My Thailand And Why I Love It.

[David006]

yes the wifey says Railey beach is wonderful...nice..get there soon methinks..thanks

david

Edited June 15, 2011 by craigt3365
removed reply from INSIDE quoted post

[IanForbes]

The other beach area I fell in love with originally was Khao Lak, which is about 70 or 80 km north of Phuket. Actually, the beach area stretches almost the entire way from Phuket to Khao Lak, but only sections of it are inhabited. It was there that I heard more about the Similan Islands, and enough that I eventually took the ferry across to the diver's paradise.

I rented a beach hut south of the small village of Khao Lak, and for about 200 baht a day, the hut had a fan, a toilet and shower, and a simple bed, but not much else... and I loved it. The Thai family who owned the hut had two children, and their neighbours had two children... all about ages 7 to 11. They were nice, simple folks who spoke very little English, but treated me well and cooked my meals. I had a rented motorbike to get around on and go into town for supplies and check the internet. About the middle of December in 2004 my daughter e-mailed me from Canada and asked if I would come home for Christmas. They were having a party for everyone in their new home and wanted me to attend. I also had friends coming up from the USA who wanted to go steelhead fishing with me on Vancouver Island, so I allowed myself to be convinced to leave the Thailand beach paradise and go back to cold, wet Canada. I left on December 19, 2004 and it saved my life.

On Boxing day we started hearing reports of a Tsunami just off Indonesia in the Andaman Sea. Reports were sketchy at first, but pretty soon the news was filled with them. I needn't go into all the details that everyone has heard many times, but I heard how bad it had been in Khao Lak. I went back in March, 2005 and there was no sign of the beach hut I had stayed in or the families who owned them. Nobody I spoke to knew anything because there were so many missing people. I can only assume that the two families I knew perished in the Tsunami tidal wave. Had I been there like I had originally intended then I would have perished as well. There was a Swedish family nearby that had a beach resort as well and they also went missing and were presumed drowned.

However, if you visit the area today there are only a few reminders of that tragic event. There are new resorts to replace the ones that were lost, and most of the mess has been cleaned up. The area is just as stunningly beautiful as it ever was and the sunsets are magnificent.

There isn't much to the village, but it's adequate.

And if you can get a boat to take you to one of the rocky, off shore islands there are still some reasonable diving and snorkling.

[F1fanatic]

The other beach area I fell in love with originally was Khao Lak, which is about 70 or 80 km north of Phuket. Actually, the beach area stretches almost the entire way from Phuket to Khao Lak, but only sections of it are inhabited. It was there that I heard more about the Similan Islands, and enough that I eventually took the ferry across to the diver's paradise.

I rented a beach hut south of the small village of Khao Lak, and for about 200 baht a day, the hut had a fan, a toilet and shower, and a simple bed, but not much else... and I loved it. The Thai family who owned the hut had two children, and their neighbours had two children... all about ages 7 to 11. They were nice, simple folks who spoke very little English, but treated me well and cooked my meals. I had a rented motorbike to get around on and go into town for supplies and check the internet. About the middle of December in 2004 my daughter e-mailed me from Canada and asked if I would come home for Christmas. They were having a party for everyone in their new home and wanted me to attend. I also had friends coming up from the USA who wanted to go steelhead fishing with me on Vancouver Island, so I allowed myself to be convinced to leave the Thailand beach paradise and go back to cold, wet Canada. I left on December 19, 2004 and it saved my life.

On Boxing day we started hearing reports of a Tsunami just off Indonesia in the Andaman Sea. Reports were sketchy at first, but pretty soon the news was filled with them. I needn't go into all the details that everyone has heard many times, but I heard how bad it had been in Khao Lak. I went back in March, 2005 and there was no sign of the beach hut I had stayed in or the families who owned them. Nobody I spoke to knew anything because there were so many missing people. I can only assume that the two families I knew perished in the Tsunami tidal wave. Had I been there like I had originally intended then I would have perished as well. There was a Swedish family nearby that had a beach resort as well and they also went missing and were presumed drowned.

However, if you visit the area today there are only a few reminders of that tragic event. There are new resorts to replace the ones that were lost, and most of the mess has been cleaned up. The area is just as stunningly beautiful as it ever was and the sunsets are magnificent.

Like you, I loved Khao Lak a few years ago and was v upset when I learned about the devastation there a couple of years later.

At the time I was on a liveaboard with my husband (off Africa) and one of my brothers was living on Koh Phi Phi.

I was lucky and able to 'phone my brother to establish that he was fine - whilst many others weren't. I say I was lucky, as the next day 'phone calls had been cut-off (understandably).

We both loved Khao Lak and thought we might retire there - until we retired and saw how it had changed...

The outlying regions are still beautiful though.

[David006]

The other beach area I fell in love with originally was Khao Lak, which is about 70 or 80 km north of Phuket. Actually, the beach area stretches almost the entire way from Phuket to Khao Lak, but only sections of it are inhabited. It was there that I heard more about the Similan Islands, and enough that I eventually took the ferry across to the diver's paradise.

I rented a beach hut south of the small village of Khao Lak, and for about 200 baht a day, the hut had a fan, a toilet and shower, and a simple bed, but not much else... and I loved it. The Thai family who owned the hut had two children, and their neighbours had two children... all about ages 7 to 11. They were nice, simple folks who spoke very little English, but treated me well and cooked my meals. I had a rented motorbike to get around on and go into town for supplies and check the internet. About the middle of December in 2004 my daughter e-mailed me from Canada and asked if I would come home for Christmas. They were having a party for everyone in their new home and wanted me to attend. I also had friends coming up from the USA who wanted to go steelhead fishing with me on Vancouver Island, so I allowed myself to be convinced to leave the Thailand beach paradise and go back to cold, wet Canada. I left on December 19, 2004 and it saved my life.

On Boxing day we started hearing reports of a Tsunami just off Indonesia in the Andaman Sea. Reports were sketchy at first, but pretty soon the news was filled with them. I needn't go into all the details that everyone has heard many times, but I heard how bad it had been in Khao Lak. I went back in March, 2005 and there was no sign of the beach hut I had stayed in or the families who owned them. Nobody I spoke to knew anything because there were so many missing people. I can only assume that the two families I knew perished in the Tsunami tidal wave. Had I been there like I had originally intended then I would have perished as well. There was a Swedish family nearby that had a beach resort as well and they also went missing and were presumed drowned.

However, if you visit the area today there are only a few reminders of that tragic event. There are new resorts to replace the ones that were lost, and most of the mess has been cleaned up. The area is just as stunningly beautiful as it ever was and the sunsets are magnificent.

Like you, I loved Khao Lak a few years ago and was v upset when I learned about the devastation there a couple of years later.

At the time I was on a liveaboard with my husband (off Africa) and one of my brothers was living on Koh Phi Phi.

I was lucky and able to 'phone my brother to establish that he was fine - whilst many others weren't. I say I was lucky, as the next day 'phone calls had been cut-off (understandably).

We both loved Khao Lak and thought we might retire there - until we retired and saw how it had changed...

The outlying regions are still beautiful though.

Oh yes Khao Lac......I was ( alone on board luckily)anchored approx 300 metres off Patong beach on that morning.. got bowled over and inundated but my little "ship" being built like a tank popped up again ...survived obviously...long story ..

..anyways after eventually getting back to the marina in one piece,..had to do a visa run to Burma and drove through Khao Lac on the 28th....horrible ..piles of body bags and bodies being dug out..masses of concrete and sand where all those beautiful resorts had been...the smell was terrible as you can imagine..drove on crying my eyes out...even now cannot get over it...still get the odd nightmare...certainly changes your outlook on life! Never been back....

[kmj]

I love this thread, after all the political ( all the same mind numbing ) threads, great photos and information, thanks a lot

[IanForbes]

Oh yes Khao Lac......I was ( alone on board luckily)anchored approx 300 metres off Patong beach on that morning.. got bowled over and inundated but my little "ship" being built like a tank popped up again ...survived obviously...long story ..

..anyways after eventually getting back to the marina in one piece,..had to do a visa run to Burma and drove through Khao Lac on the 28th....horrible ..piles of body bags and bodies being dug out..masses of concrete and sand where all those beautiful resorts had been...the smell was terrible as you can imagine..drove on crying my eyes out...even now cannot get over it...still get the odd nightmare...certainly changes your outlook on life! Never been back....

That must have been a scary experience, but sometimes you are caught unawares and you don't have time to be scared. It's just all action until it's over. I've gone over a few waterfalls in rafts and wasn't sure if I was going to survive or not, but for some strange reason I wasn't scared.

I probably should have started this thread in Bangkok where everyone gets their first taste of Thailand. That is what happened to me in 1996. My ex wife had left 8 months before and I was starting to adjust to being single again. I returned from a New Zealand fishing trip and still had a little jingle left in my pockets. Funny how that seems to be the case when you are single instead of being married. Anyway, a friend who had been living in my home the previous summer suggested I get my butt over to Thailand and he would show me the sights. It changed my life for the better and for that I'm forever grateful to Ken. He said to meet him at the Miami hotel off Sukumvit near Soi 4. It would have been too much hassle for him to meet me at the Don Mueang airport during rush hour when my plane arrived.

I still remember that first bus ride into down town Bangkok. I was like an awestruck kid. Although I had been to New York City and London, I was not prepared for the traffic in Bangkok... and especially around Sukhumvit where they were starting to build the sky train. Motorbikes were riding on what are supposed to be sidewalks and our bus had to push head on into 4 lanes of traffic heading in our direction. There was SUPPOSED to be a lane for us, but oncoming traffic used it anyway. It was totally nuts and I was fascinated, but not bothered in the least. I got off the bus where the attendent told me and I asked the first farang the direction to the Miami hotel. Eventually I met up with Ken and we went straight to Nana Plaza on Soi 4. Was I ever a country bumpkin from the sticks! I had never experienced anything like that in my life. Having been celibate for a year i was ready to take the first bar girl who sat in my lap back to the hotel. But, Ken said press on and so we did. I don't remember all the bars we saw and all the "shows", but there were a lot. I was a bit numb at quitting time when we headed for the famous Thermai club. That was another experience. The next day we caught a morning bus for Pattaya for the remainder of my 2 week holiday that I extended to 3 weeks.

Bangkok has changed a lot since 1996. The population had doubled in the past 20 years and now stands at about 12 million people if you take in the outlying districts. It is growing at a rate of close to a million people per year. Bangkok is more like a group of small cities all pushed together in one great mass. The downtown core can only grow up in a series of sky scrapers, but the outlying districts are a series of new and old moobans where you could spend your whole life without seeing the remainder of the city. The biggest change that I've noted is the increase in over head highways, and the sky train and new bus stations. However, It still takes about the same time to get anywhere as it ever did because of the increased traffic. I did all the usual tourist things that Bangkok offers: Wat Arun (temple of dawn), Kings Palace (wat Pho), boat rides on the canals and river Chao Phraya, and the zoo with its great serpent exhibit. And, the famous Chatuchak weekend market that has everything you could think of and a little bit more.

This photo is not mine. I shamelessly stole it off the Wikapedia site, but it shows Bangkok in all its glory.

Bangkok is almost at sea level and there have been serious discussions that it could some day sink below sea level. I will leave that up to the experts, but a long tailed boat ride up the many canals and along the river makes good day trip. And it's something that every tourist should do at least once.

One thing you notice along the many canals are the multi-million baht homes right next to tin shacks where the poor poop right into the river.

But, the raw polution doesn't seem to bother the children who use the river as their swimming pool. It would probably kill a farang if they did the same thing.

[IanForbes]

A trip to Bangkok should always include a boat ride (or taxi) to the Temple of Dawn... Wat Arun, with its wonderful tile work over the many statues.

And I've always had the habit of hanging around stoned friends...

[IanForbes]

The Grand Palace (Wat Pho) is a must see in Bangkok...but just Once. After that I found it a bit boring, but maybe I'm just templed out and enough is enough. It is like visiting all the Catholic Churches in Italy. After you've seen the Sistine Chapel then all else pales in comparison. The King's palace in Bangkok is sort of like that. It's good to see once, just so you have something to compare others to. You must wear long pants when visiting.

Having done some sculpture myself, I could appreciate the talent needed to carve this solid block of Jade into this statue.

[Hermes100]

Lovely post. I wish more were like this.

[Shotime]

Well done. I would have to say this is an indication of what 98% of Thailand is about. Preconceptions of this country are far different. They are only aware of the other 2%, and, no, I don't have statistics to back up those percentages. I blame the Brits for the rise of sensationalisim.

I'll try to add a couple pics to an otherwise excellen thread. My battery is about to die, so here goes.

[IanForbes]

Thanks for those, Shotime. The photo of the Thai with a slingshot is a very dramatic picture and worthy of a prize. I've seen far worse in National Geographic. That is a far better photograph than any I have posted.

I am going to touch on my trip to Ayutthaya later in this series.

There are boat tours on the Chao Phraya river that offer visits to both Wat Arun and also to visit the Royal barges. If you enjoy highly crafted boat building then you will enjoy seeing the Royal barges. The carving and decoration is truly remarkable.

Considering the noteriety of the sex scene of Patpong, Nana and Soi Cowboy, it is only a tiny section of Bangkok, and yet it gets far more "press" than the rest of the huge city combined. Most of it is confined to about one block in the Sukhumvit area in the city near Soi 4, and even that only a tiny portion of. The sky train goes right through it, and it's surrounded by tall buildings.

[Warhammer820]

so chao phraya is a river, cool. In my hometown it is the name of a tha restaurant, but i never knew what it meant.

[anotheruser]

I'd give up on the Similans too - although to be fair its a couple of years since I took a liveaboard there.

Its depressing the way Thailand has turned from one of the top diving destinations to a destination that is pretty much not worth visiting.

I know what you mean. I did my divemaster course 8 years ago in Phuket. Even during that time the writing was on the wall so I never even ended up working in the dive industry. Phuket used to be in the top ten as far as diving destinations go, around 10 years ago. I don't hear people mention it anymore. Perhaps the same thing is happening everywhere with coral bleaching and everything else but it happened basically over night in Phuket.

When the tsunami hit and pretty much flushed the toilet it was clean for an amount of time but they started to crap in the toilet again and now it is as bad as ever.

[IanForbes]

What F1fantic and anotheruser said is true, and it makes every environmentalist sad. I see it in most other places in Thailand as well. I enjoy my fishing, but 95% of what I catch gets released. The locals over harvest with nets and electronic shockers until there is little left. And, nets are abandoned to tangle in the brush along shore and continue to kill fish. Fortunately, the lake water is still fairly productive and the fish will recover, but the loss of the coral reefs due to bleaching is truly sad and who knows if it will ever recover. The whole ecology has changed. I'm glad I saw it when I did.

Continuing with the Bangkok area, I can recommend a trip to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is about 80 km north of Bangkok and was the original capital of southern Thailand. The city was established in 1350 and destroyed by the Burmese army in 1767 after a year long siege. The Burmese army murdered everyone and burnt the city after ransacking it. In more recent history, The ancient city was somewhat restored and turned into a National Park. It is located in a looping bend in the river Chao Phraya, and originally, a canal was dug to form a natural moat around the city with the brick fortress on the inside. It stands today as a mini version of Ankor Wat in Cambodia.

There are one day trips from Bangkok for people with limited time to explore. Vans pick up guests at their Bangkok hotels about 8AM and are delivered to a big tour bus that takes everyone. There is usually a stop at a palace along the way before continuing on to Ayutthaya. Smaller vans take the guests to various parts of the ancient city and then deliver them to a ferry boat that brings everyone back along the river to Bangkok. The ferry ride is quite pleasant and relaxing, and includes a good lunch. Vans meet the ferry about 5 PM and take the guests back to their hotels. The other option is to go on a mulit-day trip to explore even further by yourself... but without the boat ride.

This is one of the King's many palaces on the road towards Ayutthaya. The tour bus usually stops here for about an hour.

The ancient city of Ayutthaya is actually quite large and you can only see a small portion of it on a day tour. One thing you notice about all these structures is they are not meant for going inside. They are built as solid monuments.

[Shotime]

Thanks Ian, but you can't believe I took that picture. I was, most likely, under my bed. It's a great picture though. I don't remember where I got it from, and I hope you don't put it in your book.

[IanForbes]

Thanks Ian, but you can't believe I took that picture. I was, most likely, under my bed. It's a great picture though. I don't remember where I got it from, and I hope you don't put it in your book.

Thanks for clarifying. I don't put other people's pictures in my book or anything I write for sale. It is still a great photo, though and thanks for posting it... very dramatic.

[Chonburiram]

The Grand Palace (Wat Pho) is a must see in Bangkok...but just Once. After that I found it a bit boring, but maybe I'm just templed out and enough is enough. It is like visiting all the Catholic Churches in Italy. After you've seen the Sistine Chapel then all else pales in comparison. The King's palace in Bangkok is sort of like that. It's good to see once, just so you have something to compare others to. You must wear long pants when visiting.

Would be interesting to know how many monks actually live in a big temple like this...

Ian, visiting all Catholic Churches in Rome is enough to make you a saint - all in Italy = direct way to heaven

[peanut]

Fantastic thread - thank you Ian for all the useful information and the gorgeous photos! So much better than any guidebook I've seen.

[Shotime]

It is a great picture. You can almost see the fire in his eyes. Here's a couple more that I assure you I took.

RainStorm.bmp

[Shotime]

Great story. You are what we refer to as a real mensch.

Edit: Can I come live with you?

Edited June 26, 2011 by Shotime

[WebBangkok]

I love Thailand too.

Great place to live, made plenty of great friends (Thai and foreigners)

No matter what stories people tell me, they don't discourage me as we all have different views on life and different experiences.

[smokie36]

Great story. You are what we refer to as a real mensch.

Edit: Can I come live with you?

The fact that he is a self confessed sex tourist being pictured with very young Asian girls is a bit disturbing.

Or does he only exploit the mothers ?

Some people are easily disturbed. Would you make a similar comment regarding his picture with the neighbourhood stray dogs? And what could one read into his pictures of temples and palaces?

I appreciate that some people are not literary-minded, but he did explain in some detail his relationship with the child in question.

I do not feel there is anything suspect in my photos of myself with my children, even though I may have sex with their mother.

I assume you just enjoy casting off-colour aspersions at your fellow posters. I suppose we all need a hobby...

SC

Indeed. Its a joy to see happy children having fun as a contrast to some of the stories seen all too often on this forum.

I look forward to the next instalment Ian!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Back on topic:

These are by far the most beautiful pictures to date.

In another topic you commented that as an occasional foreign visitor, you can't really make a difference. You may have just proven yourself wrong.

[Richb2004v2]

Very nice pictures and no doubt the family is better off due to Ians benevolence, but it does seem all a little strange to me.

[nocturn]

The Grand Palace (Wat Pho) is a must see in Bangkok...

i would like to point out, that the Grand Palace and Wat Po are two entirely different places. many of your GP photos are of Wat Po.

some of your pics of Wat Arun are Wat Po too.

Edited June 26, 2011 by nocturn

[Warhammer820]

Ian you have a of awesome pictures. You should create your own website with several photo albums.

[IanForbes]

What I quickly discovered about many small Thai villages is there are seldom any hotels or accommodation for tourists. Such is the case for Luk Kae. The nearest hotel is 10 kilometres further back down the road at Ban Pong. And, despite its ostentatious entrance the hotel is rather run down. The hot water didn't work, the little TV had 4 channels, and only in Thai, and everything was rather seedy. And, they charged the standard price of about 400 baht per night. Ban Pong is a small, Thai city but doesn't offer anything of much interest for a tourist.

But, one night of sleeping at the family's home like this, made my decision to return to the hotel in Ban Pong each night quite easy. A thin mattress on the floor and roosters crowing all night do not make for the best of sleeps. And I still haven't adjusted to the standard Thai bathroom.

It was easy decision to move on to Kanchanburi and stay in one of its many guest houses. There is much more to do in Kanchanaburi and it has been developed as a semi-tourist destination of which most noteworthy is the famous bridge on the River Kwai. Kanchanaburi has a lot going for it if you like a quiet life style in pleasant surroundings.

I spent an hour just watching a blacksmith work his trade as it has been done for centuries. It would be hard to find a working blacksmith anywhere in North America unless you did some research and really went looking for one..

[craigt3365]

Several off topic remarks and replies deleted. This is a great thread, derail it again with irrelevant BS and warnings will be handed out. Apologies to posters who had replies to that off topic post deleted (well, most of you anyway )

Keep up the great work Ian! Love your pics. Thanks for sharing! You're doing a great job with that family.

[IanForbes]

The steel railway bridge at Kanchanaburi commemorates the terrible time between 1942 to 1943 when an estimated 13,000 prisoners of war and up to 100,000 civilians lost their lives in the forced slavery work camps of the Japanese in building the railroad to Burma during the Second World War. The town has a large museum and grave site that attracts thousands of visitors each year. A movie in 1957 starring William Holden and Sir Alex Guiness was very roughly based on the bridge and the prisoner of war camps. Unfortunately, the facts as they were portrayed were not even close to being truthful in what actually happened. A more accurate story is told in history books and the museum at Kanchanaburi. What actually happened is prisoners were forced onto the bridge as it was being bombed by allied aircraft, and the river Kwai ran red with their blood for days afterwards.

This is what the bridge and surrounding looks like today.

The entrance to the museum and a few exhibits

[bifftastic]

Nice to see the photos of your adopted family Ian

Quite why some find it disturbing to see you with Thai children is odd, to say the least! There seemed to be an implication that, because you may frequent bars and spend time with bar girls, that your relationship with the family you have chosen to help out is, somehow, wrong.

For me, it's nice to see someone doing something positive, also refreshing for someone to be so open about their chosen lifestyle.

Thanks for sharing.

Biff