Exploring Surat Thani and Beyond

8 December 2022

Steve and I woke up mid morning and packed our bags. We were excited to be flying to Surat Thani, a city in southern Thailand. We had booked a hire car to be waiting for us at the airport, which we would drive back to Chiang Mai by Christmas.

We arrived at Chiang Mai Airport and made our way to the car rental desk. We picked up our new hire car, a 2-door Hilux Reno with canopy. The rain was pouring down as we left the airport, so we drove carefully through the streets of Surat Thani. We were relieved to see that the river was not in flood.

We checked into our hotel, the Orchid Riverview. Our room had a window with a boded up view, Thai builders are so interesting. We decided to walk into town for dinner. We found a small restaurant with a lively atmosphere. We ordered a traditional Thai meal and enjoyed the delicious food and company.

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel along the river. The rain had continued on and off for the evening and we were both looking forward to exploring Surat Thani the next day.

9 December 2022

Steve and I were up and about reasonably early. We had coffee and a shower, as breakfast was not included in our stay. We then headed down to the truck and set off in the direction of Wat Don Sak, which is located on the coast north of Surat Thani.

It was a misty and drizzling morning, which made for some interesting scenery as we drove along. We were fascinated to see the rocky mountain crags rising out of the mist on either side of the road, and ahead of us. The countryside around us was lush and very wet jungle.

Turning off to Wat Don Sak took us through groves of palm oil and rubber trees. There had been a lot of rain here, and the rows between the trees were very wet. We even had quite a bit of water across the road.

We eventually arrived at Wat Don Sak, which is a large Buddhist temple complex. The temple is located on a hilltop, and it offers stunning views of the surrounding countryside. We spent the morning exploring the temple grounds, and we were impressed by the beauty and serenity of the place.

We made some friends here, Thais are just so relaxed, we love them.

Steve and I continued our journey in Thailand, excited to see what the day had in store. Our first stop was Wat Khao Suwanpradit, a Buddhist temple located on a hilltop. The views from the temple were simply stunning, even with the rain. We could see for miles in every direction, and the clouds added a touch of mystery to the landscape.

After Wat Khao Suwanpradit, we headed to the small fishing village of Don San. We spent some time walking the docks and looking at the beautiful Thai fishing boats. The boats were all different shapes and sizes, and they were painted in bright colors. It was fascinating to see how the fishermen worked, and we even got to help see them repair their nets.

Our next stop for the day was Ko Raet, a tiny island that is so small it is difficult to turn around. We drove around the island, taking in the stunning views of the coast. We also stopped at a few beaches to talk to the local fisherman.

By 5pm, it was time to head back to our hotel for dinner. We ate at a local restaurant called Big C FoodPark, where we enjoyed a delicious meal of Thai food. After dinner, we returned to our hotel and relaxed for the evening.

10 December 2022

Steve and I left the hotel around 8:30am to head down the coast towards Thung Song, our next hotel stay. We decided to take the route down the coast, rather than the inland route, as we did on our 2019 trip with Neil and Connie. We remembered lots of beautiful scenery down this coast.

Our first stop was SASA Beach Cafe Sichon. We drove down a lane beside the resort to access the beach. There were ramps down to the beach and a couple of swings hanging from a tree branch. The sea seemed a lot rougher on this side than it had been on our previous trip.

After a quick look at the beach, we headed back to the car and drove to Talad Baan Plai Thon. This was a small market where we found a nice hand of the small sweet bananas we love. There were also lots of long tail fishing boats pulled up on the beach.

Further south at Sichon, we stopped at another market – Mae Kim Song Markets. This market was much bigger and more organized than the seaside market. There was lots of fresh produce, as well as nick nacks and clothing. The market was still setting up for lunch time meals, but we found a few stalls that were already open. Steve found a new fruit he hadn’t tried before. It was called jujube fruit, and it was like a small crisp and sweet apple. The redder the fruit, the sweeter it was. We each bought a few pieces to try.

After we had finished eating, we continued driving south. We stopped at a PTT service station with the usual Amazon Cafe and 7-Eleven. We each got a drink and a snack. This Amazon was a bit different from the others we had seen. It had large caricature figures like the minions and larger than life-size Transformers. It also had its own live macaw sitting on the cafe sign.

We continued on into Nakhon Si Thammarat and the Old Tha Pae Markets down by the river. These were fresh produce and wet markets frequented by the locals. We were looking more for lunch, so we continued on down to the river, under the bridge. There were many colorful fishing boats moored along each side of the river. With their reflections in the still water, they made great photos.

Before leaving, we did a quick visit to Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan. This was a wat we had visited back in 2019. To the side of the wat is a large undercover market, selling a wide variety of goods and foods. We spent some time browsing the market and then headed back to our car.

We headed to Thung Song Night Markets for a look around to perhaps find some dinner. Not much took our fancy, so we returned to our car to go to our hotel, the Smile Resort. At the roundabout were some Thai cowboy actors with a horse filming a film promo around the roundabout. We’re not sure what it was about, but they put on a bit of a show for us.

We booked into our hotel and had a good dinner down in the hotel restaurant. We topped it off with ice creams from 7-Eleven. It had been a long day, but we had had a great time exploring the coast of Thailand.

11 December 2022

Steve and I left the Smile Resort in Thungsong at around 9:30am. We drove to Wat Kang Pla, arriving at 9:44am. The temple is located on a small island in the middle of a lake. It is a beautiful and peaceful place, and we spent some time exploring the grounds and taking photos.

We continued on our drive and came across the Battle Bull Bannongbuayai Stadium, near Khlong Pang. This stadium is home to traditional Thai bullfighting. We watched a few fights and were impressed by the skill and athleticism of the bulls.

Our next stop was Wat Khuan Sang. This temple is older than Wat Kang Pla, and it is still under construction. We didn’t stay long, as there wasn’t much to see.

We then drove to Lan Khoi, where we saw a bike rally. The bikers were very friendly and gave us some great memories.

We had lunch at the PTT station at Ko Khan. We had krapow moo, which is a delicious Thai dish made with stir-fried pork and basil.

Our next stop was Patthalung Wat, which is still under renovation. We had visited this temple in 2019, and we were sad to see that it was still not finished.

We then drove to the Sumana Forest and Cave monastery. It was raining, so we didn’t spend much time here. We did, however, manage to take some photos of the beautiful caves.

We finished our day with coffee at the Amazon Cafe. The cafe is located in a beautiful setting, and we enjoyed the peace and quiet.

For dinner, we went to the Kantang markets. We had pad thai, which is a popular Thai dish made with rice noodles, shrimp, chicken, or tofu, and eggs. We ate our dinner down by the river, and we enjoyed the view of the boats moored along the shore.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped to take photos of the moored boats from the bridge over the river. We then checked into our hotel, the Chompu Nakarin Serviced apartments.

We had a long and busy day, but we had a lot of fun. We saw some amazing sights and met some interesting people. We are looking forward to exploring more of Thailand in the days to come.