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TonyT's 8th Thailand blog:
A month in and around the country:
March - April 2025.

Page 9

Leaving Ko Chang & The Road Back to Surin

FRIDAY 11th APRIL (continued):
Awake at 06:00 and a final spree of packing, then down for an early breakfast by 06:45.
Paid-up at Reception and on the road to the ferry port by 07:30. We managed to squeeze on the waiting ferry; just; and the 40 minute crossing done and dusted then on our way on the mainland.
All going well we thought but after 30 minutes driving we were both aware something wasn't quite right. The road seemed unfamiliar. It was when we traveled down a road into a town and saw a lighthouse at the end I suddenly twigged-on that our sat-nav was taking us to the ferry terminal at Leamsok Pier to catch an imaginary ferry to Ko Kood. I had wrongly entered last year's route into from its memory. A quick re-calibration and off we went again finally on the correct route to Phanom Dong Rak.
After some time it was clear that young Jack was unwell; we assumed car sickness and had tom pull over to allow him to eject. A nice touch here as a man appeared out of a nearby offroad house and offered a tiny bottle of some sort of inhaler for Jack. This was a lovely gesture from a complete stranger.
Jack continued to be ill at intervals all the way back.
We expected heavy traffic as it was the build up to Songkran (Thai New Year) but were pleasantly surprised how easy going the traffic was, at least before we hit the dangerous mountain road on the AH121 (Route 348) through the Ta Phraya National Park when there was the usual congestion which is usually caused by crawling overloaded HGV's. This an incredibly dangerous section of road with crash barriers either missing or bent out and distorted. At least one tight bend still had the remains of the wagon that had come off the road. Crashes are frequent.
Many Thai wagons are way overloaded and with sometimes crap brakes that just cannot handle the gradients and tight bends.
Once clear of this hold-up it was back up to speed. I got pulled over at a police check-point to ask if I'd been drinking alcohol. They always seemed made-up to find a farang at the wheel and after some salutes and hand-shakes we were on our way again.
Stopped off in Phanom Dong Rak village to top up with diesel and buy some food and beer at local shops and stalls. The price difference is amazing on basics compared with Ko Chang; dramatically cheaper here. We finally got to the farm only a touch later than schedule and got some of the recently purchased beers into the freezer for a quick chill.
Baked fish & rice for dinner with salad leaves and a fairly early night.

Typical traffic scene on the section of road through Ta Phraya. Can be very dangerous.

SATURDAY 12th:
Day before Songkran.
Woke early as usual when on the farm. After breakfast Mee & Mon (our best-man & brides-maid at our wedding) came around and mentioned that the disputes over ownership of some of the historic temples that straddle the border between the two counties had escalated and to be aware we may need to evacuate. No bangs and booms yet though.
Songkran is kicking off today. Family members and friends popping round for drinks and a laugh. Evening in particular got frivolous with lots of food and drink The water bits will start tomorrow.