1 Oct

1 Oct - There are certain things in life that you swear you'll never do. For some it's marry a Protestant, for others it's give a hand knitted sweater as a Christmas present, and for me it's put bus timetable on the front page of the site. But I've just done it, and for good reason, as unlike in the bad old days of the early 21st century anyone arriving at the new Bangkok Airport (Suvaranbhumi) no longer has to head into Bangkok in order to catch a bus to Trat. They can head to the airport's transportation terminal from where a bus direct to Trat can be caught. The times below are the departure times from Morchit Bus Station, Bangkok & Trat Bus Station - not the times the buses arrive/leave at the airport . . . I've no idea what they are.

The new airport opened a couple of days ago with very few glitches. The airport authorities even took it upon themselves to do away with the impersonal electronic signboards which display flight information for a couple of hours, and instead, employ staff to personally notify passengers of departing flights by walking around the terminal building displaying printed cards. Another of the little things that make Thailand such a special place.

Ate at Invito, Italian restaurant on Whitesands, the other night partly because I'd already tried the Amari hotel's Italian restaurant last month and partly because someone else was (again) paying for the meal. As far as the food goes, prices were similar but the taste was much better than at the Amari. Being on an island you tend to get into the habit of expecting to be disappointed by western food as it's often a pale imitation of the real thing, it's akin to eating Thai food in Europe or USA, so Invito was a very pleasant surprise. It's a place to visit if you're celebrating something and are with a lively group of people - but not so good if you're looking for a place to whisper sweet nothings your loved one's ear, as these will be drowned out by the competing sound systems of neighbouring beer bars. As I keep telling anyone who will listen, there's a big demand on Koh Chang for a good quality romantic restaurant in a quiet location away from traffic noise, away from high volume dance music, somewhere where you can sit under the stars, enjoy good food and not have your significant other spend half the meal being distracted by the nearby bar girls lack of dress sense. Samui has a dozen places that fit the bill, Koh Chang doesn't have one.

It's been raining here - more than usual, due to the island getting the tail-end of a typhoon that's crossing Vietnam. But it's still enough to cut the electricity and make the main road along the west coast impassable for most of yesterday. On Whitesands the main street was turned into a river over a metre deep. Our electricity went out at 4am an our guests spent the morning watching trees float down river past the house . . . we also saw a fridge go past - so as bad weather goes, it was pretty bad. But it looks like the rain is here to stay for another 2-3 days.

Down on Koh Mak, this small housing development has been so successful, only a couple of plots remain, so the owner will develop an additional 10 Rai of land in the coming months. This land is located approximately 150 metres from the current development. Houses will be the same traditional Thai style, but rather than clearing and landscaping the land, the houses will be built amongst existing jungle - for a more natural, secluded feel. I'll be adding information regarding plots & prices etc when I get it. But, if you're interested, contact me and I'll put you in touch with the owner direct as the best located plots will be sure to sell quickly.

If you're in Dan Mai between 8-11 Oct you can join the the local people at meetings to discover what plans DASTA has for making Dan Mai into an Arts & Crafts village. Don't laugh, this is meant to be serious. Given DASTA's past record, if the Arts & Crafts village turns out to be anything more than a prefabricated shop selling dried seafood, fruit by-products and souvenir straw hats I'll be very pleased, if not a little surprised. How this will help the local people and exactly why DASTA think that foreign tourists are clamouring for a sun-dried squid emporium is anyone's guess.