My Travels with Tintin – Thailand

I have one Tintin album, but it’s the right one, “ตินติน: ผจญภัยเที่ยวบิน 714” (Flight 714 to Sydney). It was published in 2009 by Nation Egmont.

Tintin has been published for a long time in Thailand. The first album to appear, The Broken Ear, was serialized in 1958 in the weekly newspaper Viratham (วิรธรรม). Several other albums were also serialized through the 1960s and early 1970s, including: The Crab with the Golden Claws (1962); The Secret of the Unicorn (1964); The Seven Crystal Balls (1966); Prisoners of the Sun, Destination Moon, and Explorers on the Moon (1967); The Shooting Star and Tintin in Tibet (1969); and The Black Island (1972).

During the 1980s, a series of 21 books (excluding Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin in the Congo, and Alph-Art) were published in a smaller 210mm x 140mm format by Samnakpim Bangkok San. However, they were unauthorized pirate editions and are now difficult to find. Pirate editions of Cigars of the Pharaoh, Flight 714 to Sydney, Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackham’s Treasure, Destination Moon, Explorers on the Moon, and The Red Sea Sharks – by a variety of unknown publishers, also exist from around the same time period.

The first official publications of Tintin albums began in 1993 when Duan Kamol published the first hardcover edition of The Crab with the Golden Claws. Unfortunately, it was a one-off and only followed up in 1996 by two more softcover albums, published by a different company, TMG Publishing, featuring The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure.

Tintin fans would have to wait for until 2004 when Nation Egmont began publishing a full and licensed set of the Tintin albums (concluding in 2009).

Unfortunately, when I got to Thailand in 2018, the series seemed to have gone out of print and my pilgrimage to a local bookstore ended with me going home empty-handed. I might have lost the battle, but I refused to lose the war, so I once again relied on the kindness of my Scalemates to help me finally get my hands on a Thai edition in 2026. Since it was an online purchase (albeit a local one), I suppose I could have chosen any of the adventures, but since Tintin visits Jakarta in the album, Flight 714 to Sydney is the “go to” adventure for Tintin in Southeast Asia… except, of course, for my Indonesia entry.

Sigh. I should probably mention that there is a pirate edition of something called Tintin in Thailand… but in my opinion it’s a poor quality (and poor taste) “adult” rip off and I didn’t even think of including it in my collection.

My trip to Thailand:

I’ve only been to Thailand once, but I think I need to go back! My visit to Thailand, from March 24 to 29, 2018, was an amazing beach vacation in Phuket.

We arrived at the Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa on Merlin Beach on March 24 and were immediately mesmerized. It was a great resort and I think it was a toss up between the large, inter-connected pool complex and the direct access to Merlin Beach, as to what was the greatest thing about it.

We were travelling with my then nine-year-old son, and he absolutely loved swimming through the waterways. It was like the swimming pool version of Venice. Our room was up a couple of floors, so we didn’t have direct access, but many of the rooms did open out right into the waterway. Why walk when you could make your way through the canals to any other part of the resort. There were also several resort-run activities that you could sign up for every day – everything from making bead bracelets to learning how to cook gourmet pizza. Overall it was a premier experience, especially with kids.

For me, being able to walk straight down to the secluded and private (for several hundred people staying at the resort) Merlin Beach was equally great. The water was crisp and blue and being able to go snorkeling right from practically your doorstep was so exciting. There were fish everywhere you looked! Unlike our previous snorkeling attempts in Bali in 2016, and Langkawi in 2017, we hit the jackpot in Phuket in 2018! There were no real logistics involved. You didn’t have to buy a ticket, you didn’t need to take a shuttle bus, and you didn’t need to take a boat ride… you just walked down to the beach at high tide and went swimming. Amazing!

Although we spent most of our time in and around the resort itself, we did take the shuttle bus in to Phuket itself to do some sight seeing. Our first real day on the ground, March 25, we decided to check out some of the many Buddhist temples. There are about 30 “Wats” in town, but the one we decided check out first was Wat Mongkhon Nimit (also known as Wat Klang), right in the middle of Old Phuket Town. It seemed like a good choice.

We were there relatively early in the morning and we were able to see a procession of orange-robed monks beginning their day – well… since they’re up at 5 a.m. and we weren’t there till around 8 a.m. that’s being charitable about the word “beginning”. Anyway, people often leave offerings of food for monks, and there’s a conveniently located market nearby, so we made a donation of some local food as “price of admission” to the Wat. It’s not a huge complex but, according to my extensive internet research, it is known for its blend of traditional Thai and Sino-Portuguese architectural styles. Still, not bad for a third-class royal Buddhist temple (it looked pretty first-class to me!).

It was built around 1880 and, like most Buddhist temples I’ve been to (and I’ve been to a lot of them), the main shrine hall (ubosot) is elaborately decorated with gold leaf, vibrant blue and red paint, and intricate murals depicting the life of the Buddha. It also houses a large, sacred golden Buddha statue – and possibly relics brought from Sri Lanka.

There is also a prominent yellow/brown bell-shaped pagoda (chedi) that stands behind the main shrine hall, and its surrounded by a cluster of smaller golden pagodas. The temple grounds include a religious school and living quarters for monks. As a working temple, it’s not exactly a tourist site, and is less crowded than some of the more well-known ones (such as Wat Chalong), so we were careful to make sure that we showed the proper respect by dressing properly (shoulders and knees covered) and not just running around, shouting, and looking for the best angles for selfies. I wish I could say the same about all the rest of the tourists that were around… but unfortunately I cannot. We spent much of the day walking around the Phuket Old Town and saw several more temples of varying sizes.

Since it was a Sunday, we stuck around the Old Town area to check out the Sunday Night Market, known locally as Lard Yai (meaning “big market”). It’s a weekly event Sunday from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM along the historic Thalang Road, so this was our one chance to be able to check it out – and after failing to find a Thai edition of Tintin during my day-time excursion to a local bookstore, I had high hopes…

The market was bustling, even at the relatively early dinner-time hour we were there, and it looked like there were both tourists and a good number of locals browsing the stalls selling local arts and crafts. We did get to sample some delicious street food for our dinner, but unfortunately there were no Tintin albums to be had. According to the internet, it is widely considered the best night market on the island due to its vibrant atmosphere and scenic backdrop of colourful Sino-Portuguese shophouses, known for their colourful facades and architectural charm. I have to say, I agree with that.

The next day, March 26 we checked out the resort-activity “du jour” and then largely spent the rest of the day splashing in the water and living our best lives on the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect, not a cloud in the sky. In the afternoon we took the shuttle bus back into town to properly check out the Jungceylon Shopping Centre. It is the major mall in downtown Patong, not far from the famous Patong Beach, and one of the biggest shopping centres in Phuket. On the one hand, it’s about what you’d expect… a major, modern shipping mall with the standard slate of mid-to-higher-end retail shops, a cineplex, and a food court that caters to the “Western tourist” crowd. On the other hand, a) it’s got a large 20-meter life-sized Chinese junk boat that serves as an iconic landmark and general meeting place (including the spot where the shuttle buses drop people off), and b) it’s got air-conditioning.

Although we didn’t spend a lot of time checking out the 200-plus stores selling brand-name clothing, cosmetics, shoes, and everything else… we did check out the Big C Extra Jungceylon supermarket. It’s always fun to see what kind of “exotic” local food you can find – especially when it’s the kind you can pack into your suitcase and take on an airplane. We spent quite a long time in the supermarket and came out with plenty of dried and well-packed ingredients of all sorts – including everything you need to make Nasi Goreng, all in one bag.

On March 27, we awoke to find a little visitor outside our door. Even though I was excited to meet our new little lizard friend and take his picture, my wife was less pleased and was mostly just concerned with making sure I closed the door properly and not invite him (or any of his friends inside).

After breakfast we once again checked out the resort-activities and then spent most of the day alternating between splashing in the pool and splashing in the ocean. My son and I, perhaps inspired by all the temples we’d seen, spent some significant time building an epic sand castle… actually, it looked like a fort! Such a pleasant day – the kind that makes a memory to last a lifetime.

One thing that we really enjoyed almost as much as the snorkeling was checking out the tide pools during the low tide period. You could walk quite a long way out to the water, and it was an odd feeling to be walking where you’d be swimming in a couple of hours. It was also interesting to see all the little animals, crabs and whatnot that make their homes in these little pools. It’s a chance to see them up close that you’d rarely be able to get when the water is in. It’s hard to believe how much of a change in environment they go through several times a day, but I guess that’s just part of the rhythm of life, right?

On our last day, March 28, we squeezed out a final bit of beach time in the morning before we needed to check out, and then it was one last shuttle bus ride into town for a bit of last minute shopping and looking around in the Old Town markets. One advantage of having a flight leaving at midnight is that even the last day can be a full one. Anyway, we walked around town for a bit and then settled in to take advantage of the air conditioning at the Jungceylon mall. We weren’t interested in most of the stores, but I did find one that was selling some of the PVC Tintin figurines. They were a bit pricey, and I had most of them already, so I took a pass… but not before making one more furtive search for the elusive Thai Tintin edition… but no luck.

Since we weren’t checked into the resort anymore, we decided to grant my son’s wishes and we hired a very fancy Tuk-Tuk (a local a three-wheeled, motorized “taxi”) and returned to the collect our bags in style… with the music blaring and the disco ball and light show going full-blast!

All in all another absolutely great trip!