Green Bus To Mae Sai

[Bananaman]

Does anybody on the Green Bus to Mae Sai ever watch the movie they show? Seems like a complete waste of time to me as most folk are sleeping (or at least trying but struggling over noise of the soundtrack). If they bothered to take note, frequently more than half of the people on the bus are farang and yet they still show Hollywood movies that have been dubbed into Thai and certainly ALL of the Thais are asleep. The worst is when you take the bus back the same day and just as you've closed your eyes they decide to whack on some action movie where guns and explosions are going off every other minute.....arrggghhhhh!

[mcgriffith]

Does anybody on the Green Bus to Mae Sai ever watch the movie they show? Seems like a complete waste of time to me as most folk are sleeping (or at least trying but struggling over noise of the soundtrack). If they bothered to take note, frequently more than half of the people on the bus are farang and yet they still show Hollywood movies that have been dubbed into Thai and certainly ALL of the Thais are asleep. The worst is when you take the bus back the same day and just as you've closed your eyes they decide to whack on some action movie where guns and explosions are going off every other minute.....arrggghhhhh!

Foam rubber ear plugs, the industrial-strength type. They sell them at Boots.

Eye shades, the kind they give you on airline flights. At the Old Rimping, in the back of the clothing store section, there was a lady with a huge assortment of JAL eyeshades, new still in plastic wrapper. Don't know where she is now...

[Ajarn]

I think you're mad cuz you can't get any sleep like the Thais can...

Such is life here.

[realthaideal]

I feel your pain..... but c'est la vie here. Or mai pen lai. However you wanna put it. Earplugs, or maybe xanax. I chalk it up to how a visa run feels - never enough sleep the night b4, not well fed, not sure where to go to the can, bus too cold, outside too hot, by the time you get home that night you feel beat up and a little queasy from the mtn curves. All in a day's visa run. Gotta love it.

Best visa runs I have are when I go half way to Chiang Rai the night b4 or stop there on the return rather than doing the marathon up n down in one day. I stay at a guesthouse not many farang know about, but great rooms and restaurant bar too. it's only like 500 B and close to the CR night bazaar, it's called Saban Nga which is some kind of Thai Flower. Hard for a Farang to remember but well worth it for a night's ease of journey. The food is creative modern Thai but not expensive. Many a good meal and a few too many whiskeys there insuring I still wind up back home a little out of my element, but satisfied.

[chownah]

I watched the Noo Hin movie the last time I took a long bus ride....I didn't understand much of the dialogue but it was GREAT!!! Other than that I agree with the op that the movies are a drag and the earplugs are great advise...I never get on a bus without them.

Chownah

[Blinky Bill]

Does anybody on the Green Bus to Mae Sai ever watch the movie they show? Seems like a complete waste of time to me as most folk are sleeping (or at least trying but struggling over noise of the soundtrack). If they bothered to take note, frequently more than half of the people on the bus are farang and yet they still show Hollywood movies that have been dubbed into Thai and certainly ALL of the Thais are asleep. The worst is when you take the bus back the same day and just as you've closed your eyes they decide to whack on some action movie where guns and explosions are going off every other minute.....arrggghhhhh!

Really strange isn't it? Where are we?

[Boksida]

Really strange isn't it? Where are we?

PNG?

[Bananaman]

Does anybody on the Green Bus to Mae Sai ever watch the movie they show? Seems like a complete waste of time to me as most folk are sleeping (or at least trying but struggling over noise of the soundtrack). If they bothered to take note, frequently more than half of the people on the bus are farang and yet they still show Hollywood movies that have been dubbed into Thai and certainly ALL of the Thais are asleep. The worst is when you take the bus back the same day and just as you've closed your eyes they decide to whack on some action movie where guns and explosions are going off every other minute.....arrggghhhhh!

Really strange isn't it? Where are we?

Yup and and as I pointed out Thais are often in the minority on the bus and prefer to sleep anyway.

[ricklev]

A broad generalization, but Thais seem most comfortable in groups when enveloped in a cocoon of sound. Doesn't seem to matter what the sound is. Seems unfathomable but we must hold similarly inexplicable world views to them. I don't imagine it ever occurs to them that anybody on a bus might prefer quiet. However, a tip to the attendant will often help bridge the cultural divide.

[chicagogato]

I feel your pain..... but c'est la vie here. Or mai pen lai. However you wanna put it. Earplugs, or maybe xanax. I chalk it up to how a visa run feels - never enough sleep the night b4, not well fed, not sure where to go to the can, bus too cold, outside too hot, by the time you get home that night you feel beat up and a little queasy from the mtn curves. All in a day's visa run. Gotta love it.

Best visa runs I have are when I go half way to Chiang Rai the night b4 or stop there on the return rather than doing the marathon up n down in one day. I stay at a guesthouse not many farang know about, but great rooms and restaurant bar too. it's only like 500 B and close to the CR night bazaar, it's called Saban Nga which is some kind of Thai Flower. Hard for a Farang to remember but well worth it for a night's ease of journey. The food is creative modern Thai but not expensive. Many a good meal and a few too many whiskeys there insuring I still wind up back home a little out of my element, but satisfied.

Xanax? Valium? I would like to find some of either. Where can you buy it in Chiang Mai? I have a prescription for valium but can't find a pharmacy that stocks it.

[nikster]

A broad generalization, but Thais seem most comfortable in groups when enveloped in a cocoon of sound. Doesn't seem to matter what the sound is. Seems unfathomable but we must hold similarly inexplicable world views to them. I don't imagine it ever occurs to them that anybody on a bus might prefer quiet. However, a tip to the attendant will often help bridge the cultural divide.

Good point. Wife loves TV and/or fan (for the noise) for sleeping. Weird, but TIT

Then again, this phenomenon is not limited to Thais - I read Wayne Rooney can't sleep if the vacuum isn't on. Though he will settle for a hair dryer. I read it in the newspaper, it must be true!

[meadish_sweetball]

Hot tip:

If you are a sound pollution junkie, try the south-south-east corner of the top floor of Airport Plaza, near Major Cineplex.

One year of full time work there should be sufficient to successfully damage your hearing for the rest of your life.

As for the bus - ear plugs is the way to go, or as an alternative, BYO walkman/mp3 player - lots of good music and audio books out there to listen to.

Apart from ricklev's points above, I'd like to add that there also seems to exist a Thai consensus that if there is a TV or sound system available, it must be used constantly and without interruption.

[mongoose]

If earplugs or an iPod are not enough, get some good quality noise supression headphones to use with or without your music player. They are great for flights also.