ThaiBankie

I am about a month late in writing about our Songkran holiday.  At first I was planning on doing a daily diary but I got lazy because I was enjoying being at the beach and somehow forgot about it.  Anyway, here is a brief update on our holiday.

This year for Songkran we decided to go to Pran Buri, this was our first time to visit there and it was only about 20Km south of Hua Hin where we have been so many times over the last few years.  I think Pran Buri is more for Thai people as it is a bit cheaper than Hua Hin but some of the resorts there are well on par with what Hua Hin has to offer.  The down side of Pran Buri was that other than a strip along the beach which was a few Kilometers long there was very little else to do there.  Hua Hin seems to have more of a complete package for tourists as there are much more bars and restaurants to choose from.  We decided to stay at the Golden Pine Beach Resort which was a little small but it was very well run and it was very relaxing.

We arrived a few days before the crowds arrived as our office finished work a day or two earlier than most companies.  There only seemed to be about half a dozen other people staying at the resort when we arrived but the people at the check-in desk assured us that the place would be full over Songkran.   The good think about finishing work before other people is that we don’t get stuck in traffic which is often the curse of New Year and the Thai New Year (Songkran). 

Megan fell in love with the beach on this trip much more than she has done on previous holidays, maybe it is because she is getting a bit older or maybe it is because I am not keen on the sand getting stuck all over me.  Anyway, Megan was having a ball and she was loving making castles and playing with all her toys (or friends as she calls them!!). 

Nok, who usually doesn’t enjoy eating hotel food, thought that the food at the hotel was really good and she was also happy with the cost so we ate at the hotel most of the time.  On our last night we went to another hotel which was not to far away from us.  This was a real luxury hotel which looked really good.  I had a steak there and it was probably the best steak that I have had for many many years. 

All in all a really good holiday that was a great way to recharge the batteries.  I think I didn’t have high expectations before the holiday so it was great to have such a nice time there.  I think there are a couple of nicer hotels around that area so we may try there again in the future.  Also, going on holiday with Nok and Megan I don’t really miss the nightlife too much because we don’t get much chance to get out and enjoy it even when it is on our doorstep.

I have uploaded some photos into the holiday section and also posted a couple of videos which you can see below.

Let me know if you can play the video in this post.

This New Year we had 5 days, 4 nights at the Fishermen’s Village Resort in Phechaburi. It is about 1.5 hours drive southwest of Bangkok and about 2 hours from where we are just east of Bangkok.  The new south ringroad around Bangkok made us save about 40mins from our journey as it means that we do not even need to enter Bangkok on the way there.

The resort was really nice and it was set out with loads of little bungalows around the grounds.  All the bungalows were wooden but they were really nicely put together and quite spacious.  The swimming pool was really big with 2 sections, one section for kids and the other for adults.  Megan was really happy just playing in the small pool most of the time and se felt safe enough to play on her own most of the time so Nok and I were able to take a break sometimes and just watch her to make sure that her head was always above water.

There was a big new year party at the resort which was quite enjoyable.  They had lots of different entertainment on to keep us amused but I think it was too much to expect us to stay there for 5 hours.  Meg was terrified of the clown and dragged Nok away within minutes of him taking the stage, because of this both Nok and Megan missed me getting dragged onto the stage to help him with his act.  Quite embarassing really, but no photos of my performance because Nok and Meg were in hiding somewhere.

Megan managed to stay awake until midnight for the New Year countdown and the firworks display but we were all in bed by 12.30 after everything had finished.

Megan was annoying a French couple who were there on holiday too as they had a 2 month old baby and Megan kept going to have a look at the baby.  I think she is missing little baby Focus.

I have put some photos in the Holidays section. Videos below too.

We decided to go down to Pattaya for a couple of days at the end of last week to meet up with Hugh and Janet and we decided to stay at the same villas that they were staying at.  In fact we ended up in the one next door.  The villa was really nice and we had a double bedroom, kitchen and living room and even our own private pool.  It was a little expensive though but it more than made up for it with how nice the place was.

The cool season has hit us a bit earlier than usual this year and it meant that the pool was quite cold especially early in the morning and in the late afternoon.  It was so cool that it may have been the reason that Janet ended up in the Hospital with Pneumonia.  We don’t really know what happened but she was having a lot of pain when coughing on the Thursday and was even worse on the Friday so Hugh called for the Doctor from the local hospital to come and have a look at her.  As she had a really high fever they decided it would be best to check her into the hospital and do some X-rays.  Lets hope that she is better before she flys back home on Thursday night.

Other than the villas and the hospital we didn’t do much in Pattaya but it was quite relaxing and i certainly had a chance to recharge the batteries for the busy last month of the year at work.  I have put some photos of us and the villa on the holidays section of the photo gallery.

My old boss, Hugh, is arriving in Thailand this week and will be staying for a couple of weeks. Hugh and his wife Janet have been out to Thailand on holiday many times during my stay in Thailand. In fact on a number of occasions we have went to the same areas as them for the weekend so that we can have a few beers together down at the beach.

We have been to meet them in Ko Samui once (see pic from 2004) and Hua Hin a couple of times. This time will go over to Pattaya for a couple of days and then we will go and visit Tuk and Bool for a couple of days. we may just get lucky and Tuk will have her baby around that time too.

Hugh has been doing some work in Slovakia for the last 6 months or so helping a company in Scotland make granite sinks. I think he has now finished that and is taking a well earned break before going back and working for them in Scotland. Hugh was my boss at NMB and even managed to get me an additional 3 months work for NMB even after I had been paid off as they needed me to help with the transfer of a few products from NMB to Delta, where I now work. I think it was those extra 3 months that got me noticed at Delta and I managed to convince them that I was a good prospect. Nok was also going to join Delta at that time but couldn’t after we found out that she was pregnant. It was during the first couple of months of her pregnancy that we went for the holiday down to Ko Samui with Hugh and Janet.

Think I will also try to meet up with them this weekend in BKK for some lunch or something. It has been a really good year this year with lots of visitors. First was Angie and Ryan in May, then Ewan and his girlfriend in July(?), then my mum and Bobby in Sept and last was Nicola and Dene earlier this month. There is still time if anyone feels like a trip over to spend christmas and new year with us.