Provinces I have visited

Here is a list of provinces I have visited in Thailand. I have not included provinces that I have just passed through in transit. I also might have omitted one or two of the small provinces around Bangkok that I have visited unknowingly.

Central

Bangkok
Kanchanaburi
Ratchaburi
Nakhon Pathom
Suphan Buri
Ayutthaya
Lopburi
Saraburi
Nakhon Nayok
Chonburi
Nonthaburi
Samut Sakhon

South

Prachuap Kiri Khan
Chumphon
Ranong
Surat Thani
Phuket
Krabi
Nakhon Si Thammarat
Trang
Satun
Songkhla
Narathiwat

North

Phitsanulok
Phichit
Tak
Sukothai
Kamphaeng Phet
Phrae
Phayao
Chiang Rai
Nan
Chiang Mai
Mae Hong Son
Lampang

Northeast

Nakhon Ratchasima
Buriram
Surin
Chaiyaphum
Nong Khai

* updated May 2007

Sleepy Satun

The main mosque in Satun

Satun is nestled amongst mangroves and mountains just north of the Malaysian border. It is a little out of the way and the only tourists that visit there would be heading for the nearby islands of Koh Tarutao Marine National Park or the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.

The town is small and quiet. Satun is one of the four provinces in Southern Thailand that has a Muslim majority. However, unlike Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat it has not been affected by violence. Historically it was never part of the Sultanate of Patani and in the more recent past has maintained a better relationship with the Thai government in Bangkok.

My main reason for going there was to cross the border to Malaysia and get a new visa stamp. I was also curious to see Satun and compare it to Narathiwat, which I visited last year in August.

The border crossing ended up taking a lot longer than I expected. I thought boats would be leaving pretty regularly throughout the day. I already had to wait until the immigration office opened at 8:30. I was told the boat wouldn't leave until there were ten passengers. It ended up being a little after 10:00 before there were enough people and the boat left.

The boat trip to Kuala Perlis took about fifty minutes. The boat was a small wooden boat with an extremely noisy engine!!! After arriving in Malaysia I got my passport stamped and two minutes later I went back to the same counter and got my exit stamp. I would have liked to have spent some time looking around the town, but I had no idea how long I would have to wait for the next boat to return to Thailand. I ended up waiting slightly less than an hour for a similarly noisy and slightly faster boat trip back to the Thammalang pier.

Once I got back to the pier I got my passport stamped for re-entry to Thailand. I then took a motorbike taxi into the town of Satun, a bus to Trang and a minibus to Surat Thani. This ended up being faster my journey to Satun where I went via Hat Yai. The motorbike taxi driver in Satun told me that it is actually cheaper and easier to go to the border crossing at Wang Prajan rather than go by boat to Kuala Perlis. Maybe next time...

Mum and Dad in Thailand

My Mum and Dad have just flown back to Australia after spending two weeks visiting me in Thailand. There are some pictures on comments on where we went and what we did below.

The trip started (and ended) in Bangkok. On the first morning we visited the Chatuchak weekend market. Then we took a boat ride along the Chao Phraya River. Later in the afternoon we visited Jim Thompson's house.


Mum and Dad in the garden at Jim Thompson's house

The next day we visited Bangkok's most famous landmark, the Grand Palace (also known as Wat Phra Kaeo or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha).


Grand Palace in Bangkok

After a couple of days in Bangkok we travelled to Kanchanaburi, just a two hour bus trip away. The last time I visited this province was ten years ago so it was a chance for me to rediscover a few things.

We took a one-day minibus tour that allowed us to see some of the major sights outside the town. Kanchanaburi is well known for the bridge over the River Kwae and the Burma Railway built by prisoners of war and slave labour during WWII. We visited the Hellfire Pass and also travelled by train on a section of the railway.


Mum and Dad at Hellfire Pass

A first for the whole family was riding an elephant!!!


Elephant riding in Kanchanaburi province

My memories of Kanchanaburi ten years ago were fairly hazy. However, this Chinese temple makes a beautiful and striking addition to the riverside. Its design is reminiscent of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing


Chinese temple in Kanchanaburi

After Kanchanburi we travelled to Nakhon Pathom where we caught an overnight train to Surat Thani. On our first evening in Surat Thani we took a boat ride along the canals to one of the monkey training schools. Believe it or not monkeys are trained how to pick coconuts!!!


Charlie the monkey carrying a coconut

After the monkey training school we went to the Food Fair on the banks of the Tapee River. It was a good chance to see (and eat) some of the great variety of food available in Thailand.


These colorful dishes are Thai desserts


Fish galore!

The next day we travelled to Chaiya, a town near Surat Thani. The first stop was Wat Suan Mok, a famous Buddhist forest monastery. We also saw some temples in Chaiya and silk weaving at Phumriang (click here to see a video of the silk weaving). Finally we enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch at a seaside restaurant.


At Wat Suan Mok


Wat Phra Boromathat, Chaiya


Silk weaving at Phumriang village

The next destination after Surat Thani was Krabi. A day trip by boat took us to some of the beautiful islands near Krabi.


Koh Hong, Krabi

We also visited my favourite place in Krabi, the Tiger Cave Temple. We didn't do the strenuous walk to the top of the hill, but enjoyed a very nice walk through the forest in the valley. We also had a chance to observe some of the life and activity in the grounds of the temple. The monkeys rule here!!!


Mum enjoying some sticky rice in a bamboo tube


Monkey with Ganesh, Tiger Cave Temple, Krabi

With Mum and Dad's time in Thailand drawing to a close we flew back to Bangkok for the last couple of days. We visited the Vimanmek Palace and Khao San Road. On the last day we went to the Suan Pakkard Museum. It is a small museum with its collection displayed in traditional Thai houses set in beautiful gardens.


Traditional Thai house at the Suan Pakkard Museum


David and Na farewell Mum and Dad at the airport

Book review: Sightseeing

Sightseeing
by Rattawut Lapchareonsap
Grove Press, New York, 2005
ISBN 0330421506

Sightseeing is a brilliant collection of short stories that capture the essence of Thai life. If you want a romanticised view of Thailand as the "Land of Smiles" then forget this book. It mixes gritty realism with an exuberant spirit. It portrays a world where brutality is in as much abundance as kindness.

The stories cover subjects such as a Thai teenage boy's romance with an American tourist and a young boy accompanying his older brother to a karaoke bar. The final story, which is also the longest, tells of a family where the father becomes obsessed with cockfighting and seeking revenge.

This is Rattawut's first book and it shows he has considerable talent. He writes in English and has a Master's degree in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. I look forward to reading his first full length novel about Thailand.