There is a festival taking place at Wat Nong Phao Than, about 10 km north of Cha-am in the direction of Bangkok (you can’t miss the neons on the side of the road). The name of this annual ceremony is “Phit thong fang louk mit”.
We have just updated our Restaurants page, to mention Rang Yen restaurant (not a new place, but new to us!) and Sea Zapp (pronounce “sea saep”) restaurant. Sea Zapp has been opened for just a few months. It’s on the hospital road, 300 meters after Sport Village. We like the food, service, price and setting.
Another new place is Krua Mai Lung Cowboy, which has been recommended in our forum. To find it, take the bypass road in the direction of Pranburi and take the first U-turn. Take the junction on your left to Cha-am, and the restaurant is just on your left.
Bon appétit !
Many people are wondering about this “park” that is being built on the outskirts of Cha-am, on the road leading to Bangkok. Will it be an amusement park? A theme park with Greek statues and a roller coaster going around an artificial volcano? Well, don’t hold your breathe, and expect it to be just another shopping outlet. Maybe with some fun (if not overpriced) attractions, maybe with a Ferris wheel thrown in the middle, maybe with some supposed Greek touch in the decoration, but still a shopping outlet.
Yet, it will probably be successful, as the Thais are always looking for places to go “teeaw”. The outlet is conveniently located for people to stop by on their way back to Bangkok, with plenty of parking space planned. Now they just need two things to make it a winner: affordable food, and, last but not least, plenty of opportunities in the setting for the Thais to take pictures of themselves. Looking at the scale model, I think they worked that one out already!
There were some rumors, but now it’s confirmed: Tesco Lotus is going to open a store in Thayang, the first large town north of Cha-am (at km 182, that is roughly 20 km from Cha-am main intersection). That’s some very good news for us Chaamers, along with the soon to open Makro store north of Hua Hin, as the only choice we had so far was either a long drive to Big C in Phetchaburi or a drive through Hua Hin traffic to Market Village (nice place but lacking parking space).
You can find some pictures and driving directions in our forum.
Now that the floods are slowly beginning to recede, the truth starts to unveil. And the truth is, we were lied to! While we thought everybody’s life was being disrupted, we found incriminating pictures that are proof that life just went on as usual.
First, nobody got wet.
Except a few “no life”, but it’s not uncommon for them to wet themselves in front of their PC.
Vehicles didn’t get underwater, they just floated.
Buses still operated normally.
Pizza Company still delivered normally.
The Baht was still worshipped, maybe even more than before!
Tourism was not affected, thanks to plenty of new floating markets around.
Ambitious touristic resorts were developed, but they were sometimes mistaken as floods.
And as a final reminder, all boats are meant to float!
More pictures on the Pantip Forum 
A few pictures from last night…
Tonight is the first full moon night of November, so this is the night when Loy Krathong festival is celebrated. In Cha-am many people will go to Wat Neran (the temple on the northern part of the beach, on the left side of the road after the bridge over the canal). Actually it will probably be packed, as it is the beginning of the high touristic season, and as there are still many “refugees” from Bangkok who are still waiting for the floods to recede.
Celebrations will also take place at the Cha-am temple (Wat Cha-am). To go there, follow the road to Bangkok, pass the Toyota dealer and turn left at the temple entrance.
So far the road from Bangkok to Cha-am had remained unaffected by the floods, but things may change, as officials have announced that Samut Sakhon and Rama II (i.e. road #35) are likely to get flooded soon.
Cha-am and Hua Hin, along with Pattaya and Kanchanaburi, have been packed for several days with Bangkokians who are fleeing the floods. Supplies are running low in most shops, traffic is quite busy (especially in Hua Hin), and most hotels and guesthouses are full. Some people are even camping in the Forest Park! They enjoy a beautiful weather, as it has not been raining for several days. It looks like the dry season is here already, and it is also the high season for tourism, which is why Cha-am is quite animated these days.
Our thoughts are with all the people who are affected by the floods.
Maybe you’ve ever wondered what is the small spirit house on the north side of Cha-am beach? Well, it’s dedicated to a son of former King Rama IV and brother of King Rama V, Prince Narathip Prapanpong (1861-1931). Prince Narathip is considered as the founder of Cha-am, and as such he is of course highly revered.
In 1921, Cha-am was nothing more than a beach and sea-front mangrove. Prince Narathip organized the clearing of the mangrove, and had roads built from the train station to the beach, along the beach, and behind the sea-front plots of land. The Prince named the village Sahakham Cha-am. The road coming from the train station was later named Narathip road.
From October 9 to October 15, the Father of Cha-am will be celebrated at Cha-am viewpoint (where the shellfish festival just took place), with various performances including Thai dancing.
You can read more about Prince Narathip (in Thai) on this website or on Wikipedia.
