Our Thai holiday 2012 with pics ( part 1 )

[nigelandjan]

Ok rains stopped play in the veg garden so will post a few pics of our swaree out in the far east earlier this year . Will post part 2 a bit later , feel free to join in ,, enjoy the ride

Well off we go from terminal 3 in this Airbus , I used to think the Jumbos were cramped , but this poxy thing beats the Jumbos hands down for cramping up your knees under your chin for 12 hours or so , glad we came back on an old Jumbo



Now on arrival in Udon Thani rather than head straight off into the jungle I insisted we had at least one nights rest and refreshment to stabilise the system a bit so we spent a rather pleasant night at the Napoli , for about £21 including breakfast .



Now the wife has been working and saving to buy some land for some rubber trees to help a bit later on in retirement so this is some of the land she has bought , we are putting a thousand in here once the rain season starts , all paid for trees and labour.



Now I need to loose weight and the kind of diet on offer in the family home goes a long way to supporting this ,, now I love Thai food but this Issan food comes complete with chilli ,, chilli ,, chilli and you get the idea ,, to cap it my muesli which I have brought with me to eat , which I keep in a tightly sealed box has been the subject of investigation by another member of the family ,, not putting the lid back properly , so now the ants are all in there celebrating my arrival .




We have some 4 year old rubber trees on another plot ,, looking good so far




Now after a week of the wife re integrating with family and friends its nearly time to move on for a nice week with the family in Cha am ( or so I was lead to believe ) more on that in a minute , but before we go South we went North West a bit and met a TD member Ralphlasser ,, and his lovely wife ,, now its not for me to discuss Ralphs trials and tribulations he has been through building his home ,, but all I can say is this guy must have the patience of a saint ,, and I take my hat off to his perseverance . A thoroughly nice chap and tells a funny tale , I haven't met many Americans but those I have have all been gentlemen to me .


Now then lets head for Cha am , 2 pickups heading south with all the family on board , me driving the 2nd one following the leader ,, through the new junction in KK , pleasant surprise the new underpass , now we have only been travelling about 3 hours but we have stopped 4 times for toileting ,, I suppose after 25 years as a long distance lorry driver I have a bladder like a space hopper , but dear oh dear ,, we no sooner stop for the bog then Mum who is sitting behind me is downing carton after carton of milk , so its the next garage for another ching chong .

Now then we have arrived at Korat and turned left ,, why ? I enquire as I would have gone down to Saraburi ,, but were on route for Kabinbury and then onto Rayong ?? after a phone call to the pickup in front apparently there is some poxy crab salad we must try in Rayong ,,,, its only about 450km,s off route but hey ho here we go ,, well after God knows how many more bog breaks we arrive in Rayong 12 hours later at 8pm ,, brilliant idea ! walk into a hotel on the front ripped right off £65 for the night,, then we go to eat this wonderful crab salad ,, non event.

Now I'm looking forward to getting to Cha am so I have forgotten about how I felt yesterday , so its full steam ahead ,,,,,,,,until we have to go to some floating market in Pattaya and we seem to loose momentum and the lead vehicle seems to loose the will to go to Cha am today ,, so we end up in a coconut plantation in Samut Songkran ( don't ask ) and to be fair we stayed at a rather nice little resort , here it is



very nice it was too about £20 the night inclusive of that breakfast and long tail boat trip up the river to Amphur waa night market for our evening meal ,, lovely friendly owners at this resort called Gon na ra ?
This was the river we headed up on the long tail the previous night



Breakfast on offer here ,, sorry only congee and coffee



Ok we have said our goodbyes and we are now 2 days later heading for Cha am ,, on arrival at Cha am I have called into the big C as I have in all the excitement left my T shirts somewhere on route so I am in the market for some 100bht T shirts ,, the big C have come up trumps although I don't know if I will ever wear them more than once.

One thing I am going to treat myself to when I retire is one of these pimped up pick ups I just love this model D max ,, this little beauty obviously had a loving owner ,, I also like this 2 door model as it helps deter family members



We have now arrived on the beach road in Cha am and checked in to the Baan Thai hotel very nice it is to and so it should be we have walked in and paid about £50 up early the following morning for a walk along the lovely beach here .



The next day was spent swimming eating swimming eating ,, now this is my idea of a holiday ,, I'm just beginning to enjoy myself when I am informed we are leaving tomorrow as something has happened back at home , so the family are going back and we are to go North west to visit other relatives,, anyway before we go we spend the afternoon on the beach near Panbury through an old army camp I believe ,, this shot is of the end of the beach .




Sadly lastnight here so I arrange to meet one of TD's fine upstanding characters ( ahem coughs uncomfortably ) clears throat ahem ,,,, Twang we had a few beers , met his lovely lady and his gorgeous little daughter ,, had some laughs ,, I must admit this is one aspect of TD I really like getting to meet some of the members we banter with over the ether .

Anyway thats it for part one ,, there is a part 2 to come if you like but it will be a little while yet as I am just so busy at the mo ,, so hope to see you later for part 2

[Kwang]

I must add, what a great guy Nigel is (cough, splutter, choke, cough, hiccup,inhaler quick -There, how do you like it, haha) and he has a lovely bubbly wife. They are great fun. Looking forward to this thread Nige. Nice Pics

[Bettyboo]

Good thread, Nige; I'd like to green you, but out of ammo...

[nevets]

Nice thread so glad you liked Cha-Am looking forward to the 2nd part, i been to that place through the Air Force camp its good isnt it.

[Bangyai]

..... lovely friendly owners at this resort called Gon na ra ?

Interesting name . I feel I don't need to go there though as I've already had it a couple of times


Great thread mate. Too many shared experiences to comment on. I used to buy Fruit and Fiber flakes for breakfast but after 1 portion the ants always got in no matter how many bags I put it in. For what its worth they are not so impressed with ordinary cornflakes as there is very little sugar content.

[Ceburat1]

Get instant oatmeal. Do like the Thai's in Issan do if the ants get to it - just add hot water, stir well, and eat. Fresh meat and all. It you do this you never have to worry about ants. Oh, I almost forgot - this is a great thread - more please.

[Marmite the Dog]

Now then we have arrived at Korat and turned left ,, why ? I enquire as I would have gone down to Saraburi ,, but were on route for Kabinbury and then onto Rayong

You're either too nice or too stupid.

I just love this model D max

That clarifys things...

[nigelandjan]

Originally Posted by nigelandjan
Now then we have arrived at Korat and turned left ,, why ? I enquire as I would have gone down to Saraburi ,, but were on route for Kabinbury and then onto Rayong
You're either too nice or too stupid

??? I was following the leader ,,, and as far as I was aware when we left base camp we was going to Cha am for a week ,, and I am sure even you with all your experience wouldn't go via Rayong to get to Cha am from Udon

[nigelandjan]

PS your probable right about the too stupid remark

[rawlins]

Good thread Nigel.

450km detour to try out a crab salad?.. Should have done a u-turn and got back on route to Cha-Am as soon as you realised what they were up to.

Thais have an amazing ability to spring surprises like this without any prior notice - baffles me still.

Gonnorea Resort looked like a nice stopover.

Look forward to part 2.

[natalie8]

Looking good, nigel. Looking forward to Part Sawng.

[OhOh]

Great holiday tales. I look forward the parts 2, 3, .....

Did you manage any sketching ?

Isn't it great when the schedule changes?

[terry57]

Great real life thread. Good stuff

[ThaiAm]

Thanks for sharing

[Kwang]

You're either too nice or too stupid.

Stupid is a bit harsh, I'd go with simple..... Only joking I'd say nice

450km detour to try out a crab salad?

Yeah, there's no crabs in Cha Am, hahahaha

[SEA Traveler]

Nice thread beginning N&J. I know the feeling of how the Thais get off track. Learned it early on and have taken evasive actions since then. I lead. My way or the highway unless the detour has good reason. Not sure crab salad would have done the trick for me. Fresh steamed crabs and a six pack of beer would have been a different story.

Looking forward to follow on parts with pics.

[Bogon]

Great thread Nigel. Keep it coming.
The classic Thai detour eh?
Masters of the bait and switch these lot are.

[Cujo]

Thanks, Nigel, always enjoy the travel threads.

[Marmite the Dog]

and I am sure even you with all your experience wouldn't go via Rayong to get to Cha am from Udon

I wouldn't follow a Thai either.

[nigelandjan]

I wouldn't follow a Thai either.

Normally I wouldn't either mate ,, I have driven N - S - E + West allover Thai except in the deep South and never had a prob ( or accident ) quickly touches head , but I feel as the wife lives in the UK here with me I have to give these 3 weeks over to her and what she wants basically ,, I manage to shoe horn a little of what I can in every now and then

[nigelandjan]

Did you manage any sketching ?

Yes there will be a bit to follow in part 2 mate ,,, until then I don't know if you have re-visited Neal's Deltic Diesel thread ,, theres some in there now mate

[nigelandjan]

BTW thankyou all who have taken the trouble to say thanks for doing it ,, anyone else who has done picture posts will know it often involves a fair bit of uploading / downloading / resizing work to put it all together,, your comments good ( or otherwise ) are all most welcome

[Marmite the Dog]

I feel as the wife lives in the UK here with me I have to give these 3 weeks over to her and what she wants basically

Fair enough.

[Notnow]

Long, long ago, my mum sent me a food package from the U.S. Inside were crackers, cookies, biscuit etc. I came back to my little house after work, and there was a 2 lane ant road to the box. One coming, the other returning to the nest with the loot. They drove on the right side, perhaps in deference to my home country. My Thai GF (she deserved CAPS) showed me a trick. You simply pick up the box and move it. When you put it down, the looters, with their radar, head to the nest to spread the news. The 2 lane bunch slowly retreat, empty mandibled. You then wait a few minutes till the ones in the box head home, then you move the box again. They seem clean, I had no trouble eating it all before the scouts found it again.

[alwarner]

Nice thread Nige.

Out of greens but it's there in spirit.