Muang Mallika

To hours west of banglok is a historic village that shows life in Thailand at the time of King Rama IV. The entrance is a wooden covered bridge with rows of stalls on both sides. Everywhere are costumed people doing period things, like theshing rice, and selling period products. They even have their own old currency, copper coins with holes to string them up, which must be purchased at the entrance.

On the way to Bangkok is the bridge over the river Kwai, built during the Japanese occupation 1942-45 to connect Thailand to Burma (now Myanmar). Thousands of POWs died during construction. The bridge is still in use, and also a tourist attraction. You can walk across, but must step into one of the safety platforms when a train approaches.

Hua Hin

Hua Hin, the beach town favored by the Thai Kings... I fondly remember a sleepy white city with wide boulevards and sandy beaches, where a rickshaw once took me to the train station.

Well, no more. It's a crowded mess of traffic and tangled power lines, and the beaches are mostly private and difficult reach. The King's Home homestay is lovely though, an eclectic museum filled with everything from oil paintings to tacky figurines, in the best way, run by two old ladies. And it's easy to find good food.

Ko Payam

Ko Payam is one of the northernmost Thai islands off the west coast. It's a little difficult to reach, which may be the reason why it hasn't really been discovered yet except by Westerners who spend the winter here. No hordes of tourists, no fancy hotels, just a few quiet beach resorts. There isn't much tourist infrastructure at all, besides motorcycle rentals. The only way to get here is from Ranong, a small town north at the mouth of the Kraburi River, which is the border to Myanmar.  

I had been advised on the boat that the nicest place on the island is Ao Yai on long Beach, a 5km walk from the pier. Ao Yai is just a small cluster of restaurants and a dive shop where people are so terminally relaxed that they won't dive until the end of the week. Oh well... 

So I just walk a lot on the island, and discover things like that the bridge over the only river has been under construction for over ten years and the locals kind of lost interest. Entire forests of rubber trees, each with a little spout and a little bucket to collect natural latex. 

Thailand

Change of scenery... I am following the sun and went to Ko Lanta. That's an island south of the tourist epicenter of Phuket and Ko Phi Phi, and far quieter than these. The beach resorts are widely spaced along its west coast, and it's all sand and not paved. To get there I had to pass a night in Phuket Town, and it was actually much more pleasant than I remember from earlier trips. The Thai cuisine might have something to do with that.

So what to do on Ko Lanta? Diving of course. Saw a shark and several turtles. Followed one with a bright read shield for several minutes, so close that I could have touched it. Amazing how these creatures are so slow and awkward on land, and so quick and elegant under water!