Guenmai is an international figure, unbound by mere geopolitical norms.

Kat-how did you learn of the Tiger Temple volunteer opportunity?

Snuffle_kat...As for the driver, when you exit the baggage claim area, there is a car service desk unless they have moved it. It's called AOT. You can ask them and try to arrange something with them. You'll have to bargain. I needed a car from the airport to my apartment building in Bangkok and they wanted to charge 1200 baht. A taxi costs 300 baht, but I had a bad knee injury and was in a lot of pain so I needed a private car right away. I told them I could get a taxi for 300 baht, so then their price suddenly dropped to 900 baht for a private car. You have to bargain.

You could also try to contact the service that Kathie mentioned. At least now you have an approximate price of 2400 baht so you can bargain from that price point.About everything is to bargain for in Thailand. If you keep in contact with me, I have a driver that I use and he's supposed to be buying a new car soon if he hasn't already bought one. I had him in Dec 2006/Jan 2007 to get me around with the bad knee although I mostly took the skytrain. I'll be in Bangkok next month for a week. So, I can try to get a hold of him and ask him if he could drive you either from the airport or from a hotel if you overnight in Bangkok. It's always good to have a Plan B and C in Thailand. He's very nice and dependable and speaks quite good English.

As for the Danish, I vacationed in Denmark almost every summer for 20-plus years during the 70s/80/90s. Although I didn't have to learn Danish since many speak English, I got up every morning, summer after summer, and went to school to learn it. Then I did a university degree in it. I haven't really used the language in decades and spelling is slipping my mind, but the language is still there and pops up from time to time and I still occasionally dream in Danish. I'm not Danish although a few years ago, my father called and said that he'd been contacted by a lawyer who was fighting a family land case of ours and that the real spelling of our family name isn't how we've been spelling it fo over a century. We've been using the French spelling as some of our family migrated from France to the States long ago. So, I wrote down the real spelling and my Danish sister...not by blood...was visiting me here for the first time a few years ago and while on a little day trip up to Solvang, Ca, I went into the shop that researches names and found out from their computer search that my last name...the original spelling... is an old form of a modern Danish last name. My Danish sister was jumping up and down and hugging me and saying that maybe we ARE blood related. She was so excited. What a small world. And I had been in that store before with the spelling of my last name that we've always used and in the one million listing of names, it wasn't in the book. Smiles. Happy Travels!

Hi Gpanda,

I found out about it from their webside under HOW CAN YOU HELP
http://www.tigertemple.org/Eng/
I first saw the program on animal planet and after that found it on the internet.
I just really hope that they can accept me as a volunter!!Its my biggest dream to be able to be near tigers...and to actually be able to kiss them on their big heads Otherwise I must travel to se them as a turist...and spend my whole holiday there!

cheers

kat

Hi Guenmai,

hvordan har du det? tak for dit svar og din hjælp!
I would aprecciate to have a plan B and C when I come to Bangkok. So I would like the information for the driver please. But I really dont know when I will be making this trip yet, I just know that it going to happen one way or another and its always good to be prepared for everything. Especially if you are like me and worry about everything that goes wrong!
Its a funny story about your name. So your father married a danish woman, and thats why you vaccationed in Denmark for so many years? Its not like Denmark was a very tropical and ecxitting place to spend every summer But very unsual to learn the danish language if you dont really have a use for it if evrybody speaks english. We can always have some small practise mails in danish if you want to;-)
Du kan jo bare skrive til mig på min email!!Det ville vaere hyggeligt at skrive noget mere sammen. Hope you have your dictionary with you at work now.

Personally I think that the 2400 batt the car service is asking for to drive one all the way to Kanchanabury is quiet cheep after danish standards. Its around 400 kroner and it costs me over 100 kroner just to take a taxi home and it only has to drive for 1 km!!So I do strongly lean to a car ride all the way to the temple.

Take care and have a good day at work.

cheers

kat

Kat...My father did not marry a Danish woman. He has only been married once...to my mother. I call my Danish friend my Danish "sister" because we are so close. We've known each other and our families have known each other since the early 70s...so she's like a sister to me and she always refers to me as her sister. I lived with her and her family for two summers before I moved on to rent a room in a kollegium for my summer stays.

Yes... og det ville vaere meget hyggeligt at skrive til hinanden. Jeg er i Bangkok naeste maned og ogsaa i Dec/Jan. En amerikaniske ven ,der har boede 41 aar i Kobenhavn, kommer paa besog hos mig i Bangkok. Han ankommer til Bangkok omkring Dec 13 og bliver der i tre uger. Jeg bliver ogsaa i Bangkok i tre uger. Vennen skal bo paa hotelet. Men vi skal ud i byen sammen.
I've got to go now. My driver info is at home. I'll first try to find out next month if the driver is still driving. Things change a lot in Thailand. As for writing me in Danish, no problem. I read it just fine...my spelling can get a bit rusty. My Danish sister writes to me in 100% Danish and I answer in English when we are too busy to write in our second language. Ha' det godt! Happy Travels!

Correction...hjulpet...not hjaelpet....now I get to do typo corrections in languages other than my first language. How fun...Smiles...Happy Travels!

Hi Guenmai,

sorry about the sister/father mistake. I just asumed that when you were not sisters by blood that it would be halfsisters. Thats nice to have such a close relationship with another person that you consider them family.
Det lyder rigtig hyggeligt at du faar besoeg af din ven i Bangkok.Er det paa grund af dit arbejde at du er så tit i Thailand eller er det bare en stor kaerlighed til landet der goer at du rejser der til saa ofte??
Hvad skete der med dit knae i december og har du det bedre nu? Har du vaeret ude og besoege tiger templet?? Skriv endelig til min mailadresse, saa er der ikke andre der kan laese hvad vi skriver

Bor du i Californien?

Hav en god eftermiddag.

danske knus

Kat

My visits to Thailand are not work related. They are purely for vacation and yes, it's because of my love for the country/people that I go there so often. But, I also have that kind of connection to Denmark...even a stronger one, but the weather in Denmark limits me to only being able to travel there during certain months. I detest really cold weather and tons of rain. I'm from Los Angeles County...kommune...I don't have to worry about weather here or when I go to Thailand.It's generally very good.

To answer your other question...as for the knee situation...that's kind of a long story, but it's better now although it flares up from time to time.

As for the Tiger Temple...no, I haven't been there. I'm not THAT into animals...so I can't imagine being near tigers. Sounds kind of scary. Smiles.

And, I have written down your e-mail address and will keep in touch from time to time. I'll check out my driver when I go to BK at the end of next month and ask him if he drives there and if so what he charges.

By the way are you from Kobenhavn? Happy Travels!

Wintersm...I just read your message. How funny. It's been a while since I've had to write in Danish. I used to have to write all of my Danish-subject papers in Danish back in my university days, but that was decades ago, so that's why I wrote in above, in Danish, to excuse me if I had mispelled something because I'm not at home where my dictionaries are to look up a few words. There are a lot of silent letters in Danish which can make the spelling a bit difficult unless one is writing the language regularly. Happy Travels!

Guen - I'm glad that's cleared up! I just thought I should check the propiety of this board since the Hawaiian posts got erased!!!

Actually, I did have my son read the lst post (kinda mundane after the other 'foreign word' posts!) but couldn't keep his attention when they got longer. He lived in Kobehaven for 4-5 years and still uses his Danish and Swedish.

Well - you impressed me! I'm always impressed by those who actually can converse in more than one language.

I once had a Swedish exchange student and she and my son would switch to Swedish when they wanted to 'talk behind my back'! And it worked - cause I couldn't learn Swedish in a hurry!

Liz-I loved your photos.The food pictures made me drool. We have Tong reserved in October for 2 days and it looks like we will throughly enjoy ourselves-Chris

Hi Guenmai,

hvordan har du det??Håber alt er vel. Jeg har haft travlt med at finde ud af hvad jeg skal mht Bangkok. Jeg tror jeg beslutter mig i første omgang at rejse på en ferie til Bangkok og besøge Tiger Templet nogle gange under mit ophold der. Jeg tror ikke jeg kan oversgue at skulle arbejde som frivillig i tre uger lige nu, fordi jeg har meget dårlig ryg som jeg skal træne op. Men jeg prøver at hyre Tong i de 7 dage jeg planlægger at være i Bangkok, fordi jeg tører ikke at rejse alene rundt der.

Dú skal snart afsted. Du må glæde dig rigtig meget. Jeg rejser selv hjem til mit fædreland Grækenland på fredag og skal være på Rhodos i tre uger og besøge min mor og far.

Håber at du har det godt.

knus

Karina

You absolutely DO NOT need to hire Tong for 7 days. I can't even imagine being in a hired car for 7 days. Part of the fun in Bangkok is roaming around. I travel alone and roam around the world all the time. I've been out and about since I was 17...over 3 decades. I think you're worrying too much about things. Bangkok is a great roaming city. Why pay on the clock for a hired car especially when you're out shopping or eating when you can get from place on the skytrain faster than you could if you took the s-tog in Kobenhavn. Order a Nancy Chandler map of Bangkok...nancychandler.net...and start studying the map and read the little booklet that comes with the map of places of where to shop, eat,etc.

When do you plan to be in Bangkok? If you're there mid-Dec/ early-Jan,then my Amercian friend who lives in Danmark and I will be there and now possibly two of my best male friends from here.

As for the skytrain, we are SO lucky to have the skytrain now in Bangkok.It hasn't been around for that long and when I first went to Bangkok in the 90s I walked a lot of places in the heat since traffic was in gridlock. So take advantage of it. Get a good guidebook, your Nancy chandler map and write up some plans before you go.

And yes, I think it best that you just plan a vacation first and then drop by the Tiger Temple to check it out, but not volunteer right now and especially with your back situation. I've got to go. Have fun in Greece. Take care. Happy Travels!

English correction..."from place to place". And in Danish what does "mht" stand for? Happy Travels!