Map of Thailand showing location of Chantaburi I now just want to tell the story of what happened in Chantaburi, Thailand. After just a few days in Bangkok, I wanted to see some of the rest of the country. I went to the Eastern bus station. All the signs were in the Thai language and alphabet, which I could not read. It was nighttime and the bus station ticket sellers were nearing closing time. I looked at the signs. Although I could not read the place names, I could see the prices. Since I wanted to go to some place far away, I picked out the highest priced ticket.
The last bus for there had already left. So, I kept pointing the ticket sellers who spoke no English to the highest prices on the signs I could find for a bus which had not yet left.
Finally, the ticket sellers sold me a ticket. I got on a bus. I had no idea where I was going. I learned what my destination would be when late at night I arrived in the town of Chantaburi, which is in South-Eastern Thailand, near to the border with Cambodia.
I got off the bus and checked into a hotel. The clerk at the hotel desk said: "You must have come here for the carnival". Of course, I knew nothing about the carnival.
I asked how to get there. I got a taxi, which took me to the far end of town, going in the direction of Cambodia. The carnival was very big. Tens of thousands of people were there, a big surprise for such a remote corner of Thailand. There were rides on ferris wheels and the like and all sorts of games to be played. It reminded me of the county fairs that I used to go to when I was a kid in America.
