Tropical Thailand

Preparations for Chinese New Year

We had an easy crossing in to Thailand, through the Betong border. We presented our insurance and carnet and completed the Temporary Import form, then helped the Thai customs man to fill in and stamp the carnet in the relevant places before being waved through the customs inspection area and we were free to travel. The combined formalities at both border posts took little over an hour.

Western peninsula beach near Krabi

New temple

The southern most province of Thailand has long been unsettled due to its mainly Muslim population wanting independence from Thailand so the advice is not to linger. We stopped only to get some cash and to buy a couple of SIM cards - 30 days unlimited internet for £2.50 - before heading around 200kms north to Hat Yai where we booked into a very comfortable small hotel. Hat Yai is one of the main towns in southern Thailand and in the morning we walked to a floating market, though it only operates at night, and a temple still under construction, something we have seen all over the southern part of Thailand, hundreds of new Buddhist temples being constructed or extended.

Islands near Phuket where James Bond was filmed

Dusky Langur

Having cleared the unsettled zone we took a more leisurely approach to travel the long narrow peninsular portion of Thailand, heading first to the west coast beaches. We found some lovely places where we could camp by the beach, but sadly most were strewn with rubbish left by picnickers. Around Krabi on the west coast large limestone mountains dominate the landscape with small sandy beaches wedged between, making it a fast developing tourist haven. We camped on a beach just north and returned to the fossil beach at low tide to see the millions of fossil gastropods and bivalves in a relatively thin layer of rock, which looks almost like concrete.

Wild Asian Elephant

Wild Gaur

Phuket is probably Thailand's most famous tourist destination, and wanting to understand the attraction we headed there for a night, camping on a small secluded beach by a café. This large island must have been beautiful before the tourist developments with a mix of long and small sandy beaches separated by rocky outcrops and a relatively large forested area in the centre, but the huge resort developments and incessant congestion takes away a lot of the pleasure. The limestone scenery so dominant along this coastline continues and we visited a viewpoint looking out over numerous small limestone islands rising sheer from the water, used for the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.
Leaving the west coast we headed to the east and found a fantastic camp spot by a secluded beach under coconut palms where after two weeks of moving on we had a day sitting enjoying the cool sea breeze and the beautiful warm water.
Passing the narrowest part of Thailand we headed to a couple of National parks. At Kui Buri park we took a short tour and were thrilled to see around 50 wild elephant as well as a couple of Gaur. In the three herds we saw were many very entertaining baby elephant scampering around. Further north at Ban Krang dusky langur spent the night in the trees above our camp then entertained us the following morning playing in the trees by the campsite.

Bridge on the River Kwai

Just north west of Bangkok at Kanchanaburi is the bridge on the River Kwai. The bridge itself is a major tourist attraction so somewhat overwhelmed with people, but nearby are the amazingly moving Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries, and a couple of interesting museums depicting the history and living conditions endured by the PoW's and often not discussed the appalling conditions endured by the 200,000 SE Asians brought in to work on the railway.

Hell Fire Cutting

Whilst the bridge is famous the worst conditions were in the camps further north where the PoW's and Asians had to make cuttings through rock outcrops using hand tools only. Teams of three would use a 10lb hammer and a long chisel to cut holes in the rock for dynamite charges, then the rubble would be moved by hand, a lot of the work completed during the wet season when temperatures are in the mid 30's with 100% humidity. One person died for every sleeper that was laid on this section of track - an enormous price to pay.

Death railway Trestle Bridge still in use

Taking another break from the heat of the lowlands we headed to Kao Yai National Park at 700m. The morning chorus of gibbons near the campsites and visitor centres is a call to try and find them, and we were lucky enough to find two groups of gibbon in the trees. The park is also home to elephant, one of which came through the campsite causing great excitement and passed within a few metres of our van.

White Handed Gibbon
 

We are now at Plodd Stop - an overlanders rest place where we have enjoyed chatting with other Dave the owner, and other overlanders on various travels in SE Asia.

 

 

Bridge on the River Kwai

 

Rubber tapping                                                                        Porcupine

 

 

 

Sunrise at secret beach