Thailand: Southeast

Travel with Gary and Pat

Jomtien Beach

Chonburi Province

Thailand

October 2, 2023

Hello,

My friends Gary and Pat own a home in Ban Chang, a small city in Rayong Province.

Since I have rented an apartment in Jomtien Beach, in nearby Chonburi Province, I visit them frequently.  They are marvelous hosts.

Occasionally we have an adventure to a local site.  It's either colorful or "delicious."

Two Lovely Weekends: Golden Mangrove Field and Krabi Resort

Bangkok

Thailand

Monday

August 5, 2019

Hello,

Last month, my friend Gary and his partner Pat invited me to spend the weekend with them at their second home in Ban Chang, a small town in Rayong Province, a two hour’s drive south of Bangkok.

I met Gary ten years ago in my condominium building.  He is a retired American expat from Seattle.  Pat, a Thai citizen, is an executive at a Thai corporation.

Gary and I meet frequently for lunch in Bangkok.  We discuss our personal concerns as well as the issues of the day, both here and abroad.  The rules for the Thai Retirement Visa seen to change by the hour.  We share our pleasant memories and our dismay at current events “back home.”

Gary and Pat are “bikers” … the unmotorized kind.  Gary just got back from a ten-day ride in Laos and Thailand.  We agree that in Southeast Asia, as well as many other places in the world, especially in the rural areas, and despite the language barrier, most folks are curious, hospitable and kind.

The highlight of our weekend together is the visit to the Golden Mangrove Field.  We stroll along the “boardwalk” through the mangrove forest adjacent to the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand.  Lots of photo opportunities for the dense, exotic scenery and the smiling Thai visitors.

Trat, Thailand: "Breakfast with the Monks"

June 24, 2002

Thailand

Sawadee krap,
Hello Everyone,

Greetings from the “Land of Smiles.”

I arrived uneventfully in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon. The trip, door to door, was thirty-three hours. That includes the three times I had to remove my shoes for inspection at Miami International Airport. (What price security?)

Chanthaburi: "The Rabbit in the Moon"

Bangkok

Thailand

December 20, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

(Have any of you lunatics conjured up the connection between Chanthaburi and bunny rabbits?)

Across the waters of the Gulf of Siam, about a forty minute ferry ride from Koh Chang, lies the city of Trat.  North of Trat is the city of Chanthaburi. 

In Chanthaburi I took my usual stroll, but this time I had a destination in mind - the Holy Mary Catholic Church. The largest Catholic Church in Thailand was built by the French during their occupation of Trat and Chanthaburi Provinces from 1893 to 1905.  This area borders Cambodia - part of colonial French Indochina.