Day 5: Derek Knudsen

Good Afternoon everyone,

I am 2/C Derek Knudsen from Bridgewater MA and I attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy majoring in International Maritime Business.

Today we had to wake up a little bit earlier than the past few days and while getting used to the 12 hour time change it was a little difficult this morning. At 0655 we got breakfast and hopped on the AIT vans to head over to Lat Krabang ICD or Internal Container Depot in Thailand. At the ICD, we met Mr. Teerawat Ovartsuwan and Mr. Siwadol Pholwatchana, who gave us a presentation about the ICD. We learned about the safety procedures and precautions while in the depot. We learned the freight railway routes and new development plans. SRT has 6 different modules A-F each containing different companies that own the modules. They get picked up by the different trains and brought to other areas in Thailand in order to reduce road congestion. We also got to see pictures of the maintenance buildings and the big train yard.

After the presentation, we headed outside of the building to watch the freight loaders load the trains with the containers. I have never seen something like this happen before my eyes so it was a very cool experience watching how they transport goods on land. It got very hot while being outside, however I am not complaining.

After we said our goodbyes to the lovely people at ICD, we took a ride to a market where they had a long street with many varieties of lunch/restaurants. It was very pleasant seeing all the people in their own society eating certain foods I have never seen before.

Later, we got back in the vans and took a ride to an elephant park where the elephants and other animals have become an attraction to us tourists. Seeing an elephant up close for the first time has been my favorite experience in Thailand so far. We got to feed them bananas and watch other people take elephant rides. While at the park, we got to take many pictures and videos of the many animals. Other animals that I thought were very interesting were the Toucan birds and the strangely colored cows. We got to sit up top on a stand and watch the elephants walk into the water and take a little break during this long day.

At 1530 we all seemed to be hot and tired so we got back in the vans and took an hour ride to Pattaya. The driving seems so scary compared to America I keep thinking if I ever had to drive over here I would get very stressed out. Once in Pattaya we saw how beautiful the beach was and how populated this area is due to tourists. While in Pattaya for the rest of the night we got dinner and walked around the streets enjoying all of the tourist attractions and enjoying the warm weather.

I am very excited for the rest of this experiential learning trip in Thailand and cannot wait to learn more about the cultures and traditions.