The first major tour of 2020, the 10th year my travel blog has been running, will follow a pattern that I've kept to for several years now but having recently arrived in Thailand, it's clear there were a couple of aspects unique to this tour. Firstly though, I will briefly run through the objectives again.
My primary objective is to cover as many of Thailand's 76 provinces, excluding Bangkok, as possible, recording attractions that each has to offer. It was clear several years ago that it was feasible to visit them all. This wasn't always the case as in the early years of my blog the prime objective was simply to try and get off the beaten track: By 2011 I had already visited all the main tourist sites from my first visits to Thailand in the 1980's. This objective led eventually to this site being labelled 'UnseeninThailand'. One deviation though was that I had started to include some of those tourist traps since they contributed to a more comprehensive coverage of the whole country. This tour (20C) would have many types of location from crowded beaches to isolated villages and towns.
So why was this tour to become unique? Firstly, although it was not the best kept secret, Katoon finally bought her first car, a Toyota Vois similar to ones we'd been hiring. It was bound to be a game changer. Dates of travel, previously fixed well in advance, were now completely open. It would also allow for day trips, one of which happened within days of my arrival in Thailand. Having a vehicle available, has helped considerably to produce more content for this site. One interesting fact though, was that up until 24 hours before tour 20C started, we had little idea of what that content would look like.
While in future, I hope, having a vehicle available 24/7 will become a feature, another development, I hope, certainly won't. When the Covid-19 outbreak occurred in China, Thailand was temporarily affected, we hoped, by travellers from China. By the start of tour 20C, there were no more group tours travelling from there and cases were minimal in Thailand. However, it wasn't perhaps the best idea to visit areas, these tourists normally end up but by the afternoon of the 11th March, all seemed quiet and preparations were made for the tour to begin the following day.
Phuket…….. Given the title of this site 'UnseeninThailand', it doesn't seem logical for Phuket to feature since it appears to be seen by almost everybody who visits Thailand it seems. That includes my daughter Ellie who arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday (11th). It was then I decided to head for Phuket, a long drive for us but a short flight for Ellie and boyfriend Leo. Phuket would therefore become our initial destination for this tour and overlap with Ellie and Leo's stay. Despite my reservations, I would stick it out for four full days, enough to declare reasonable coverage of the island to add to my tour blogs. Perseverance was key and as with all new provinces there were some surprises and really enjoyable moments. Based in the town of Phuket, we found that useful to reach all parts of the island despite the traffic. Our next destination would be far different. My rating for Phuket is 6/10.
Phang Nga…….. Phang Nga is no stranger to this website. We'd covered the coastline southwards from Ranong province and of course, knew a lot about Phang Nga Bay. The district of Takua Thung adjacent to Phuket Island was however, new to me and provided arguably the highlight of the tour at Samet Nangshe. The following day Katoon was unwell losing us a day while she recovered in Phang Nga city. The stopover in the province was brief but if I combined it with previous visits, I could easily rate Phang Nga 8/10.
Krabi and Trang…….. Krabi is another province I've featured before but less well covered than Phang Nga. It will remain that way as we're only passed through. However, a diversion to the remote Ao Luek Viewpoint was well rewarded. Trang is another province we've visited, just the once but again we only passed through it on this occasion with no attractions visited. Both provinces deserve 8/10 with their remarkable coastline on the Andaman Sea.
Phatthalung…….. Phatthalung is not a new province either but we've never stayed overnight there. There was just a one day-trip out of Nakhon Si Thammarat province on a previous tour to visit the wetlands of Talay Noi. This time we were able to declare reasonable coverage during three days of excursions. The main attractions in this province are its natural features from high mountains to the west down to the massive Songkhla Lake to the east. There are also some historic sites to visit dating from The Ayutthaya Kingdom. I'm inclined to give Phattalung 8/10 also, just.
Songkhla…….. Reaching Songkhla put us nearly 1,000 kms from Bangkok. It's was used as a stopover on one of my earliest visits to Thailand but not since my website has been running. It's therefore a new province I was now able to add. However, the province extends quite a bit further to the south including the major city and transport hub of Hat Yai. This city was used while we were on transit to Penang in Malaysia covered on this site but for this tour only the area surrounding the town of Songkhla was covered leaving a large area of the province yet to be visited. Songkhla has a number of religious sites of historic significance, museums and the remains of the fortified town. The jetty near the town was busy and had a rice mill. The old town supports evidence of occupation by Chinese traders.
The coastline along the Gulf of Thailand is largely featureless but the recreation area around Samila Bay is pleasant enough. I rate our 3-day stay in the town as 7/10. However, returning north we discovered Khu Khut Waterfowl Park and that has to be 9/10.
Surat Thani…….. Staying in Surat Thani province for an overnight stop at the height of another bout of Gout wasn't pleasant but still allowed for a visit to the Chaiya National Museum representing the Srivijaya Kingdom, an important piece in the history of Thailand. Otherwise there was no further contribution so this large province that I have visited before really needs more visits.
With this tour adding more provinces to my website, the remaining provinces with little or no coverage is not great so there's no questioning the success of this tour. However, the circumstances under which it was conducted were testing at times. The weather remained fine throughout but with intense heat at times. I rate this tour 7/10 as it was a real mixed bag of experiences.
Start Page.
My primary objective is to cover as many of Thailand's 76 provinces, excluding Bangkok, as possible, recording attractions that each has to offer. It was clear several years ago that it was feasible to visit them all. This wasn't always the case as in the early years of my blog the prime objective was simply to try and get off the beaten track: By 2011 I had already visited all the main tourist sites from my first visits to Thailand in the 1980's. This objective led eventually to this site being labelled 'UnseeninThailand'. One deviation though was that I had started to include some of those tourist traps since they contributed to a more comprehensive coverage of the whole country. This tour (20C) would have many types of location from crowded beaches to isolated villages and towns.
So why was this tour to become unique? Firstly, although it was not the best kept secret, Katoon finally bought her first car, a Toyota Vois similar to ones we'd been hiring. It was bound to be a game changer. Dates of travel, previously fixed well in advance, were now completely open. It would also allow for day trips, one of which happened within days of my arrival in Thailand. Having a vehicle available, has helped considerably to produce more content for this site. One interesting fact though, was that up until 24 hours before tour 20C started, we had little idea of what that content would look like.
While in future, I hope, having a vehicle available 24/7 will become a feature, another development, I hope, certainly won't. When the Covid-19 outbreak occurred in China, Thailand was temporarily affected, we hoped, by travellers from China. By the start of tour 20C, there were no more group tours travelling from there and cases were minimal in Thailand. However, it wasn't perhaps the best idea to visit areas, these tourists normally end up but by the afternoon of the 11th March, all seemed quiet and preparations were made for the tour to begin the following day.
Phuket…….. Given the title of this site 'UnseeninThailand', it doesn't seem logical for Phuket to feature since it appears to be seen by almost everybody who visits Thailand it seems. That includes my daughter Ellie who arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday (11th). It was then I decided to head for Phuket, a long drive for us but a short flight for Ellie and boyfriend Leo. Phuket would therefore become our initial destination for this tour and overlap with Ellie and Leo's stay. Despite my reservations, I would stick it out for four full days, enough to declare reasonable coverage of the island to add to my tour blogs. Perseverance was key and as with all new provinces there were some surprises and really enjoyable moments. Based in the town of Phuket, we found that useful to reach all parts of the island despite the traffic. Our next destination would be far different. My rating for Phuket is 6/10.
Phang Nga…….. Phang Nga is no stranger to this website. We'd covered the coastline southwards from Ranong province and of course, knew a lot about Phang Nga Bay. The district of Takua Thung adjacent to Phuket Island was however, new to me and provided arguably the highlight of the tour at Samet Nangshe. The following day Katoon was unwell losing us a day while she recovered in Phang Nga city. The stopover in the province was brief but if I combined it with previous visits, I could easily rate Phang Nga 8/10.
Krabi and Trang…….. Krabi is another province I've featured before but less well covered than Phang Nga. It will remain that way as we're only passed through. However, a diversion to the remote Ao Luek Viewpoint was well rewarded. Trang is another province we've visited, just the once but again we only passed through it on this occasion with no attractions visited. Both provinces deserve 8/10 with their remarkable coastline on the Andaman Sea.
Phatthalung…….. Phatthalung is not a new province either but we've never stayed overnight there. There was just a one day-trip out of Nakhon Si Thammarat province on a previous tour to visit the wetlands of Talay Noi. This time we were able to declare reasonable coverage during three days of excursions. The main attractions in this province are its natural features from high mountains to the west down to the massive Songkhla Lake to the east. There are also some historic sites to visit dating from The Ayutthaya Kingdom. I'm inclined to give Phattalung 8/10 also, just.
Songkhla…….. Reaching Songkhla put us nearly 1,000 kms from Bangkok. It's was used as a stopover on one of my earliest visits to Thailand but not since my website has been running. It's therefore a new province I was now able to add. However, the province extends quite a bit further to the south including the major city and transport hub of Hat Yai. This city was used while we were on transit to Penang in Malaysia covered on this site but for this tour only the area surrounding the town of Songkhla was covered leaving a large area of the province yet to be visited. Songkhla has a number of religious sites of historic significance, museums and the remains of the fortified town. The jetty near the town was busy and had a rice mill. The old town supports evidence of occupation by Chinese traders.
The coastline along the Gulf of Thailand is largely featureless but the recreation area around Samila Bay is pleasant enough. I rate our 3-day stay in the town as 7/10. However, returning north we discovered Khu Khut Waterfowl Park and that has to be 9/10.
Surat Thani…….. Staying in Surat Thani province for an overnight stop at the height of another bout of Gout wasn't pleasant but still allowed for a visit to the Chaiya National Museum representing the Srivijaya Kingdom, an important piece in the history of Thailand. Otherwise there was no further contribution so this large province that I have visited before really needs more visits.
With this tour adding more provinces to my website, the remaining provinces with little or no coverage is not great so there's no questioning the success of this tour. However, the circumstances under which it was conducted were testing at times. The weather remained fine throughout but with intense heat at times. I rate this tour 7/10 as it was a real mixed bag of experiences.
Start Page.
Phuket Province
