The New Beginning in Thailand

By A. Amalia Syahrial (Akson)

Monday, 6th August 2018

That night, I kept walking around the room by myself. I looked at the clock again, it was 2:00 am in the morning. I kept checking my phone, making sure that my friends were ready to go to the airport. I took shower and checked all my belongings and tickets. It was there while they were ready to be picked up. I looked at the front door of my parents’ room while waiting for them to wake up. Later, they woke up at 4:00 am and we left the house to the Sultan Thaha Airport, Jambi City.

We arrived to the airport and safely checked in at 5:00 am, which is the exact time to pray Shubuh. From Universitas Jambi, there were three people chosen to go to Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University (NPRU), but that morning only two people were going with Garuda Airline, that is including me (English Major), and my friend Etika (Mathematics Major). The other friend, Soni (Chemistry Major) preferred to take Lion Airline at 9:00 am on the same day, so we were ahead of him. I noticed that my friend, Etika had brought so many heavy luggage and it was hard for us to carry them around. She brought some stuff like instant food and some pillows for our needs once we arrive there. This is actually a lesson for all of us, that when we travel, please minimise the luggage if we think that we cannot be responsible to carry it.

After we checked in and waited for the boarding time, that was the moment when we missed our parents, family, friends, and country. I was amazed and still couldn’t believe the fact that I will be leaving my country for a month. I felt slightly anxious and nervous thinking about Thailand, whether I will be accepted in their community or cultures, thinking about halal food, assignments, lifestyle, etc. But at the same time, we felt very excited and happy, looking forward to see what is Thailand, Bangkok, the people, and the University of NPRU. We took some pictures when we have little chance until we flied off to Jakarta at 6:00 am.

We arrived in Soekarno Hatta Airport, Jakarta exactly at 7:30 am, as expected from Garuda Airlines which there was no delay time and it was faster flight. We quickly took our luggage in lane 12 and I took the picture of my own boarding pass. Keeping the boarding pass is important for this program as it is part of the compulsory documents that we need to report later. After we both got the luggage, we planned to check out from the airport, and that was when I lost my boarding pass! I realised that when the officers asked for my boarding pass check, I must lost it on the way out. I tracked my way again to find the lost boarding pass until we found it in the rubbish bin near gate 4. It was so embarrassing while rummaging the bin, but fortunately we found it. After that, I always have to be cautious and double checked my belongings in the right place, so they don’t slip out again.

From Terminal 3, we went to Terminal 2 with Sky Train in order to check in for Thai Lion Air. After we arrived, we took a short break for lunch, praying zhuhur, a short nap, then we were checking in at 12:00 pm. We noticed that the desk officer asked us some questions about the purpose of our journey. We had to show them some important documents such us invitation letter from the host university, and the returning tickets from Thailand. We also had to make sure that our luggage is safe from any harmful goods, so that they could take in the luggage. After that, we went to migration office to identify the purpose of going abroad of the home country. We were questioned about the tickets, the invitation letters, and other things that are important for them. One thing I noticed that we were not allowed to use our phones in the process, such as taking pictures and recording videos. After we safely checked in, we met with other friends from Universitas Negeri Gorontalo (UNG) and waited for the boarding time. At 1:30 pm, we flied off to Thailand, leaving from Jakarta.

We arrived in Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok, at 5:00 pm. It took roughly 4 hours on the way to arrive at Bangkok. As usual, we straight away went immigration office to confirm our identification for staying in Thailand. This time, the process did not take long, unlike the one in Indonesia. They just gave us an identification form on the plane to be filled in and we gave it to the officers. Afterwards, we took our luggage in lane 5, and we all waited to meet up with Mr. Amarin, our Coordinator from NPRU. He picked us up exactly at 6:30 pm, and we had halal dinner together with him.

After we had our delicious dinner, we were picked up by the university’s van, and from Bangkok, it usually takes 1 hour to arrive in Nakhon Pathom City. On the way to the dorm, Mr. Amarin introduced us about the city, such as Big Pagoda at night view, some shopping centres from the sides of the road, and lovely scene of the road at night in Bangkok. Finally, we arrived at the dorm and we were surprised by the facility. Our dorm is a new building in University and the room they gave us is a very brand new and they are all satisfying. In each room, we were give 2 pairs of bunk beds, and all towels and blankets for each person. We also had a toilet room, 4 cupboards, a sink and a sharing washing machine. We quickly checked up the facility and unpacked our bags and luggage to set up our thing in the right place. We were too tired at that time, so we decided to quickly take a rest for tomorrow morning. Before leaving the dorm, Mr. Amarin told us to be ready at 10:00 am in the morning for the orientation day for six of us.