Ranong and the hot springs

View from Thansila

Ranong is surrounded by jungle-clad hills

Our mid-morning flight to Ranong went from Don Muang airport, and Bella Bella organised a taxi to collect us at 8am. At the airport we chatted to a lady who rents holiday bungalows on Koh Phayam island (I think she saw us as potential customers) and who had a precocious but rather endearing small daughter.

Thansila Resort

Stream from hot springs

Our conversation was overheard by Anais, who is Spanish. She had booked to stay at 'Flower Power' on Koh Phayam, but her phone had broken and she was concerned about finding it. She had a rough idea where it is on the island, so I dug around in my luggage and gave her a map I had printed out. We chatted while waiting for our flight, and she told us she was trying to make the afternoon boat from Ranong pier to Koh Phayam.
We said we weren't going to Koh Phayam until the following day, but had booked a taxi to take us to Ranong and we could drop her en route.

The Air Asia flight was on time, comfortable and arrival in Ranong was easy as the airport is quite small — one terminal, one baggage belt. At first I couldn't find my contact details for the taxi, so when Anais discovered that there was a bus waiting to go to the pier, we told her to go ahead and make use of it. A few minutes later, our taxi driver appeared and in about half an hour we were at Thansila Resort. a small hotel not far from the hot springs at Raksawarin.


Although our room overlooked a huge derelict hotel further along the main road, Thansila was in a quiet lane, next to a small river which ran through the springs, had nice public sitting areas with beautiful views, and the rooms seemed to be recently decorated. We needed cash to take with us to Koh Phayam, so walked to an ATM at a nearby 7-Eleven store.
We were hungry and we could see a restaurant on the other side of the dual carriageway. It turned out to be another of the great gastronomic finds of our holiday, another place that only had its name in Thai: ร้านน้ำพริกลุงหนุ่ม 

The two happy smiling girls who were running it served us a really good meal, and seemed pleased when we asked if we could take their photograph.

Too hot for John to get
his toes wet!

We walked back to our room and after a short rest, we set out for the hot springs. The walk took us through a beautiful valley and across a stream, to where the springs are set within a Raksawarin Forest Park, surrounded by wooded hills. Suspension bridges cross a stream and steps rise up a slope to a Buddha figure. The springs are famous for being pure with no sulphur, and are piped into walled pools. There are three natural pools: father, mother and child. One well is more than 65°C, hot enough to boil an egg, but most of the public pools are cooled down to 40°C. The water is supposed to be good for blood circulation, skin, muscles, joints and bones. Lots of people were sitting dangling their feet, one or two even lying down in them, but we found them too hot to keep our toes in for more than a few minutes.

A group of women masseurs were working just outside the pools, and we sat on a wall to watch. One of them who spoke some English started chatting to us. There was a misunderstanding when we thought she was telling us to put our names in a book for an appointment, but she was explaining that the book was used to keep track of the nationality of visitors. She explained that a half-hour massage was 100 baht  (£2.50) for feet and leg, or head and shoulders (or both at the same time). I went for leg, and John for head and shoulder option. The women were a real laugh, and there was a lot of joking with the one lady translating when necessary. We got quite a few looks from passersby as we were the only 'farangs' (foreigners) in the park, never mind having a massage.


Afterwards they posed for a photograph (above) — the one on the far right was the English speaker, the one on the left joked that she was going to run away with John, though when she saw the photograph she said she was wearing too much makeup! The English-speaker showed me where to massage John's neck and gave him some extra 'kneading', so we gave them an extra 20 baht, which she happily pocketed herself.






With twinging muscles, but feeling as though it had done us a lot of good, we explored a bit more of the park. We could see preparations being made and wondered if it was for a wedding. Chairs were set out in a large gazebo, and bright yellow garlands and flowers were being strung around a stage which had the hottest spring in the centre, steam rising from it like a cauldron. We bumped into the lady with the live-wire daughter, the one we'd met at the airport, and she told us that it was in readiness for the next day, when they would be celebrating the King. Thais are very proud of their Royal Family.

Live wire!

We went to look in a small shop that was selling shells and jewellery made from southern Thai pearls and I bought a pair of earrings. The woman with the child appeared yet again, and it turned out that she was the sister of the shop owner. The shop had a small stall selling refreshments, and she recommended a drink that her sister concocted from salted lime. It was delicious. She also pointed out a small canister containing a spray made with spring water, which she said was to rejuvenate sea-dried skin, and suggested it would be good for us to use while we were on the island. It didn't cost much, and it proved to be very useful in the coming week.

More hot spring photos

Jack's Bar

Old and new seen from the Sky Train

Crispy wontons in Jack's

We decided to use the Sky Train to get across to the Chao Phraya river, and the girls on the reception desk at Jim Thompson's House were helpful in showing us on the map how to find the nearest stop to the Thompson House.


The Sky Train is clean and fast, and has panoramic views across the city. It took about twenty minutes to take us to Sathorn (central) pier, but before taking the ferry we decided to look for Jack's Bar. Jack's was just as described in the guidebooks, laid back, right on the river, and not particularly expensive.

Campervan owners Lisa and Barry 

We ordered crispy wontons and soft drinks, and fell into conversation with Anton, a lovely chap who hailed from Melton Mowbray but who lives and teaches in Bangkok. While we were chatting an English woman came over and asked if we had a 'long boat'. It turned out the she and her husband  (Lisa and Barry) have a camper van, and they remembered meeting us somewhere in England. We remembered them very well, but neither side could remember whether we met on a towpath or canal, or in a pub!



We got on so well with Anton (left), that we progressed to Leo beers and three hours passed very quickly as we talked about each others' life experiences. He went off to find the nearest ATM and we went off to find the pier to get the ferry back to our guesthouse.

John leaving Jack's Bar

As Anton left, he spotted some of the bar staff hosing down the area behind the buildings, and cheekily persuaded them to clean his motorbike too!









A couple of days earlier, when we were wandering around the Samsen Road area, Christian had introduced us to Carlo, a Venetian who has 'La Rivetta' restaurant with rooms above. We had liked the look of the rooms and so had reserved one for our last two nights in Thailand. After getting back to Bella Bella from Jack's Bar, we went to our room for a rest and then went out to make sure we could find 'La Rivetta' again. Carlo greeted us and when I said that we were trying to decide where to eat, he suggested a favourite place of his own.

Carlo told us it is opposite Wat Bowonniwetwiharn Ratchaworawiharn (known as Wat Bowon) and that the cuisine is Chinese Thai. We found a restaurant in the area he described, but the name was only written in Thai — หจก. ข้าวต้มบวร 
When we asked the waiters, they showed us something written in English which had translated as 'Khao Bowon' so we were fairly sure that we had found the right place.


The food was every bit as good as Carlo described. Our meal included salted egg yolk salad and pork dumplings, and we finished with unusual ice cream flavoured with Thai fruit.
Bowon photos in this album

Jim Thompson's House

Silkworm cocoons
and dyed hanks of silk

Before we visited Thailand, I researched places that might be good to visit. Sarah, my fellow volunteer in our local community shop, lent a book to me, about a house in Bangkok that she felt was a very special place. Jim Thompson was an American, born 1906, who began life as an architect, then joined the US army in 1941 and was recruited to the Office of Strategic Services. He was due to be sent into Thailand as part of the liberation from Japanese occupation, then WWII ended when the Japanese surrendered. He was sent anyway, fell in love with the country, and decided to make his home there.

Silk spinning demonstration

Jim T had noticed that the silk industry was dwindling due to Chinese imports, and he formed a company producing Thai silk. There are stories of him standing in Bangkok's Mandarin Hotel with swatches of cloth over his arm, selling bolts of silk to anyone who showed interest. Jim Thompson's marketed his silk as traditional Siamese fabric, and although it was different to the silk previously made in Thailand, his clever marketing and use of 'Thai' patterns created a brand which became very popular with Americans. His contacts in the USA included the husband of the author of 'Anna and the King of Siam', and when the book became 'The King and I' musical, in 1951, the costume designer made use of his silks, which created a trend in fashion and interior design. The bright dramatic colour combinations are his creation, but he kept his company 'cottage-based', which meant that his largely female workforce could work from home, and Jim Thompson is credited as saving thousands of poor Thai people from poverty.

In 1958 Jim Thompson used his architectural skills to construct a house which made use of six wooden houses, mostly a hundred years old. They were dismantled and brought from up-country using the river from Ayutthaya, and then pieced together in a clever layout which made use of his own touches, such as turning wall panels so that decorations faced inwards to the room.
The 'House on the Klong' became a showcase for Thompson's collection of antiques — Ming porcelain, Belgian glass, Cambodian carving, Thai and Burmese statuary.

In 1967, Jim Thompson mysteriously disappeared while visiting friends in Malaysia. Conspiracy theories abound, including (non-established) connections to the murder of his sister in the USA, a few months later. Bones (untested) discovered in the 80s may have been his, and is possible that he was merely involved in a hit-and-run accident.

After his death, his wealth passed to a relative, who then donated it to a foundation to preserve the house.

On board a ferry on Khlong Maha Nak

The 37 golden spires of Loha Prasar

Klong (or khlong) is the Thai word for canal, and the house had a 'water entrance' as well as road access, exactly as traditional Venetian buildings. The house is situated across the Khlong Maha Nak from where many of his weavers lived and worked. We thought it would be appropriate to use the klong to get there, so we set out to find the nearest boat stop. We walked along a busy main road, passing the photogenic Wat Ratchanatdaram with its Loha Prasar or 'iron castle' with 37 golden spires. We had to dodge Bangkok drivers to get to the klong stop on the other side of the road interchange. It was unclear where boats were headed, and the next boat seemed to be travelling in the wrong direction, but a young girl who spoke English assured us that it was the right boat, and so we boarded. The helpful girl also told us how much to pay (9 baht), and said that she would tell us where our stop was.


Sure enough, the boat went under a bridge, made a multi-point turn, and turned round to head in the other direction. We paid our money and I tried to look for stops as I had worked out how many to go past until our stop. The klong boat travels at very high speed, and has plastic draped along the sides to protect people inside from being splashed. I hadn't realised that it only stops if someone indicates that they want to get off, so it was lucky that the friendly girl told us when we got to Hua Chang pier.

We walked along the edge of the klong, passing a tree that had been turned into a shrine. It is very common in Thailand to see soft drinks placed as offerings (photo left). We found the Jim Thompson house easily, and sat in the shade in the lovely grounds for a while.The house interior can only be visited on timed guided tours, and photographs are not allowed inside. The tour guide gave us a really good introduction to the history of the house and foundation, and then we were free to linger as long as we liked and to take photographs of the exterior rooms and garden.

Friendly spirit

All the guides were knowledgeable, and when I spotted carved figures (see left) very similar to two on our wall at home, a guide explained that it represented a friendly spirit. It brought back happy memories of our friend Peter Tilling who gave them to John on his fiftieth birthday. A guide pointed out the way the sun was shining through red parasols, and offered to take our photo beneath them.

Traditional dancing

The girls who were spinning Thai silk were dressed in traditional costume, and they also  demonstrated Thai dances. We sat on a bench to watch, leaned back and relaxed, and John even fell asleep for a short while.

Fabric printing plate
behind the porcelain
that inspired its design

The Jim Thompson house and grounds are truly beautiful, a serene haven in the busy city.
I am so grateful to Sarah for telling me about it.











More photos of the 
Jim Thompson House here

Klong boat photos in this album

Bicycles and Boats around Bangkok

When we woke after our first night in the city, we felt dismayed that we had over two days to kill before our flight out to Ranong. But our activities over the next couple of days forced us to slow down and we began to find Bangkok less frenetic. Before we left home, I had booked a three-hour bicycle ride with a Dutch company, Co Van Kessel. We had to be at their base by 8am, and as it is south of Chinatown the easiest way was to make use of the Chao Phraya express ferry boat. We walked past Phra Sumen Fort, one of only two to survive from the old fortified walls. It has been renovated and we found its white walls a good landmark whenever we were trying to get our bearings in the Banglamphu district.

We found our way to the nearest pier, Tha Phra Arthit. There are five 'express' boats serving the Chao Phraya (River of Kings), a hop-on, hop-off tourist boat flying a blue flag, and four others, known by their flags — orange, green, yellow, and 'no flag'. The 'No Flag' boat stops at every pier but only in rush hour, whereas the 'Orange Flag' is really convenient as it stops at useful piers, costing 15 baht per journey (1 stop or 30 stops). We watched them mooring and were reminded of the vaporetti on the Grand Canal, the pilot bringing the boat alongside, and the 'marinaio' throwing and tightening a mooring rope over bollards, pulling the boat in to the pier.

Setting off behind John

It is fascinating to watch the Thai boats. The pilot brings the stern in as close as possible, then the mariner in charge of the rope guides him in with a series of whistles — the pilot is near the front of the boat and has no chance of seeing the pier when the boat is full of people waiting to get off. I recognised the 'calls' that my dad (who had been a boatswain in the navy) used to demonstrate on the bosun's whistle.

Cycling along narrow alleys

Co Van Kessel office is only a short walk from Si Phraya pier, so the boat was a really convenient way to get there, much easier than negotiating rush hour by road or metro. When we arrived we were given a short talk about safety, and they tied a piece of coloured wool around our wrists to identify our 'team'. We set off in single file down a small alley, a row of bright yellow bicycles, a Thai guide at the front and back of us. It set the scene for most of the ride — between stalls and buildings, through the middle of busy pedestrian streets, occasionally crossing a busy road with one of the guides stopping the traffic for us, hat held high. We didn't have bells, so we'd been told to shout the "sawadee" greeting to people to alert them, and we found most people responded in a very friendly way. I wobbled a bit but got more used to it, and I was relieved that Thais drive/ride on the left, as we do in England. I think we were the only non-Dutch riders and we were impressed by the way most of the others could balance without putting foot to floor — but then it is flat in the Netherlands!

First stop was Bangkok's Chinatown, where we visited an active Chinese temple.

photo © Co Van Kessel

We were told that Japanese vehicles are very popular in Thailand, and that they are imported in large quantities for spares.

We cycled past huge workshops in Chinatown, piled high with recycled truck parts, with workers busy dismantling them as we rode past.

Our 'crocodile' of bikes whizzed around corners, with one guide leading the way and one bringing up the rear. We had to dodge pedestrians, other cyclists, motorbikes, and stallholders wheeling carts, so occasionally we got separated from the cyclist in front. We all looked out for each other, and if one of us was a long way behind, someone would hang back so that we could see the next fiendish corner to turn or passage to join.
We had been warned that if it rains it is usually short and sometimes sharp. The guides knew every place to dodge into, and if it was a few spots we just hovered under a small covered area. When we had heavier rain they produced plastic ponchos for us, but it was so hot that most of us didn't bother, we dried within a few minutes once the rain stopped. We parked our bikes up on the edge of one of Bangkok's huge flower markets, and walked through admiring the blooms and the garlands being strung together by women in matching tops (the 'royal' gold that is used for banners and decorations).

Pandan leaves

I spotted a stall selling bundles of the leaf that was used to make the Buddha decorations when we were with Peter and Dao, and asked one of our guides if he knew what they were.

That's how I learned that they are pandan leaves. We were taken to a stall selling fruit and our guides showed us Durian and Jack Fruit, then bought packs of the cut fruit for us to try. The Jack Fruit was crisp and hard, rather like apple, and the Durian was wonderfully custard-like. Back to the bicycles and time to board a ferry to take us across to Thornburi on the other side of the big river.


The bikes were stowed together in the boat, then wheeled out for us when we reached the other side. All of them were numbered and at the beginning of the trip we were asked to remember our numbers, as our saddles had been set to suit us. My bicycle was 42, "the answer to life, the universe and everything", as all fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy remember.

A fellow cyclist took this one, a Dutch lady who was in Bangkok for work,
and who had managed to fit in the cycle ride on her last day.

Thornburi was the old capital, but because it is liable to flooding, it was abandoned in favour of the other side of the river, now the main city of Bangkok.

In contrast to Chinatown Thornburi is really peaceful, and we cycled around residential lanes with hardly any traffic.

We stopped to look at Wat Kalayanamit Woramahawihan, a nineteenth century temple established by a wealthy Thai Chinese trader, then Wat Prayunwongsawat, a restored and very serene temple. We were warned that this was our last chance for a 'bathroom break', and while we were making use of the facilities, one of our Thai guides went on ahead to our final stop. 

We ended at a roadside café, one of those places that springs up early in the morning for breakfast but disappears by mid afternoon. We were asked what we would like to drink and many of us chose iced coffees — the day was already getting hot. Then one of the guides showed us his refreshment, a soft boiled egg, seasoned with soya sauce and pepper.

The Dutch cyclists were horrified, but you know us, game for anything! It was delicious.

I would recommend Co van Kessel for an organised, safe way to cycle around the city. They supplied bottles of water, waterproofs, and our refreshments, and were knowledgeable about our surroundings.

More photos here!

We re-boarded the ferry to cross the river, and our bicycle tour ended. We needed to do something relaxing to recover from the ride, so we decided to get back on the orange flag boat and take it as far up-river as we could for our 15 baht. The boat passed many of the sights that make Bangkok famous. As we neared Nonthaburi, the waterside dwellings became more rustic, interspersed with modern designs. Most buildings were raised above the water on stilts as the river is tidal and swells in the rainy season.

Nonthaburi is bustling and down-to-earth with a market along the main street. We had a really good bowl of pork and noodles for 30 baht, then found a shop selling posh Thai patisseries at budget prices. The dan tarts were the best we've ever tasted.
We bought a bag of ice from a 7-Eleven, retired to the balcony in our room in Bella Bella, and finished off the bottle of gin we had bought when we stayed with Peter.