When planning our around the world trip we knew that Christmas eve would happen while we were somewhere in Southeast Asia. Hopefully not on a 12 hour bus ride… We managed to avoid that, but we still ended up in a place we didn’t expect. 

Christmas is no typical tradition in Southeast Asia, but with so many tourists the tradition is becoming more common in Thailand and Christmas decorations and events are found in many places. Thai people love every excuse to have a party, and Christmas is no exception.

Our original plan was to travel to Burma. It is possible to take the night bus from Bangkok to Mae Sot, a Thai border town, and cross over to Burma’s Myawaddy on a day trip, all without applying for a visa. With a night bus we also wouldn’t have to spend too much of the day travelling and get two “free” sleepovers on the bus. However, we also found numerous downsides to this plan. First, finding the right bus to Mae Sot, transport between bus stations and cities and so on would not be the easiest task. Next we would have to surrender our passport to Burmese border control for our entire stay in Burma, something we were not very comfortable doing. Last, both Mae Sot and Myawaddy are according to the Internet not very interesting places. If we did go, it would mostly be to call home on Christmas eve with a surprise update that we are now in Burma, and to scratch Burma off on our scratch map. Also, Christmas evening would have to be spend on a bus to Bangkok; not very tempting. We have already “celebrated” our one year engagement aniversary with Cambodian and Thai immigration officers and would rather do something better for Christmas.

We therefore decided to make new plans and look for a new place to celebrate Christmas.

With Bangkok being our starting point we had many options, but none were very christmasy. After some thinking we realised that there is a Hard Rock Hotel in Pattaya in Thailand. And what could be better than celebrating Christmas in a hotel that has guitars for door handles and offers foam parties in the evenings? Three hours later, and bazinga, we were in Pattaya. Celebrating Christmas is a bit different here, but last year we celebrated Christmas in Cuba, so this might be more normal than last year.

Christmas music was arranged, although Jingle Bells sounds a bit different when played by a rock band. Acoustic versions of Taylor Swift’s songs are also things we do not associate with Christmas, but apparently so do the Thai people. Thailand is not very known for typical Western food either, but on Christmas eve they provided turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. It was also possible to get sushi, rice and other asian dishes, but the most important was that we had some familiar food to eat on Christmas eve.

The dessert was good, with a large selection of cake, ice cream and strawberries that could be dipped in a chocolate fountain. Omnomnomnom. With unlimited access to all of this Christmas food we were very full to say the least and almost had to roll back to our room.

Christmas in Thailand is not the same as home in Norway, especially because the most important component, our families, weren’t there. It was still a good evening though and the closest family was still present; Tora and I always have each other.

Merry Christmas to everyone home in Norway and the rest of the world!