Chanthaburi Province

[Atmos]

Chantaboon Festival 9-11 September 2011

The forefathers of the community gathered here 300 years ago and became a centre of agriculture, transportation and trade.

The population of the community consisted of Thais, Chinese and Vietnamese.

These people lived along the banks of the Chanthaburi River, row houses along a 1km piece of road now named Sukhaphiban Road

The houses in the community are a mix of Chinese wooden town houses, Thai-Chinese buildings, European buildings and Chino-Portuguese buildings.

Gallery of historic pics here

****

We headed into the city Friday evening, 12km from home.

Better than your average festival I thought - 1km plus some side streets closed to traffic and many of the lower floors of houses opened up as display areas; good variety of food available reflecting the mixed cultures of the inhabitants; displays included the

• Chanthaburi Old Bicycle Club - oldest bikes on display were from 1930s - Royal Enfield, Philips, Rudge, and two from Dayton and about 20 more
• Chanthaburi Vintage Motorcycle Club - mainly restored 60s Japanese bikes, also Puch, MZ, and two from the 1930s - Triumph and BSA
• Gemstones and jewellery, some for sale, some display only, featuring locally-mined rubies and sapphires
• One large and two smaller soundstages
• Art and photographic exhibitions

The road is narrow - one lane at best, things got too crowded and we left around 9.30pm when it was getting difficult to move, having made it the full length of the road, and across the river bridge to the Catholic Cathedral which is part of the 'community', being the latest church they have built (this one finished 1909) since the first in 1711.

Near the bridge there is a series of murals showing houses that were there until major floods in 1999 washed them away. Being so close to the river, flooding a few times per year must be just part of normal life.

Didn't take many pics as intended to go back Saturday, but the rain set in, really set in, and by Sunday the water was up and that was, as they say, the end of that!

[Atmos]

Some earlier pics of Chantaboon

Been to this area many times, good little exercise park and plenty of small cafes along the river

Here a few pics taken since Dec 2010

[Atmos]

14 September 2011 - after the flood

By Sunday much of the riverside area was under water, worse on Monday and we stayed away from the city.

Yesterday, Wednesday, water levels had dropped and we headed across to the western side of the city (cinema) and paid a visit to where we'd been on Friday night.

Could be a while till I'm using that exercise park again

There are more pics on this local website here and here

Edited September 15, 2011 by Atmos

[Atmos]

these taken 14 September from the next bridge downstream, incl one 'before' to give an indication of water levels

Good news is there has been no further rain last 2 days, expect it will take another week without rain in the hills though for the river to drop enough for those houses next to the river.

*****

we have a small naval airport about 1500m from home, been busy with Harry Potter the helicopter making flights inland, usually all we get to watch are two guys with their motorised paragliders.

It's a quiet life.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Atmos

[Atmos]

Horse stuff

as well as the helicopter, yesterday there were ten horses grazing in the airport grounds, we stopped in on our afternoon cycle ride to say hello - and more pics, though some were camera-shy

There are more horses in Chanthaburi than I've seen elsewhere in my travels in Thailand, three of the local temples have horses living in their grounds, also a small riding school in our little town.

I know about zero as far as horses go, but they appear well fed and looked after to me, and I guess the temple ones don't mind too much having to wear flower garlands at the various festivals through the year.

So here you are horse fans . . . I present The Horses of Tha Mai

[TigerWan]

Hey Atmos THey look happy and well fed but that rambutan is not good for them -like giving candy to kids and can also cause a condition akin to diabetes that inflames the hoof- laminitus- very painful and has caused the demise of many a fine animal.

[TigerWan]

You fly helicopters? I took one lesson a wile ago. I got a solo on a C 172 quite a few years back that was easy Heli are difficult

[Atmos]

^ oops no, meant the airport and helicopter have been busy, I don't think I'd be trusted even with a remote control one.

^^ wondered about the rambutan. what about the bananas?

Those last two live at our closest temple with one other, suspect they get given all sorts of the wrong foods by well-meaning people at festival time - with a high Chinese populataion and it being mooncake time they have probably had a few of those as well in the last few days.

Just one more, near Wat Sukim 24km away.

[Tim207]

There are more horses in Chanthaburi than I've seen elsewhere in my travels in Thailand, three of the local temples have horses living in their grounds, also a small riding school in our little town.

Can you give a little info on the riding school? Location etc. My daughter would love that.

[Atmos]

Thamai Country Club

^ it's a very low-key little place, go past often when out cycling, got the attached pic a couple of days ago of a new addition to their family

Pure coincidence, our local community website has today added contact info and some pics plus a Google map for the grandly-named Thamai Country Club

Easy to find if you're driving from C'buri, 11km from the intersection by Tesco-Lotus, just continue straight into Tha Mai, down the hill, left at the traffic lights (the only ones in town, and they turn them on sometimes), past the fire station, past the swimming pool/exercise park, turn right at next intersection and 100m on that road.

[Atmos]

Tha Mai Pool & Exercise Park

Opened in late 2009 the Tha Mai Pool and exercise park features

Pool

• 25m 6-lane pool 1.2 - 16m deep; children's pool; swim costume rentals (rule are clear: no baggy shorts for men, no shorts/t-shirts for women); spectator grandstand/shaded seating area; children's learn to swim lessons

Exercise park

• 300m jogging/walking track; 28 outdoor exercise machine stations; enclosed gymnasium with exercise machines (in pic next to pool, with blue roof)
• basketball court; public aerobics sessions twice per week; public yoga and tai chi classes

also

• small children's playground; lake with fountain and many fish and turtles (no fishing allowed)
• carpark is a great area for inline skating; grass area for sepak takraw and badminton

Despite the lack of people on the day i took these pics, it's well-used, 5.30 to 8am and 5-7pm there's a group of regulars, a few times have had to wait for exercise equipment as they've all been in use, often the firemen from the station 200m along the road are there, and recently some of our local police have been there too, maybe got a message about losing some weight.

Pool hours are 10am-12 noon, and 2pm - 7pm, but closed Mondays. Most of the time (may vary without warning); the children's pool is imo too small, good for the learners aged up to 6, but there is no 'play' area for kids. This is a serious swimming complex, lane swimming in the big pool.

I am in secret training for takraw. This may take a long time.

Edited September 18, 2011 by Atmos

[Jimpty]

Hi Atmos

We are a group of expats from Pattaya, planning to spend a few days road bike cycling around Chanthaburi and Soi Dao. We are not familiar with the area. Do you have gps tracks for rides between 100-150km? Can be mountainous, hilly or flat, along the costline and into the country side, torwards the Cambodian border. Any information would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.