HOLIDAY TRAVELS IN SOUTHERN THAILAND
Three generations of Brian Corbett's family backpack in Southern Thailand
'What an adventure', exclaimed a friend. 'That's a lot of responsibility', said another. I was beginning to get cold feet. What if Joe, the blue eyed, blond, three year old with a passion for exploration and no idea of fear, got lost in a crowded Bangkok market? It had all sounded so easy to Joan as we traveled in Thailand last winter and planned to retrace our steps with the whole family.
Eldest son Jim married Anne-Marie and lives in France with their two bilingual daughters Alice aged eight and Hazel aged five. Judy and Gary and have two children, Rachel aged nine and, the baby of the bunch, Joe. Our bachelor son opted out! As the time approached the fears came flooding in. How well would the grandchildren cope with the heat, the humidity, the food, and the boredom of so much travel?
The long plane journeys were an endurance test with children, though there were compensations as when a kindly air hostess took them to the cockpit to see the dawn. 'I've been to see the pirate', boasted Joe. 'The sky was brilliant - red, black and sky blue', said Rachel.
We needn't have worried about the effect of the tropics on the grandchildren, for they adapted quickest of all. Even a six hour time shift didn't stop them falling asleep at night, or Joe from waking up at dawn! Sunburn was avoided by use of sun hats and factor twenty five sun cream. In fact the children were full of energy and radiated happiness throughout the trip.
We met the French contingent in an air conditioned Bangkok hotel. Sky train, on stilts high above the Bangkok streets, took us to the Chao Phraya river, where we boarded the Express Boat which allowed us to avoid the fumes of the chaotic traffic. Tropical fruit was everywhere on the pier at Tha Chang, the market vendors were more interested in observing the children's joy on discovering new tastes, than in selling fruit. As we left Wat Po, home of the huge reclining Buddha with a gold head and mother of pearl feet, the heavens opened. A passing monk gave Alice his umbrella. We were in the Thailand I knew, one of the friendliest places on earth.
Next day's visit to the Grand Palace merely confirmed that such sight seeing activities would bore the children. An afternoon on a fast, rolling, long tailed boat, with spray from a huge bow wave was a different matter. Exploring suburban klongs (canals) on the Thonburi side of the river was exciting for everyone.
Then an overnight second class sleeper bound for Trang in the deep south. The children sat and played around one table, constant shrieks of delight amused rather than annoyed the Thai passengers. It was obvious they would get on well with each other and the locals. English, with a French accent,
became the children's language.
We had no sooner arrived at Trang station than Samran appeared. 'Where are you going'? 'Krabi'. 'I'll take you in my car for 1000 baht' (£17 for a three hour drive). He didn't say his car was an open pickup truck! I and the grandchildren rode in the air conditioned cab for the three hour journey. The rest got early exposure to Asian travel. 'It's been fine for ten days, but it's monsoon time on the west coast and should be raining', he said, blaming the unreliability on deforestation. We were to be luckier than expected with the weather.
Krabi, a nondescript estuary town, is a personal favourite because it offers excellent food at night and makes an ideal centre for trips. Beautiful beaches like Ao Nang, Noppharathara, and the most photographed of all, Phra Nang, can be reached by coastal long tailed boat or by songtheaw, the converted pickup trucks which serve as local buses.
We had extremely fond memories of Phi Phi island from a decade earlier. Had it been spoiled by mass tourism and the film industry? True there is now a four story hotel and a new township of air-conditioned bungalows. But away from the port it is still idyllic - in summer (off-season) at least. The kids spent the whole day playing in the warm sea. Joe and Hazel took instantly to snorkeling with water wings over live coral reefs. Brightly coloured fish and eerie dark ones in the shadows, the long trumpet fish, the phosphorescent mouths of clams and huge star fish. It's a wonderful place for family beach holidays, but it isn't Thailand.
'I still want to get a feel for the country', said Anne-Marie. So we spent the third week on the infrequently visited east coast. Shared taxis (minibuses) operate between southern cities. Being a party of ten we didn't even have to wait while they filled up, so we were able to keep road journeys down to two hours. Once at the chosen destination we had only to appear on the street and a songtheaw driver would offer his services, 400 baht for half a day is the going rate for sight seeing trip of the area.
Phattalung was the first stop. The attraction was a boat trip on the nearby water bird reserve at Thaleh Noi. Early next morning we glided through narrow channels in the reed beds which gave rise to the local mat weaving industry. The birds, so numerous in November, had largely left, but the solitude, pink water-lilies, lotus blossom, and the wild buffaloes were consolations.
Travel problems were being overcome, but family meals with young children were less successful - aren't they always! Spicy food is out for them. We quickly learned that chips, unspiced chicken, fish, squid, prawns, are readily available even in Thai restaurants. In addition Chinese restaurants exist all over Asia. Add burgers, milk shakes, eggs, and banana pancakes in those restaurants aimed at backpackers. Food was not a problem. We found some fabulous spicy Thai food, through judicious use of the guide books backed up with careful observation, yet these authentic restaurants attracted surprisingly few tourists.
South again to Songkla where last winter we had met Sao as she operated the wooden cotton weaving loom at her home on nearby Ko Yoh island. Such contacts are the delight of independent travel.
The final stop was Pattani, a quiet Moslem town. At Hat Talo Kapo there is a huge fishing fleet of open long-tailed boats, all fabulously decorated and protected from the sun by shelters of dried coconut leaves. The fishermen go to sea for two days, and fish with cages and nets, for crabs, squid and fish. Sao's friend Nok, who studies English at the local university, showed us around town. A Chinese temple shrine commemorates a Chinese woman who committed suicide after failing to reverse her brother's conversion to Islam.
Back in Bangkok with Pranee's lovely family at her house in the tropical fruit tree jungle on the polders beyond suburban Phasi Charoen. (We had met ten years earlier on top of a mountain in northern Thailand.) There we experienced the traditional waterside lifestyle, where even the mail comes by canoe. 'That was the best day of the holiday', said Rachel. Perhaps she will grow into my type of traveller.
206 words BRIAN CORBETT 2 Oct 2000
CAPTIONS for PHOTOGRAPHS (All except last taken by Brian Corbett)
T00-2 28 Hazel, Alice and Rachel on Phra Nang beach, near Krabi. Note the purses containing identity information for safety purposes.
T00-3 18 Early morning on Long Beach, Ko Phi Phi.
T00-4 21 Lone boatman at Thaleh Noi.
T00-6 13 One of many open fishing boats in shelter of dried coconut leaves at Hat Talo Kapo.
T00-6 35 Hazel shakes out her fortune at the Chinese temple in Phattalung.
T00-7 35 Brian Corbett, The Oldie Backpacker.
