অপরূপ শ্যামদেশ

Wat Pho on the bank of Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand

পৃথিবীটা হলো একটি বই। যারা বিদেশ ভ্রমণ করে না, তারা শুধুমাত্র একটি অধ্যায় পাঠ করে। মণীষীর এই উক্তি যে বাস্তবসম্মত তা সুস্থ স্বাভাবিক ব্যক্তিমাত্রই স্বীকার করবেন। কারণ, দেশ ভ্রমণ শুধুমাত্র বিনোদন নয় পাশাপাশি মূল্যবান শিক্ষা, জ্ঞান ও অভিজ্ঞতা অর্জনের অপূর্ব সুযোগ। বলাই বাহুল্য দেশ ভ্রমণ করতে হলে পাসপোর্ট ও ভিসা ছাড়াও পর্যাপ্ত অর্থ প্রয়োজন হয়। বিশ্বের উন্নত দেশের মানুষের কাছে বিদেশ ভ্রমণ ডালভাত হলেও অনুন্নত দেশের মানুষের কাছে অনেকটাই বিলাসিতাতুল্য। কখনো কখনো কাজের সুবাদে বা ভাগ্যক্রমে দরিদ্র ও মধ্যবিত্ত কেউ কেউ বিদেশ গমনের সুযোগ পান। আমিও সেই দলের একজন যারা কাজের সুবাদে দেশ ভ্রমণের সুযোগ পেয়েছে। ২০০৯ থেকে ২০২৪ সাল পর্যন্ত থাইল্যাণ্ডে দশবার এবং শ্রীলংকায় একবার (২০১২) অফিসের কাজে যাওয়ার সুযোগ হয়েছে। এছাড়াও ব্যক্তিগতভাবে ২০১২ ও ২০১৮ সালে ভারতের পশ্চিমবঙ্গে বেড়াতে গিয়েছি। বলতে গেলে দক্ষিণ পূর্ব এশিয়ার দেশ থাইল্যাণ্ড আমার জন্য অনেকটা “সেকেন্ড হোম।” বিগত বছরগুলোতে থাইল্যাণ্ডের রাজধানী ব্যাংকক ছাড়াও পর্যটন নগরী পাতায়া ও হুয়া হিন ভ্রমণের সুযোগ হয়েছে। বিভিন্ন সেমিনার ও প্রশিক্ষণ ছাড়াও কিছু ভ্রমণ ছিল বিনোদন ও শিক্ষামূলক।

The Land of Smile

With UCAN Founder Fr. Robert Astorino, MM and five friends from Pakistan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Cambodia and Singapore in front of UCAN House in Bangkok, Thailand

Traveling to new places has always been an exciting experience for me. I had experiences of long distance travel by bus, train, launch, and steamer across the country but never flew in an aircraft as well as abroad before March 2009. Thanks to God at last I had the chance to fulfill my long cherished desire when my employer Union of Catholic Asian News/UCAN invited me to attend one-week Advanced Training at Main Editorial Office in Bangkok, Thailand. What a great joy filled my heart! Just like walking on the moon! Later this year (2009) I traveled to Thailand twice more (May and October) but the first journey will remain evergreen in my memory.

Arranging my passport, visa and ticket in time I flew for Bangkok from Zia International airport in Dhaka on March 22. I had checking in the Immigration and collected Boarding Pass by 1:00 pm and then along with other passengers boarded into Thai Airways airplane (TG 322), for the first time in my life. But Alas! It was not so pleasing at the beginning! The plane stopped unexpectedly after taxing off at 1:40 pm on the way to the runway in Dhaka airport. Except pilots and cabin crews no one in the plane knew what happened.

After half-an-hour the pilot announced that the plane had some complications in its hydraulic wheels and they would fix it shortly and also advised us not be scared because it’s nothing serious. I called my office in Bangkok and Bureau Chief in Bangladesh to let them know the situation and they too advised me not to worry and assured me that even if the flight is delayed there will be someone to pick me up from Bangkok airport.

Later, the plane was toed to the ramp and Thai cabin crews served us meal. It took about six hours to fix the problem and in the mean time all the passengers were asked to get down and to wait in airport lounge. Many of them were worried and seriously doubted that the plane could fly today. I was not scared but a bit worried because my training was supposed to begin with dinner this evening.

At last the plane got ready to fly at 7:30 pm and all the passengers got on board. It was quite a dark summer evening, so when it took off at 7:45 pm I could barely see anything outside except airport lighting and vaguely the city. Soon, the plane flew about 30,000 feet high above the ground and I could only see the dark sky with thousands of stars. I didn’t sleep for a minute because of excitement in two hours five minutes journey to Bangkok. Traveling 974 miles skyline the plane landed at Suvarnabhumi International airport when it was almost 11:00 pm Thai Standard Time.

Bangkok airport is at least five times larger than that of Dhaka. It has two separate floors for International and Domestic arrival and Departure. One can get easily lost in its hundreds of planes and passages if he/she has no knowledge of communications in Thai or English language. It has Tuk Tuk taxi service and Moving Stairs to ease passengers getting to Immigration and Luggage Belt. Soon after finishing formalities I sought for my Thai UCAN colleague but failed to find him. Having no local SIM I couldn’t call and at last took a taxi to reach my office at about 1:00 am.

American Maryknoll Father Robert Astorino (UCAN Founder) led the training up to March 27 for six participants, one each from Bangladesh (I myself), Ayyaz Gulzar (Pakistan), Kagnha Keo (Cambodia), Daniel Tay (Singapore), Priyatno Ardi (Indonesia), and Judit Szelenge (Mongolia). In the mean time once in the evening on March 24 our News Editor Julian Gearing took five of us for a dinner and a movie in city. We went to The Mall Shopping Center, enjoyed delicious pizzas at Pizza Hut and then watched Nicolas Cage starred sci-fi movie ‘Knowing’ at SF Cinema City in the shopping center. The Mall is one of the largest and popular shopping centers in Bangkok. You can buy any daily necessary and luxurious commodities in there.

Bangkok is a huge city full with tourists from all over the world and is recognized as most visited city in Asia. It is famous worldwide for its hospitals, hotels and markets. Tourism is the main industry and largest source of national income for Thailand. Thai people are very humble and cooperative by nature. They are lovely smiling people and ready to extend hands when needed. So, Thailand is often called ‘The Land of Smile’.

Dinner with editor Julian Gearing and friends at The Mall Shopping Center

There are hundreds of luxury hotels, fine hospitals and tourist spots in Bangkok. The city has excellent transport systems with bus, taxi, ground train, metro rail, sky train and waterways. The roads are very nice and there are lots of flyovers in the city. Bangkok Municipality is really wise and deserves praise for utilizing the space with flyovers. Low speed vehicles are not allowed on highways to avoid accidents.

Thailand is a Kingdom and the only country in Asia that was not ruled by European colonists. So, communication in English is a bit problematic for Thai people. Though the country maintains democracy for administrations but the one man every Thai people love and revere in Thailand in the King. He is like the father to them who cares for them so much. Anyone saying bad words against the King can be sent to jail immediately.

The Training concluded with lunch on March 27 and I along with five others drove for Hua Hin sea beach by the evening in Julian’s car. Hua Hin is one of the most beautiful sea beaches in Thailand and most probably the quietest one. It is located about 350 kilometers north from Bangkok. Julian Gearing and his wife Sian Ninara, Judit Szenlge (Mongolia), Ayyaz Gulzar (Pakistan), and Irja Halasz (UCAN Photo Editor) along with her Mongolian dog Mr. Tsaganna (The White) accompanied me during the whole weekend tour.

We paused twice during four hours journey, for gasoline and dinner. We reached Sabai Jai Tourist Lodge at 11:00 pm and ran to the beach which is just one minute walking distance from the lodge. We sat on the sands and later laid down staring at clean sky to see numerous stars. What an amazing experience! I had never been to a beach before, not even in Bangladesh.

With Pakistani friend Ayyaz Gulzar on a boat ride at Hua Hin, Thailand

We rose up late next morning due to spending long time at the beach last night. Taking breakfast we went for sight seeing in the area. At first we bought some bananas to feed the monkeys in the Chopstick Mountain area. There are hundreds of monkeys in the area who gladly accepted our bananas. Then we drove to Khao Samrioyot National Park and visited a small museum cum souvenir shop there. We bought some T-shirts and other clothes as a souvenir. Then we visited an ancient Buddhist Temple.

Boat ride in the nearby canal was another enjoyable moment for us. We hired a boat for 400 Baht (Thai currency) for one hour and enjoyed beauty of Thailand all around the area. Traditional Thai cuisine was the outstanding feature in the lunch. Soon we came back to our lodge and ran to the beach for a bath. In the evening we went to Hua Hin City for shopping and dinner. By 10:00 pm we came back and slept late night spending time on the beach.

On March 29 we went to Khao Golok (Skull Mountain) in another part of the beach. The mountain has human skull shape and is steep on surface. The beach is more beautiful there and lots of Thai tourists gathered to spend weekend there like us. We walked all around, me and Ayyaz tried to climb the mountain and I got my feet hurt with stone. We wrote on the beach sands, made figurines and rested on a fishing boat for a while. Then we hurried back to our lodge and packed up our stuff to go back to Bangkok. On the way back it rained heavily and we reached Bangkok at 11:00 pm. I, Ayyaz and Judit carried our cameras, so we came back with lots of photos and videos from Hua Hin.

Three of my friends went back home earlier and we three stayed a bit more time in Bangkok city. I went for shopping at Tesco Lotus and 7-Eleven, two popular super stores found all over Thailand. On March 31 I flew back for Bangladesh with lots of new and amazing experiences about Thailand. It was ever first opportunity for me to get on plane and flying abroad. Thailand is really a fascinating and hospitable country for tourists from all over the world.

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