This was the trip that I planned all by myself. After P’Curb cancelled the trip to Hua Hin with his friend, then my mom had the idea of taking him to see the beach that’s not too far from my home. P’Curb had not yet seen any of the beaches in Thailand. On his last trip (last year), he hadn’t had a chance to visit the sea, we only took him to see a lot of the temples, lol.

At first I planned to go to Pattaya but later I changed my mind because we were going to travel at the weekend. The traffic is always bad in Pattaya, especially on weekends. Another reason was that P’Curb prefers quiet places where there are few farangs. So I think of Cha Am beach in Petchaburi province, and it’s only 2 hours drive from Bangkok.

I was looking on internet for places to visit and a place to stay over night in Cha Am. I learned a lesson from the trip to Chiang Mai 2 weeks ago - you had better book a Hotel if you want to stay over night, especially when you have a disabled girl and a dog with you, lol. So, on this trip I decided to get all the information about Cha Am before setting out – I even printed out the map of the route to Cha Am – to ensure we wouldn’t get lost. In the end, I decided to go to Puektien beach instead, lol. It’s smaller and closer to Bangkok than Cha Am – of course it’s also quieter. I booked the rooms at Had Petch Resort, at this resort we could cook and I was allowed to bring my dog, “Coco”. I planned to visit Thum Khao Luang cave on the way back home on the next day. And now my plan was complete.

We (my parents, Yim my younger nephew, Nop, Coco my dog, P’Curb and I) set off early on Saturday morning, and stopped at Mahachai to meet my mom’s sister and buy some seafood to cook at the resort. We left Mahachai around 12.30 p.m. and stopped to eat lunch at Khao Yoi Amphur in Petchaburi province. P’Curb was a little bit sick and I didn’t feel like eating so we both chose to wait in the car.

On the way to the beach, I looked at the map. It showed that we should turn left at the Khuen Petch crossroads - but we didn’t see any Khuen Petch sign or Puektien. When I felt certain that we were lost for sure then I phoned my friend N’Ja to ask for directions. N’Ja was originally from Petchaburi but is now living in Nakornpathom. She told me we probably couldn’t see Khuen Petch sign because it’s not a big sign and not on the main road. She said “You’d better look for the Tah Yang Amphur crossroads”, which was too late because we had already passed the crossroads for earlier *Sigh*. So my dad drove along the main street until we saw the Cha Am kilometer stone. My dad said he remembered that on the way to Cha Am beach there are signs to show the way to Puektien too (he had been in Cha Am about 10 years ago, lol.). And he was right! We saw the sign showing the way back to Puektien and found out it’s only 12-13 km away from Cha Am beach.

Before we arrived at Puektien beach, I noticed Had Petch Resort on the way, so we stopped to check the rooms there first. It’s a big area with many houses and buildings, but the weird thing was… we couldn’t see any people around!!! My dad said “Will we see a ghost tonight if we stay here?” lol. That reminded me of the news I saw on internet, 2 people had drowned at the beach of Had Petch Resort. I told P’Curb “This is a really quiet place, you should like it.” – but he said “I like quiet not desert.” hahaha. 

The rooms were okay but it’s scary to be alone in such a “desert-like” place as that. The reception told us… we could go and check the other places first before deciding. So we left to go to Puektien beach which is only 1 km away from the resort. When we arrived, we parked the car at the first shop where they waved an invitation to us. After P’Curb had placed me in the wheelchair we went to choose a table and order some food.

One of the good things when P’Curb stays with us is that he can carry me easily and I don’t have to listen my dad complaining about my weight, lol. So I don’t have to be worried that I’ll break dad’s back. And not only does P’Curb make a good job of carrying me, he also pushes my wheelchair like a professional nurse, hehe.

P’Neung, Duen his wife and Spy (his older son) were to join us later at the beach. Yim wasn’t so happy because he was eager to get into the sea, but Spy asked Yim to wait for him. So I phoned P’Neung to find out when he would arrive. P’Neung said he just left home and he told Yim to go to play with Nop – “you don’t have to wait for Spy because he will be late”. Then Yim was very happy, haha. P’Neung arrived at Puektien around 4 p.m. and it’s good that Yim still had enough energy left to play with Spy, lol.

Puektien Beach was a little bit cold (little for P’Curb but very cold for me) that day. After we finished eating – I asked P’Curb to take me out for a tour. I always feel more comfortable when moving than just sitting still in the wheelchair (and feel the most comfy on a bumpy road, lol.). Puektien beach road is a short street and not many shops for us to see. So we just walked until the end of the road. On the way back we stopped to buy some soft dry squid. They let me taste a sample and it didn’t feel right to try it without buying any, so I bought one even though I didn’t have a single baht with me, lol.

Around 6 p.m. we decided to go back to Had Petch resort and get ready to meet some ghosts there, lol. Before we left Puektien beach P’Curb wanted to get a bottle of Regency (Thai Brandy) for dad. But the price in that shop was too expensive so we went to buy it in another shop where P’Curb and I had already checked the price and where we knew that it was a lot cheaper. My mom was delighted that my tour with P’Curb on Puektien road was very useful.

After getting our rooms at Had Petch Resort, mom prepared to cook seafood for dinner. We also ordered some food and drinks from a restaurant outside the resort. We were eating in front of the house, and a few dogs came to say hi to us. I guess the smell of food brings them here (or maybe it was Coco’s smell, lol). It was good to see the dogs around, without them it really would be like a ghost movie *Scary*. After eating I was full and sat there until I started to get bored. So I asked P’Curb to takes me out to survey the ghost town, lol. He pushed me past many deserted houses and a big hall that never been finished. I tried to look inside, maybe if we were lucky we might see a scary ghost hanging from the ceiling, Huhuhu. Oh but not all the places were deserted there. When we passed the resort’s restaurant – we saw a guy watching TV but we couldn’t see any customers, strange.

That night we went to bed a little late (after 10 p.m. is late for us) and we all had a good sleep, all except for P’Curb. No, not because any ghosts bother him… but it’s because lots of little bugs attacked him in the middle of night, lol. Hmmm maybe they are ghost bugs? hehe.

P’Neung, Duen and Spy left there in the early morning to return home. As for us, we got ready to leave at around 8 a.m.. Yim wanted to get into the sea again. So I decided to go to Cha Am beach. Yim could play in the sea water there and P’Curb can see another beach too. At Cha Am beach we rented a table and chairs and ordered some food. The food here was cheaper and tastier than in Puektien beach – especially the crabs (bigger and fresher) and the grilled chicken (I stole some of P’Curb’s chicken, lol). P’Curb said “Back home, most girls are wearing bikinis on the beach – but here you won’t see any Thai girls wearing bikinis. They are very conservative yet still many lamok farangs come here for sex.” So I told him “Because we have 2 different worlds.” It’s depends on what you’re looking for.

When we were eating, a little girl came to sell “Kao Grieb Wow (crispy thin slices of rice flour)” to us. It’s normal to see people carrying things to sell on the beaches here but her selling tactic was funny. She asked us to help her by buying some Kao Grieb Wow and that if we did then she would never return to bother us again. She said that if she ever came back then we could throw her into the sea, lol. P’Curb wanted to buy one. So I translated what she said to him - P’Curb laughed and asked me to tell the girl “If you come back again we will throw you into the water.” Lol.

As usual, after we had eaten and were full then it was time to walk around. Here in Cha Am, the beach is a lot longer than Puektien beach. P’Curb was pushing me on the side road, and we stopped on the big concrete yard to take some pictures and watch the kids catching something in the sea. The sun was too strong so we decided to go back to the beach. On the way back, a middle aged woman approached us and said to me “I’m delighted to see you guys together, and to see how nicely he’s taking care of you. Sorry that I didn’t come to say hi earlier but my husband was with me and he will be mad if he sees me talking to you.” Then she turned to P’Curb and said “Number one” and put her thump up. Then she spoke in Thai that she couldn’t speak English but she wanted to tell him how much she admired him. After she left I told P’Curb what the woman said. But I wondered why her husband would be mad if she spoke to us. P’Curb said maybe her husband treats her bad - that why she is happy to see us. I looked up and then I see the woman again, she smiled at me and I smiled back then I thought ‘Lucky she didn’t understand what we were saying about her husband.’ Lol. P’Curb said this reminded him of when we went to see the Tiger temple last year. A monk made a comment to my mom about how nice it was of P’Curb, that even after I had had an accident he wouldn’t leave me and still took good care of me. He thought P’Curb and I were married, lol. I have heard about how people look down on a Thai girl who walks with a farang but I guessed a disabled Thai girl who walks with a farang is another story.

When we returned to the table, P’Curb was tired from the long walk, so he had a rest there. Yim and Nop got out of the sea at around 11 a.m. and we got ready to leave Cha Am around 11.30 a.m.. At first P’Curb was going to Pattaya to meet his friend that day so we planned to drop him off in Bangkok. But the planned visit to Pattaya was cancelled so I wanted to go back to the old plan – that was to go to Thum Kao Luang cave. Once again we couldn’t find any street signs of Thum Kao Luang, lol. So I decided to go to meet N’Ja instead. P’Neung told my dad to go back home via Nakornpathom rather than Bangkok because the traffic wouldn’t be so bad and we could stop to say hi to N’Ja too.

When I was calling N’Ja, P’Curb made a sign indicating ‘Don’t tell her I’m coming to see her too.’ So I told N’Ja that my family and I, were going to meet her but P’Curb couldn’t come with us because we had already sent him off to Pattaya.

Eventually we arrived under the overcrossing where N’Ja told us to meet her. But we couldn’t see her there because we were in the wrong overcrossing, lol. Dad had to drive further on until we found the right overcrossing, N’Ja and her nephew were waiting for us at the bus stop near by. After she greeting us, she took us to a restaurant close to the river.

At the restaurant N’Ja introduced us to her sister and her nephew, Bu, he is younger than Yim. At the table, P’Curb asked N’Ja “are you surprised to see me?” she laughed and said it’s bad to lie. Then P’Curb replied that he hadn’t lied, it was me who made up the story, all he did was just make a “shhh” sign and that’s not a lie (-_-" wish I could kick him, lol). After finished eating, N’Ja wanted to show us around her University (where she works) but my dad afraid that it would be too late when we got home, so we say goodbye to them and took some pictures together before we left.

At the restaurant N’Ja introduced us to her sister and her nephew, Bu he is younger than Yim. At the table, P’Curb asked N’Ja “Did you surprise to see me?” she laughed and said it’s bad to lies. Then P’Curb said he didn’t lie, it was me who make up the story, all he did was just a Shhh sign and that’s not a lie (-_-" wish I could kick him, lol). After finished eating, N’Ja wanted to show us around her University (where she works) but my dad afraid we will be home too late, so we say goodbye to them and took some pictures together before we leave.

Posted 12/03/2008

Edited by Mal