Cha-Am blog by onlychaam

You’ve probably seen the red decorations everywhere, and maybe yesterday you woke up to the sound of firecrackers. Thai people are celebrating the Chinese New Year! Up to fourteen percent of Thailand’s population are of Chinese descent, so it is of course an important event. The people who went to the temple also had their cars blessed, that is why you can see flowers hanging on between the headlights.

It was also a holiday, so the week-end was very busy in Cha-Am. In another post I will give you some tips to avoid the traffic jam at the main junction!

Another good news is that the cold spell seems to be gone. It’s already very hot early in the morning, and the evenings are just perfect, not too cool and not too hot.

It’s always a bit cold (or let’s say less hot) in Thailand around Christmas, but in January the hot weather is supposed to be back again. This year, however, the “cold season” seems to last longer than usual. Here is an explanation and a warning issued today by the Thai Meteorological Department:

The surge of intense high pressure system from China has extended its ridge to cover Thailand and the Gulf, causing colder weather to 15 January, 2009 with 1-3 °C drop and windy while very cold in some places over the North and Northeast including frost in some places over the mountain tops.
The strong northeast monsoon prevails over the Gulf and southern Thailand. Widely scattered thundershower is likely over the lower southern Thailand from Surat Thani southward while wave height 2-4 meters and landward winds occur in the coastal areas of southern east coast. All ships should proceed with caution and small boats keep ashore during 11-15 January, 2009.

If you plan to spend some time in Cha-Am, make sure your hotel or guesthouse room provides hot water, and make sure you pack long-sleeved clothes for the evenings. You probably won’t feel like swimming in the sea, but you can fully enjoy outdoors activities like walking or riding a bicyle.

The 14th Asean Summit will be held from February 27 to March 1 in Hua Hin. The summit will be limited to the 10 Asean leaders, while follow-up meetings with dialogue partners will be held in April. The date and venue of the summit has been changed more than once, due to internal political chaos. It had already been postponed when the PAD protestors (known as the yellow shirts) forced the airports to shut down for a week. Now it’s the “red shirts” who oppose the government and who threaten to jeopardise the summit.

So, what will be the consequences for the tourists and expats living in Cha-Am? First of all, we recommend that you avoid Hua Hin altogether for the last week of February. It’s already a nightmare in normal circumstances to drive or park a car in Hua Hin, but during the summit it will probably be impossible. Security will be pretty tight, with fear of anti-government demonstrations and all the usual threats. It means more roads closed, parking not allowed, etc. Many leaders, staff, journalists, police and security will have to travel by road from Bangkok to Hua Hin, as Hua Hin airport is not big enough to accommodate big airplanes, so you can expect that Phetkasem road will be closed quite often to give way to the official cars and buses.

What about Cha-Am? Given the fact that Cha-Am is not far from Hua Hin and it has much more space, it will probably be used as a base for many journalists and staff. All hotels between Cha-Am and Hua Hin will probably be full, so make sure you book your room in advance if you plan to visit during the summit.