Tak. Так. Таиланд. ЮВА 2018

Hitchhiking in Thailand: A Journey of Discovery and Confusion

We have been thumbing our way through Thailand for the last three days, covering 500 kilometers from Chiang Mai to Nakhon Sawan via Tak. Hitchhiking is a foreign concept here, and most Thai people are baffled by our choice of travel. The only way we can explain it is by saying we have “no money” (which is not true), but that only adds to their confusion.

Three years ago, when we hitched from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai, our last driver thought we were in trouble. He assumed we had been robbed or attacked on the road, and he took us to the nearest police station. The policemen looked at us with a mix of curiosity and indifference, and asked us what we wanted. It was getting dark, and all we wanted was a place to sleep. They shrugged and let us go.

When the drivers are not so dramatic, they usually prefer us to sit in the back of their pickup trucks, to avoid any communication (or miscommunication) problems. It also helps to have a sign in Thai. Today, when we were leaving Tak, we wrote a sign in English saying “Nakhon Sawan”. A friendly shopkeeper saw us standing on the side of the road, with no luck getting a ride. He invited us in and made a sign for us in Thai. We got picked up in five minutes after that.

In Tak, we explored the campus of the Technological University. We walked along the lake, surrounded by eucalyptus trees and full of pink lotus flowers. No tourists, no crowds, no attractions - just us and the beauty of nature. That’s how we like to travel, peaceful and slow.