Cha-Am blog by onlychaam

It has been raining in Cha-Am this morning and the weather is a bit cooler. Yet the week-end has been busy, so busy in fact that all the townhouses in my soi were occupied. Some of them are rented in the long term, but most of them are rented by weekenders. There is also a new guesthouse which has just opened near my soi, with more than 20 rooms, and they were all occupied too.

I would have rejoiced if I was in the tourism industry, but that’s not the case, and in my case I hate those week-ends, because all I get is power cuts! Most time it’s not real blackouts, but just a drop of voltage. Just enough to cut the Internet connection, switch off the neons and dimmer the lights. My computer stays on but I can’t use the speakers. The TV stays on too, which is a pity because if the TV was cut off you would see demonstrations in the streets that would make the PAD look like a small private party, and then something would really be done to solve the problem!

We are Thursday today, but Cha-Am is swarming with people. It is indeed a public holiday, Chulalongkorn Day, which commemorates the day the King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) died, in 1910.

Under his reign, Siam had become a semi-modern country and continued to escape colonial rule, at a time when the British and the French were competing to extend their influence in Asia. Thai people are still very proud to be the only country in Southeast Asia not to have been colonised, and for this reason Rama V is still worshipped today like a semi-god. You can see his pictures in many houses and shops, and on October 23, like today, many people gather around the places where there is a statue of Rama V to make offerings, in the hope of having their wishes fulfilled.

You can see a statue of Rama V a few kilometers south of Cha-Am, in the direction of Hua Hin, next to Maruekhathayawan Palace (click here for the exact directions).

While Bangkokians like to escape from the city and spend the week-end in Cha-am, Cha-amians also like to escape from the quietness and go to Bangkok for some serious partying. That was one of those week-ends, but you are probably not interested in the details.

My favorite means of transportation when I go from Cha-Am to Bangkok is the train and the minibus. The train does take a long time (it arrives late in Cha-Am, stops often and takes a long route to Bangkok), but people who like the train will know what I mean: when you go somewhere by train, you really travel. You don’t just go from point A to point B, you really get to see a lot of things along the way. But I left Friday afternoon and I didn’t want to arrive late in Bangkok, so I went by minibus and planned to come back by train. As it happened I also came back by minibus, as it was raining a lot Sunday morning and I was lazy to get to Hualamphong train station (plus I had a major hangover to deal with, but, hmmm, ok I said I would spare the details).

Anyway, I thought I could tell you more about the minibuses. In case you are not familiar with them, I suggest you also check the pros and cons on the how to get to Cha-Am page. You will see a picture of the minibus station, which is on Narathip road, on your left side, just before you reach Phetkasem road when coming from the beach. Tickets can be bought inside the shop, the price is still 180 baht. You are given a coloured ticket, say red, and if there are many people waiting, chances are the people who were there before you will have a different colour. When a minibus arrives, they call the green tickets, for example, then another arrives a few minutes later, and then the red can go. Usually you don’t have to wait more than half an hour.

The road between Bangkok and Cha-Am is now almost finished, only getting through Phetchaburi slowed us down. On both trips our driver drove fast but carefully. Just a bit of tailgating sometimes, Thai style, but otherwise nothing to report. The minibus leaves you at Victory Monument, so from there you can hop on the BTS (the skytrain), and easily reach any destination around Silom or Sukhumvit. We left Cha-Am at 2:15 pm, and at 5 pm I was in my hotel near Siam.

If you are interested in Bangkok’s nightlife, you probably know already that the closing time for the bars is now around 2:30 am, which is good news. Cow Boy is still rocking, though pretty quiet at the moment with much less tourists visiting (because of the demonstrations by the PAD, tension between Cambodia and Thailand, and of course the economic crisis). NEP is still the same, though Pretty Ladies has been redone on the outside (but don’t panic the place is still there). On both nights we ended up at Spicy, soi 11, on the underground of the Amabassador hotel. It seems to be a popular spot, though I’m not into clubbing anymore.

This is the great thing about Cha-Am, so far from Bangkok and so close at the same time!

According to an article in The Nation, ten provinces on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, including Phetchaburi, have been warned to brace for one or two storms before yearend (”anytime from this month until December”). The storms could unleash big waves, heavy rains and flooding.

Stay in touch with us, we will post updates should any storm hit Cha-Am!

35 years ago, on October 14th, 1973, more than 1,500 persons died when the police and the army charged students protestors in the streets of Bangkok (you can read the Wikipedia article on the subject).

The remembrance of this event has a special significance today, as Thailand is undergoing another political crisis. Just a week ago, on October 7th, 2008, the police charged anti-government protesters with teargas of Chinese fabrication, which exploded in the crowd and caused one death and many severe injuries (several people had to be amputated).

Read more about Thailand history on onlychaam.com.

It rained a lot this morning for the “awk phansa” ceremony, the end of the Buddhist Lent.

I think I shouldn’t have posted an article about the sunny weather, as we had some rain last night and this morning! The sun is shining again, though. We are heading towards the end of the rainy season, and weather can still change suddenly. If you need more serious information about the weather, please use one of the links we have set up for you at the bottom of our Climate and Seasons page (weather forecast section).

The sun is still shining in Cha-Am. It is raining a lot in Bangkok, but here we haven’t seen the rain for several days. Time for Bangkokians to take a break and drive down to Cha-Am for some sunny weather!

Yesterday we updated the page dedicated to the history of Thailand, with the latest developments concerning the protestations in Bangkok.

Of course Cha-Am is very far from the turmoil and nothing seems to affect the laid-back and relax atmosphere here, but people seem very concerned and the political crisis is the topic of many conversations.

This is, as far as we know, the first and only blog dedicated to Cha-Am, in Thailand! It is linked of course to our website Onlychaam.com, which aims at providing free and up to date information about Cha-Am for tourists and expats.

We will try to keep you informed about what’s happening here in Cha-Am (yes, things do happen here!), or simply about the weather, or updates on our website.

And please remember, we live in Cha-Am! So if you have any questions, please feel free to comment on this blog, post a topic on our forum or contact us by email.