Door Opening..... Today is a day of transit as we take breakfast in the room again, differing only in that I manage to get to the reception area and use their microwave to make a hot meal for a change. The journey time today is around 5 hours as we head for some evening entertainment and an encore to my entire stay in Thailand this time around. We should reach our destination by mid-afternoon.
The journey takes us north along HWY 317, a long road in Chanthaburi's hinterland. This area is mountainous and sparsely populated compared to the coastal area. We continue north and into Sa Kaew province which conveniently takes us unto the afternoon and lunchtime. No activity is planned for this trip today but to ensure there's no blank sheet, we arrive at a temple in Watthana Nakorn.
Wat Nakorn Tham..... Wat Nakorn Tham..... Wat Nakorn Tham is home to an important Buddha statue called Luangpho Khao. This 100-year-old Buddha image in the attitude of meditation is made from white earth; 'khao' is white in Thai. Another notable feature here is the Buddha's relics brought from a temple in Ratnapura in Sri Lanka.
It's time for the lunch as we reach the northern districts of Sa Kaew.
We now continue along rural roads and into the mountains again, briefly crossing the Ta Phraya National Park. Here we not only cross the provincial border with Buriram province, but the regional border too, East to Northeast. The rest of the journey is featureless as we reach the outskirts of Buriram, stopping to buy tickets for tonight's football game.
We now have 4 hours to spare, and it would be nice to visit the train station, but my dear lady needs a break after another long drive, and we head straight for our accommodation instead.
Skyview Resort..... We chose Skyview Resort specifically to be near the Thunderdome Stadium which is within walking distance. Price wise, at 750 baht including breakfast it seems a good deal but what about the rooms? It's usually a defining moment stepping over the threshold with mixed results but here there's nothing but relief. With the car parked right outside our bungalow, everything looks fine, and we can just flop down on the bed and close our eyes.
At 5.00 pm we can stroll over to the stadium in far different circumstances than when we last arrived for a game. On that occasion it was frantic as we arrived late with no tickets or food. Today we can wander over to the open food court, buy some food, sit down and relax.
The tickets we bought put us in the same stand as last time. The North Stand is the cheapest at 160 baht. This is higher than the going rate at other stadiums in the TPL. However, today we are in luck. While buying tickets from 7-Eleven, there is a promotion whereby if you buy a product from one of Buriram's sponsors, you can get a 50% discount on the ticket price. WOW! Those products include Chiang beer, but today is Ok Phan Sa, a religious day so sale of alcohol is forbidden. So a bottle of coke it is then!
We find a seat in the north stand, and it's almost full as expected. This popular stand is behind one of the goals. As with other games recently there will be a separate report on the game tonight which pitches the home team Buriram with a good Uthai Thani team who are punching above their weight. Even so, the dominant Buriram team bow to nobody and keeping the scoreline respectable for Uthai is all they can hope for and respect is what they get as just a single goal separates them tonight. Buriram get their expected 3 points and the crowd of 16,107 go home happy. It's been a great occasion in the magnificent Thunderdome Stadium.
Strolling back to Skyview Hotel, I ask about buying a beer. Small shops are not exempt from the ban on alcohol today, but they keep rolled-up newspaper for occasions like this. Tomorrow we head back to Bangkok and an inevitable anti-climax.

Source: Visit