Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
Bira Circuit, Pattaya, Thailand
It was a little crazy at the Los Angeles International Airport as I waited to see if I would get on my 7,000+ mile flight to Hong Kong to begin this trip.
I made it! After a 14 hour and 54 minute flight I arrived into Hong Kong, China.
I had a three-hour layover in the Hong Kong airport, before my late night flight to Bangkok. These computers were provided free to this restaurant's customers. Wireless internet was available throughout the airport for at no charge.
Some 26 hours after leaving Los Angeles, I made it to baggage claim in the Bangkok's airport, Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
Once I left the secured area of the airport, I ran into these folks. They are called "touts". They are trying to sell anything from a taxi ride to whatever. At this point, I didn't have any Thai money, so I wasn't a very attractive prospect.
My first real stop was at the airport ATM. I picked up about $60 worth of the Thai currency, the baht.
This is what the Thai money looks like. That's a picture of the king on each bill. Every denomination comes in a different color. The current exchange rate is about $1 U.S. to each 31 baht.
If you've read the story of this trip, you know this was the hotel room I was checked into by mistake. After traveling 26 hours, I went to bed only to receive a phone call telling me I was in the wrong hotel!
This hotel had an unusual shower. You can see the shower head on the wall. The entire bathroom flower was the bottom of the shower!
Finally at past 2 a.m. local time, I arrived at the CORRECT hotel, the Grand Inn Come. Yes, it is a strange name. They always had multiple clerks available, even though they didn't speak much English or have that much to do.
The yellow emergency flashlight in my hotel room seemed like a good idea. I wonder if the power goes out very often?
In most international hotels, they have a system like this one. When the room key is in the slot (pictured here), the room electricity works. When the key is not in the slot most of the electrical appliances (air conditioning, etc) do not work. This is a great energy saving feature and you never lose track of your key.
My hotel had an outstanding western breakfast buffet.
After my first night staying at the airport, I was relocating to downtown Bangkok. They use right side steer cars here. Yes, the taxi driver does look a little like Elvis.
My hotel, the Imperial Tara, was an upscale place, I found it while trying to use www.priceline.com to find a room.
The lobby was filled with white marble and beautiful plants.
I was invited to this special area away from the front desk so that I could be checked into the hotel. They gave me a free drink while I waited for the process to be completed.
Then I was shown to my room on the 19th floor of the Imperial Tara. The city view was breathtaking.
The room was tastefully done. I even was given my own slippers.
Just as I began to relax, I heard a knock on the door. The bellman was bringing me another complimentary drink! I knew I was not at the Motel 6.
I took one sip from this coconut shell and nearly gagged. It tasted like someone had been soaking their dirty socks in the thing for two weeks.
My view from the 19th floor covered a good deal of downtown Bangkok, a city on the rise.
Also out my window was a view of what some of Bangkok still looks like. In some ways, the city is still a third world location.
I had the entire day to spend in the city. This ladies kart looked like a good place to start for some finger food.
I ordered something that looked like a large donut hole. It seemed to have sugar on the outside, but tasted like a potato on the inside. It wasn't that tasty. A large serving of the stuff cost only 10 baht (30 cents).
The variety from the food stalls was amazing.
Corn on the cob? Probably not!
Bangkok is noted for their traffic. The freeway traffic wasn't bad, but surface streets were terrible.
I think these were small rolls of bread, although they could have been sausages.
You can imagine my surprise, after seeing all of the street vendors, to come across the Emporium shopping center. This was one of the most upscale shopping arcades I have ever seen. This is part of the food court.
This open area rented computer time to folks in the mall. I had never seen that in any U.S. shopping mall.
I had time to take in a movie in the six floor Emporium shopping center. I bought the first class chair pictured here to watch the thriller, Cloverleaf. The sound was probably the best I have heard anywhere. It was somewhat unusual to have the audience stand for the Thai national anthem before the movie could begin.
Just when I think I have seen it all in the hobby of trackchasing, I find I have not. My Thailand tour book mentioned that I might see a baby elephant strolling the streets of Bangkok.....and I did!
I love this picture. It shows so many elements of daily Bangkok life.
Small motorcycles move many Thais around Bangkok.
This gal seems to have a fully contained operation. Note the entire thing is powered by a motorcycle.
I was never certain where or what my next meal might be, so the hotel's western breakfast buffet was always a welcome attraction. The Imperial Tara's spread was excellent.
This was an important moment in my entire 5-day trip. Inot, my taxi driver, is using my reading glasses to read the map that will direct us to the Bira Circuit. It was at this moment that he agreed to be my driver for the 200-mile round-trip.
Inot was very proud of his brand new Toyota Corolla taxi. Here, we stopped to see a man about a dog at a Shell service station that also doubled as an interstate rest area of sorts.
In Thailand you really get the full-service treatment when you stop for fuel.
This one was hard to believe. The rest area urinals were outdoors! You can see for yourself. I have never seen such a thing before.
I've seen this before in Asia and I still don't like it and can hardly believe it. This is the "sitdown" toilet. This one is raised off the floor about six inches. Normally, the "hole" is at floor level. The blue bucket of water is for the patron to clean whatever needs to be cleaned.
I was happy that our next stop was at the entrance of the Bira Circuit itself.
This track map shows the shape of the Bira Circuit. The asphalt road course was about 1.5 miles long.
I was here for the Super Car Thailand six hour endurance race. Each car had three drivers. Driver changes were required after each 50 minutes of racing.
I had plenty of time to explore the paddock area. There were some very good looking racecars at today's event.
I had four hours to explore the track area. It didn't take long for my driver, Inot, to discover he had had enough. I don't think he was cut out to be a trackchaser. He used the track's crossover bridge to head back to the car.
This was the general view from the track's grandstand. Note the brown grass. The area looked like they had not gotten rain in a very long time. Do you see the shrine in the upper right portion of this photo?
I've been going to racetracks for a long time, but I have never seen a religious shrine within feet of the racetrack before.
A closer review revealed a chicken and bowl of fruit were being "blessed". A little bit later I noticed a couple of guys come and remove the food from the shrine. I think this was their lunch.
This is the panoramic view of the Bira Circuit go-kart track that sits behind the road course's main grandstand.
They had some good looking go-karts taking practice laps around this track. The kart drivers were decked out in full driving uniforms.
It would be difficult to tell this Thailand covered grandstand from one at a county fairgrounds in Iowa.
No, this is not a graveyard. It's the remains of an old seating area just a few yards from the covered grandstand.
It was a warm day with temperatures in the 90s. During my travels, I noticed that Thai women don't like to get a lot of direct sunlight on their skin. Many Thai women carried umbrellas (not like these) with them for sun protection.
This building held the hospitality and media rooms. I nosed around and this is what I found.............
I stumbled across the driver's meeting. Of course, the entire meeting was conducted in Thai. I didn't mind. The building was air-conditioned!
These cars are qualifying for today's race. All 20+ cars qualified at the same time. The entire process took only 10 minutes!
There were several large billboards like this placed around the track. I believe that the Bira Circuit layout was one of the choices in the popular video game, Pole Position of years back.
This is about as old-fashioned as you are going to see when it comes to track clean-up.
Today's cars were powered by 1600 and 2000 cc engines. During the pre-race period everyone was allowed down on the track to take pictures and visit with drivers.
Unlike many forms of racing the doors open on these cars!
Wrap around seats like this protect the driver in case of a crash. Remember, these are right side steer cars.
It was more than 90 degrees today. With this heat and a six-hour enduro race, each car would be driven by three different drivers. Note their names on the rear window.
Most of the drivers were of Asian descent. There were a few English speaking drivers who appeared to be from Australia or New Zealand.
Yep! These folks were interested in meeting the "World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser".
You can't imagine how long I waited to get this shot!
I was now just one minute away from seeing my 1,300th lifetime track. All of my preparation for this trip was about ready to pay off.
Green flag! Track #1,300 was in the books.
Note the photographers standing between the concrete walls. That is where I took my front straight photos.
The "S" curves were a fun portion of the 1.5 mile road course to view the action.
It's difficult to capture the essence of speed, but this was the fastest part of the entire track.
When the cars reached the start/finish line they made a sharp left and drove out of the view of spectators.
Every 45-50 minutes there was a driver swap. This was one of the more exciting aspects of this race. I was surprised that some exchanges took 4-5 minutes.
When a car stopped to switch drivers, they also refueled.
For most of the time I was at the track, Inot my taxi driver slept in his car in this shaded area. He did come up and sit in the grandstand with me for a few minutes. I gave him some ear plugs but the racing was still too load for his tastes.
I am trained to snuff out food at a racetrack. That's rice in them there metal bowls.
Finally, after being at this track for more than four hours, I found the food!
Yes, this looks like the local butcher's meat case in your local grocery store. These were raw meats that were cooked while the customer waited.
This little guy is preparing my food. Note the red propane cylinder. It provides the heat, while the meat is cooked in either boiling water or oil.
No backyard BBQ ever tasted any better. The food was crisp and hot. The top entree is a series of small wieners wrapped in bacon. The bottom serving is a hot dog/sausage.
My compliments to the chef!
Toward evening Inot and I headed north back to Bangkok. He took a different route that included lots of local scenery like this truck.
It was educational for me to see how many different uses can come from a small motorcycle.
On my previous trip to Japan, I saw locals wearing face masks as this woman is doing. I don't know if this is a preventative measure or if the individual already has some form of disease.
You might call this Thailand's "SUV". Where's the car seat?
The truck pictured here is a form of "street taxi". Folks jump in the back and off they go.
There are displays like the one attached to this overpass all over Thailand recognising the king of the country. Inot, my driver, loves the king!
Here's another example of this ornate royal worshiping.
Inot cruised his taxi down Thailand's freeways at 85 M.P.H. This kept me on the edge of my seat when everyone else was traveling just 55 M.P.H. I was surprised to find out when we stopped for fuel that the Toyota Corolla ran on propane. I suspect that was a "clean air" requirement given Bangkok's constant state of gridlock.
In Thailand the custom is to remove one's shoes when entering a residence or small business.
At one point in our conversation, I asked Inot how much it cost to buy a new taxi. Since his command of the English language wasn't that much better than my Thai, he wrote the number on his hand.
In Thailand, this three-wheeled vehicle is called a "Tuk Tuk". It's another form of public transportation most commonly found in the cities.
If you ever get to tour Thailand, don't miss seeing the boat people. It's a fantastic scene.
Wait! Don't be fooled by counterfeit photographs. The above photo was simply taken from a postcard that Inot gave me. Were you faked out? Carol and I have been to this area of Bangkok on a previous trip to Thailand. It's a sight not to be missed.
The fourth day of my trip found me back at Bangkok's brand new airport. The place is spacious and includes an ample amount of steel or aluminum. I was looking at an 8,000 mile trip to get me back home. However, I would have time to stop off in Hong Kong for a day.
The airport reminded me of Disney's Space Mountain ride.
Don't you just hate it when people try to get in your pictures!
Now that is some kind of dragon. This thing was some 30 yards long.
The Thailand temple image is everywhere. Although I did not have time to stop in a real temple, they were very noticeable, even out in the rural areas as we drove along Thailand's highways.
There was plenty of space for me to wait for my Emirates Airlines flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong.
Now I KNEW I was entering Space Mountain.
In just a few hours, I found myself on this passenger train in the Hong Kong airport.
My room in Hong Kong at the Eaton Hotel was small but nice. I would be in HK for less than 24 hours. The hotel's location was great on Kowloon Island.
The Eaton Hotel is on Nathan Road, one of the main drags of Hong Kong.
The lights of the city reminded me of New York City. However, here I could not read most of the signs.
Stores selling Chinese herbs like this one were popular.
Have you ever shopped for a home appliance this way?
I was getting hungry for supper. I wanted to eat local cuisine. This is the place where my dinner would be served.
Fortunately, I had drawn a few Hong Kong dollars out of an airport ATM. Each denomination comes in a different color.
It was past 9 p.m. on a Sunday night, but there were still a few diners in the restaurant.
I'm having shrimp noodle in soup (left) annd fried shrimp balls (right) along with my ever present Coke Light.
I guess this is Hong Kong's version of the Waffle House. It smelled good, but I was stuffed from my evening meal.
I am fascinated by McDonalds in foreign countries. I don't need to eat in them. I just like to see how an American icon is viewed in a foreign land. It's always fun to see what unusual items they have on the menu.
There was no lack of locals enjoying the fast food cuisine.
The two most unusual items on the menu were the Crayfish bisque (pictured center) and the corn cup.
This store did not have a drive-thru. However, they had something I had never seen before, a walk-up window. The young woman working this window got the biggest kick out of my taking her photo.
I was most surprised in seeing how much pedestrian and vehicular traffic there was on a late Sunday night. It was 10 o'clock when I took this picture. In some ways, Hong Kong is more like New York than New York is.
My Monday morning hotel view showed me some of the Hong Kong skyline.
The Hotel Eaton's glass elevator went to the 21st floor.
The open air method seems like the most popular way to dry clothes in Hong Kong's residential high-rise buildings.
The Monday morning view of Hong Kong was a lot different than the nightime neon scene.
Today was a school day for Hong Kong's young people.
Maybe the job you have isn't so bad after all.
It was time for my last meal in Asia on this trip. I wanted to have an authentic Chinese breakfast......so I went to this noodle shop.
Luckily for me, they came up with an English menu. The "Congee with Pig's Liver & Meat Ball" looked enticing, but I passed.
I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and dug into my breakfast selection, shrimp wonton in soup.
This is the entire chef's station, if you will, at the Nathan Congee & Noodle shop. There is hot tea and a bread like appetizer on the round table.
None of my local meals in Thailand or Hong Kong came with silverware.
That's one big bowl of noodles!
If you come to Hong Kong, staying on Nathan Road will put you in the middle of the action.
Yes, even in China, local residents want to have their picture taken with the "World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser".
I have never seen so many high rise residential buildings anywhere in my life as in Hong Kong. There were easily more than 500 of them.
After five hectic days on this trip, it was back to the Hong Kong airport for my 7,000+ mile ride back home.
Home in L.A. at last! This trackchasing trip will be remembered for a lifetime. Please take a look at the Trackchaser Report below for a full recap of the trip.
Trackchaser Report
DAY 1 – MY 1,300TH LIFETIME TRACK HAD TO BE SOMETHING SPECIAL TRACKCHASING TOUR
TODAY’S HEADLINES
I have traveled weekly for 35 years. Never in all that time has anything happened to match my first night’s stay in
How was I lucky enough to find
I have been challenged by another leading trackchaser to participate in a friendly competition. As you might expect, I have accepted the offer to compete. …………..details in “Country Rankings”.
Click on this link or paste it in your browser to take you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at
GREETINGS FROM
I WOKE UP IN SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA AND THEN HONG KONG, CHINA AND THEN BANGKOK, THAILAND (3 NIGHTS) AND THEN HONG KONG, CHINA BEFORE RETURNING HOME TO SAN CLEMENTE. THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED DURING THE TRIP.
SPECIAL NOTICE!
This afternoon I saw my 1,300th lifetime racetrack. Below is a list of when and where I saw other “Century” mark tracks.
SUMMARY OF “CENTURY” TRACKCHASING ACHIEVEMENTS
# 100 -
# 200 -
# 300 - Brownstown Speedway, Brownstown, IN (Billy Moyer Jr. winner) - April 19, 1997 -
# 400 -
# 500 - Freedom Raceway,
27, 2001
# 600 - Trail-Way Speedway (figure 8 course),
# 700 -