Approaching Hat Yai

We had not read too many raving reviews or reports on Hat Yai, so our expectations were fairly low. All in all, I would say the low expectations were met. It is a tourist hotspot for mainly Malaysian (weekend) tourists with tons of massage places (I’ve never seen such a density of massage places in my life). What did positively surprise me was the lively scene of hipster coffee shops and restaurants as well as our hotel (La Pause).

The next morning we left early for Koh Lipe. Getting there is a bit of a hassle but supposedly you’ll be rewarded with the Maldives of Thailand. Works for me. You have to catch a ferry from Pak Bara which is about 1.5 hours from Hat Yai. We were going to take a minivan but when our Uber driver from the airport (Uber had just started a week prior) offered to take us for THB1’000 (EUR26), we went for the extra convenience.

There are a few ferry operators and we ended up choosing Satun Pakbara as they allowed online bookings.

Boarding at Pak Bara Pier

Just over half way, we stopped at Koh Khai Nok for some photos. Some of the fellow passengers went all in on photos. Admittedly, it is a pretty island.

On the speedboat ferry

Approaching Koh Khai Nok

Koh Khai Nok

From there it was a short hop to our destination, Koh Lipe. We stayed for two nights at Mali Sunrise Resort which meant another transfer to the other side of the (small) island. Shortly before noon we had finally made it but it was definitely quite a journey to get here.

Considering the difficulty of reaching the island, it did not feel that remote. The beach is covered with hotels, although not large resorts. Pretty much everyone on the island seems to directly or at least indirectly live off tourism judging by the amount of (almost exclusively) Western tourists.

We spent the next two days just lazing by the beach, walking along the beach and swimming in the Andaman Sea. Comparing it to the Maldives might be accurate when looking at the water color but on Koh Lipe you can be sure that you’re never alone (which at times comes at the expense of the romantic factor of the island).

Sunset on Koh Lipe

Sunset on Koh Lipe

Koh Lipe

Stocking up on Instagram posts on Koh Lipe

Lots of chilled out bars along the beach

Happy Hour on Koh Lipe

The Good Life

Mali Sunrise Resort

All in all we weren’t blown away by Koh Lipe. Sure, it’s a stunning island. But we thought the premium you pay for the remoteness wasn’t worth it; mainly due to the sheer amount of tourists. Also, there are construction sites everyone, so it is unlikely to get better anytime soon.

On our departure day, we again had to everything in reverse. Starting with the ferry to Pak Bara.

Koh Lipe Immigration Office – taking a ferry to Malaysia (Langkawi) is actually faster than Pak Bara

Speed Boats waiting for the morning run to Pak Bara

Everything worked out well and we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare to catch our flight to Singapore.

There happen to be direct flights from Chengdu to Chiang Rai which seemed a convenient way to connect the two destinations. So after spending some time with the adorable pandas, Sichuan Airlines flew us in a bit over two hours on a Saturday morning to Thailand – us and close to 200 hundred Chinese tourists traveling as a tour group.

Getting off our Sichuan Airlines flight

Us being the only non-Chinese on the flight also meant we were the only ones not needing a visa on arrival. We were lucky because there aren’t that many international flights arriving in Chiang Rai (read: barely any) so immigration can take a while. After renting a car (a first for me in Thailand), we were on our way to our hotel (kind of like a four room homestay) around 20mins north of Chiang Rai. If you’re looking for something quiet, I can recommend Bambuh Homestay – but you’ve been warned; it is far outside the city and you’ll need a car.

We quickly made our way south of town to visit one of the main reasons I had wanted to go to Chiang Rai: Wat Rong Khun or more commonly known as White Temple. Local artist Chalermchai Kositpipat designed and built this temple which only opened in 1997, so it is still relatively new compared to the other temples you’re likely to visit in Thailand. Its design is quite unique:

Wat Rong Khun / White Temple

Wat Rong Khun / White Temple

Wat Rong Khun / White Temple

Wat Rong Khun / White Temple

Entrance fee must have recently gone from 0 to THB50 (EUR1.30) for foreigners

It was well worth the visit and truly a remarkable work for art. Unfortunately the sheer number of tourists and their selfie-obsession meant that the experience walking around this religious structure was not that enjoyable.

We headed back into the city and started to wander around Chiang Rai.

While Chiang Rai province is predominately Buddhist, there’s also a Muslim population –
Darul Aman Mosque

We had mango sticky rice at least once per day

We also changed our remaining CNY into THB at Super Rich Money Exchange

We were lucky in the sense that we visited on a Saturday when the once weekly night market takes place. It is probably one of the larger ones I’ve ever seen and did not feel overly touristic but rather the locals from the surrounding areas seem to visit. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and of course the street food. Eating through the stalls, we probably had our best meal(s) of the trip that evening and spent less than any other night.

Chiang Rai Saturday Night Market

Chiang Rai Saturday Night Market

Chiang Rai Saturday Night Market

The next morning we drove north towards Mae Sai (bordering Myanmar) and from there headed East towards the Golden Triangle where we first visited the excellent Opium museum which is a must visit in the area. Sponsored by the Royal Family, it does a superb job at sharing the history of Opium and how much death and destruction the Colonialists brought to the region through its trade (no photos allowed inside):

Hall of Opium

From there it is a short drive to Wat Phar Pu Khao where you have a good view across the mighty Mekong river towards Myanmar on the left and Laos on the right:

Golden Triangle

Myanmar on the left, Laos on the right

We stopped for some great fish for lunch, overlooking the Mekong.

Lunch in Chiang Saen

And wandered around the sleepy town.

Wat Mung Muang in Chiang Saen

Wat Phrachao Lan Thong in Chiang Saen

Coffee shop in Chiang Saen

We took the slow route back turning from road 1290 to 1271 to 4034 and were rewarded with gorgeous views onto rice paddies.

Driving along route 4034

Back on the main highway we stopped at one of the dozens of stalls for fresh pineapple

For dinner our host recommended us Ban Saowaga, not far from our homestay. A local Thai restaurant with live music that apparently doesn’t get a lot of non-Thai speaking guests.

Ban Saowaga

The last morning before flying off, I went for a run around the beautiful campus of Chiang Rai Rajabhat University.

Chiang Rai Rajabhat University

And our final stop was another work of art by Chalermchai Kositpipat; the Baan Dam Museum (Black House) – a very strange place. Check out this link if you want to know more about the background.

Baan Dam Museum

Baan Dam Museum

Baan Dam Museum

With that we wrapped up our short stay in Chiang Rai province and I can say I really liked it! Great food, not many tourists, friendly people and beautiful nature. Definitely an area to bookmark and revisit.

With animals and nature checked, we wanted to add some beach time and settled on Koh Lipe in the very south, advertised as “the Maldives of Thailand”. The trip would end with some days in Singapore, our old home.

This was our final itinerary:

Looking back, it was probably too much travel for the short period of time. Not necessarily too many stops, but too much travel with planes.

Stay tuned for the trip report!

King Bhumibol Adulyadej

The country’s military leadership declared a one year mourning period. Especially during the first month no celebrations whatsoever should be held. People started wearing black and white to express their mourning.

I had a stay planned in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket just a few days later. While tourism would definitely be impacted, there wasn’t really a reason for me to cancel the trip. Western media reported about how tourists complained that the mourning period has spoilt their vacation, but I didn’t really expect it to impact me much.

Upon landing at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, I immediately saw how advertising on screens has been replaced by images commemorating the king. TV channels would show movies commemorating the King. People wore black and white, nearly without exception.

Everyone wearing black and white

I went to one of my favorite parts of Bangkok, the markets along Yaowarat and Phahurat Road. Where you can usually buy clothes and jewelry in all kinds of color, almost everything was available in black and white only. Considering this was just a bit over a week after the passing of the King, some shops were supposedly prepared.

Clothes at a market in Yaowarat Road

Merchandise in a market in Yaowarat Road

Most importantly, it has to be black and white… everything else seems to be secondary.

Further in the backstreets, I walked past warehouses full of black and white cloth. Business seems to be going well there. My Thai friends all said that they need to buy new clothes as nobody has enough black and white stuff to last for a year.

Warehouse full of black and white cloth

I asked him how business is going. There was a language barrier but I think overall its going ok.

Even shops like 7-Eleven would display a notice on their cashier systems:

At the cashier at a 7-Eleven

Every larger business or public institution would display a large poster of the King outside its premises:

Outside a school in Chiang Mai

Street scene in Chiang Mai

In all airports I traveled through, travelers were given the chance to write their thoughts and prayers in a book:

At Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport

While I personally wasn’t affected in my vacation, if you are going there for partying, you will most likely feel the impact. There is little to no live music and most clubs are more or less closed. Don’t worry, you will be able to find a bar that serves drinks but the whole atmosphere will not be as lively as it usually is. I would think this will change back to normal after a month or so – after all, some parts of Thailand are heavily dependent on tourism for their economy and the high season is around the corner. 70 years ago when the previous King died, this wasn’t yet the case.

So I left Chiang Mai relatively early and caught a white Songthaew from Chang Phuak Station towards Mae Taeng (40 Baht). There are two roads going north; the 107 and 1001. Eventually you have to get on the 1001 but the Songthaews near my hostel went north on the 107. After about 45mins there was a road that crosses the river and connects to the 1001.

Bridge crossing the Ping River

I had to walk this section for about 20mins but was soon offered a ride by a friendly lady. On the 1001 I again walked for a little while until I was offered a ride by an ice cream truck (no free samples unfortunately). I also saw the first sign of the Bua Tong Waterfall. I was briefly worried whether I was on the wrong track after the lady who gave me a ride didn’t know it and neither did a couple of people she asked.

First sign of the Bua Tong Waterfall

After a short ride we left the main road. The spot where you have to leave the main road is easy to miss as the signage is not well placed.

You’ll see this sign – which isn’t so obvious for non-Thai speakers.

Entrance to the Bua Tong Waterfall road

On the right, you’ll see this (but only after you’ve left the main road):

Sign for farangs towards the Bua Tong Waterfall

Three kilometers later we made it to the parking lot of the Bua Tong Waterfall:

The spot doesn’t really cater to foreign tourists as where little signage is in English

Now science was never my favorite subject in school, so I also wasn’t particularly interested in the science behind the Sticky Waterfalls. But apparently there is some kind of special mineral contained in the water, that stays on the rocks and causes them to become “sticky”, i.e. you can stand on them without slipping. They have place ropes along the waterfalls which allows you to climb up and down. Pretty unique.

The parking lot is at the top of the waterfall and there are stairs that take you to the bottom. From there you can then climb back up.

View from the parking lot of Bua Tong Waterfalls

The place is very clean and all visitors thankfully seem to follow the no drinks / no food policy. The fine could almost keep up with Singapore.

Sign at the top of the waterfalls

The unique Bua Tong Waterfalls

The unique Bua Tong Waterfalls

The unique Bua Tong Waterfalls

Just a short from the waterfalls is a hot spring that looked very special as well:

Nam Phu Chet Si

Getting back to Chiang Mai proved to be a bit easier. I walked the 3km back to the main road and waited there for a Songthaew. On the way to the main road I didn’t cross a single car but saw what looked like a dog sleeping in the middle of the road. All of the sudden the dog started howling and it sounded kind of like a wolf… because it turned out it was one. I made some noise and luckily the wolf got up and disappeared. Back at the main road, a Songthaew turned up after about 20mins of waiting and brought me back to the Arcade Bus Terminal in Chiang Mai for 40 Baht.

Songthaew that took me back to Chiang Mai

Since Bua Tong Waterfalls is on the Chiang Mai – Phrao road, I would assume that you can catch a Phrao-bound Songthaew somewhere at the big Arcade Bus Station and hence do the trip in a quicker way than I did it getting there.

Don’t forget your swimming gear when you visit this unique waterfall! Oh and by the way, there is no entrance fee, it is based on donations only.

Magic Food Park at Don Mueang Airport

There is however a very good food court, hidden from the public eye. When in Terminal 2, go to the arrivals level and walk towards the car park at the very end of the building. You’ll then see a 7-Eleven as well as a sign for the “Magic Food Park”. Just around the corner, you’ll find it.

Signage for the Magic Food Park at Don Mueang Airport

It works on a coupon system whereby you buy a booklet of coupons at the cashier and use them to order from the dozen or so stalls. Mostly Thai food but I saw some Chinese, Indian and Western stalls as well. Meals are 50-80 Baht vs. 250 Baht upwards in the terminal. It is maybe a three minute walk from Terminal 2’s check-in area.

Koh Samui has been a tricky one. Bangkok Airways has a monopoly on the route. Actually, they have pretty much a monopoly on every route out of Koh Samui Airport (USM), which makes the flights obscenely expensive. Fares for the 90mins flight start at ~SGD500. Crazy if you can consider that you could instead fly to places like Langkawi or Phuket for under SGD200.

SGD492 for a Fri-Sun evening flight to Koh Samui

Fortunately, a while ago I stumbled upon a Japan Airlines Mileage Bank promotion whereby you could get discounted Bangkok Airways tickets using their miles. The cost depends on the total distance of your ticket, with Singapore-Koh Samui-Singapore falling into the middle bracket (2*624 miles):

Award chart for Japan Airlines Mileage Bank on Bangkok Airways

I had booked the trip last year in October to get away from the haze. Well, it was so bad that on my day of travel, the haze went all the way across Thailand and covered Koh Samui so that the flight ended up being cancelled. At the time, the trip was 8’000 miles which were then refunded. When I booked again this year, everything went smooth until someone from Japan Airlines called four days after booking to inform me that the price had risen to 10’000 miles effective April 1, 2016. Well, great. They could have mentioned that when booking the ticket. In the end they just let it through with the lower price as it was obviously their fault. On top of that, I still had to pay government and airport taxes (fair enough) as well as fuel surchage (SGD108 – what a joke) for a total of SGD172… despite using miles, you still pay around as much as a regular ticket to another beach destination can cost you.

I was excited to try Bangkok Airways to see what service is like on-board such an expensive short-haul flight. They fly twice daily on the Singapore-Koh Samui sector. Our flight was right on time with a very light load (<50%).

On-board PG’s A319 SIN-USM

We left Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 1 and taxied past all the European carriers who had just arrived.

View of Changi Terminal 1.

On-board service was quite extensive for such a short flight and after so many legs on low-cost carriers, I wasn’t really used to getting a full meal anymore.

Bangkok Airways meal Singapore-Koh Samui

We landed on-time at Koh Samui and were ferried to the terminal in the unique trolleys that I’ve only seen at this airport:

Disembarking Bangkok Airways

Koh Samui Airport trolley busses

Unfortunately immigration was bad. Apparently we had just landed after Bangkok Airways’ Hong Kong and Chengdu flights which seemed to have way better load factors than our flight. It took us over half an hour to get through. Once in Thailand, we were greeted by the local taxi mafia. So we just walked a few meters passed the airport gates and found a friendly family that drove us the 5km to our accomodation, Imperial Boat House in Cheong Mon.

I chose Cheong Mon because I read it is a bit more laid back but still close to the airport. The hotel was a typical four star resort and was well maintained. Guests are mostly from the PRC and Germany.

Imperial Boat House room

Imperial Boat House swimming pool

Breakfast at Imperial Boat House

Cheong Mon is a relatively short beach (maybe 1km), yet still full of hotels. However it doesn’t feel super crowded and it’s very clean (both water and beach).

Cheong Mon

Cheong Mon

Cheong Mon

It was interesting to see the difference in prices between an non-touristy beach in Thailand (Rayong Province) and Koh Samui. A coconut for example was more than double the price (50 vs. 120 Baht).

There are a number of watersport activities on offer as well dozens of massage places on the beach.

Saturday evening we went to Chaweng, the main beach. What a disappointment, at least at night. The main street is fully of tailors, massage parlors and not very appetizing restaurants (nothing authentic Thai really). In between are the typical Thai bars with some Thai ladies and lots of elderly farangs. Needless to day, I was not impressed at all. To the extent that it’s not worth showing any photos here.

On a run in the morning, I ran passed Wat Plai Laem and Big Buddha.

Wat Plai Laem

Big Buddha

Since it was really just a short weekend away, I spent most of the time at the beach and didn’t really explore the island. Maybe it would be worth hiring a scooter next time.

Flying out of Koh Samui was interesting, as the airport is a bit of a unique concept, with everything being open-air.

View towards the runway at Koh Samui airport

After check-in, you walk through what reminded me of a US open-air shopping mall.

Shops at Koh Samui airport

After immigration and security, Bangkok Airways has set-up some courtesy snacks and drinks for its passengers.

Courtesy snacks

It was pretty funny that the snack shop next to it had to put up big signs that this is “not free”.

Not a courtesy corner

Traffic at the airport is very boring with almost all flights being operated by Bangkok Airways. I saw one interesting exception though:

Tibet Airlines operating Koh Samui – Chengdu?

Bangkok Airways Koh Samui – Singapore

The flight back was uneventful and right on time.

View after take-off

Where would I rank Koh Samui? Well, to be honest I was a bit disappointed (#firstworldproblem). But judging by the price Bangkok Airways charges, I was somehow expecting a bit more of a pristine island maybe? But instead, Koh Samui is full of resorts with nothing left untouched really. It really caters for mass tourism and hence it wasn’t easy to find good authentic local food and you can tell that the locals are very much used to large numbers of foreigners coming to the island. If you are paying full fare, I think there are better beach destinations to fly to our of Singapore.

Pick and choose

Since the area doesn’t cater much for non-Thai holidaymakers, most restaurants don’t have an English menu. Luckily most have pictures in their menus or better, you just point.

Seafood for lunch and dinner is what you’ll eat there. Very reasonably priced at 500-700 THB for a big meal for two.

A big meal for two at 719 Baht (<€20)

During my stay I checked out two places: Paya (click here for some great photos on another blog) and Jaepornpaktai. The former is a bit more of a proper restaurant while the latter is closer to a makeshift kitchen on the beach. They are within five minutes walking distance of each other. I didn’t really check out any reviews before going and just picked the places with the most people in and was very happy with both choices.

Not a single dish disappointed

Fresh Seabass

Anybody know what this is? Tasted very good.

Paya actually has an impressive and entertaining fire show on the beach around 7.30pm that is worth checking out.

Fireshow in front of Paya Restaurant

As I’ve previously written, Mae Ram Phueng is very quiet and there is not a whole lot to do. But eating Seafood all day long is certainly a pastime that one should not miss.
Location of Paya Restaurant:

U-Tapao Airport. Probably doesn’t ring a bell for most of you. In terms of passenger volumes it is tiny with 2-3 daily domestic flights to Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai. In addition Air Asia has been flying to two destinations in China. Recently they expanded to Kuala Lumpur, and as of last weekend, also Singapore. The fares were too good to give it a pass and the flight schedule perfect for a weekend getaway (departing Singapore 9pm on Friday and arriving again Sunday at 8pm).

The airport has been branded Pattaya / U-Tapao International Airport due to its proximity to the famous beach town. Somehow Pattaya is associated with elderly Westerners coming for some younger loving and has a reputation of being a sleazy place. Whether true or not, I wasn’t too keen to find out and decided to look for alternatives. Going east from the airport, Rayong province has a range of supposedly nice beaches. The most obvious choice would be Koh Samet, an island known for being quieter yet not less beautiful than some of its raucous Thai counterparts elsewhere in the country. One would have to catch a taxi to the pier in Ban Phe (approx. 1 hour), followed by a 30mins speedboat transfer (24 hour service). While doable, I decided against it due to the late evening arrival at 10.30pm.

Looking for alternatives, I settled for Mae Ram Phueng, a beach close to Ban Phe on the mainland. Researching for accommodation, it didn’t seem very developed with only few decent accommodation options and ended up booking the Ohana Resort.

The flight was uneventful until the arrival. The fact that Air Asia has two aircraft based at U-Tapao that both arrive around the same time for their night stop meant that the immigration officers were slightly overwhelmed with over two hundred passengers arriving within a short period of time. After a nearly 45mins wait and a 1 hour taxi ride, I was finally in Mae Ram Phueng shortly after midnight.

Mae Ram Phueng

The one and a half days were spent lazing by the beach. I can only say good things about it. It is clean and beautiful. There are no palm trees but pine trees instead. The beach is lined up with deck chairs and umbrellas. Every few meters there’s a seafood restaurant and I’ll have a separate post on that.

Coconut for about €0.80 and an ice-cold Singha for a little over €2

The local dog day-care center?

Long stretches of beautiful beaches

And very clean when we were there

Rooms at Ohana Resort

Mae Ramphueng is perfect for a weekend if you just want to have your quiet and relax. There isn’t much to do there however. You could go check out the nearby cities of Ban Phe (which has an aquarium) or Rayong. Best would be the rent a scooter as public transportation is difficult to come by. I wanted to go to a nearby restaurant on Saturday and was unable to find a taxi even with the hotel’s help. The tourist infrastructure is almost non-existent, barely any massage places. And the nightlife didn’t seem very inviting either.

Tempting but we skipped this party

If I do return, I’d probably check out Pattaya and see for myself whether it lives up to its reputation.

After a bit of googling, I nearly gave up on finding a taxi but figured that due to the late night arrival, I’d probably just get ripped off if not pre-booked. The airport sees four international arrivals a day in addition to two or three domestic arrivals. So taxis won’t exactly be around in abundance, especially not for the last flight of the day.

So I resorted to the Thai version of Google with the help of Google Translate. I eventually found a few phone numbers of supposedly taxi drivers in the area. I drafted a simple message in English and had Google translate it for me into Thai script. Lo and behold I actually got a reply through WhatsApp a few hours later (odd since WhatsApp is rarely used in Thailand – Line is the messenger app of choice). From there a conversation in Thai started about price and destination. He would write, I would translate into English and then translate my reply back into Thai.

Let’s see – if Google Translate served its purpose, I’ll meet my WhatsApp taxi driver tomorrow at the airport with a prearranged destination and price. Stay tuned, I’ll report back.

WhatsApp conversation in Thai thanks to Google Translate