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Saturday 28 March 2015
Bang Pu Recreation Area……..With less than 48 hours left until I return to the UK and a similar time since I returned from a nineteen day tour how is it I am even writing something here? The main reason is that the Toyota I used for the tour still hasn’t gone back to the owner. It should be collected tomorrow though and Katoon has an idea for its use today. It’s my idea that it will be used for a shopping trip so not worth recording right? Right! But at 5pm Katoon suggests we go to Bang Pu. Bang Pu is in Samut Prakan Province which occupies the coastal area to the southeast of the capital. It lies between Suvarnabhumi Airport and the industrial area of Lat Prabang and the coast. Like many delta coastline areas the coastline consists mainly of mudflats. It is the last place on earth I would think of visiting yet I do know there is the site of an ancient town here. Even so that’s not what Katoon has in mind. We are already heading south on the Kanchanapisek Highway. Soon we are moving along congested roads in one of the most boring districts in Thailand. Surely at 6pm there will be nothing to record. We turn right on the old Sukhumvit Road and soon pick up signs for Bang Pu Beach. Really! But Katoon turns left at a sign marked ‘Bang Pu Recreation Area’. On approach the site is packed and there is no place to park near the entrance. But entrance to what?
At the entrance there is a recreational area with fitness aids and plenty of open space for jogging or just lazing around but most people head for a triple arched entrance building and I am curious what is beyond that. Then I see a long concrete roadway, temporarily closed for vehicle access, which leads to a substantial building at the far end. It cannot be a copy of Brighton pier due to its construction but its function is the same but why all these people? The answer arrives shortly as I make my way along the pier and the tidal mud flats come into view. Much as expected the mud flats are unremarkable but they are lined with mangrove. I hadn’t taken my last breath of sea air in Lang Suan after all.
Bang Pu Recreation Area……..With less than 48 hours left until I return to the UK and a similar time since I returned from a nineteen day tour how is it I am even writing something here? The main reason is that the Toyota I used for the tour still hasn’t gone back to the owner. It should be collected tomorrow though and Katoon has an idea for its use today. It’s my idea that it will be used for a shopping trip so not worth recording right? Right! But at 5pm Katoon suggests we go to Bang Pu. Bang Pu is in Samut Prakan Province which occupies the coastal area to the southeast of the capital. It lies between Suvarnabhumi Airport and the industrial area of Lat Prabang and the coast. Like many delta coastline areas the coastline consists mainly of mudflats. It is the last place on earth I would think of visiting yet I do know there is the site of an ancient town here. Even so that’s not what Katoon has in mind. We are already heading south on the Kanchanapisek Highway. Soon we are moving along congested roads in one of the most boring districts in Thailand. Surely at 6pm there will be nothing to record. We turn right on the old Sukhumvit Road and soon pick up signs for Bang Pu Beach. Really! But Katoon turns left at a sign marked ‘Bang Pu Recreation Area’. On approach the site is packed and there is no place to park near the entrance. But entrance to what?
At the entrance there is a recreational area with fitness aids and plenty of open space for jogging or just lazing around but most people head for a triple arched entrance building and I am curious what is beyond that. Then I see a long concrete roadway, temporarily closed for vehicle access, which leads to a substantial building at the far end. It cannot be a copy of Brighton pier due to its construction but its function is the same but why all these people? The answer arrives shortly as I make my way along the pier and the tidal mud flats come into view. Much as expected the mud flats are unremarkable but they are lined with mangrove. I hadn’t taken my last breath of sea air in Lang Suan after all.
The curiosity is the birds, mainly gulls of different species, that are engaged in a ritual dance over the pier. To see so many is an attraction in itself but why they fly so close to the pier is hard to explain but it seems I’ve arrived at precisely the right time before dark. I’m particularly reminded of the Alfred Hitchcock horror film, ‘The Birds’. These gulls are white but they still fly close enough to peck your eyes out. It’s fascinating to watch them sail in the wind in a corridor just 100 metres wide along the pier. Katoon explains that the birds that come here are migratory and these mudflats are on a route between China and Africa. While all these birds appear to be gulls, it’s clear many other bird species use this area. The human visitors are mesmerised and many try to feed the gulls in flight but Katoon thinks feeding humans is better. It becomes clear that the large concrete building at the end of the pier is a restaurant and we head there. Inside the building there are black and white photographs of days gone by indicating its long history. There is cabaret inside too, much as it was many moons ago. Am I sure I am not in Blackpool? The restaurant is large enough to have a main hall and open air dining areas on platforms around the perimeter. Then just as I’m thinking of heading back, Katoon offers to pay for dinner. The specialty is seafood of course and she orders something completely different from squid and prawns which are poor-man’s dining here. Fish, crab and shellfish duly arrive. Hang on a minute, is this a parting gift? Has to be given that my 65th birthday is in eight days time. It certainly is different and in most odd circumstances. There’s no hurry to finish dinner then nearing 8pm we make our way back along the pier. But where are the people and where are the birds? It’s all gone quiet! The birds are home to roost and it’s about time I joined the humans doing much the same. Returning to Kubon the traffic is much lighter but it’s still 9.15pm before I go to roost too.