That sinking feeling (15 - 22 March 2014)

Around here boats, especially tourist ones off Phuket, are always sinking, so,it was a great cause for celebration when the sinking was supposed to happen and we has much street cleaning, dignitaries, flags and speeches.







They have sunk an old naval patrol boat a few kilometres offshore to create a new reef and provide a different sort of dive site. Given the current pressure on banks though, with the occasional one going under, I'm not convinced it was a particularly clever sponsorship deal for Bangkok Bank... That was the big excitement for the week here in Bang Niang apart from the little market and funfair that opened up for a few days next to the Tsunami Memorial.



It generally starts to get quieter now as the low season approaches. The temperature is certainly rising but so far the rainy but hasn't arrived. That normally starts around Songkran on 13 April, but with current weather patterns, who knows. It's interesting here, in an attempt to get more visitors they don't actually call it the rainy season or the low season any more, it's now called the "green season". It's really mountainous and jungly around here so when the rain does come it gets even greener, hence the name, although it look pretty green already!
The political troubles in Bangkok have calmed down a little but they don't really have any effect here. However the recent alcohol ban due to voting for the Senate was a National thing. But apart from the 7/11 who didn't sell it for a couple of days, everywhere else did. Apparently it's because 7/11 stores give you a times receipt so,it could be proved they broke the law, but the other stores don't give you a receipt at all, so no proof, so no crime committed... A neat idea!
It's still a great place to wander around though, lovely wild flowers and less wild dogs - this one belongs to Joe's Steakhouse and lives in the little hole he's dug for himself to keep cool.




The food also continues to be good with happy home made burger buns from the Brit owned Mars Bar. They're great, the happy faces are made with poppy seeds and the smiley face is the cafe's logo. Clever and cute. But haven't yet tried the hot and sour soup cartilage or fried chicken tendons from this menu...






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Location:Khuekkhak,Thailand

Bang Niang (2 -15 March 2014)

I've now moved north up the coast to Bang Niang Beach. This has a much flatter plain between the sea and the mountains and is about two kilometres wide where in much of the rest of this coastline it's a lot narrower than that. This is the reason it was so devastated by the tsunami. I know it's been written about a million times and it is nearly ten years ago, but wandering round the area you can't forget. Not just the heartbreaking Tsunami Museum, but the police boat that was carried two kilometres inland. I had not see it before but imagined it to be one of those small rib inflatable type things.






I was really shocked to see how big it was and to imagine the power that carried this from the sea to where it now rests two kilometres away from the beach. It takes around half an hour to walk from the beach to where this huge boat finally stopped. And it was already one kilometre out at sea guarding some Thai Royals'. The beach front here has been redeveloped in places but in others the land is still empty.


There are a couple of really nice and very expensive places as well as little bungalow resorts like the Cousin Resort where I am staying. The Casa de la Flora is rather fab, a Tablet hotel and the cool design even applies to the very modern spirit house.


The main reason I am not staying there is the lack of a lottery win... But whilst some business has bounced back, there's no sign that any sense of community has returned. As you walk around behind the beach the original concrete roads are still here but all bordered by empty lots of land, covered in scrubby vegetation and signs saying land for sale. The odd remnant of a ruined building stands alone in the middle.



I can't imagine it would ever reach a decent price, there's so much for sale and I assume has been for years. No one seems to live here. When you walk around the back beach roads in Samui it's teeming with life - cats, dogs, chickens, buffalo, caterpillars, butterflies, birds and even the odd snake. Here, nothing. Not even the scabby stray dogs that seem to populate the rest of the country. But with a whole young generation now who will not remember the horror perhaps local memories are fading along with the warning signs. The community used to survive on fishing, rubber and palm oil, I'm not sure that way of life will ever return.



But on a more positive note, this part of Khao Lak is a good place to stay. All low rise, lots of little restaurants and bars, a good beach, although like elsewhere along this coast there is some erosion but it has nice fine sand. I'm not a sea swimmer but you can see that it slopes very gently here although on occasions, the surf can get quite high. It seems to have bypassed all of the horrible side of Thai resort development with no girly bars, very few nightclubs and a beach that is just a beach and not covered in deck chairs. It's just a pity that the Moo Moo Cabaret starts a bit late for me at 9.45 pm up on the main road - I think it is Khao Lak's version of the Sydney Bar in Priscilla, perhaps I really should make the effort one night.... I am discovering that the Thai distributor for Mont Clair wine has done a sterling job. Absolutely everywhere in Thailand that is what you get when you order a why why, every restaurant in Samui and now every restaurant here. You can even buy it in 7/11... The beach here is west facing so you get a great sunset each night to go with that Mont Clair - Carole, you will remember it well!



The heat is starting to build though, up to 35 at times and very humid, even I am looking forward to the rain that is forecast for later today. But not as much as the locals I imagine, there have been a few forest fires up in the hills along the whole coastal strip so a good soaking is really needed, the only downside to that it it tends to cool down the pool... And I don't know quite what happens in technical terms but rain in this part of the world always means iffy wiffy....
And this afternoon the rain arrived with a vengeance, a proper full on thunderstorm. It made me realise that the item I use most here is my umbrella - not normally for rain but as a "ladylike parasol" on my walks and tonight for the purpose for which is was originally intended!



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Location:อ.ตะกั่วป่า,Thailand

When is an inch not an inch... (22 February - 2 March 2014)

...and of all the answers I'm sure you were contemplating, sadly the answer is "in a Thai hairdresser". As the temperature rises to the mid thirties, I was getting hotter and hotter so thought a haircut might help. I had spied a place where I had not seen the staff searching each others' hair for nits (an unusual occurrence...) so thought I would take the chance. I thought my Thainglish and sign language had worked until I felt the razor going at the back... Not sure what the back looks like now, but the razor work stopped. Perhaps she had thought I had asked for a finished job of an inch all over rather than an inch off all round.... Now if I could just identify what that itching is...



I am now back to Thailand and in Khao Lak, a long stretch of pretty coastline which is still relatively undeveloped. A few reasons, it's surrounded by National Park - both on land and sea, it's also a fairly narrow coastal plain backed by steep hills so not a huge amount of room to build. It was also very badly hit by the tsunami and has had to be virtually rebuilt - unlike some Thai resorts that were built in the 80's, planners, even Thai ones, have learned a little more since then. I understand that local planning laws state that no buildings can be higher than a coconut palm - now the palms are quite tall around here but it does limit buildings to about three storeys.
I am staying at Khao Lak Beach - and in the mysterious ways of Thailand it isn't actually central Khao Lak but south of the headland and the original area that tourism here started. I thought I could take a quick walk over said headland to get to "civilisation" in Khao Lak but after one try I decided my life was worth more than a bigger choice of restaurants. The road between the beach and the hills is a main highway but there are no pavements this side of the headland. Thai driving is atrocious and lorries, buses and cars speed past and whizz around the hairpin bends like they're on the M1, so I decided to give it a miss. The beach here is lovely, a long sweeping bay but with a few erosion problems. Not sure why, I don't think it's anything to do with the buildings as there aren't that many and the trees whose roots are gradually being exposed look like they've been here many years.
I am staying at the Khao Lak Diamond, one of four hotels here and a little "village" of support services have grown around them - restaurants, bars, shops, tour operators and tailors. Walking out of an evening is a bit like trying to get through Harrod's or Selfridge's fragrance halls as you re stopped every few metres by a tailor... All you need is here apart from some investment in the hotel. Could be quite nice if only they got their act together and used a bit of bleach in the bathroom... Also it's really irritating, there are not enough sunbeds therefore the Germans are up at the crack of dawn putting their towels out so if you want one you have to play the same game. But am moving on soon so no problem.
Not much action here until today, March 1st. At 8 am. the National Anthem played out loud and clear. A good thing I discover as they play this through the tsunami warning towers twice a month to test them - this morning they were obviously working well. And as I went on my walk I noticed lots of activity just up from the beach with loads of loud firecrackers. I followed the crowd up into the forest to a clearing where some sort of festival was happening at a temple which was hidden away. From the firecrackers and the people it was a Thai Chinese festival. The people were really nice offering me a bit of tree trunk to sit on to watch the proceedings. Lots of young people all dressed in white and continual firecrackers going off. That, as well as food was what people were bringing and obviously the bigger and louder the firecracker the better. They were being hung from every tree and thrown around the ground with abandon. Given this is a forest in the dry season, all a bit of a worry... And as I left a nice old guy offered me a lift in his three wheeled trike, I declined but was touched at how kind and welcoming the people were. The hotel are no use at all when I try to find out what it's all about, all they can say is if they are dressed in white they are Chinese not Thai Buddhists. A good way to find out I thought was to pay a visit to Peter's Bar which was right where the action is, and of course even though it is only lunchtime it was rude not to order a cube. Now it might be called Peter's Bar and English is not widely spoken but as far as my Thainglish allows the conversation tells me that it's all about the local village celebrating their ancestors - that makes sense with the young people in white, a funereal colour. There was also a bamboo structure on the beach which I thought did have a funereal look - this apparently will be pushed out to sea this afternoon.


The bar guy said about three o clock but given time here I'm not sure. Also there is a sign indicating this festival is going on for two days so it might be tomorrow - sitting here for hours drinking Sang Som and Coke waiting for it all to happen may not be such a sensible move... But no, suddenly the band (sounding very Balinese, like a Gamelan orchestra) start up and gradually as they get faster and faster, the bamboo structure is hoisted aloft and paraded across the beach down to the sea and loaded onto a long tail boat and motors off into the distance. One guy in white seems so overcome he throws himself into the sea to chase after the boat and has to be dragged out by two other white clad devotees. But it's a good job these people are so nice and welcoming. Luckily this is a quiet beach but given their ancestor ceremony is hijacked by Westerners in brief (well, there are a lot of German's) swimmies toting cameras, they are very gracious.


I return the next day to see what was happening but all had changed - God forbid you needed help in the Khao Lak area today as all of the emergency services including ambulances and rescue boats had gathered for some sort of ceremony with lots of speeches and a few firecrackers. It's all happening here...


Well, actually it's not - apart from the weekend's excitement, it's been a quiet time. Still trying to do my day's walking and it's nice to say hello to the elephants each day.



An evening visit to Bang Niang market (the area I am moving to next) in the hotel shuttle bus feeling just like a German Saga outing but apart from that my biggest issue was European or Thai for dinner...
And getting to know another doggie friend, Hannah. Sweet little thing but still can't beat my fave, (my fave in Thailand that is), Darling from Samui!


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Location:อ.ตะกั่วป่า,Thailand