offerendum

Warships and oil rigs - experienced both in the past This nags at beaches, sights etc are really awful

JVPhoto

Hua Hin

First order of business was to get some wheels. I did a little googling so I could try to find the less scammy one and came across Hua Hin Motorcycles of Soi 80 which on their page they say is the "Fun Street". Well I understand what they mean...LADY BARS for sexpats!



600 baht for 4 days and a 2,000 baht deposit and I was on my way with a Honda Click with 7k kms.

A little scooting around checking out the town and a few gyms plus a downpour I was ready to get some food.


I opted to go check out the Hua Hin Nightmarket which for the most part was just like any other one in terms of knick knacks and crap. The draw here is that they have a lot of seafood places lining the street. They were pretty aggressive to try and get you to come in, but it was mostly set up for larger groups...I don't need to spend 1000 baht on a lot of shrimp and clams for myself.




At the end of the street I stopped by a Mom & Daughter serving up some Thai food. 3 plates of pad krapaow moo they had a good laugh at how much I could eat.



Too early for bed...good hour to kill.


Up early I wanted to get some sightseeing done so first stop I decide to check out Wat Huay Mongkohn(kol) which is a giant statue of monk Luang Phor Thuad.

A nice 30 min drive outside of the city.






3 very cool gold leaf statue knaves around the base.


Not so fast lil pup.


Made my way back to a gym that I could walk to from Marriott faster than on a scooter having to do 2 u-turns on the main road to get to it.
@letic was convenient, not the best gym but plenty of room, a/c and it also has a Thai place attached to it.





So I decided I would check out the beach...







Upon closer inspection...I realize why it's all pool resorts.

Plenty of dead stuff to see!






Resting and freshening up I wanted to make it to Rahjabakti Park closer to sunset so I could see the giant statues of the great Kings of Siam light from behind.
Run by the military checking cars when you arrive it's a big impressive park. To get close to the statues you have to dress modestly so they have cover ups for both men and women.


Making my way back into town I planned to stop by Cicada Market and eat and check things out. Just before that (if coming from the south) is Tamarind Market which was a lot smaller and more relaxed plus they had parking.




Then walking over to Cicada Market. A lot bigger, tons more food. You have to buy 100baht coupon packs to then pay the food vendors. A decent amount of people by by no means the shoulder to shoulder cluster that can be lots of places. Also here it was a lot of small artisans and unique things vs. the normal tourist crap. Food was a bit more expensive than Tamarind or other night markets.





An early rise because I was making my way south. I was excited about this 1h drive down south. Nice paved road, easy to find making my way to Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.
I found the entrance, paid the 200 baht park fee and hired a boat for 400 baht.





He took me around the peninsula to a beach on the other side.





Met by a lady who verified my ticket (as though I was coming over on a skiff w/o buying admission) and then offered me a guide for 200 baht. They were "student" guides...aka like a 9-12 year old kid. I don't think the kid really wanted to go so the woman said she would go with me. In hindsight I could have done without this, I was going to do it to give the kids some money but didn't really need a "guide".

A few little monkeys...



...450m of steps up.


Starting to descend and then open up to a cave system.


Passing into a large cave...


Turning around and you see what the whole trip was for.



The throne built for King Rama V. He had visited this spot but did not come back before he died once the throne was completed. Rama VII and Rama IX have both visited the site.



Here I am for some scale.


Absolutely stunning...probably the best thing I've done in Thailand and maybe anywhere.

Watch out for the alligators!


A man on the remote beach radios for a boat if there already aren't some waiting to take you back. Note: You can walk up and over the peninsula instead of taking a boat which from what I gather would take about 30-35min and a lot more steps.
Plenty of women wanting to feed you when you get back to the main parking beach.


I would say if you go you really want to be at the beach to take the boat by 9:45 or so at the latest. I think after 11-11:30 the sun will have moved too much to the other side of the cave opening that it may not light up the altar.

Some pool and gym time and then for dinner (as I needed to give my bowels a spicy break) I went to Bluport which is the giant new glistening mall that opened the weekend I arrived. Apparently it is the same people as Siam Paragon and it sits right across from the Intercontinental and they even have a sky bridge connecting.




One more thing to check out...the monkeys! Located at Wat Takiab next to the little fishing marina.






The view is pretty nice, the temple isn't that big...it's cool to go watch all the monkeys.




Another little scoot through town to another hill to check out the mountain top pagoda of Chang Wat Prachuap Khiri Khan.



Late check out at 4 and not flying out until 7:30 just had some more time to hang out around the pool. Went back to Bluport to get some late lunch before I went to drop the scooter off and then get my bag and a taxi to HHQ.
Lots of brown but pretty tasty at Coco Icibanya.

JVPhoto

Kan Air HHQ-CNX

Part of going to Hua Hin was that I found out earlier this year about Kan Air and their unique routes out of Chiang Mai. Earlier this year I flew on their Cessna Caravan for the whopping 25min flight to Pai instead of taking the backpacker bus which can take 4-6 hours depending on the roads (which at the time was down to 1 lane with construction). It's then I noticed they flew from Hua Hin 2-3x a week on an ATR72-500 depending on the season.
That worked out well so I could take a car to Hua Hin and then fly out direct to Chiang Mai instead of going back to BKK by car.

I literally had no idea what to expect with HHQ. I tried to find a few things online but there wasn't much. Drove past it on the way into town and really could decipher what was what. They did spend a lot of money a few years ago extending the runway which goes over the main road.

A rather funny spot. All tricked out to handle foreign and domestic jets, clean polished floors, high ceilings, lots of chairs...and a pirate bar!




I wonder if anyone else on FT has one of these babies!


Cassia Air and Air Asia offices full of random boxes and office equipment.

Berjaya Air looks cool...only the Kan Air ticket booth is staffed. There's also an empty Hertz booth.


Boarding was listed at 7pm, flight scheduled for 7:30pm. At about 6:35 the lady who was running the snack bar moved over to the x-ray scanner with a few other staff to have the 32 of us flying go through security.
The gate area also had immigration booths.






I was worried about weather but the 15min downpour happened at about 5pm and after that all the lightening was off in the distance. The inbound landed at about 6:45 and we were taking off at 7:11.


A hot meal of chicken/rice or pad thai made by a local CNX hotel. The muffin is from local Dang Bakery. On my flight to Pai they gave us a little sandwich box at the gate from the same bakery, I've seen signs around town for it but never actually seen the store(s).

Had a beautiful lightening storm off in the distance most of the flight.


Arrived remotely at CNX and we all got on a bus except for a family with grandparents and a kid who I think may have been staff/crew.


By the time they dropped us off at baggage claim and I could take a whizz my bag was already on the conveyer belt. Just like my trip to Pai which r/t I think was $110 this for a one way was about $90 which was WELL worth it considering the time/energy/$ spent to go back to fly out of BKK. Plus, like with Pai it allowed me to visit somewhere in Thailand that I probably would not have gone (i.e. I wasn't going to spend hours on a bus or do a back and forth 3h drive each way from Bangkok to Hua Hin).

TOMFORD

Awesome to see you back in Thailand!

JVPhoto

The barbarians are at the gate! It's just like LH not giving a real MoP spoon for caviar!
In fact I don't recall not getting PDB on JFK-NRT, HKG-NRT. I know OZ doesn't give hooch out even in F on the ground in the US.

A fair amount of sunburnt nags leading their exasperated husbands around town as well.

Some in Siam may beg to differ.

TOMFORD

Let's cut the banter and post more stuff!

JVPhoto

I'm enjoying Krabi. I'll post more the next night or so.

I had my first screw up in all the miles of traveling. I left my ATM card in the machine at CNX and didn't realize until checking in the hotel in Krabi.
Called and had it cancelled. No one used it I feel the machine probably sucked it back in. Threw me off but I still have plenty of cash in USD still and a back up ATM card for an old checking account I got when I was 13. If I need to I can have someone deposit money there in the US for me. I doubt I need to as I have plenty of cash for things not at the hotel/malls like street food, tourist entrance fees, scooter rental etc.

TOMFORD

Sorry to hear about the hiccup, thankfully no one went swiping happy with your card!

JVPhoto

The De Lanna Hotel & Chiang Mai

So since I was only here for a week no reason to rent an apartment. Didn't feel like dishing out the dough for something like Anatara or 137 Pillars House. My friends when they visited last year stayed at De Lanna so I had been there, seemed nice, they liked it and for $50/night with breakfast in the old city heck why not.





My friends must like a firm bed because this was not for me. Very hard mattress, pillows were decent. I'm used to a pillow top mattress and/or feather bed so took me 2-3 nights to get used to it. Room is big, AC works great.
The bathroom in my room sucked. The door opens in and not fully so to get to the toilet you have to shimmy around then close it, and then the shower door opened out which also made it a tetris like set up.


Breakfast was decent. An egg station, some Chinese food, a little Thai food, fruits and breads. It was fine to get a bit when I first woke up and was hungry but I mostly went out for a 2nd breakfast to my favorite spots anyways.


The center of the hotel has a pool and a nice courtyard with tables and chairs. Acoustic guitar Friday/Sat. Really friendly staff, always eager to help. When I come back next year I won't stay here (I think I'll try one of the 5*s), but if the price works for you I say go for it.

I'm gonna make this quick since I didn't do a whole lot and you can see lots of other stuff from past TRs linked.
Previous TRs:
1st Visit to Chiang Mai
1 Month Part 1
1 Month Part 2
2.5 Months Part 1
2.5 Months Part 2
2.5 Months Part 3

New stuff...



Chiang Mai Erotic Garden & Tea House

Drove about 25min north of the city to Mae Rim to see what this was all about.
I pulled up and entered the empty tea house looking for the noise I was hearing. Out back I found a woman washing a dog who didn't speak English but told me to wait a second and then gave me her cell phone. The voice on the other end was Katai, the owner who said she will be there in 5 min. Once she arrived we talked for a few minutes and then she began the tour.





Along the way we would stop and look at some flowers and she would describe why she picked it...it either looked like a penis or a vagina.



She's in her 50/60s. Lived in Canberra and had a restaurant. Moved back and purchased the few rai of land from (what I think) was property seized by the government and then built her garden.

Woodsbar above The Prestige Hotel was a nice place to meet a (local) friend. Extra awesome because they were playing The Smiths.



I was also taken to a derelict shell of what was going to be a hospital to do a photoshoot which was rather cool. Coupled with the fact that the army was training there repelling off the 4th floor to the ground.


Another adventure not far from the city was the Royal Park Botanical Garden.


In the center sits the giant Royal Pavillon and out from each side are different "zones" of types of plants and on the other side is about 25 different small gardens based on countries around the world from Denmark to Oman to India.










Of course I was most fond of the Bonsai garden.









Sitting on the hill behind the Park is Wat Doi Kahm which you can't miss by the giant Buddha standing on the hill. Not as high as Doi Suthep but still a great view. You can watch the planes land and see all the movement at the airport. Was amusing to hear the group of 4 Thai people next to me discuss which aircraft it was and where it was coming from (with the naked eye a little hard to be exactly sure on some of the liviries what was what).





A new spot I tried was Impresso and I was impressed...probably the best iced americano I've ever had.


Also met with a bodybuilder/motorcycle nut to do some photos and it has convinced me when I get back to California I think I'm going to buy the Ducati Scrambler which I first saw here in CNX a year ago.


Old stuff...I'm a creature of habit but it is also really good!

Rustic & Blue
So so good.

Aside from the farangs who thought it was okay to change their baby's diaper at the table.


Hinlay Curry House...relaxed and refined.



Im Aim...I got scared because the old place had a for sale sign, then someone mentioned they moved around the corner. Much nicer spot.



Khao Soi Mae Sae


Dash! Teakhouse because sometimes I wanna go where the owner knows my name.



Artisan...solid spot for coffee.


If you're going to rent a scooter find Chloe Motorbike Rentals on Facebook. Leslie (English) has great prices and they deliver and pick up!


Musashi...went 2x.



Cafe 1235472...went 2x.


Jok Sompet....went 2x.


Chiang Mai sausage...you gotta try it (from a night market). So herby, so much flavor, a little spice.


This post made me realize how everything else in Thailand (i.e. the South) is twice the price and half as good as things in the North.

JVPhoto

Air Asia CNX-KBV

The ease of a direct flight from Chiang Mai to Krabi and getting to "try out"...by lack of any other options...Air Asia. I figured with the add-ons from an LCC it wouldn't be too bad.

I booked the ticket as "Premium Flex" which in addition to changing dates lets you use the dedicated counter at check-in, priority boarding, inflight meal, 20kg bags, priority baggage delivery, seat selection in the first 5 rows or exit row.



Not too busy...but it still took these two ladies 6.5 (I timed it) minutes to check in. The normal counters were able to help about 6-7 couples before me. I can't recall if I bought an extra 5kg of luggage over the 20kg since I knew I'd be around 23 or so. I remember doing it, but maybe it was for my VN flight. So that was the case or the check-in agent was so happy that it took her 45 seconds to take care of me that my bag weighing 24kg wasn't an issue for her.



The nice thing about CNX is that it's so quick and easy with security that almost everything is landside for coffee, food, massage and even the Bangkok Air lounge...the Thai lounge is airside.
A last bite of the North before I'm off.



Boarding was scheduled for 3:55 so I went through security at 3:30.
The monitor at the gate showed "Boarding" before they made an announcement which meant people all started to get up and try to get on. Fortunately they maintained that and held up their sign showing it was Priority for PF/Elderly/Monks. Which lead to some frustrated farangs who kept trying to shove their BP to the GA.


I should have taken the bulkhead (I normally dislike them) but luckily the guy ahead of me there didn't recline so it wasn't an issue.


I forgot that I had selected a meal when I booked which apparently was gang kiaw wan gai (green chicken curry) which was unavailable so they gave me the pamphlet to pick. This looked tasty in the picture plated all nicely.


It was good! If they have these at 7/11 or something in KL I'm so buying them.




A nice flight and descent into Krabi. Waited at the baggage claim. Apparently the EXPRESS tag they added to the bag meant nothing as I was waiting and waiting until only about 30% of the people were left before my bag came off. I guess the trick is to be a backpacker and buy one of their giant soft bags and check that since it seemed all of that came out in droves at first.

Verdict: Fine and dandy if it's the only direct flight to take. Otherwise I would have taken a legacy carrier.

JVPhoto

Dusit Thani Beach Resort

I opted for the hotel to take care of the transfer because I didn't feel like dealing with taxi service in tourist-ville.
I thought it was a bit more expensive then I imagine...and when he driver said it will be about 40 min I was confused. All in all looking at the taxi service signs out by the hotels in my area it was only a couple hundred baht more expensive.



Well....I think when I was booking hotels I looked at 3-4 then came back later and booked. I had looked at the Dusit Thani and the Centara but I confused the location and thought the DT was where the Centara was in Ao Nang.

When I arrived this is when I realized I left my ATM card in CNX so I took care of that and was hungry and frustrated so opted to eat at Malati at the hotel which is Thai/Indian place near the beach/pool area.


Pricey but good aside from salty saag.


They are opening a seafood place and an Italian place in November. The other option is Mangosteens for international and Thai food which is where breakfast is served in the mornings below the lobby.



The rooms were very nice. Great soft palette, comfortable, plenty of room.

I had a tiny ocean view but mainly looked out to the lotus pond from the balcony. I was in the closest building to the beach which sucked because it meant you had to walk the furthest to get to breakfast or my scooter parking. They have a lot of golf carts that they can take you from the lobby.

Really scenic and beautiful grounds with a wood boardwalk throughout the property.





I booked a Club Level room which was nice. I could do breakfast there (more continental style with cooked to order eggs) or the buffet. In addition there were always 2 dedicated concierges, some fruit and cakes all day and then 5:30-7:30 snacks and wine/beer.





Breakfast at the buffet was decent. A typical mix of things and a few stations. Each morning I woke up feeling a bit off in my stomach so it was kind of hard to get myself to eat much or feeling like any of it. I normally never have a problem diving right into spicy, noodles, rich food for breakfast. I grew up more mornings wanting to eat left over Chinese food, spaghetti or things like that instead of cereal. I didn't even start eating eggs (as in their own dish) until about 4 years ago.




So with the scooter I could get to Ao Nang and that area in about 12 minutes or so on a nice ride. Google maps puts you on the main roads but if you look for the actual sign markers you can cut through some nice scenic smaller roads.
Had I known that I was going to be this far "up" the coast I would have stayed at The Ritz, Phulay Bay which was only a 5 min longer scooter ride up. The reason I didn't stay there initially was because it seemed "far" and I knew I would be out and about. Had I paid more attention when I actually booked I would have seen that I was basically there as it was.

That being said the hotel was great, I can't blame it for my own overlook.

TPJ

Wow - do I see correctly that they have some sort of IFE screens on these ATR's?

Fairly amazing I would say (if they worked)...

JVPhoto

It had the Kan Air logo on while we were on the ground.

roadwarrier

Are you still in Thailand, and if so, how has the passing of the King affected the tourism market? In other words, is it business as usual, or has the Military stepped up visibility, or have alcohol sales been curbed or border controls been beefed up?

JVPhoto

I was going to note in the next posts as it happened when I was in Krabi and now I'm in BKK.

I was expecting more to happen. I think because people had known the unstable condition for a few days and were hearing unofficial reports that the official announcement at 7 just confirmed what they pretty much already knew. I was at dinner and the two girls at the front desk/cashier were watching on their phone and were crying a little. No wailing.

The next day if you didn't read the news or hear about if you wouldn't have been the wiser. A few people were wearing black but at the hotel with their uniforms they were pinning on black ribbons. However now in Bangkok the black is noticeable. Also many photos of HRM have been charged to b/w and I passed a hospital and police station that the perimeter fence walls were draped in b/w cloth.
Many websites have changed to b/w also.

The official mourning period is 1 year where gov't and civil servants are told to wear black.
A 30 day no entertainment rule is in effect. No changes to alcohol. So things like Soi Cowboy have closed down, some of the gay clubs are closing for a week but Soi 4 the gay bar strip apparently is open they just can't play music or have their drag shows.
Full moon party, color run, bodybuilding comp, lantern release for Loy Krathong I saw have all been cancelled.
Also on TV no entertainment shows on HBO and things like they, they're playing documentaries about the king and stuff.
I didn't notice anything at the airport and I haven't heard anything because there hasn't been any unrest or tension so far.