Thread: Khao Lak thoughts

Whatever really happened at Long Island resort I don't know, but it lost whatever it was it had and went downhill at a very rapid state. The place became awful and we understand it was sold last year, it is now under new ownership and management , we have not been to Samui for a few years now and so have no idea how it bears up today.

Everything on The Island has become highly commercialised with hotels and condo's on every bit of spare ground you can see, from the mountains to the beach. It's a disaster in my book.


The little fellow here was waiting for us one morning when we opened the doors.




I'm not sure if it was a dangerous specimen but we were careful how we treated the area in that aspect of safety, the grass and garden areas were no longer being maintained as they should have been.


The little fellow below terrified my sister, but I told her it was completely harmless. It probably was. I've never bothered too much myself about spiders and the likes, they are not too much of a worry.

^

Love it - had me laughing - Thanks !!!

When you see more of the beautiful Island vanishing from view behind building after building it really is a disappointment.







This Sunrise Resort at the top end of Lamai Beach near 'Prick Rock' is quite a nice family run place. Good food and comes well recommended from others, I have never stayed there myself but several people tell me it is a good value for money place.

Originally Posted by Happyman

^

Love it - had me laughing - Thanks !!!

That has to be a good 'un then Happyman, Cheers mate.

I came across some photographs from Ko Chang, we visited the island about four years back. It was pleasantly nice. Very quiet but extremely picturesque, the road didn't even go all the way round the island at that time. I rather imagine it probably does now, and there has been some substantial private and commercial development taking place I have heard.


There was plenty of wildlife on the island too, the same is mainly a National Park Rainforest.

It is the second largest Island in Thailand after Phuket, there are steep cliffs, superb waterfalls and interesting wildlife.

Such as; Colourful Parrots, Wild Boar, Sunbirds, Hornbills, Barking Deer, and numerous varieties of snakes, lizards, monkey's and big hairy spiders, with clogs on their feet, going clip clippity clop on the stairs.

Like I have noticed in Samui waters and indeed all around Thailand's beaches, come to think of it, there are always sightings of sea snakes.


White Sand beach is probably the most lively part of the island and there are a few good restaurants dotted about. Nothing I would class as special, certainly not outstanding but a basic decent meal is always on the agenda and menu.

There are fifty two Islands in the region making up a decent sized archipelago,
the other islands are rather small, only two of them are of consideration size, Ko Kut and Ko Mak.

I was told by several people I spoke to though that diving in the local waters was absolutely brilliant.








I always like the manner Thai fishermen present their boats, very colourful.








We made a special trip up into the hills on our motorcycle one day to visit the elephant camp and intended taking a trip into the mountain tops on board a monster. As it was, the elephants were all out and we missed the boat so to speak. We intended going back another day, but as it was we didn't get round to it.





Once you meandered off the main drag though, the roads were simple dirt tracks and nothing else.





Houses and general accommodation for the islanders was very basic throughout, and there was not really much of a community spirit noticed.

There was a little farming carried out here and there on the island, but most of the residents appeared to be involved in the fishing industry.

Again, things will no doubt have changed much since we were there.




There had been areas of jungle cleared and established with the usual rubber trees, and this was another area of employment and business, I omitted to mention above.



The home below interested me, the occupants a young couple and four children didn't wish to be photographed, which was respected, but they allowed me to take a snap of their humble abode, for which I treated them.

They didn't have much at all.

This was a funny thing to see the dogs had chased the goats onto the rock.





It was never going to be like the original Samui, but for great scenery and simple relaxation it is a nice place to visit.


There were some interesting accommodation points on the beaches.





The owners of these places were concerned that the new interest in the Island as an up and coming major tourist attraction would no doubt mean their days were numbered.





You didn't see a great deal of traffic at all, even in town.



The town was small, very clean and signs of development were obvious. I rather think it is probably a totally different place by now.




The beaches were beautiful as well.




There was a Thai living in the cave on the photograph above. When the tide was in, you could walk into his cave one side and out the other, he appeared to leave it as an open route.

He smoked some pleasantly aromatic herb, I would call the substance and appeared quite a peace with the earth, but complained that the Police were trying to force him out of the cave.
I'll have to go through my main photographs for this Island and put some more up in the next few days.

also known as the Ratchaprapha Dam

Rajjaprabha Saddle Dam




Rajjaprabha Dam







The Colonel

Originally Posted by Mathos

Maybe Marmite in his wisdom and power can make an amendment to the title and simply put it down as Khao Lak and Beach Resort Thoughts?

Lazy git!

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Originally Posted by Mathos

Maybe Marmite in his wisdom and power can make an amendment to the title and simply put it down as Khao Lak and Beach Resort Thoughts?

Lazy git!

I know..

Yeah we're drinking and we're dancing
but there's nothing really happening
and the place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night
And my very close companion
gets me fumbling gets me laughing
she's a hundred but she's wearing
something tight
and I lift my glass to the Awful Truth
which you can't reveal to the Ears of Youth
except to say it isn't worth a dime
And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
and it's once for the devil and once for Christ
but the Boss don't like these dizzy heights
we're busted in the blinding lights,
busted in the blinding lights
of closing time.

{Leonard Cohen}

Good words there MtD.

You made me laugh somewhat with that post. Reminded me of the story about the young and older bull in the big field.

The young bull was looking down the field and he noticed farmer leaving in his Landrover. Then he noticed farmer had left the gate open to the cows field and there were a dozen or more in there.

He turned to the old bull and said; "Hey look, farmers left the gate open to the cows field, lets run down there quick and shag a couple of 'em."

The old bull looked up, licked his lips, and said; "Lets walk down and shag the lot"


So I lift my glass to the Awful Truth
Which you can't reveal to the Ears of Youth !

Originally Posted by The Colonel

also known as the Ratchaprapha Dam

Rajjaprabha Saddle Dam




Rajjaprabha Dam







The Colonel

Nice Pics Colonel, Thanks.

Rubber is a sticky elastic type milky liquid called latex, latex is found in many plants in fact in over four hundred different types including the dandelion plant. As you can imagine it would not really be cost effective to remove the latex from dandelions.

I have a couple of pictures or so from the rubber plantations and the scene is operated in quite a simple manner.

The cups are fastened around the rubber trees maybe two to three foot up from the base. The cut is usually made in the early hours of the morning, between 2am and 5 am I was informed as this is when the latex flows most freely, it is then left to drip throughout the day into the cup.

Once a decent quantity is obtained it is fed through 'wringers' or rollers, and comes out compressed and flat, a little like a car floor mat. It is then hung out to dry before being forwarded to the factory for processing and manufacturing into tyres and all forms of other cash earning items we pay through the nose for. The plantation owners are so many in number, the profitability to them, (a bit like cabbage and lettuce growers) is very small.




Info below taken from The Internet.


Rubber, derived from the gum of a tree, has existed since prehistoric times. For example, fossils of rubber-producing plants date back almost 3,000,000 years. Crude rubber balls, discovered in ruins of ancient Incan and Mayan civilizations in Central and in South America, are, at very least, 900 years old. Natives of Southeastern Asia used rubber, prepared from the "juice" of trees to waterproof their baskets and jars. Even Columbus, on his second voyage to the New World, observed Haitian natives playing with balls made from "the gum of a tree."
Latex consists of tiny particles of liquid, solid, or semi-fluid material, that appears in the form of a watery liquor, not to be drunk! The breakdown on this watery liquid is only about 33% rubber, with the remainder being, not surprisingly, water! When the rubber particles in the latex join together, they form a ball of rubber.
Rubber producing plants grow best within 10 degrees of the Equator, where the climate is hot and moist, and the soil is deep and rich. For this reason, the area of about 700 miles on each side of the Equator is known as the "Rubber Belt." Brazil, from whence the best, and top-producing rubber tree hails, is firmly planted within the Rubber Belt. This Latino tree with a Latin name, Hevea brasiliensis, produces approximately 96% of the world's supply of natural rubber, and now is cultivated in other Rubber Belt countries.
Most likely, the French, prior to the 1800s, were the first white men to take advantage of rubbers' elasticity. They manufactured "rubber bands" for use with their garters and their suspenders, to help to keep their pants up. Rubber belts did not exist at that time.





Apparently there are many fatalities from snake bites in this job, probably due to the unearthly hours the collectors are working. The actual rubber trees have a productive life span of between fifteen and twenty five years.


You can see the cups fastened to the trees above to collect the latex. The photograph below shows the product after collection and rolling being dried out in the sun.

It feels quite flexible and has a very distinct 'rubbery aroma' at this stage.

Just finish off this evening with a couple of monkey snaps. I like monkey's they fascinate me.


What's going on over there then?





"Bet they kick off in a bit"


I'm having nothing to do with it.




I'm chicken.

I have an interest in 'older vehicles' sometimes on my travels I have been fortunate enough to buy an odd one or two. The export and costs, plus paperwork at exit and landing ports can be a bit of a nuisance and time consuming, but if the price is right on purchase and a good mark up available in The UK the profitability can be worth the aggravation.


This building represents a garage of a kind in Ko Samui. The guy lives in the top section and repairs vehicles (mainly commercials) on the surrounding land using the undercover section for the intricate mechanics in general.






I didn't buy any of these, but they did create an interest. It's quite amazing at times just how many older vehicles you come across in The Orient and in general they can be in excellent condition.




The makes of a great number of the vehicles are never really apparent to the eye, I am totally lost when it comes to commercial vehicles which have their origins in the east, be it China or Russia.

We are all familiar with Japanese vehicles, and they have certainly coined a fantastic market throughout the world.





The two above are quite interesting examples, especially as they are right hand drive.


Does anybody have any idea as regards their make or possible origin even?


They both look extremely powerful machines, especially the latter with the lifting jib or crane on the rear.


I was fortunate enough to see a WD Old Leyland Vehicle today filling up with diesel at my local garage. It belonged to The Lancashire Regiment.

What a brilliant example that was, and I didn't have my camera with me.

That was a Left Hand Drive too. Leyland Motors as they used to be called, probably made them to specifics as required for use in foreign lands.

It was a real beauty.

I am always quite amazed with the levels of craftsmanship shown by some of the engineers in Thailand.

They can be exceptionally good. Others are alarmingly bad.



This one is similar to the latter shown above with the jib on board, but is a left hand drive and has cab doors, different in several other aspects, but again shows no sign of a maker let alone model etc.


Take a look at the one below too. Similar vehicle, single rear axle though.







Powerful looking machines though.

This is a photograph of the roadside one above taken from the opposite side, I wanted to look at the air filter intake which had obviously been bodged up, no way was that standard assembly.




Mind you, it doesn't always pay to think too much in LOS, we all know that.

Take it as it comes so to speak.




Whatever make they are though, they certainly seem popular with this particular section of the island, and the workshop.

Maybe they breed here.

This could be a China Jeep Farm.

I got talking to a guy down at Khao Lak and I was asking about any older type vehicles there may have been in the area and if he knew of any.

He said he would inquire.

He came back on to me the following day, really excited.

Yes, I find one for you, very good. You come with me and see.


So I followed him on his bike and he stopped about four times asking people directions obviously, which made me realise he had not seen what he was taking me to see.

Look at this though.




I could imagine The Clampets in this thing.

It was alive with field rats too.

They scurried all over the place when we approached the same.

He had told me it was in running order.





No doubt he had heard of it and added a bit here and there.


You have to laugh though.

This was a lovely little spot around Khao Lak, really picturesque.







The Mercedes here, I came across this one up in the mountains around northern Chiang Mai. Nice example it was too. He wasn't for selling it though, wasn't Frank.

Thought I'd let you see it though.




Nice car, well kept and generally maintained too.

We were out on the bike at Khao Lak and stopped at a small house/motorcycle repair shop in the hills.

We only bought two bottles of petrol, and the guy had just finished repairing the bike which the young lady was sat on.






They gave us a glass of bottled water each and a couple of pieces of freshly cut water melon.

Some people are really so nice.

This was quite unique too I thought.


The old girl was just about to light the cigarette up.

It was a classic, she didn't mind me taking the snap either.






A young man with her, I think it was her grandson thought she was over ninety years of age.

Not bad and still smoking is it.



That reminds me, I've been stopped for eleven months tomorrow.

Nearly a year, and I'm still gasping and finding it hard work.



I thought I'd finish this off this evening with a cute one of a little petrol outlet we liked to use in Khao Lak.





Nice, really nice.

Some years ago we took a boat trip from Samui to visit some of the islands in The National Park and to do some kayaking and snorkelling.

We hit a real storm whilst we were out at sea, and boy oh boy, did it rock that boat.

They had folk falling all over the place, there were about forty of us on board I think, people were being sick all over, up it went, down it came, rocked to the left, rocked to the right.

Went up in the air like a space ship taking off and came down with a big bang, like a gigantic belly flop, only miles away from anywhere.

We rode the storm, it lasted best part of an hour I would think.



This was taken as it came to a calm. There was no thought in my head regarding taking pictures when that little lot was going on.

It was quite nice by the time we reached the Park Islands.





The snorkelling was good.





The swimming was great as well. Until a bloody big sea snake appeared around my legs.

That took the smile off my face I can tell you.

One of the Thais off the boat dived in with a couple of knives. He managed to give me one and we both went for the snake.

He got it, he was quick too. Grabbed it behind the head, and cut the buggers head off with his knife.



We went on to a further island, (Sorry but I am not able to put my hands on my notes with all the details and names}

Had to climb a form of man made staircase up the cliff and eventually came to this superb lagoon.





Gorgeous it was.



Water was more of a turquoise colour than anything, and the photographs don't do it true justice.


I think this was approximately six years back, perhaps 2002.

Some of you have probably been there.

That's quite an old one I came across from Samui, around Big Buddha I think.


Same with the one below, pretty certain it's Samui, but I cannot remember the name of the resort, or beach.


If you recognise, let me know.

This is a more modern place we checked out on Samui, we were offered a special deal.



It was an attractive resort, but the atmosphere was totally zilch.




Right at the southern end of Lamai just round the corner from Grandfather Rock.

Rooms were beautiful, but that was all it had in it's favour.

Oh! there were about half a dozen topless birds about..Might have a pic of one or two of those.. I'll check it out.





Thai Villas, that was the name. Nice place, but it simply had no feeling at all.






This one go's back a few years, Flobo at Rayong about 1996.

The years have come and gone, and I've seen 'em fly
A long time ago I stopped asking why.