2026 Trip - Day 16: Good Bye Thailand. Bangkok to Nagoya Via Seoul!

Today I am finally leaving Thailand. After two weeks in the country, all spent in Pattaya, I am honestly glad to go. A few days ago I started feeling completely over this place, so I have been looking forward to leaving.

Packing, however, is always the worst part of travelling for me. I really hate it. The main problem is that I carry too much stuff. My backpack is overloaded, which makes packing much harder than it should be. Each time I did it, I questioned my decision to bring so many things. I regret it every single time.

Around 11 am I went to the North Bus Station to buy a ticket for the 5 pm bus. I wanted to reserve it early just in case it sold out. It was actually very easy. I got my ticket and left in less than 15 minutes. The bus ticket cost 143 baht.



I went back to the hostel quite early since I still had a few hours before the bus departure at 5 pm. I bought the same meal again from TOP Daily, two chicken panang with rice. This place annoyed me a lot a few days because one of the young staff members was acting strangely over something very small. A few days ago I thought I had tapped my card to pay, so I started drinking my soft drink while my food was being heated in the microwave. It turned out she had not even set up the payment on the machine and did not say anything to me. It was a ridiculous and over the top reaction over something so cheap, especially when it was her mistake. Of course I just tapped again and everything went through fine afterward, but it still irritated me at that time.

I came back to the hostel and enjoyed my food on the bed. Around 2 pm, after slowly packing my things for more than an hour, I brought my stuff down to the lobby and just sat there until about 4 pm. Later I brought my food to the kitchen again to eat my second panang chicken with rice.



I went to the bus station around 4:15 pm. Finally I was leaving this hostel for good. Previously I had returned to this hostel twice because my plans to go to Rayong did not work out both times.

I arrived at the station early, before 4:30 pm. I had to wait until the bus left at 5 pm. Another bus was leaving earlier and the staff asked if I wanted to switch to that bus instead. I refused because I did not want to arrive at the airport too early. I always find airports extremely boring places to wait.

I managed to get a seat in the first row of the bus. The seats were not numbered, but I think all the seats had about the same space anyway.

After arriving at the airport, I was able to check in online for my flight from Bangkok to Seoul and even choose my seat through a link sent to my email. I was flying with Jin Air.

However, because I had a checked bag, I still had to line up at the counter. The checked baggage allowance was only 15 kg, which seemed strange because many airlines usually allow around 20 or 25 kg.



When it was my turn, a female staff member was behind the counter, but a male staff member came over immediately to speak with me. He told me that my backpack was not suitable for check in because I had many things attached to the outside (Shoes, tent etc), which might not be safe during handling. He suggested that I remove some items, such as my shoes, and carry them in the cabin instead.

I told him that would be difficult because my carry on bag was already close to the weight limit and there was no more space inside. I had brought some plastic wrap from Australia. I showed it to him and said I could wrap my backpack so secured all the items. He agreed.

I asked if it would be okay if I wrapped it right there right then, because I did not want to hold up the line but also did not want to go back to the end of the queue afterward. He said it was fine.

I placed my backpack on the ground and started wrapping it. It was just kitchen plastic wrap, so I knew it might take a few minutes because the backpack was large and heavy.

As I started doing it, I could not help thinking that the staff might be waching me, including everyone in line. I tried to stay calm and avoided making eye contact with anyone, especially the male staff member.

Suddenly the male staff member knelt down and helped me hold my heavy backpack steady while I wrapped it. I was honestly shocked and very touched by his kindness. He held the backpack still while I wrapped it. The plastic wrap was not as strong as the professional wrapping machines at airports, but we managed to finish it. He even added some tape to secure it better.

My backpack weighed 17 kg. Luckily he let it pass and simply told me to be more careful next time. I felt incredibly grateful. What made me happiest was meeting someone so kind.

After that, I still had a lot of time before the flight. Once I passed security, the waiting began. This is my least favourite part of travelling. Walking around airports is so boring to me. I never buy anything there. I was a little hungry, but I refused to buy food because I knew it would be expensive. I would rather wait until I leave the airport.

I slowly walked toward my departure gate while looking around the shops. At one point I passed a store and had samples available and lots of people were tasting them, so I decided to try some too, I was excited. I tried every single sample they had, and they were all delicious. After that I did not feel hungry anymore.

However, I became a little thirsty. Unfortunately, I had left my water bottle inside my checked backpack.

Oh well.

Expenses:
Panang chicken rice: 39 Baht × 2 = 78 Baht
Chocolate drink: 13 Baht
Tom Yum paste (to cook in Japan): 20 Baht
Total = 111 Baht (AUD4.6)