ady

Saw this on my travels recently and it made me smile, so I thought I'd post a picture, from near the 7-11 in Sri Tanu village, west coast of KPN........

That's a great reply Gator

Sorry for the OPs situation, hope some good help can be got, via TV or elsewhere.

With coca cola clouds behind a Big Mac sun (to quote one of my favourite bands).....

I stayed on Haad Yao last month with my wife and three year old boy. I'd say it is the best beach for swimming in the sea (calm, warm water, gentle drop off), and many of the beach side resorts have swimming pools nowadays.

Check out the web site for Sandy Bay bungalows, for example, to see what you can get. We stayed up above the beach at High Life, as we have known the family that own the resort for so long, and like their food, service and staff.

We did not book in advance, as we arrived not near full moon, and all resorts had rooms available. You can walk to everything in the bay area 15 minutes, so no need for a scooter or taxis, unless you want to go further afield.

Sunset over the sea was at 6.15pm and we watched most of them with a G & T whilst junior played on the sand.

Hope you have a good break, whatever you decide to do.

Ady

Want to give a shout out to Patrick at Baan Computing in Ban Tai, KPN. Took my UK laptop there as it seemed to have expired whilst on holiday last week, and his healing hands coaxed it back to life within minutes.

He said that the heat and humidity might have been a factor, or leaving it plugged in to KPN mains electric might have done it no good, but any which way, it came back to life after three dead days and I was able to do the things I needed for my UK business without shortening my holiday. Maybe it just enjoyed getting out of the bungalow and jumping on the Sonic with me for a ride?

Patrick wouldn't take a fee, so I bought a USB stick from him and gave some money to a PAC collection box as well. Good to know there is some tech support on the island for such pesky problems (this was not needed here 12 years ago when I started to become a regular visitor, with a borrowed out-of-date Lonely Planet, a paper diary and my "future-proof" sony mini disc player).

Ady

Went to Peppercorn in Sri Thanu last week with my wife and child and a couple of island dwelling friends to celebrate my birthday, after strong recommendations from other people we know with businesses on the island. Had a great meal, especially impressive in terms of presentation and service as the restaurant was full that evening.

For those of you lucky enough to live on the islands, eating upstairs in the open air in a jungle may be old hat, but I thought the setting was lovely and the room simple.

My little 'un had a lasagne, which I helped him finish - it was delicious and very much home crafted. The four of us grown-ups had steaks and a vegetarian plate, with some red and white wines as a treat instead of beer. We tried a range of potatoes and veg, nice to have spinach in KPN. All had the green peppercorn sauce, I wouldn't vary from that if I ever have the chance to go back. And my t-bone was cooked exactly as I asked.

So hat's off to Friddi and the team for delivering a lovely occasion, and I must say thanks to OT and his team at High Life Had Yao for our complimentary taxi drop off and to my dining companions for picking up the cheque, which was kind but not necessary.

Ady / Nic / Alfie

I built a house a few hundred metres from Blessing Village and I have a few adjacent building plots for sale. Please PM me for more details and if it sounds interesting then pop round for a chat, no stings attached.

Like the tag line - No stings attached!

I've been lucky enough to have travelled to Asia and Australasia many times since more than 10 years, and like Boo, where I have had a poor flight experience, it's almost always been thanks to the boorish behaviour of adults who should know better - usually alcohol has been involved in the episode. Ultimately, scheduled flights are just another form of public transportation, and a ticket does not provide immunity from the attendant interaction with other members of the public that public transport usually involves - be it kids, drunks, incessant talkers, snorers, odours, etc.

In the last year, I have had the good fortune to become a parent, and travelled with my wife and 5 month old baby to Ko Pha Ngan for a one month holiday. Our boy was a pleasure to travel with - no one on the plane without sight of him knew our boy was there for the whole of the 4 flights we took.

The purpose of the holiday was to get away from the sheer slog that is life in London at the moment and to do so by catching up with the friends we have made in Thailand. Me and my wife missed out on nothing through having him with us on holiday and our baby knew we were more happy and chilled out than when on the treadmill back home, so it was win-win for all three of us.

We hired a jeep with seatbelts instead of a motorbike when we wanted to move around, so we adapted our behaviour to fit our new cirumstances, we didn't just carry on as in previous years - but adapting is not the same as compromising. The sunny view from the top of the road coming from Chaloklam to Thongsala, looking across the coconut groves to see Samui, floating in the blue sea wearing it's thundercloud hat, was not compromised because we had a jeep in place of a motorbike. The baby was often asleep in the jeep, so he'll likely have no comment to make later on this.

Maybe he won't recount in detail what a nice time he had in Thailand once he starts to talk, but he knew he was somewhere different and was having new experiences such as being in the sea or pool and not needing to wear so many layers as back home. The whole holiday experience forms part of the narrative of our young family, as did the family holidays me and my wife had with our respective parents over the years of our childhood.

Everyone posting here was a kid once, and I guess some enjoyed their childhood more than others for different reasons - it could depend on so many things like family circumstances, health, wealth or just the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Maybe some of the different viewpoints expressed by posters in this thread reflect the variability in peoples childhood experiences, maybe not.

Anyway, lunchtime has drifted by here in London with my thinking of those times. Does anyone out there on the islands want to swap with me for August and sit at my desk dealing with the inanity of my work inbox and meetings schedule, leaving me free to meander thoughlessly down the coast road from Haad Yao to Thongsala in pursuit of some odds and sods for the bungalow, stopping now and again to chat to a passing friend about the weather/business/local gossip/price of fish?

Oh well, thought not. Don't wish it away out there ......

Gator and Poorsucker

Given the pleasure you seem to get out of blogging Dog/Toad interfaces, maybe I can share with you my experience of the subject.

The dog who lives at High Life resort, Haad Yao took great joy in coming to my bungalow veranda most nights during my recent stay, presumably to check on the height of my pile of empty beer bottles and the emptiness of any food wrappers in my bin, as well as to receive a friendly chuckle from me. During a particularly wet spell in March, several nights running I would hear a definite toad noise coming from his mouth during his visit.

For a while, I thought I was going troppo or I'd better cut back on the Chang, as a big dog like that should not be saying "rivet, rivet". But one night my wife noticed he would never let us get near his mouth for a closer look and proclaimed that he must be a toad sucker - on hearing this news I opened a new Chang, cancelled my appointment at the troppo therapy pyramid and resumed my holiday. That's my dog/toad contribution, sorry to get off-topic.

I'll check back here to see any news of how windguru did after the weekend, since I am a Brit and am therefore obsessed by any talk about the weather.

Don't forget your poncho...

Ady!

When I was on Haad Yao at the end of March 2009, there was a tailors shop almost on the beach, at the Bay View resort end of the beach (i.e. the northern end). It was not there in January 2008, and looked new for 2009. I personally never saw a customer there in a month, but they had plenty of signs out on the beach advertising their presence.

Personally, I always get any clothes I want made in Bangkok, where I percieve there to be good competition on price, quality and service. I have them made ready to collect when my time comes to leave the country - it save me carrying them anywhere other than to Swampy on my way back to blighty....

Ady!

Boo - thanks for the offer of a swimming ring, we have one already from a friend so I'll not take you up on your kind offer.

According to plan my trip dot com, we have bulkhead seats, so that's sorted, thanks for the tip on getting that booked.

I've been watching the reports of local weather where we're going, and the temparatures look favourable compared to what we've been getting in the smoke in February!

We're all set now, thanks for all your advice, I'll let you know how we got on in April.....

Chok Di Kap

Ady

Thanks to all for the responses to date, we have been reading them avidly.

Tickets just booked today, we leave on the night of 1st March, my out of office will say "Back April Fools Day", looking forward to some quality time with the family, move that clock round another week will you...

Lisaloo - you got it right - I have this image of us in the morning sun, all white and unacclimatised from the UK winter, me trying to haul 2 backpacks and all the baby gear on the rickety pier to the 11:00 Lomprayah, whilst worrying about the wife and baby, and I doubt I'll be smiling through the sweat. So we are going to have to travel light as we can...

Boo - thanks for the advice, I had put you down for a few good tips when I made the OP. We got the baby bjorn and a McLaren already, will get a pop-up cot and the pharmacy items you advise. Your mum-in-law looks pretty happy with the technology she's wearing!

Macduff - overheating is something his Dad is prone to, especially on day one in country, so I worry a little for the boy. We can get aircon accommodation if we need it where we stay, so that's plan B, but it's better for me personally to avoid the hot/cold/hot change that aircon can bring. This is one example of how having the little man is going to bring change to the big man's current routine - he'll get first pick in any conflict, with Mrs Ady firmly on the side of little, not large, too!

Polecat - I'll have to call him a lap monkey from now on, that'll bring a new smile to his little face - we hope we can get the bassinet, I'm trying to confirm with the airline just now.

Does anyone have views on kit needed for swimming (I've read the babies age for swimming thread, btw) - do we need to get any swim nappies in the UK - if our 5 month old man goes in a resort pool, we need to leave it fit for others to swim in after! He's got some neat trunks already, and it's less of an issue when he goes in the sea, but it's an area we are not clued-up on.

All the vibes we get from friends, other bloggers and our health professionals are that this trip is a great thing to do with a young 'un. And since a common bond in Mr & Mrs Ady's lives has always been travelling, that's what we want to try to do with our little man too, until he needs schooling, at least. So far funnily enough, the only dissenting to our plan has been from the owner of the local bar we frequent. And I think that could be related to the credit crunch, since he usually can put me down for a fair slice of the action each week (although much less so since I became a Dad), and he'll be getting a postcard from some beach Reggae Bar instead of a month's worth of beer tokens from me in March!

Oh, and in the time it took me to write the above paragraph about a lack of dissent, Mr Seymour posted. I have read some of the thread you link to, and surely it is in that thread where that debate should continue. In this thread, I am soliciting advice based on others experience relating to what we plan to do, not commentary on the merits or otherwise of our intentions.

We pack in 4 weeks, so plenty of time if anyone wants to add further to the wisdom pile. Thanks again, Ady & Co!

reason for edit: font size too big, 1st time out....

Hello all!

Me and my wife are planning to spend March this year on Ko Pha Ngan, somewhere we have visited many years in a row from the UK, usually over the Christmas and New Year period. This year, we are running late as we are lucky enough to have had a little boy, Alfie, in the Autumn, and have had to wait for him to be ready to travel on holiday with us.

We plan to stay, as usual, in a beach bungalow with no electrical appliances other than a fan and light (no fridge/kettle/microwave etc). Through our experience, we know what we need to bring for us adults and what we can get in Thailand (clothing, toiletries, travel gadgets etc). Does anyone have any ideas as to what baby stuff we should make sure we bring from the UK, and what we can get in Thailand to keep our man right (we will stop over in Bangers for a couple of nights at either end of the trip, and can shop for items there).

I saw the suggestion of a pop-up cot with Mossie Net in one thread, and we might get that before we leave home, as it would also be useful on our summer camping sorties in the UK, but any other advice to proud new parents who will need to feed and keep clean the little man and ensure his health would be gladly received before we get on the plane.

I hope we can benefit from some of the collective thaivisa wisdom in the next 6 weeks.....

I too have used a service via a Mr B Laden, although this was in December 2005. I needed to get me and three friends I was meeting off a flight from Surat Thani airport to Don Sak in time for the 14:00 ferry to Ko Pha Ngan (I was recommended his services by an English person who I know has lived long time on the island).

The pressure was on, as my friends had all been promised a sunset beer on the beach at Haad Yao in return for not stopping over for a day in Bkk after flying from England, and I wanted to keep my promise!

Our man was on the end of his phone in arrivals as I had previously arranged (he'd already clocked us before I rang him), and whisked us to Don Sak at high speed in a modern japanese saloon, but without scaring anyone.

I paid him the agreed fee, shook his hand and we made the ferry (amazingly, given the speed of our transfer, there was another couple I had noticed at the airport also in Don Sak, getting on the same ferry - so Mr B Laden was not the fastest!). If I ever need to, I would call him again.

And the sunset and beer went down well, although my friends were so whacked from the whole journey I had to go to Jack's Bar alone later in the night!

Happy days!

Ady

I was so moved by Samuian's photo blitz that I came home tonight and have dug out a couple of my Haad Yao favourites from over the years:

the view from my 400bt bungalow every morning, Jan-Mar 2006 - you had to be up early (or home late ) to get the coconut palm shadow to point to the west (photo composition probably a reflection of how my attention to detail drops out when I'm on the island)....

sunset from the restaurant tables at Bay View resort, Jan 2008....

Ady!