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TonyT's 10th Thailand blog:
6 weeks in and around the country:
July - August 2026.
Page 13
Return to Surin, Phanom Dong Rak & Bak Dai village
FRIDAY 21st:
Event free journey from Pak Chong and the 300km drive home to Phanom Dong Rak, Surin Province. Thankfully, it stayed dry all the way. Many Thai roads are dangerously slippery when wet; I've had a couple of scares.
At this point I feel obliged to emphsise how absolutely crap some of the major roads around Thailand are. Potholes as big as a car are not uncommon. For example Route 24, a major route, has smooth sections for miles and then you are suddenly faced with a section that demands driving at less than 30kph and swerving all over the road to avoid deep ruts. Many, if hit, would certainly cause a blow-out or suspension damage.
What I do not understand is that allover Thailand there are massive new roads, new flyovers, road widening costing a fortune, yet they leave the existing roads to rot.
It's a fact that Thai's fail to maintain; they wait until it's finally broken then renew it... mad!
Anyway, we made such good time (in spite of the aforementioned potholes) that I drove past the turn to PDR and went on to Prasat and the Lotus supermarket. Need to get some provisions in to take home. That done and £75 lighter we arrived home mid afternoon.
A couple of ice-cold Changs before dinner hit the spot.
SATURDAY 22nd:
Weather staying dry for now. One of Jack's young cousins was brought round for play; so he was occupied. Lazy morning and into the afternoon.
Only things of note was taking the 2 boys to Phanom Dong Rak centre for some treats; but on the way we took Jack for another haircut ready for back to school in two weeks.
SUNDAY 23rd:
Weather back to hot and sunny. Monsoon holding back for now. Took the family to an excellent noodle restaurant about 5 miles away and stopped off in the village for provisions including a new pair of wellies for my father-in-law... he seems to live in the things about the farm.
Dinner with the family with the usual spread of Issan-based fayre. I even did myself a jacket potato cooked in one of the clay pots.
Time now for the big luggage packing. Things we'd left behind before our travels needed relocating. A bit of a bore and bit sad too as it'll be many months before we can return
Instead of our usual way of getting back to the capital which was by mini-bus, we opted to drive to Bangkok ourselves in my car along with brother-in-law, Joe. The idea was to set him up for overnight accommodation and he would then take my car back home to Surin.
FRIDAY 21st:
Event free journey from Pak Chong and the 300km drive home to Phanom Dong Rak, Surin Province. Thankfully, it stayed dry all the way. Many Thai roads are dangerously slippery when wet; I've had a couple of scares.
At this point I feel obliged to emphsise how absolutely crap some of the major roads around Thailand are. Potholes as big as a car are not uncommon. For example Route 24, a major route, has smooth sections for miles and then you are suddenly faced with a section that demands driving at less than 30kph and swerving all over the road to avoid deep ruts. Many, if hit, would certainly cause a blow-out or suspension damage.
What I do not understand is that allover Thailand there are massive new roads, new flyovers, road widening costing a fortune, yet they leave the existing roads to rot.
It's a fact that Thai's fail to maintain; they wait until it's finally broken then renew it... mad!
Anyway, we made such good time (in spite of the aforementioned potholes) that I drove past the turn to PDR and went on to Prasat and the Lotus supermarket. Need to get some provisions in to take home. That done and £75 lighter we arrived home mid afternoon.
A couple of ice-cold Changs before dinner hit the spot.
SATURDAY 22nd:
Weather staying dry for now. One of Jack's young cousins was brought round for play; so he was occupied. Lazy morning and into the afternoon.
Only things of note was taking the 2 boys to Phanom Dong Rak centre for some treats; but on the way we took Jack for another haircut ready for back to school in two weeks.
SUNDAY 23rd:
Weather back to hot and sunny. Monsoon holding back for now. Took the family to an excellent noodle restaurant about 5 miles away and stopped off in the village for provisions including a new pair of wellies for my father-in-law... he seems to live in the things about the farm.
Dinner with the family with the usual spread of Issan-based fayre. I even did myself a jacket potato cooked in one of the clay pots.
Time now for the big luggage packing. Things we'd left behind before our travels needed relocating. A bit of a bore and bit sad too as it'll be many months before we can return
Instead of our usual way of getting back to the capital which was by mini-bus, we opted to drive to Bangkok ourselves in my car along with brother-in-law, Joe. The idea was to set him up for overnight accommodation and he would then take my car back home to Surin.