Surat Thani - Koh Phangan

I had vowed not to return to Koh Phangan as the island surely would be different than when I first visited. That was back in the days before Full Moon Party was invented, when no road connect Had Rin to the rest of the island, when there was no electricity and no swimming pools. But I had a business appointment on the island, so I decided to combine it with some R&R.

Had Rin Nai

Had Rin Nai is still a very nice beach, but Had Rin Nok is not that great. And the area behind it is now packed with structures put up with no prior planning making roads and alleys a maze. Many structures are shoddy constructions intended to house party revelers in bunk beds. Delicious food is not to be had as bars and sellers of buckets (with alcohol of questionable origins) outnumber restaurants on Had Rin Nok. The service staff are mostly from Myanmar and have little training, which can result in interesting combinations being served. For example, I was given chopsticks as utensils for a plate of Italian pasta.

That being said, Koh Phangan has many beaches apart from Had Rin. A drive along the coast from Thong Sala to Ban Chalok Lam will take you past several nice bays, which I would prefer over Had Rin, but none of them can be said to be deserted. I went to see Ban Chalok Lam because when I first visited, that bay was used as a graveyard for fishing vessels. When fishing vessels were retired from service, they were pulled up on the beach and cannibalized for parts.

Thong Nai Pan Beach

Ban Thong Nai Pan used to be hard to reach, but the road has now been upgraded - when I first visited, it could only be reached on horseback.

They worked when we bought them - why check if they still work?

On the ferry back to the mainland, I noticed that safety concerns are not high on the list of the ferry company's priorities.

Surat Thani - Chaiya (2)

I already mentioned Wat Praborommathatchaiyaratchaworawiham in an earlier blog and this is definitely a destination worth going to again.

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2011/10/surat-thani-chaiya.html

This time, however, I took the time to explore some hot springs in Chaiya. Only a few kilometers away from Wat Praborommathatchaiyaratchaworawiham -- down the small road that also passes the ruins of an ancient stupa --  is a small but steep hill with a couple of small caves. The hill is also the source of a hot spring. Since times as ancient as Wat Praborommathatchaiyaratchaworawiham, the hot spring was used to feed two pools. According to signs at the site, it was people of Indian origin who brought with the a tradition for hot baths as part of religious rites. The two caves also became "holy".

Hot but not enticing

Since these hot ponds turned out to be useless, I sought the advice from my GPS. It informed me that there were another hot spring relatively nearby. This hot spring -- about 4 km outside of town -- was much more difficult to find, partly because of a lack of signage, but primarily because my GPS indicated I should take a road that did not exist.

Hot mineral water

I eventually ventured along a gravel road that lead to a temple on the top of a hill. Just at the foot of the hill, a couple of ponds had been constructed from concrete. But, again, the area and the facilities appeared deserted and unused. The mineral water overflow from the concrete ponds discolored the rocks as it made its way down hill for form a small lake. The rocks looked to my untrained eye somewhat like lava, but was in Thai named Lan Lonk Prachan.

Chonburi - Pattaya Fireworks

Every year in November, Pattaya City arranges a fireworks competition stretching over two evenings where several nations vie for the honors. I have enjoyed the view both from the exclusivity (USD 100 tickets) of Hilton’s terrace bar and from a less luxurious beach chair (USD 1.50).

The view from up high at Hilton is far better than from shore side, but down at street level one meets more interesting aspects of real life. Last year, a Russian enjoyed the show together with a bottle of Thai whiskey. When the bottle was almost empty, he decided to go for a swim. Fully dressed and seriously drunk, he made it waist-high into the sea before he collapsed. Several good Samaritans rushed to pull the Russian back on the beach where he sat, drenched and smiling, for the rest of the show.