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TonyT's 8th Thailand blog:
A month in and around the country:
March - April 2025.
Page 4
The drive to Trat and the ferry to KOH CHANG
WEDNESDAY 2nd APRIL:
Up and about at 06:00 with coffee on the go and final packing for the 6-hour drive to the Thammachat ferry terminal near Trat.
O7:30, farewells said to Somjit & Chet and we were on the road. Uneventful journey with a breakfast stop and second stop near Trat city to top-up with diesel and Amazon coffee. Driving is so much easier and relaxing in Thailand compared to the overcrowded aggressive roads in UK. Drivers, by-in-large, are far more patient and easy-going.
I’ve driven thousands of miles around Thailand and found generally it to be very straight forward. OK the “rules of the road’ differ from my home country UK, but the traffic is far lighter with mile after mile of fairly empty roads. Driving through towns (Thais call even a hamlet a city) present a bit more concentration.
For instance, many This drive in what we would call the overtaking lane in a dual carriageway and quite OK to undertake. I think this stems from the days when Thai country roads were so crap and full of potholes on the edges that they got into the habit of driving on the remaining ‘good’ bits. In those days head-on collisions were plentiful.
Further on after uneventful driving, we came across a superb temple we visited in 2022 and 2024, the Wat Mae Ya Som temple situated near Sa Kaeo. Each statue features common physical attributes, poses, and postures that define its purpose and meaning. The hand gestures of the Buddha, called mudras, indicate teaching, meditation, enlightenment, and wisdom.
All the photos below are of the Wat Mae Ya Som temple.
I got Aom to take the wheel after the coffee stop and she did the stint to the Thammachat Pier for the ferry terminal. We just missed boarding the 1st ferry but were first on and by necessity first off the bit of a rust-bucket ship. Arrived on Ko Chang around 2:30 after the 40 minute crossing.
TOP: Mid journey Amazon coffee stop.
2nd LEFT: Our classy "limo" aboard the ferry; first on and first off.
2nd RIGHT: Welcome to Ko Chang.
Up and about at 06:00 with coffee on the go and final packing for the 6-hour drive to the Thammachat ferry terminal near Trat.
O7:30, farewells said to Somjit & Chet and we were on the road. Uneventful journey with a breakfast stop and second stop near Trat city to top-up with diesel and Amazon coffee. Driving is so much easier and relaxing in Thailand compared to the overcrowded aggressive roads in UK. Drivers, by-in-large, are far more patient and easy-going.
I’ve driven thousands of miles around Thailand and found generally it to be very straight forward. OK the “rules of the road’ differ from my home country UK, but the traffic is far lighter with mile after mile of fairly empty roads. Driving through towns (Thais call even a hamlet a city) present a bit more concentration. For instance, many This drive in what we would call the overtaking lane in a dual carriageway and quite OK to undertake. I think this stems from the days when Thai country roads were so crap and full of potholes on the edges that they got into the habit of driving on the remaining ‘good’ bits. In those days head-on collisions were plentiful.
Further on after uneventful driving, we came across a superb temple we visited in 2022 and 2024, the Wat Mae Ya Som temple situated near Sa Kaeo. Each statue features common physical attributes, poses, and postures that define its purpose and meaning. The hand gestures of the Buddha, called mudras, indicate teaching, meditation, enlightenment, and wisdom.
All the photos below are of the Wat Mae Ya Som temple.
I got Aom to take the wheel after the coffee stop and she did the stint to the Thammachat Pier for the ferry terminal. We just missed boarding the 1st ferry but were first on and by necessity first off the bit of a rust-bucket ship. Arrived on Ko Chang around 2:30 after the 40 minute crossing. TOP: Mid journey Amazon coffee stop. 2nd LEFT: Our classy "limo" aboard the ferry; first on and first off. 2nd RIGHT: Welcome to Ko Chang.