainly inspired me and hopefully thousands of others to push harder.
Unlike other 10ks, I did quite well, relatively, in the second half (buoyed by the presence of Kipchoge) and for the first time in my life, finished a 10k below 60 mins.
Unlike the more popular beaches near Bangkok, Chaosamran beach is on the eastern coast of Thailand, just short of Cha Am and Hua Hin.
I left on a monday morning, so getting out of Bangkok was painful, with many traffic hot spots. Once out of the metropolitan area, I found the highway quite similar to Pattaya and Ayutthaya. Not very pleasant to ride a motorcycle on.
Having already crossed the running-in period, I opened the throttle a few times and touched 120 kmph at a few spots.
Thankfully, the weather has cooled down by some amount, so the ride was comfortable.
Highway 35 to Phetchaburi ProvinceBang Chak station, Samut Songhkhram
Once in Phetchaburi province, off the main highway, the roads were surrounded by lush green fields and I enjoyed the ride more at a sedate 80 kmph.
Lush fields at Phetchaburi Rural Road
The beach, itself was almost empty of both tourists and vendors. It was quite peaceful to sit on the sea wall with my legs hanging over the ledge (Reminded me of our Futala lake jaunts).
Meteor 350 at Chaosamran beachMeteor 350 at Chaosamran beach
However, the sun was still quite strong, so my skin started burning soon, so I left for a nice coffee and snacks at this cafe.
Chicken & Mushroom Pie, Espresso Frappuccino
Soon, leaving the comfort of the air conditioning, I started my trip back home. I did most of the return trip between 110-120 kmph and reached home under 2 hours.
Continuing my series, this is my latest road trip, to Prachinburi province.
Since I installed the CarPlay unit on my motorcycle, I had been eager to test it out on a day trip. The opportunity presented itself last Monday, when I just couldn’t bring myself to go to work. I took the day off and headed out on the highway towards Prachinburi province.
I left around 7:30 in the morning and immediately got caught up in morning rush hour traffic. Excruciatingly made my way out of Bangkok and was rewarded with beautiful tree-lined 2 lane roads similar to Nakhon Nayok.
Highway 3481 from Bangkok to Prachinburi
The route follows the Bang Pakong river for much of the way and is dotted with ponds and lakes on both sides.
Next to a lake on highway 3481
Khao Ito Waterfall
The approach road to the waterfall turns into a hilly forest-like area and is eerily quiet.
Approach road to Khao I To waterfall
The waterfall itself is not touristy at all and has absolutely no facilities. On the brighter side, there are no entrance fees or parking fees.
At Khao I To waterfall
There was a lone man at the waterfall, washing his clothes. And a few friendly dogs.
Man washing clothes at Khao I To waterfall
I spent around 30 minutes enjoying the peace and quiet and the washing of clothes) before I headed back.
Khao I To waterfall, Prachinburi
I had a nice coffee here and then headed back home. Also, on the way back, my motorcycle crossed 2000km and officially finished its running in period, so I opened the throttle. I kept my speed between 90 kmph and 110 kmph and reached before the expected time.
Since this was the first day trip with the new CarPlay unit, I present an addendum to this post on how it performed.
The POI data on Apple Maps has improved vastly over the last few years. Still, I found myself double checking with Google Maps before leaving.
Apple Maps/Google maps with “Toll Roads” and “Motorways” turned off provide almost the same directions in Thailand as Google Maps motorcycle navigation.
With navigation, Wireless CarPlay, musicstreaming & location sharing, the battery drained (while connected to the motorcycle USB port) from
94% to 81% over 2.5 hours on the way to Prachinburi
71% to 58% over 2 hours on the way back
Approx 5% battery drain per hour – Not ideal, but not too bad.
When I reached my destination, the phone had an overheating message, but I didn’t notice anything different on the CarPlay unit
iPhone overheated
Apple Maps is much more beautiful to look at, with 3D structures on the map. Also, I really liked how the app switches to 2D and zooms in just before a turn. Also, I found the colours & graphics better than Google Maps.
Apple Maps with 3D buildings on CarPlay
You have to make a conscious effort to not look at the display too long and focus on the road instead. Also, it is incredibly distracting using the touch screen while riding; I suggest stopping before using it.
While connected to CarPay, Apple Music sends the audio to the CarPlay unit, not the AirPods. It can be overridden from the phone, but not from the unit itself. This means you can start music only from the phone, but can control it from the CarPlay unit later.
An easy workaround to this is to connect your bluetooth headset to the CarPlay unit, not to the phone.
There was an instance while coming back when the phone refused to connect to the CarPlay unit. I restarted the CarPlay unit, which didn’t do anything. Then I restarted the phone and it connected fine. I have seen this before with cars, too, so I blame the phone.
Apple CarPlay Error
With festivals coming up, there may not be too many solo trips for the next few weeks.
Continuing my series, this is my latest road trip, to River Khwae Bridge, in Kanchanaburi province.
The Bridge Over the River Kwai
The Bridge over the River Kwai is part of the infamous Death Railway that was constructed during World War II.
The bridge was built by the Japanese to support their military campaigns. Over 60,000 Allied prisoners of war and 200,000 Asian laborers were forced into backbreaking labor under brutal conditions to build this railway. The construction resulted in an enormous loss of life, earning the railway its grim nickname.
The bridge itself became an iconic part of this story, tragically immortalized in the 1957 film “The Bridge on the River Kwai” which brought international attention to the horrifying conditions endured by the workers.
This trp was not planned in advance. However, I couldn’t sleep well the night before and after wasting many hours doing nothing, I decided to make a day trip out of it.
I left at 7 in the morning and didn’t encounter much traffic leaving Bangkok. The highway 338 to Kanchanaburi wasn’t as intimidating as Pattaya or Ayuthaya. In fact, it felt like most Indian highways.
Meteor 350 on Highway 338 from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi
Things got better through the trip, the roads within Kanchanaburi criss-crossing small villages with ponds around them.
Meteor 350 near a village pond
I stopped only once on my way there and it took me 2.5 hours to cover the 170km distance.
At the bridge itself, there were not too many tourists, just one Japanese group.
River Khwae Bridge, Kanchanaburi
River Khwae from the bridge, Kanchanaburi
After pending some time at the bridge, I went to the Starbucks at TMK Park, Kanchanaburi for a snack and a coffee.
A funny train at Kanchanaburi
Espresso Frappuccino & Chicken and Mushroom PieMeteor 350 at TMK Park, Kanchanaburi
Fun Return Trip
The return trip was much more adventurous. First I did what I always do and accidentally entered a motorway; requiring me to back-track for many kilometres. When I did get on the right route, it started raining heavily, and I had to stop. I started again when the rain stopped, but it started raining again and I had to stop for the second time.
First Rain Stop at KanchanaburiSecond Rain Stop at Kanchanaburi
After waiting for a while, I realised that if I keep stopping like this, I won’t get home, so I powered through the rain. It was exhilarating riding at 80 kmph on a 2 lane road during heavy rain.
Soon, the rain stopped and the sun came out in full force, burning my skin because the rain had washed away the sun block. I went through 2 such cycles of wet-dry, but my shoes and socks remained wet throughout.
Eventually, I reached Bangkok via Chinatown, completely filthy and was glad to take a shower.
This was one of the best road trip I ever had and I look forward to doing it again in the future.
Continuing my series, this is a recent road trip, to Ayuthaya. I did this trip because Wanderlust suddenly struck me, but it was too late in the day to go any further.
Ayuthaya: A Glimpse into History
Founded in 1350, it served as the second Siamese capital after Sukhothai. The city flourished as a major trading post and diplomatic hub, connecting the East and West through maritime routes. Its strategic location along the Chao Phraya River made it an essential nexus for international commerce. By the end of the 17th century, Ayuthaya had become one of the world’s largest urban areas and cosmopolitan centers.
Ayuthaya is famous for its impressive ruins of temples, monasteries, and statues of immense historical and cultural value. The cityscape is dotted with towering prangs (reliquary towers) and stupas that are quintessential to Thai architecture.
I had been here before, but I wanted to make the short trip on motorcycle.
I left after a heavy lunch, around noon. The initial route within the city was same as Nakhon Nayok, once out of the city, it was similar to the highway to Pattaya. I was always a bit stressed that I would unknowingly stray on to the motorway where motorcycles are not allowed.
Meteor 350 on the highway from Bangkok to Ayuthaya
The highway was dotted with big factories each giving off a different smell, some really pungent. All concrete, no greenery to speak of.
One thing I noticed during this trip that the Sump Guard which I had installed recently is reflecting more engine noise towards me. I am not exactly sure whether I would keep it or get rid of it.
Sump Guard on Royal Enfield Meteor 350
I did the entire trip in one go. At Ayuthaya, I just drove around the city aimlessly without stopping.
Meteor 350 near a Stupa at Ayuthaya
On the way back, I ran into some drizzle, so stopped at a Gas station for a few minutes. Luckily it was over soon and I returned home on time.
Continuing my series, below are some motorcycle rides I generally do within Bangkok. These are when I only have a few hours, but still need to fulfil my wanderlust. What better way than to explore the city I have been living in for more than 3 years, but have hardly explored?
This is probably my favourite ride (Till now). I cross the Asok intersection to Ratchadaphisek Road and take the flyovers to Rama 3 road. I take the scenic section next to the river past Terminal 21. Past it, I cross the river on the Krungthep bridge, parallel to Rama III bridge, turn north and then back east crossing the river for the second time over the much bigger King Taksin the great bridge. Then cross Sathorn, Lumpini Park and back home.
This is a slightly longer ride I do when I want to grab a coffee and also do a ride. I take new Phetchaburi Road, then turn on to Srinagarindra Road where I follow the Yellow Line Monorail, till I reach Bang na-Trat road and turn left.
Meteor 350 on Srinagarindra Road
I generally go to this Starbucks on the highway, have a coffee and make a loop around the airport and come back via a different route.
Continuing my series, this is my latest road trip, to some scenic places in Nakhon Nayok province. The province of Nakhon Nayok is dotted with beautiful places, with more than 10 waterfalls. Covering all of them will take multiple trips, so I decided to do 2 places in this first trip:
This time, I used the lessons learnt from my previous road trip and did not have to stop many times.
It had rained the entire day and night before my trip, so I was a bit apprehensive about getting stuck in rain. Once again, I stated my journey on rain-soaked streets with BBC World Service in my ears.
Unlike Pattaya, heading out of Bangkok was a breeze. There was hardly any traffic and within 30 minutes, I was on the 6-lane highway 305 to Nakhon Nayok.
Highway 305 to Nakhon Nayok
Unlike the motorway to Pattaya, highway 305 is much more biker friendly and much less scary. In fact, after 50kms or so, it turns into a 4-line winding road running parallel to a Khlong. The entire route smelled of rain-soaked vegetation which I loved. Reminded me of early morning bicycle rides in Durgapur.
Highway 305 to Nakhon Nayok Adjacent to a Khlong
There are quaint little bridges all over the Khlong for people to cross.
On a bridge over Baan Khlong Malong
My motorcycle is on its second phase of running in, so I rode at a base speed of 70kmph with bursts up to 80kmph.
Wang Ta Krai National Park
First stop was Wang Ta Krai National park with a waterfall of the same name. You can ride your motorcycle a bit into the park.
Premises of Wang Ta Krai national park
I was surprised to see that cars, on the other hand, could go all the way in. Perhaps it is because of the horrible noise that Thai scooters make.
The waterfall is not very impressive; is a series of small falls over a long distance. Next to the gentle stream, you can see people picnicking.
Stream in Wang Ta Krai national ParkWang Ta Krai national parkStream in Wang Ta Krai national ParkPeople wading in the waters of Wang Ta Krai waterfallWang Ta Krai national Park
I spent an hour there and then moved on to my next stop.
Khun Dan Prakarn Chon Dam
The dam is only a short distance away and the last few kms are winding hilly roads which I loved to navigate. The dam itself is quite imposing.
Khun Dan Prakarn Chon Dam
I was happy to see some fauna there.
A pet dog at Khun Dan Prakarn Chon DamSoi dogs at Khun Dan Prakarn Chon Dam
After the dam, I went for a coffee to Nong Coffee, a modern cafe nearby.
Iced Espresso at Nong CafeNong Cafe
The trip back was as fun; I stopped only once for a bio-break. Also, unlike the last trip (where I couldn’t wait to get back, this time I was a bit sad as the distance to home wound down to zero.
I couldn’t end 2023 without another iPad debacle. I already went through how I bought an iPad Pro 12.9 and iPad Pro 11 back in 2022. After the 2022 debacle, I ended up without an iPad, but reasonably satisfied. Then 2023 came around and things went wrong.
As part of my New Years’ resolution, I started reading again. The only problem was, English books are very expensive in Thailand. On top of that, English Indian books are very hard to find. To solve this problem, I bought a Kindle. All was good for a few months, till I felt like I wanted to read comic books & magazines. Of course you cannot do that on a kindle. So what does one do?
One day while walking through the mall, I saw a good deal on an iPad Air (5th Gen) & bought it. Things were OK for a while, I read both books and magazines on it, no problem. However, the poorly storage space (64Gb) and the 60Hz screen started nagging me. Especially when I switched from using my iPhone to the iPad, it felt really bad. I decided that it won’t do. My daughter’s 4 year old iPad was acting up, so I gave her my Air and started looking around.
iPad Pro 11 (4th Gen) 512Gb
The iPad Pro 11 was seemingly perfect. It addressed the storage and display refresh rate limitations of the Air. Weeks went by, with me oblivious to what’s coming next. And then I made a mistake of checking out iPads at the mall. Once I compared the iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 displays, it was game over for this iPad, too.
I hadn’t done my homework before buying this iPad. If I had, I would know that the iPad Pro 11 had a regular LCD screen which goes up to 600 nits. The iPad Pro 12.9 on the other hand, has a Mini LED display and the difference is mind blowing. The contrast and brightness were incomparable. And once I saw this, I couldn’t go back to the iPad Pro 11. It was outside the return window, so I sold it on Facebook Marketplace at a slight loss. I was lucky I got such a good deal.
iPad Pro 12.9 (6th Gen) 512Gb
The next logical step was to buy the iPad Pro 12.9. I chose to forget what happened last time and bought one from the Apple Store. The good news was, I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. I even went a long way towards getting used to its huge size and weight. Then I saw a deal on Studio 7 and I returned the iPad to Apple (The process took less than 10 mins).
iPad Pro 12.9 (5th Gen) 512Gb
The deal I saw was for an iPad Pro 12.9 (5th Gen) for less than what I paid for the last one. The kicker is, this was a 2Tb model. I couldn’t ever use the 2Tb, but the 1Tb/2Tb models do come with 16Gb RAM, too and appealed to me no end. I ended up saving money with the last transition, but didn’t lose much because the 5th Gen to 6th Gen upgrade was minor at best. I had second thoughts after buying this one, too and even contacted customer care to return it, but eventually slapped myself hard twice and stopped it. But after the holidays came and went and it didn’t even ship, I cancelled the order.
iPad Pro 12.9 (6th Gen) 512Gb
Eventually, I gave up and went back to the Apple Store and bought the same iPad I bought before the last one, but this time in Silver colour.
Analysis
After the dust settled, I tried to think about why this happens to me and why specifically only with iPads. Why did I go through 7 iPads in a span of 10 months? My iPhone is more than a year old and I felt no yearning to upgrade when the iPhone 15 Pro came out. My AirPods Pro lasted 4 years before I had to change them because they died. My Apple Watch is 2 generations old and the last one lasted 4 generations. I have never wanted a Mac or a MacBook. This literally doesn’t happen to me for anything except the iPad.
Eventually, I realised it is because I am looking for a single device to do all of the below
One thing I noticed when I moved to Thailand, was the ever-present logo of Pornhub everywhere. Mostly in the form of stickers, affixed to motorcycles, cars & even backpacks. I assumed people just liked it and didn’t think too much of it.
Pornhub logo sticker on the back of a scooter
Last weekend while travelling in BTS, I saw the logo, of all places, on a kid’s T-Shirt.
Child wearing T-Shirt with Pornhub & Durex logosChild wearing T-Shirt with Pornhub logo
On the other arm, the kid has a Durex logo and in the front the logo of the beer Chang. I really didn’t understand why anyone would dress up their kid like this, so I started digging around on the interwebs.
However, considering how people are dressing up their kids in this and how “porn” is a popular syllable in last names here, I am pretty sure most Thais don’t even know what that website is and what they are endorsing.
Not much unlike the presence of Nazi insignia everywhere in the country.
In Thailand, I see EV everywhere. I had even been on a few EV Taxis. But, before, this, I had never driven an EV before, in Thailand or elsewhere. My association with EVs started and ended with this article I researched 14 years ago.
This week, we had many holidays, so we decided to take a day-trip to a nearby beach. Opening the car rental app, I was surprised to see that the cheapest car for that day was an EV. Normally I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but the deal was too good to pass up. So I went ahead and booked it, an Ora Good Cat.
The first few hours after booking were a bit stressful. I had never driven an EV before, much less a rental. So I started researching everything about how to drive an EV in Thailand.
First, I made a list of EV charging providers in Thailand.
The below providers do not allow expats to register at all, because a Thai ID number and verification is necessary.
Using this information, I was able to locate charging stations near the beach, on the highway while coming back and near the rental agency to charge it before returning.
Having completed my research, now it was time to finally drive an EV in Thailand!
The Car
The first impression of the car is that it is actually much bigger than it looks. It is the size of a Suzuki Swift or Hyundai i20. The rental came fully loaded – Apple Wireless CarPlay, wireless charging, Sunroof, partial autonomous driving assist.
Ora Good Cat Front Console
The CarPlay display is big (and wide). Apple Maps can even detect that the car is an EV and overlays EV charging stations all over the map. Apparently it can even take range information from the car and warn you if you are too far from the nearest charging station, but I didn’t dare test that out.
CarPlay on Ora Good Cat
Apple Maps showing EV charging stations
Anyways, this is not a car review, so I will now focus on the EV aspects of the drive.
The Drive
The first thing that comes to mind when driving an EV for the first time is – power. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced. I had driven high-end ICE cars and this low-end EV blows them out of the water. The torque is instantaneous, linear and never-ending. If the cheapest EV feels like this, what do the premium EVs feel like?
Overtaking on highways is a breeze. Just a tap of the accelerator and the car races ahead, pushing you back in its seats. I pushed the car up to 180kmph and it still felt like it had more torque left.
However, all this was marred by range anxiety. I couldn’t help but notice the range indicator all the way to the beach, counting down kms as we drove. Am sure seasoned EV drivers have trained themselves to not notice these things too much, but it was always on my mind. I even felt guilty playing music – will it discharge the battery even faster? The biggest power draw (after driving), though, is the AC. It easily takes away 20-30% of the promised range.
While on the way to the beach, we stopped at a gas station to pick up some coffee. There was an EV charger there so I decided to top up for 10 minutes. Unfortunately the charger was out of service. Bad sign.
Charging
We reached the beach exhausting 60% battery with 40% left. I immediately went to the charging station I had decided on in advance. Fortunately, there was an empty slot. Charging the car was easy. I had already downloaded the EA Anywhere app and a quick scan of the QR code opened up the door on the side with the charging cable. The app guided me through the rest of the process and I was up charging in no time.
EA Anywhere charging progressEA Anywhere charging summary
This was a 40KW DC charger so I went from 40% to 95% in less than an hour. There are faster DC chargers available as well (I couldn’t find one near the beach) but most other chargers are AC and much slower.
Ora Good Cat charging
Technically I could have left my car to charge and gone to the beach (the app would have notified me when charging was finished), but I was afraid someone would disconnect the charger so I hung around. Later I found out the charger gets locked while charging and cannot be removed without stopping manually from the app. There’s also an overtime fee if you don’t disconnect the charger within 5 minutes of finishing charging.
Fast charging an EV is a dramatic affair. The EV’s cooling system is on full blast, the charger is blowing wind like a hurricane. An MG4 in the next bay overheated twice and stopped charging.
While returning, I was more frugal with performance and drove steadily at 90. I needed to return the car with at least 40% charge, so I was a little anxious, still. I even switched off the AC for the last few kms when the charge dropped below 50%. Luckily, I was able to return the car with 46% battery left.
Overall, driving an EV was both fun and stressful. I have never driven anything quite like it. However, the stress is too much for someone like me who already suffers from anxiety. But I am sure the second time will be easier than the first.
