gomangosteen

Chao Lao beach, Chanthaburi. Tattoos and a pink bicycle.

Beyond me. Last month met an Englishman at the beach, never seen him before but i was seized upon to hear his tale of woe, married at 73, wife had soon moved out of house he bought, and at least (his words) her family had said he could stay in the house till his death

Oh well, I've heard such tales before. But his final line was the killer -

"i'd never have believed it could happen to me twice"

Yes, he was an old hand, having done the wedding, payment and house with his previous Thai wife.

There's still hope i guess, third time lucky?

Dressed for the sun, Chanthaburi city

Weekly parts market in Chanthaburi

Another Chanthaburi masterpiece

Building permit: 'application pending, subject to engineer's report'

Cafe staff walk this bridge to take meals to people at the beach, near Chanthaburi's Chao Lao beach

Hi

Can offer a few answers on the general area, we've in Chanthaburi just north of Trat

You won't get any English language movies, or even English subtitles; simply no demand - not enough foreigners to justify either

For Chan there's one store I'm aware of that stocks the two English language daily newspapers, you may be lucky to find one in Trat

There's a Tesco-Lotus with the usual surrounding stores they seem standard across the country

Rentals - may be something in Thai; when we moved here 2011 we rented at a beach resort and basically 'beat the feet' for a week asking around and eventually found a good place we stayed in for three years till we moved again - and again it was a result of being known/asking, have yet to find any 'formal' rental place

No train line down the eastern Gulf of Thailand. Would need to head north about 360km to Aranyaprathet for train to Bangkok and beyond. Regular/reliable bus services from several companies from Bangkok. Cheap too, Chan city to Suvarnabhumi is 214 baht.

I've dealt with the Bangkok Hospital in Chan city - again I am guessing here but expect Trat is similar, they had a few staff/reception people with ok English, and the doctors I saw were fine and no complaint re communication (but expensive)

A place we were recommended, but have not stayed there so cannot comment, was a hotel called Residang in Trat, told the owners were very helpful, at one stage we were to be relocating there for my wife's job but chose to stay put here.

Best wishes for your travels.

Laem Ngob - Trat

’The Eastern Apex’ of Thailand; ferries available here for Koh Chang.

Not stuntman material yet!

A quick snap of a friend's son at the beach, Chanthaburi coast

if only the detective experts knew of Google

'Security camera footage showed he left his room alone with a book and then used an elevator to reach the rooftop.'

How about mandatory swimming lessons in school for all kids!

Utter genius

Our province, 510,000 population.

One public six lane 25m pool

Few qualified instructors - why would there be, with one pool?

Sure to work

A long way till there's anything 'mandatory'

Is it my imagination or do a lot of Farang 'fall' out of windows and off buildings in Thailand?

Certainly not your imagination....I think something like 5-6 in the last couple of months........nearly all attributed to suicide......quite unrealistic IMO.

Unrealistic compared to what?

was it 25 million tourists here last year?

It may be a lower suicide rate of eg Brits than if they stayed 'back home'

an example:

From 2013, UK

6,233 suicides of over 15-year-olds registered in 2013

Suicide rate for men aged 45 to 59 showed the highest suicide rate, 25.1 per 100,000. The rate among older men aged 60-74 also rose significantly from its 2012 level to 14.5 per 100,000.

Number of suicides in UK increases, with male rate highest since 2001

Hi

Soi Dao is Chanthaburi province (get asked to confirm whenever I've wanted bus tickets from Bangkok - be a tragic mistake to make) as Kanchanaburi is on the western side of Thailand, opposite direction

We travel through Soi Dao fairly often, Hwy 317 from Chan City to Sa Kaeo; was told by an immigration man at Pong Nam Ron that the foreigners there were mostly Swedish - about 40 of them. There's a resort Soi Dao Hill Resort run by Swedes, maybe a place to start for temp accomm.

Apart from the golf course, don't know of anything of major interest there; notice it's often clouded over due to altitude - highest hills ar 1550m above sea level, and gets much higher rainfall than the Chan coast

Good luck with your travels

Pics of the two Chanthaburi crossings

Ban Laem/Daung

Ban Pakkard/Prum

Easy at each of them to park car and walk - not that there is anything to see at either one. Both miserable, dirty, grey places imo and make my visits as quickly as possibel

There are minivans at BP that will take you across to a duty free store, at BL can walk - about 200m

Ban Laem

Ban Pakkard

Hi

Can't answer re car crossing, but for the nearest crossings it would be the two in Chanthaburi

see this thread for details

Two crossings from Chanthaburi province - Ban Pakkard and Ban Laem, both east of Pong Nam Ron on Highway 317. Both get used by visa run companies.

Own transport? 317 to PNR and head east, well-signposted. I've found Ban Pakkard quicker, or maybe just struck it on a good day. More people and markets at Ban Laem.

Or Plan B - minivans run on the hour from near Robinsons in Chan city - over the Chantanamit Bridge from the city side, and to your right. Cost 100 baht each way (to Ban Laem), budget stuff you'll be sharing with people taking things to the border markets, but all part of the adventure. I've taken the 8am one, sorted the second part of a double-entry and about 40 min to spare before getting a 10am van back. Plab B+ Ask at same place for cost of a return taxi, it's about 45km to PNR and another 30 to the border. B- would be take bus from central Chan station to PNR and get a taxi from there. Would be the longest option time-wise

Plan C: Pattaya border run minivans will stop for someone from Chan, but won't go into the city you have to make your way to Sukhumvit #3 (Noen Soong intersection I've seen people waiting for pickup, 8km from city); and no discount for a shorter trip still about 2500b or whatever they now charge from Pattaya (transport plus their fees for visa/passport)

Hi

2010 we stayed at Laem Sing, Siri Hotel, was fine, however - and we've lived in Chanthaburi since March 2011, Laem Sing beach itself is not a swimming beach I'd recommend, at any time of the year. As it's located at the mouth of the Chan River it is generally clouded by silted river water, and at times of the year a lot of plastic/branches/rubbish washes down the river an deposits itself along the shoreline

20km further up the coast is Chao Lao; I think better in all respects for a family. At Laem Sadet (2km past roundabout) a Royal-sponsored demonstration farm, aquarium, marine education centre, mangrove walkway, all free entry, cheap eating and a good fresh market with local prawns/fish

Lots to do in Chanthaburi, have a look here

Evening at Chao Lao

suspended jail sentenes, fined, deported and banned

full article at link

3 Frenchmen given suspended jail term for nude photos at Cambodian heritage site

1 February 2015

After a full day hearing the court convicted the three Frenchmen of showing their sex organs and producing pornographic pictures and sentenced each of them to six months in prison, but the whole jail term is suspended"

The trio were also fined 250 U.S. dollars, he said.

"They will be deported from Cambodia on Sunday and banned from re-entering Cambodia for four years," he added.

Over New Year and holiday periods there's a few extra clunkers on the roads to keep up with passenger demand

This old Mercedes Benz bus was our transport from Chanthaburi to Sa Kaeo on 1 January 2015.

A missed opportunity though, should have got a pic at an earlier stop, out of Chan those roof racks were loaded with boxes and big plastic crates (no people though) as most passengers were Cambodian workers taking goods home, they got off the bus at Pong Nam Ron (cross border near there at Ban Laem or Ban Pakkard)

Anyhow . . . the bus got us there ok, albeit rather slowly and with many, many stops along the way. It was especially slow on the incline towards Soi Dao, the hills there are around 1500m above sea level, and quite a climb.

and luxurious interior

holidays and holidays - within Thailand I've found the observance/recognition of these days varies.

Ms O'Steen is an accountant for a private/commercial co, think she would get about half those claimed 16 days as holidays, more likely to be working on days when schools/banks/gov't agencies have the day off; getting Songkran, the 2 Royal birthdays and a few of the major Buddhist festivals only. Unsure, maybe it's made up for in her annual leave entitlement.

****

This site lists the following - 14, what are the other two?

The 4 provinces Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Satun get the first Day of Chinese New Year also, as well as 2 Muslim hols in ? December