I think I came here to Cha am slightly the long way round - more comfortable but longer. It's still on the Gulf of Thailand but on the mainland. The shorter way would have been a ferry to Don Sak and then a bus north..... but when you can get a flight north and a taxi south....
I like it here, it's a great place. Not fabulous like St Tropez or even mind's eye Thai beach like Lipa Noi. It's probably more like Margate or Southend in the old days, unashamedly bucket and spade! It's also unashamedly Thai, and not for the Western tourist. I'm one of the few Westerners in the village! Most of the signage is in Thai without the English translation and there's not a girlie bar in sight. What there is are loads of day trippers arriving on their gaudy painted coaches and young Thai families enjoying their seaside.
Hua Hin, 26k down the coast has been the smarter relation for years and is very Western and over developed, so I guess the Thai's decided to keep something for themselves, quite right too. But there is a downside. Food choices are limited as apart from the the big hotels I am still looking for Western type Thai restaurants, I can only find places where the menu is in Thai and the tables are on the dusty side, putting it politely! But It seems that any European's settling here have been Scandinavians so there are a few Thai places with a Norwegian flag outside to try... And even more of an issue, no laundry choices. In Samui they are everywhere and do a great job at 35 baht (70p) a kilo, here I have managed to find only one so far and at the outrageous price of 90 baht (£1.80) a kilo and she was very clear that that included "no eye-ron". But on a positive note, after three months without, I am getting used to warm water (this is Thailand, so no, not actually hot water) in the bathroom basin again so if push comes to shove a bit of Tide and Downy from the 7/11 should see me through....
Cha am is a long sweeping beach about 3 miles in length. But not that you can see much of the beach - along all three miles is a ribbon of old fashioned striped deckchairs, up to 12 deep, all arranged around small, low tables covered with easy wipe oilcloth and covered with so many sun umbrellas that not even one ray of sun would not get through whatever time of day.
It appears to work like this. You get here first thing, either on one of the gaudy buses or in your own transport, mainly pickups loaded with all sorts of stuff - water, food, tarpaulins, children and stripey big bags. You choose which deckchair set you and your family want, pay the man and settle in for the day. The kids, regardless of the dangerous currents and jellyfish (including box jellyfish) warnings, leap into the sea, especially after hiring huge black inner tubes to play on and then try to avoid the jet skis and banana boats speeding along very close in shore. All manic but it seems to work! Also along the whole three miles are small stalls with fresh fish and seafood. Looks like if you're peckish, you choose some, send it somewhere to be cooked then eat it. Or you can buy some of the huge pre cooked battered prawns the girls carry round. These look especially yummy. They appear to be cooked first thing in the morning in rather dark, dodgy looking oil, then kept in the 33 degree shade till someone buys them for lunch.... Hmmmmm.... You also appear to be able to get food from your favourite restaurants, you always see waiters on their motorbikes, driving with one hand and balancing a couple of uncovered plates of Pad Thai with the other..... Late afternoon when it's cooled down a bit, the family hire bikes to ride up and down the beach road - and these are bicycles made for two - and three and four. Whole families climb on the four seater ones and giggle their way along the prom! They also have the other four seaters with the little roof that I still have pictures of at home from holidays we took in North Wales, all very Enid Blyton! Less Enid Blyton is the Thai love of karaoke, that comes out early evening, but perhaps that's just the modern equivalent of songs around the beach camp fire...
It's a low rise place apart from four hideous high rise hotels, including the ubiquitous Asia. Can't imagine how they survive. The hotel economy here seems to be tour groups who stay one night, often all in the same colour polo shirts, either work, youth or school groups. They are all queuing up patiently in the mornings to get back on the big coaches to take them home, but only outside the smaller Thai guest house type hotels. The big places must earn their money with weekend bookings, it's only a couple of hours down a good highway from Bangkok and is a popular weekend destination. Certainly this hotel, apart from a works do one night when it was full, has been like a mausoleum all week, but now it's Saturday the pool of my pool access room is teeming with screeching kids... Funnily enough I don't mind these kids at all! They are sweet and wave hello to the strange farang as they doggy paddle past. I used to find the European ones in the Florist really annoying, for some reason they just seemed like spoiled little brats! Cha am is also well set up for the day tripper business. All along the beach are small establishments offering loos and showers. Often tucked in between two buildings and constructed mainly of corrugated iron, they offer a necessary, but I know from walking past, not a very fragrant service! The souvenirs are here aplenty too. As well as the usual t shirt and swimmie stalls and brightly coloured inflatables and buckets and spades and sunhats, there are lots of shell stalls with shell picture frames, mirrors, ornaments, mobiles and door curtains. Funnily enough the beach here has no shells at all..... perhaps that's why!
But the big food take home here is not mint rock or candy floss but dried fish. There is the usual dried brown squid that I recognise but also whole fish that don't look that dry, wrapped beautifully in frilly cellophane like a Harrod's Easter egg. Can't work that one out at all. But there is a shopping frenzy each morning and evening just before people board their coaches for home. Not sure I fancy the eau de dried fish fragrance that must permeate the journey! In summary, if you've only got a couple of weeks holiday in Thailand this probably isn't your best choice, but if you're after a bit of full on seaside, this is it - charming Cha am!
