Tuesday I finally embarked on my teaching career in Ratchaburi. I am teaching Science & Mathematics to Grade 5 & 6, broadly speaking children aged between 10 - 12. I have no doubt my late parents will be mildly amused by this latest twist. So it may be much longer than a year in Thailand. I have to say I enjoy my life here, Luna is happy here too and we are happy together here.
Now a veteran of three days on the chalk face I have to say it is challenging and exciting and I feel it is well within my capabilities to develop into a reasonably good teacher. I am starting to move beyond fear and confusion to good planning and delivery. The content is completely new to me, an arts graduate from over 25 years ago. However I am interested in learning the content. I did not know the human body has mere 50,000,000,000 cells or that chloroplasts enable plant cells to produce food for the plant.
In general the children are a delight though a number of them find it challenging to sit still for 50 minutes at a time and likewise struggle to curtail an incessant chat with those around them. However this is the electronic game playing generation who diet on junk; mix the two together and we have a combination likely to deliver hyper activity and obesity. So I am also learning rather a lot about class room management.
I am very pleased with initial progress and no doubt there will be more on Teacher Gerry's latest venture in this blog.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Life Stuff
In amongst the whining about getting ripped off for a few pennies here and there my life goes on. In fact I have great news to report. Luna's latest scan revealed our little boy is in perfect order and having a rare old time of it in his mother's womb. I have felt some fairly powerful kicking these last few days. I am glad to say Luna is very well too. Earlier issues about low lying placenta have been resolved. We are so pleased about this. Estimated delivery date is 23rd July but the doctor is talking about delivery on 9th July......more later.
Benedict Panya Baradero Brett......Big Ben! I think this is likely to be the little fellow's name. There is even a possibility the little fellow might arrive on the feat day of St Benedict, 11th July or on my birthday on 10th July or possibly the 12th July.....those familiar with UK/Irish sectarian politics will understand the significance of that date! Benedict because it means blessed and there is no doubt this child is a true blessing for us both. Benedict because we are both Catholics and our pontiff is Benedict XVI. Panya because the priest who blessed our marriage is Bishop Panya and Panya means wisdom in Pali which is the langauge of Buddhism in the same way that Latin is to Catholicism. Baradero becasue it is Luna's family name. We are considering adding Siripong because Fr Siripong who concelebrated our wedding mass with Bishop Panya has recently been elevated to Bishop of Chantaburi.....but we are not sure there will be enough room on the certificate paper for all these names!
More to the point if you handed me a new born baby I actually wouldn't know what to do with it!
Further news. The Thai Ministry of Education has issued me with a Teacher's License which will enable the the Ministry of Employment to issue me with a work permit and I am contracted to start teaching Grade 5 & 6 Mathematics and Science from 18th May 2009. Great news as it means I will have an income so long as I can deliver in the class room.
Finally Luna's mother, Jona, joined us last night from the Philippines and is hoping to secure work as a teacher. Nice to have her here.
Not bad really. To be honest I couldn't ask for much more.
Benedict Panya Baradero Brett......Big Ben! I think this is likely to be the little fellow's name. There is even a possibility the little fellow might arrive on the feat day of St Benedict, 11th July or on my birthday on 10th July or possibly the 12th July.....those familiar with UK/Irish sectarian politics will understand the significance of that date! Benedict because it means blessed and there is no doubt this child is a true blessing for us both. Benedict because we are both Catholics and our pontiff is Benedict XVI. Panya because the priest who blessed our marriage is Bishop Panya and Panya means wisdom in Pali which is the langauge of Buddhism in the same way that Latin is to Catholicism. Baradero becasue it is Luna's family name. We are considering adding Siripong because Fr Siripong who concelebrated our wedding mass with Bishop Panya has recently been elevated to Bishop of Chantaburi.....but we are not sure there will be enough room on the certificate paper for all these names!
More to the point if you handed me a new born baby I actually wouldn't know what to do with it!
Further news. The Thai Ministry of Education has issued me with a Teacher's License which will enable the the Ministry of Employment to issue me with a work permit and I am contracted to start teaching Grade 5 & 6 Mathematics and Science from 18th May 2009. Great news as it means I will have an income so long as I can deliver in the class room.
Finally Luna's mother, Jona, joined us last night from the Philippines and is hoping to secure work as a teacher. Nice to have her here.
Not bad really. To be honest I couldn't ask for much more.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
On the Tourist Trail Part 2
Krabi has a pleasant feel to it, low rise and very spread out and built on the Krabi River which gently flows into the Andaman Sea. It is a major staging post for the islands and playgrounds of southern Thailand.
We had a very unsatisfactory experience at the City Seaview Hotel which advertised a deal of stay for three nights and get the fourth free. This is on the internet and it is the only deal on offer from this establishment and it started 1st May 2009. Except the receptionist did not know about it, claimed she would have to check with her boss and in effect denied us the deal. So we stayed one night only and the hotel got 800 baht from us instead of 2,400 had we been able to take the promotion. A major problem with the toilets in the standard rooms which have no ventilation and stink! Great location, great views over the Krabi river but another place where the agenda is sadly to screw customers.
We had a very pleasant afternoon at Ao Nang beach about 20 kilometres west and possibly one of the nicest beaches I have seen in Thailand, post card stuff really, golden sands, clear aquamarine seas, distant craggy limestone out crops. I had to arm myself with a stick to beat off the barrel of monkeys that hang out at the eastern end of the beach where the path leads up over the rocks leading to one of the these very exotic and expensive resorts....this one with no road access. Some kids came along with bags of stuff from the local stores and the monkeys quite literally had the contents and one little miscreant ran off with a little boy's plastic toy! We treated ourselves to an extremely expensive ice cream from the Haagen Daz store.....yummy! A mango passion that cost something like 280 baht! Ao Nang is very touristy with MacDonalds and Irish theme bars but no obvious seediness. I liked it a lot and would recommend it for a seaside break.
Then I saw something that restored my hopes in Thai tourism. A beach side massage joint had a sign up saying "50% discount".....guess what? It was swarming with customers, that is if horizontal customers can swarm, in stark contrast to every other enterprise which was virtually empty fronted by glum stuff reminiscent of sad labradors. Are you really going to go into a place with that as the welcome?
In Krabi town a nice woman did our washing and stitched up my ripped strides, in fact she did an excellent job. She charged a reasonable price, less than I expected and guess what? She got a tip which brought a big smile to her face and she would get my business every time if I lived in that area.
I mean this stuff is not rocket science, I learned it all in the mini cab game back in London. You have to minimise your losses and that means getting as much money in as you can. You can't afford to lose customers. For instance there were a number of occasions when I had people who did not have the money to pay the full fare....I took what they had simply to get them out the car and get the next customer in and invariably some one tipped me later and that more than made up for any losses. Thereafter there was no point moaning or even thinking about it.... just get on with it, smile and be happy because for sure your next punter is not going to be interested in your problems! Hey that is life, look after your existing customers, make them happy and they'll look after you!
We went to mass in St Agnes Church, Ao Nang, Sunday and connected with a truly small but very catholic community! Note the small "c"! A Brunei Chinese & Hong Kong Chinese couple on holiday from Vancouver, Canada, Brits from Staines and the Channel Islands, Indians, Filipino teachers and Thais. An Indian couple provide Indian food after the service so we had a very pleasant lunch of samosas, rice and chicken curry and nan bread. I did not understand a word of the service which was said in Thai but it is a beautiful church and worth a visit.
As an alternative to staying in Krabi we decided to head for nearby Koh Phi Phi, the legendary island of The Beach fame and full moon raves. We made a major error in not pre-booking a hotel and allowed ourselves to pay an obscene amount to a travel agent on arrival in Phi Phi. We paid 1050 baht a night for a room which should have cost about 400. The resort had one saving grace, it included a decent buffet breakfast. However we were carrying baggage and with Luna being so advanced in her pregnancy we did not want to be walking around looking for a room. I must say I was fizzing mad with anger so I threw my toys out of the pram for about an hour and then decided to make the most of it. Get over it, Gerry, I heard myself saying, enjoy your stay.
Our request for a sea view meant we were facing the back of a row of bungalows with not so much as a glimmer of the sea. The room looked as if the door had been kicked off and would duly oblige if you leant against it; most of the furniture was broken! Over the next few days I saw what happened as our neighbours moved to better rooms and presumably paid a lot more for the privilege. Get the punters in and then try to get them to pay more for better facilities. Plus the receptionist looked at me as if I was stupid when I enquired about drinking water! I guess it is all part of the learning curve! In fairness though most of the staff in the place were very helpful and cheerful and as I say the breakfast was good.
Koh Phi Phi is stunningly beautiful, a visual feast, beautiful beaches and rocky inlets, eagles and kites soaring high in the sky. But it is a tourist ghetto and seems to be very popular with the under 40s and day trippers who arrive in their thousands from Krabi and Phuket. By night it was pretty laid back after the day trippers had gone.
I imagine however that at peak periods PhiPhi must be a nightmare place and even though there are no cars or motorbikes it must get very crowded. But PhiPhi has some charm. I had a few day trips by boat and did some snorkelling which was fun. Quite literally it is a case of get under and start admiring the colourful fish and marine life, zero effort required.
We headed to the southern islet of Bida and off that we saw thousands of frigate birds, big black and white fellows, probably greater frigate birds, but as the sea was swelling up and fairly rough it was difficult to get a good sight of them. Kay our boatman did not want to go further into the sea to get nearer to the birds as it would leave us more exposed to rough sea and we were both happy to go with his judgement.
Elsewhere there are abundant imperial pied pigeons, black-naped terns, collared kingfisher, pacific reef egrets and all manner of the usual suspects....sunbirds,flower peckers and bulbuls, nb white vented bulbul ...... plus we had fun watching the very noisy antics of shiny asian starlings, males and females, with very groovy red eyes. PhiPhi is brahminy kite territory par exellence; there is a viewpoint which is not exactly easy to get to because the signage runs out but once I got there towards dusk I had a magical half hour or so watching a group of about 10 brahminy kites hovering and soaring above the forest canopy and then pouncing on likely quarry before....all against the back drop of the shimmering Andaman Sea as the sun went down. We saw a number of white-bellied sea eagles and possibly an osprey which we rumbled in cliffs and whatever it was it dramatically swooped up and appeared to be clutching a fish in its feet. I was hoping to sight a nicobar pigeon but alas no. I reckon the birding in PhiPhi is possibly underrated and in fact has a lot to offer and most of all it takes you away from the Bob Marley aficionados!
Phi Phi is absurdly expensive and we started calling it Kho PairngPairng but it is beautiful and if you don't mind paying there is some very fine fish and sea food on offer. It also appears to be the dive centre of Thailand and I suspect it possibly represents very good value for that sort of activity. Every other enterprise appeared to be a diving company, most of them Western managed. I spoke to an English guy who runs a company and he said it had been a very difficult year and that it had started very promisingly until the Bangkok airport debâcle in December and thereafter it had just been quiet.
After four days with a sore back from the bed I have to say I was happy to get back on the boat and back to Krabi and hit the Phetchakasem to get home to dear old Ratchaburi. The drive to Chompung was truly spectacular. 900 kilometres and 12.5 hours later we crawled into our bed at about 0130 the next day. Good to be back home. It was lovely to have a break together and see more of this fantastic country notwithstanding some of the setbacks mentioned.
I would be concerned if I depended on tourism for a living. The global economic situation clearly has had a big effect on numbers this year and that is likely to continue into next year; Thailand's fragile political situation has definitely not helped; the swine fever also has had some short term impact. However my impression is that Thailand represents bad value right now and that too many business are putting money ahead of quality of service when clearly it has to be the other way around. The service brings in the revenue, duh! I suspect many people have had unsatisfactory experiences in Thailand over the last few months and this will influence their future choices and their opinions. In my humble opinion the future for Thai tourism is pretty bleak but in such an environment there are clearly opportunities for those who are prepared to be bold.
We had a very unsatisfactory experience at the City Seaview Hotel which advertised a deal of stay for three nights and get the fourth free. This is on the internet and it is the only deal on offer from this establishment and it started 1st May 2009. Except the receptionist did not know about it, claimed she would have to check with her boss and in effect denied us the deal. So we stayed one night only and the hotel got 800 baht from us instead of 2,400 had we been able to take the promotion. A major problem with the toilets in the standard rooms which have no ventilation and stink! Great location, great views over the Krabi river but another place where the agenda is sadly to screw customers.
We had a very pleasant afternoon at Ao Nang beach about 20 kilometres west and possibly one of the nicest beaches I have seen in Thailand, post card stuff really, golden sands, clear aquamarine seas, distant craggy limestone out crops. I had to arm myself with a stick to beat off the barrel of monkeys that hang out at the eastern end of the beach where the path leads up over the rocks leading to one of the these very exotic and expensive resorts....this one with no road access. Some kids came along with bags of stuff from the local stores and the monkeys quite literally had the contents and one little miscreant ran off with a little boy's plastic toy! We treated ourselves to an extremely expensive ice cream from the Haagen Daz store.....yummy! A mango passion that cost something like 280 baht! Ao Nang is very touristy with MacDonalds and Irish theme bars but no obvious seediness. I liked it a lot and would recommend it for a seaside break.
Then I saw something that restored my hopes in Thai tourism. A beach side massage joint had a sign up saying "50% discount".....guess what? It was swarming with customers, that is if horizontal customers can swarm, in stark contrast to every other enterprise which was virtually empty fronted by glum stuff reminiscent of sad labradors. Are you really going to go into a place with that as the welcome?
In Krabi town a nice woman did our washing and stitched up my ripped strides, in fact she did an excellent job. She charged a reasonable price, less than I expected and guess what? She got a tip which brought a big smile to her face and she would get my business every time if I lived in that area.
I mean this stuff is not rocket science, I learned it all in the mini cab game back in London. You have to minimise your losses and that means getting as much money in as you can. You can't afford to lose customers. For instance there were a number of occasions when I had people who did not have the money to pay the full fare....I took what they had simply to get them out the car and get the next customer in and invariably some one tipped me later and that more than made up for any losses. Thereafter there was no point moaning or even thinking about it.... just get on with it, smile and be happy because for sure your next punter is not going to be interested in your problems! Hey that is life, look after your existing customers, make them happy and they'll look after you!
We went to mass in St Agnes Church, Ao Nang, Sunday and connected with a truly small but very catholic community! Note the small "c"! A Brunei Chinese & Hong Kong Chinese couple on holiday from Vancouver, Canada, Brits from Staines and the Channel Islands, Indians, Filipino teachers and Thais. An Indian couple provide Indian food after the service so we had a very pleasant lunch of samosas, rice and chicken curry and nan bread. I did not understand a word of the service which was said in Thai but it is a beautiful church and worth a visit.
As an alternative to staying in Krabi we decided to head for nearby Koh Phi Phi, the legendary island of The Beach fame and full moon raves. We made a major error in not pre-booking a hotel and allowed ourselves to pay an obscene amount to a travel agent on arrival in Phi Phi. We paid 1050 baht a night for a room which should have cost about 400. The resort had one saving grace, it included a decent buffet breakfast. However we were carrying baggage and with Luna being so advanced in her pregnancy we did not want to be walking around looking for a room. I must say I was fizzing mad with anger so I threw my toys out of the pram for about an hour and then decided to make the most of it. Get over it, Gerry, I heard myself saying, enjoy your stay.
Our request for a sea view meant we were facing the back of a row of bungalows with not so much as a glimmer of the sea. The room looked as if the door had been kicked off and would duly oblige if you leant against it; most of the furniture was broken! Over the next few days I saw what happened as our neighbours moved to better rooms and presumably paid a lot more for the privilege. Get the punters in and then try to get them to pay more for better facilities. Plus the receptionist looked at me as if I was stupid when I enquired about drinking water! I guess it is all part of the learning curve! In fairness though most of the staff in the place were very helpful and cheerful and as I say the breakfast was good.
Koh Phi Phi is stunningly beautiful, a visual feast, beautiful beaches and rocky inlets, eagles and kites soaring high in the sky. But it is a tourist ghetto and seems to be very popular with the under 40s and day trippers who arrive in their thousands from Krabi and Phuket. By night it was pretty laid back after the day trippers had gone.
I imagine however that at peak periods PhiPhi must be a nightmare place and even though there are no cars or motorbikes it must get very crowded. But PhiPhi has some charm. I had a few day trips by boat and did some snorkelling which was fun. Quite literally it is a case of get under and start admiring the colourful fish and marine life, zero effort required.
We headed to the southern islet of Bida and off that we saw thousands of frigate birds, big black and white fellows, probably greater frigate birds, but as the sea was swelling up and fairly rough it was difficult to get a good sight of them. Kay our boatman did not want to go further into the sea to get nearer to the birds as it would leave us more exposed to rough sea and we were both happy to go with his judgement.
Elsewhere there are abundant imperial pied pigeons, black-naped terns, collared kingfisher, pacific reef egrets and all manner of the usual suspects....sunbirds,flower peckers and bulbuls, nb white vented bulbul ...... plus we had fun watching the very noisy antics of shiny asian starlings, males and females, with very groovy red eyes. PhiPhi is brahminy kite territory par exellence; there is a viewpoint which is not exactly easy to get to because the signage runs out but once I got there towards dusk I had a magical half hour or so watching a group of about 10 brahminy kites hovering and soaring above the forest canopy and then pouncing on likely quarry before....all against the back drop of the shimmering Andaman Sea as the sun went down. We saw a number of white-bellied sea eagles and possibly an osprey which we rumbled in cliffs and whatever it was it dramatically swooped up and appeared to be clutching a fish in its feet. I was hoping to sight a nicobar pigeon but alas no. I reckon the birding in PhiPhi is possibly underrated and in fact has a lot to offer and most of all it takes you away from the Bob Marley aficionados!
Phi Phi is absurdly expensive and we started calling it Kho PairngPairng but it is beautiful and if you don't mind paying there is some very fine fish and sea food on offer. It also appears to be the dive centre of Thailand and I suspect it possibly represents very good value for that sort of activity. Every other enterprise appeared to be a diving company, most of them Western managed. I spoke to an English guy who runs a company and he said it had been a very difficult year and that it had started very promisingly until the Bangkok airport debâcle in December and thereafter it had just been quiet.
After four days with a sore back from the bed I have to say I was happy to get back on the boat and back to Krabi and hit the Phetchakasem to get home to dear old Ratchaburi. The drive to Chompung was truly spectacular. 900 kilometres and 12.5 hours later we crawled into our bed at about 0130 the next day. Good to be back home. It was lovely to have a break together and see more of this fantastic country notwithstanding some of the setbacks mentioned.
I would be concerned if I depended on tourism for a living. The global economic situation clearly has had a big effect on numbers this year and that is likely to continue into next year; Thailand's fragile political situation has definitely not helped; the swine fever also has had some short term impact. However my impression is that Thailand represents bad value right now and that too many business are putting money ahead of quality of service when clearly it has to be the other way around. The service brings in the revenue, duh! I suspect many people have had unsatisfactory experiences in Thailand over the last few months and this will influence their future choices and their opinions. In my humble opinion the future for Thai tourism is pretty bleak but in such an environment there are clearly opportunities for those who are prepared to be bold.
Friday, May 8, 2009
On the Tourist Trail Part 1
Tuesday 28th April 2009 we headed south on Highway 4, The Petchakasem Highway as we know it and after a brief stop to meet with friends in Hua Hin we continued the drive south with an intended destination of Khao Sok National Park, in Surat Thani Province.
It is kind of funny to think that the Petchkasem virtually runs past our front door in Ratchaburi, where it is essentially a bypass, but once you get down into the deep south it turns into an Alpine style road with high climbs, hairpin bends, great views and low gears being the order of the day. Reminiscent of Pacific Highway One, which in LA has six lanes going in both directions but which reduces to an amazing ocean hugging single track as it crosses the spectacular coastal scenery between LA and San Francisco.
An uneventful drive brought us to Chumphon, the gateway to Thailand’s south, to Tungka Gardens Hotel on the highway, cheap and cheerful at 500b a night! What more could we ask for?!
So we had a comfortable night apart from the rats scrambling around above the ceiling and we hit the trail early and made it to Art’s River Lodge on the edge of Khao Sok National Park and I must say I was initially very impressed by this place. A first step into the park was disappointing in terms of bird sightings but the sounds suggested there could be much to be seen.
After a night at Art’s it became clear that from a human/service perspective that the Lodge and the village around Khao Sok National Park suck!
Art's accommodation is wonderful, stylish bungalows with great views over the river and finished in wood, beautiful big beds with white muslin mosquito nets draped down from the ceiling, no windows but wooden shutters instead and a lovely verandah. The site extends over a considerable amount of land too which is beautifully landscaped in parts and in others grows wild like the jungle. But for me it ends there.
The service was poor, let us say disinterested, the food mediocre and ridiculously overpriced. Luna is quite visibly pregnant, in fact she looks as though she might burst if you pricked her belly with a pin. No assistance offered carrying our bags though we saw others being helped….and we are tippers!!!! Maybe because we asked for a discount!
The rooms are only cleaned on request and our room lacked drinking water and a fridge. The toilet lacked a window curtain. I can live without these things, I can also live happily without a TV, clean towels, a telephone to reception, drinking water, breakfast…but surely not providing these services should be reflected in a lower price? I thought 950 baht was too high simply for location.
Elsewhere in a little café I was charged 75 baht for a plate of fried chicken over rice with a fried egg and a cup of coffee…. I would expect to pay less than 30 baht for this in Ratchaburi. The internet cafes were also in on the act too.
The reason for this of course is that Khao Sok is roughly equidistant between Koh Samui and Krabi/ Phuket, between Thailand’s east and west coast playgrounds. So it is used as a sort of staging post for backpacker types, an alternative to the sea, offering a bit of real outdoor jungle stuff. The real business is however to fleece these travellers who are already conditioned into accepting over-inflated pricing in the absence of knowing any better.
At Art’s there were guides offering escorted walks into the jungle. I think these were just “free lances” that preyed on unsuspecting guests at Art’s and payed a percentage to Art’s. I did not establish how much these “guides” were charging; they left us well alone after they had established we could speak Thai and were reasonably knowledgeable about birds.
The trails in the park are by no means a cake walk, or cat walk for that matter…. the higher part of the main trail as I learned is a genuine jungle trek uphill to waterfalls with leeches , flying squirrel, lizards and God knows what else. At times I felt quite scared as I was under the jungle canopy the whole time and was aware of significant noise and movement…..is that a snake coming to spray into my eyes and then poison me with its venom! No shit!
At times the path is fairly exposed to the river below, it is usually wet and slippy and requires a fair amount of scrambling to get up and down its various pitches. Much as there are some decent spots to swim not exactly a place to be in flip flop sandals and short strides. I made it to the top waterfall, a real hard finish with a bit of waist deep wading. I duly got the kit off and plunged into a beautifully cool pool between the cascades for a very welcome lunch break.
We took our business to the smaller outlets in the village where we ate and watered ourselves, still expensive but not anywhere near as much as in Art’s. In fact I grew to like the Thai Herb Garden restaurant which served a wonderful variety of drinks and juices and where we sat and watched the flower peckers and sunbirds in the adjacent trees. We probably saw more species in the restaurant than in the park!
When we moved on I said to Luna I would happily revisit Khao Sok but would prefer to stay away from the park and drive in.
The park itself was hard work. I suspect I saw more birds in the first section of the main trail than anywhere else in the park. This first part has the advantage of being a land rover trail and at worst it gets muddy when it is wet. It leads to a welcome cafe where cold drinks can be bought. After that the track becomes a real jungle experience so be warned!
I caught a brief glimpse of a hornbill high in the sky but otherwise only heard them and other birds. Yes it was a time for hearing as opposed to seeing. The highlight was undoubtedly a first encounter with rufous backed kingfisher, ceyx rufidorsa, spotted by Luna, the Queen of the Kingfishers herself with the naked eye, perched on a broken bamboo branch overhanging a small stream. In fact it was so small it would have been easy to miss it but it is a fist of bright dazzling orange and red and it didn’t hang around for our benefit! I got the glasses on the same bird early the following morning on wire fencing near the same spot. What a real beauty, but tiny.
The rest of the birding was very challenging… plenty of bulbuls, stripe-throated & white-throated, making plenty of noise and an abundance of very sociable white-rumped shamas. What a beautiful sound they make! But maybe I saw a female banded pita, but maybe not, only had a moment to look and saw a brown body with some barring. And what flowerpeckers, flycatchers and sunbirds did I see? We did see a very protective blue and white flycatcher sitting on a nest hanging over the path. We saw some brahminy and black kites high up as well as one solitary hornbill, possibly helmeted, but I cannot be sure, soaring high in the sky, a groovy green-billed malkoha in the cliffs opposite Art’s Lodge. In general the birds were far too fast and unco-operative for my liking. But I will be back! After all I am just a raw novice at this game with little craft and much to learn!
Having got home and carried out some further research I have learned that the park can be approached by water and some of the best birding locations can be accessed by canoe/boat. That makes sense! So maybe next time we will take that approach.
So we headed for Krabi Saturday morning and we were pleased to be away from the village and on the road. We stopped for a beautiful breakfast about 20 minutes into our trip where we paid something like 65 baht including drinks. In fact it was a very entertaining stop as the restaurant was selling tickets for one of Thailand's illegal lotteries and the locals were arriving in droves to get their numbers for the Saturday night draw. Once more people very friendly and curious, real Thailand! A beautiful drive which about 3 hours later took us to Krabi.
It is kind of funny to think that the Petchkasem virtually runs past our front door in Ratchaburi, where it is essentially a bypass, but once you get down into the deep south it turns into an Alpine style road with high climbs, hairpin bends, great views and low gears being the order of the day. Reminiscent of Pacific Highway One, which in LA has six lanes going in both directions but which reduces to an amazing ocean hugging single track as it crosses the spectacular coastal scenery between LA and San Francisco.
An uneventful drive brought us to Chumphon, the gateway to Thailand’s south, to Tungka Gardens Hotel on the highway, cheap and cheerful at 500b a night! What more could we ask for?!
So we had a comfortable night apart from the rats scrambling around above the ceiling and we hit the trail early and made it to Art’s River Lodge on the edge of Khao Sok National Park and I must say I was initially very impressed by this place. A first step into the park was disappointing in terms of bird sightings but the sounds suggested there could be much to be seen.
After a night at Art’s it became clear that from a human/service perspective that the Lodge and the village around Khao Sok National Park suck!
Art's accommodation is wonderful, stylish bungalows with great views over the river and finished in wood, beautiful big beds with white muslin mosquito nets draped down from the ceiling, no windows but wooden shutters instead and a lovely verandah. The site extends over a considerable amount of land too which is beautifully landscaped in parts and in others grows wild like the jungle. But for me it ends there.
The service was poor, let us say disinterested, the food mediocre and ridiculously overpriced. Luna is quite visibly pregnant, in fact she looks as though she might burst if you pricked her belly with a pin. No assistance offered carrying our bags though we saw others being helped….and we are tippers!!!! Maybe because we asked for a discount!
The rooms are only cleaned on request and our room lacked drinking water and a fridge. The toilet lacked a window curtain. I can live without these things, I can also live happily without a TV, clean towels, a telephone to reception, drinking water, breakfast…but surely not providing these services should be reflected in a lower price? I thought 950 baht was too high simply for location.
Elsewhere in a little café I was charged 75 baht for a plate of fried chicken over rice with a fried egg and a cup of coffee…. I would expect to pay less than 30 baht for this in Ratchaburi. The internet cafes were also in on the act too.
The reason for this of course is that Khao Sok is roughly equidistant between Koh Samui and Krabi/ Phuket, between Thailand’s east and west coast playgrounds. So it is used as a sort of staging post for backpacker types, an alternative to the sea, offering a bit of real outdoor jungle stuff. The real business is however to fleece these travellers who are already conditioned into accepting over-inflated pricing in the absence of knowing any better.
At Art’s there were guides offering escorted walks into the jungle. I think these were just “free lances” that preyed on unsuspecting guests at Art’s and payed a percentage to Art’s. I did not establish how much these “guides” were charging; they left us well alone after they had established we could speak Thai and were reasonably knowledgeable about birds.
The trails in the park are by no means a cake walk, or cat walk for that matter…. the higher part of the main trail as I learned is a genuine jungle trek uphill to waterfalls with leeches , flying squirrel, lizards and God knows what else. At times I felt quite scared as I was under the jungle canopy the whole time and was aware of significant noise and movement…..is that a snake coming to spray into my eyes and then poison me with its venom! No shit!
At times the path is fairly exposed to the river below, it is usually wet and slippy and requires a fair amount of scrambling to get up and down its various pitches. Much as there are some decent spots to swim not exactly a place to be in flip flop sandals and short strides. I made it to the top waterfall, a real hard finish with a bit of waist deep wading. I duly got the kit off and plunged into a beautifully cool pool between the cascades for a very welcome lunch break.
We took our business to the smaller outlets in the village where we ate and watered ourselves, still expensive but not anywhere near as much as in Art’s. In fact I grew to like the Thai Herb Garden restaurant which served a wonderful variety of drinks and juices and where we sat and watched the flower peckers and sunbirds in the adjacent trees. We probably saw more species in the restaurant than in the park!
When we moved on I said to Luna I would happily revisit Khao Sok but would prefer to stay away from the park and drive in.
The park itself was hard work. I suspect I saw more birds in the first section of the main trail than anywhere else in the park. This first part has the advantage of being a land rover trail and at worst it gets muddy when it is wet. It leads to a welcome cafe where cold drinks can be bought. After that the track becomes a real jungle experience so be warned!
I caught a brief glimpse of a hornbill high in the sky but otherwise only heard them and other birds. Yes it was a time for hearing as opposed to seeing. The highlight was undoubtedly a first encounter with rufous backed kingfisher, ceyx rufidorsa, spotted by Luna, the Queen of the Kingfishers herself with the naked eye, perched on a broken bamboo branch overhanging a small stream. In fact it was so small it would have been easy to miss it but it is a fist of bright dazzling orange and red and it didn’t hang around for our benefit! I got the glasses on the same bird early the following morning on wire fencing near the same spot. What a real beauty, but tiny.
The rest of the birding was very challenging… plenty of bulbuls, stripe-throated & white-throated, making plenty of noise and an abundance of very sociable white-rumped shamas. What a beautiful sound they make! But maybe I saw a female banded pita, but maybe not, only had a moment to look and saw a brown body with some barring. And what flowerpeckers, flycatchers and sunbirds did I see? We did see a very protective blue and white flycatcher sitting on a nest hanging over the path. We saw some brahminy and black kites high up as well as one solitary hornbill, possibly helmeted, but I cannot be sure, soaring high in the sky, a groovy green-billed malkoha in the cliffs opposite Art’s Lodge. In general the birds were far too fast and unco-operative for my liking. But I will be back! After all I am just a raw novice at this game with little craft and much to learn!
Having got home and carried out some further research I have learned that the park can be approached by water and some of the best birding locations can be accessed by canoe/boat. That makes sense! So maybe next time we will take that approach.
So we headed for Krabi Saturday morning and we were pleased to be away from the village and on the road. We stopped for a beautiful breakfast about 20 minutes into our trip where we paid something like 65 baht including drinks. In fact it was a very entertaining stop as the restaurant was selling tickets for one of Thailand's illegal lotteries and the locals were arriving in droves to get their numbers for the Saturday night draw. Once more people very friendly and curious, real Thailand! A beautiful drive which about 3 hours later took us to Krabi.
Hellfire Pass Kanchanaburi
Monday, 27th April 2009 we drove up to Hell Fire Pass in Kanchanaburi Province, about one hour west of Kanchanaburi proper on the road to Myanmar. Hell Fire Pass is of course the real story of The Bridge on the River Kwai and there is an outstanding museum and walking trail under the management of Australia’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
In fact I would go so far as to say the museum is probably the best of its kind in Thailand. Unfortunately it closes at 16.00h and we got there with 15 minutes remaining. However there are excellent displays written in perfect, simple English and Thai and they provide excellent information about the horror of the Burma Railway.
The curator is an Australian, William, I think, and clearly he is in the right job. He oozes enthusiasm for the place and could hardly have been more helpful. We nipped round briefly and in my few minutes I learned that 12,900 Allied prisoners died building the railway.
From the museum we walked down to the rail bed, now disused, and spent about 30 minutes in the cutting, locally known as Konya but in English known as Hell Fire. It's possible to walk the 150 yards or so of the cutting, which is big enough for a train to pass through and probably has a depth of 60 feet in places. The mind boggles at how the prisoners could have worked in the heat, add in insects like malarial mosquitos and other creepy crawlies, plus malnutrition, exhaustion and sickness. I can understand the reasons why some of the Burma Star veterans I knew in the UK remained so full of hatred for anything Japanese.
There are modern stairs, presumably complying to western standards of health of safety, which lead down to the rail bed so it is possible to walk the length of the cutting and indeed to walk a significant number of kilometres along what was the railway's route. It is sombre and wholly different in character from the beer and girlie experience available in Kanchanaburi town, where there is also a sound and light show which is rather an insult to the memory of the many people who suffered as a result of the Burma railway. The Hell Fire Pass is definitely recommended and worth the effort. Moreover the surrounding area is spectacular......forest, lakes and mountains, a bit like Scotland except it is boiling hot!
In fact I would go so far as to say the museum is probably the best of its kind in Thailand. Unfortunately it closes at 16.00h and we got there with 15 minutes remaining. However there are excellent displays written in perfect, simple English and Thai and they provide excellent information about the horror of the Burma Railway.
The curator is an Australian, William, I think, and clearly he is in the right job. He oozes enthusiasm for the place and could hardly have been more helpful. We nipped round briefly and in my few minutes I learned that 12,900 Allied prisoners died building the railway.
From the museum we walked down to the rail bed, now disused, and spent about 30 minutes in the cutting, locally known as Konya but in English known as Hell Fire. It's possible to walk the 150 yards or so of the cutting, which is big enough for a train to pass through and probably has a depth of 60 feet in places. The mind boggles at how the prisoners could have worked in the heat, add in insects like malarial mosquitos and other creepy crawlies, plus malnutrition, exhaustion and sickness. I can understand the reasons why some of the Burma Star veterans I knew in the UK remained so full of hatred for anything Japanese.
There are modern stairs, presumably complying to western standards of health of safety, which lead down to the rail bed so it is possible to walk the length of the cutting and indeed to walk a significant number of kilometres along what was the railway's route. It is sombre and wholly different in character from the beer and girlie experience available in Kanchanaburi town, where there is also a sound and light show which is rather an insult to the memory of the many people who suffered as a result of the Burma railway. The Hell Fire Pass is definitely recommended and worth the effort. Moreover the surrounding area is spectacular......forest, lakes and mountains, a bit like Scotland except it is boiling hot!
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