Thailand - Pattaya

We overlooked these "Lego" Buildings - Pattaya Thailand

When driving in Thailand, check for Buddhist holidays! We found this out to our cost when we drove from Kanchanaburi (Bridge over River Kwai) to Pattaya. It was OK until we reached the outskirts of Bangkok .....as always getting past this city takes forever but we had no idea what awaited us on the highway south. A 4 lane highway with a speed limit of 120 kms was slowed down to a crawl of less than 10 kms per hour. Bumper to bumper with even the shoulder lane being used, the traffic was insane and crawling along. The trip took 5.5 hours!!

Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand

Pattaya beach offers virtually no parking so we headed off to swim at Jomtiem Beach. This beach is 6 km long, much quieter than Pattaya beach, the swimming areas are cordoned off and the water is blissfully warm! The beach chairs were not very upmarket but as we only wanted a long walk and some swimming, this was not an issue. Although the humidity was high (as always!) it was a fairly cool day so I was most surprised to see how sunburned I got from the walk.

Giving my sunburned body a rest the rest day seemed like a good idea so we headed off to the coll, air-conditioned comfort of Terminal 21. This shopping centre is a must visit. Each floor has a different theme and the shops and decor is stunning. London, Paris, Italy, Tokyo and San Francisco are all represented. The top floor has an immense food court which was bustling with customers.

Big Buddha Pattaya Thailand

The Big Buddha is worth a visit...please be respectful.
An 18 meter tall gold painted statue of the Buddha graces the top of Big Buddha Hill Pattaya. This magnificent image is in the centre of Wat Phra Yai (Big Buddha Temple) – Pattaya’s most important Buddhist temple.
Wat Phra Yai was built in the 1940s, when Pattaya was just a small fishing village. The Buddha statue was constructed in 1977.

One cannot leave Pattaya without a visit to the Floating Market!

Pattaya Floating Market - Thailand

Get the feel of a traditional Thai floating market watching vendors wearing rice hats paddling slowly down the water at Pattaya floating market, a large place with entertainment, shopping and dining.
Take a walk around the market on the wooden walkways or see the market from the water taking a boat ride in a longtail boat or amphibious boat. Most of the market is under cover, except for the wooden bridges crossing the water.

The floating market consists of four sections, each one representing the culture and architecture of one of the four regions in Thailand. In each of the four sections you can see wooden houses built in the style of each region, Central, North, North East and South.

Pattaya Floating Market

We opted to walk all around; there are hundreds of colourful stalls selling all sorts of goods plus rather delicious looking foods.The vendors in the water were interesting as some looked bored, others were busy selling food, and some were dozing! A fun experience all round.

We were determined to get a parking spot at Pattaya beach so we headed off at 07.30 one morning.
We nabbed one of the last remaining spots - yeah! We had to brave the school run of motor cycles to get to the beach unscathed. This beach is great, decent beach chairs and a very long beach. The boats line the beach and hordes of tourists were lining up for the excursion of the day. The beachfront road  is lined with very posh hotels, many shops and restaurants. Feeling like a was just about to enter a "Miss Wet T-Shirt" competition due to the extreme humidity, we decided to partially hide inside a lovely breakfast spot. At 160 Baht it was excellent value and I dried off somewhat, enough to brave the pavements again after this hearty breakfast.

A Hard Days Night in Pattaya Beach Thailand

Pattaya Floating Market - Thailand

Pattaya Floating Market Thailand

Temple of the Big Buddha Pattaya Thailand

Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand

Water Sports available - Jomteim Beach Pattaya Thailand

Busy Main Beach Road Pattaya Thailand

Swimming Areas Jomtiem Beach Pattaya Thailand

Family Marts are all over Thailand

Love the hair! Pattaya Thailand

Thailand King is everywhere

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A long stairway flanked by two golden colored naga snakes leads to the main statue. From up there, the view is unfortunately not so clear.

See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com

Located on Khao Phra Tamnak the small hill between South Pattaya and Jomtien, the Big Buddha (or Phra Yai in Thai) wwas builtin 1977 when the city was still a quiet little fishing village. Called Phra

See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com

Located on Khao Phra Tamnak the small hill between South Pattaya and Jomtien, the Big Buddha (or Phra Yai in Thai) wwas builtin 1977 when the city was still a quiet little fishing village. Called Phra

See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com

Located on Khao Phra Tamnak the small hill between South Pattaya and Jomtien, the Big Buddha (or Phra Yai in Thai) wwas builtin 1977 when the city was still a quiet little fishing village. Called Phra

See more at : https://www.thailandee.com/en/visit-thailand/pattaya-big-buddha-pattaya-145
Copyright © Thailandee.com

Thailand - Bridge over River Kwai

Tending the graves Kanchanaburi War Cemetery Thailand

Bridge over the River Kwai Kanchanaburi Thailand

One cannot leave Bangkok in a hurry! The city just goes on and on but we did eventually get beyond the city limits on our way to the "Good Times" Resort in Kanchanaburi. The trip by road took 3 hours and traffic was well behaved. Once out of the city we passed rice paddies, sugar cane fields, and cows wandering alongside the road! On arrival in Kanchanaburi, we were really spoilt with a river facing room, private balcony and futon style bed. Have you ever tried to get in and out of such a low bed with bad knees? It's worthy of a "laugh a minute" video!

This spot is full of WW2 history so off we headed to view the bridge. We were lucky enough to be on the bridge when a train came past so we vowed to take a ride before leaving this town. The sad story of the Thailand-Burma Railway is depicted in the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and the Death Railway Museum. So many lives were lost in the construction of this railway - how these folk could work in the searing heat and high humidity, I cannot imagine. It's a tear-jerking experience visiting both the cemetery and the museum. The cemetery is huge, beautifully maintained and shows the many lives lost during this period - British, Indian, Dutch and Australian.

To lighten the sombre mood, we headed off to find the Monkey Pod Tree. The GPS got us lost so we meandered past temples, cows, monks, strange chickens, a huge horse farm until we eventually found the big tree. It's huge - the biggest tree I have ever seen - 20 m high and 25 m wide, it offers shade up to 50m. Thankfully, this tree is protected and well looked after. The warning sign in both English and Thai says "Do Not Scrape the Tree"  and "Do not sit Down"

 And then, our train trip! We took the train from River Kwai to Nam Tok and back again. Riding on the Death Railway was an incredible experience. The sheer rock face in parts brought home the horrendous tasks that faced the prisoners of war during WW2. The track had a major overhaul in 2016, some 70 years after it was built. The area along the route is mainly agricultural - sugar cane, tapioca and whatever else grows locally. A highly recommended trip.

Thai Vendor Kanchanaburi Thailand

 We chatted to this very friendly lady who was selling books on the Death Railway. She did not push us to buy anything but was happy to chat while we waited for the train to Nam Tok.

 

The beautiful River Kwai in Kanchanaburi Thailand

Kanchanabuii Thailand

The Giant Monkey Pod Tree

The beautiful views from the train Konchanaburi to Nam Tok

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Thailand - Bangkok

Canals - Bangkok

Bangkok - what can one say? It's a city that everybody should visit at least once.
It's a blend of old and new, strange smells, street food vendors, traffic and extreme heat!

Siamotif Hotel on a Bangkok Canal!

Our first adventure (if one can call it that) was a trip into from the river into the canals.
Some of the houses were very basic, others quite posh but all built in water. This was an interesting trip for us given that we have explored the "backwaters" in Alleppy, India. Those backwaters in India were truly alive and totally fascinating - there seemed to be more life around than in Bangkok but perhaps folk were all out at work. There are many tourist boats around so it's a popular spot to visit.

Electrical Wires everywhere!

Next up was a city tour - the city is a mixture of old and new with very ornate government buildings & temples plus old city grime. Scooters and tuk-tuks are everywhere, as is usual in the East, yellow T-Shirts were very much in evidence in support of the new king. Street sweepers are very much in evidence so the streets are clean yet look mucky due to the old pavements. Chinatown drove me out very fast due to horrid biting flies! Never experienced that anywhere else thank goodness.

Bangkok

At the traffic lights near our hotel there was a sign " Beware of Snatch Thief" aimed at scooter passengers. We clung to our camera's but all was OK, thank goodness. I just loved the scooter guys laden with boxes, doing deliveries.

While having our supper at a restaurant on the canal below our hotel, we saw a young lady selling fish food. I don't think I would like to eat fish caught there as the smell of the water was rather off putting. This young lady left her young son to look after the stall while she took the baby home. While everybody appears to have some sort of basic income, poverty is real and sad here. Traditions are very evident in Thailand and we watched a chap praying at the bridge before scattering his fish food purchase to the fish. Rather special to watch.

Chao Praya River Bangkok

The Chao Praya River is very much part of the city so we headed off on foot to catch a boat ride to see the sights from the river. Passing through the grounds of Thammasat University where students were about their studies, we spotted their slogan - "Where we learn to love the people" That's different!

It's a lovely ride on the river offering views of temples, modern buildings, fancy hotels and the back of China Town. Unfortunately, the ticket office gave us incorrect information which led to an argument and extremely aggressive behaviour from the Thai staff. It was very unpleasant and not in the spirit of "The Land of Smiles" As they also forced us to get off the boat on the other side of the river, we were stranded and had to catch a taxi who also ripped us off with a huge fare.

A rather sad ending to our stay in Bangkok so I can't say that I fell in love with the city...but an interesting sojourn nonetheless.

 

Street Sweepers are everywhere - Bangkok is clean in the most part.

Riding the Canals Bangkok

Transport - Bangkok!

Dejected in Bangkok!!

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