Life after the tsunami

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lomuamart
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Life after the tsunami

Post by lomuamart »

One of my favourite areas in Thailand has to be Phangnga Province and in particular the towns of Khao Lak and Bang Niang which lie three kilometers apart some 100 kms north of the bridge to Phuket.
I've been down there 5 or 6 times, the last visit being in October 2004. This was shortly before the tsunami hit and effectively wiped the two towns and most of the provincial coastline out. The Khao Lak area was the hardest hit in Thailand. So, as I had to do my 90 day visa run in Ranong last week, my wife and I decided to take a short break and visit an old Dutch friend who runs a bungalow and restaurant business in Bang Niang. I wasn't quite sure what to expect down there - how much of the old towns survived the tsunami? How much had been rebuilt? How much had it changed?
The trip got off to a bad start as I got all my timing wrong as we tried to travel to Ranong overnight. In the end, we caught the 2am sprinter train to Chumphon which was good value at 390 Baht and air conditioned. Arrived at Chumphon around 6am and had to wait an hour for the first mini bus to Ranong at 7am - 120 Baht a head and took two hours. The visa run was as painless as always - fortunately there was no rain and the sea was calm. I was finished at around midday and then waited for the 2.30pm bus to Bang Niang, which goes on to Phuket - 120 Baht each.
It's worth pointing out here that if you go to Ranong and take your Thai wife/girlfriend over to Burma, don't let her use her passport to get the stamps otherwise she'll have to pay 10 USD to get into Burma as well. I never knew that, so my wife simply got a day pass at the pier for 35 Baht and had to pay the same in Burma. Much more cost effective and I only had 10 USD. I'd have had to pay 600 Baht for another note from the unlicenced bandits at the pier otherwise.
The journey to Khao Lak/Bang Niang takes about 3 hours through some great scenery. The drop-off point is on the main Phuket highway and it's another 2.5 kms from there to the beach and the resorts. Our friend came to collect us.
The first thing that struck me was that a lot of the shops close to the main road have gone, but new ones are springing up. There's even a 7-11, with ATM, on the main road - development. I don't remember one three years ago. In fact a bit longer ago, I'd had to travel 25 kms just to get to an ATM. No such problems now accessing money.
My friend's bungalows had been totally destroyed by the tsunami, but he'd rebuilt in 15 months and it's the same place I remembered, with a few alterations. There are 15 (I think) bungalows, ranging from partially wooden, with fan, through to brick, with fan or air con. Hot water showers and even a telly in our air con accommodation.
As it's low season, the restaurant was closed and there were no staff, but there's plenty of other eatery choices either along the beach or closer to the main road. It was only a few years ago that these restaurants would close during low season as well, but there are a couple of good choices open nowadays. Our favourite was "Coconut Grove", right on the beach and a 5 min walk from the bungalows. Really friendly owners and a very extensive menu - both western and Thai. We spent most of our time there, arriving at 11am ish and leaving at 5pm, to return later for dinner. It's good value at around 500 Baht for two, the price including 4 large Changs and plenty of good food. They were more than happy to adapt dishes for my wife's tastes and even included specific vegetables she'd bought at the local day market.
The bay of Khao Lak/Biang Niang must stretch some 10 kms or so north - maybe further, I didn't try to walk it. As it's more exposed on The Andaman Sea/Indian Ocean than The Gulf is, the surf can be quite strong as can the currents. It was high tide in the mornings during our stay and it really wasn't advisable to try and venture into the sea until about 1-2pm when the tide was going out. One of the major hazards was driftwood - large pieces of bamboo partly submerged at high tide. I really didn't want to get speared by one and in fact the restaurant staff were sensible enough to advise me to wait a while before messing around in the waves. Incidentally, no jellyfish were encountered, although there are occasionally some around.
The area is one of the most expensive in Thailand for land and accommodation. Almost all the property that was destroyed by the tsunami has already been rebuilt, or left empty, so there's quite a few plots of land available for sale, either on the beach or close to it. I forget how much it is for 1 rai, but it's definitely out of my price range!!! The price of accommodation is really the only drawback to the area. There are plenty of 5 star hotels and resorts in both towns, but they cater almost exclusively for package tourists. A "walk-in/rack rate" will usually start at 5,000 Baht a night in these places. Again, well out of our price range, but there are some more reasonably priced hotels/guesthouses/bungalows around. Don't go to Khao Lak/Bang Niang and expect to find accommodation for 300 Baht or so. It simply dosn't exist. Bungalows in our resort ranged from 500-950 Baht a night. That's more like it!!
Whilst I'm on about accommodation, we came across a very strange set up at a hotel on the beach in Bang Niang. Went there on our first day for lunch. The original resort was the first in Bang Niang and being right on the beach, it naturally hadn't fared well when the waves hit. It's now been rebuilt as a boutique style resort and very nice it looked as well. Some of the original coconut trees survived the tsunami and the owner pointed out the tide marks and damage caused to them. Even allowing for growth, the wave must have been 20-30 ft in height. Scary. Unfortunately, a lot of people lost their lives at this resort. The thing was that it had a swimming pool. Not very large, but adquate, so I asked if I could use it for a small fee each day. In the low season, the Thai owner said that was OK as long as I had something to eat there - no additional fee. However, in the high season, the guests had to pay 300 Baht to use the pool. THE GUESTS!! I couldn't believe it and I assure you there was no misunderstanding about that. I've never come across the like before over here. Anyway, I swam in the sea every day and didn't use the pool.
There are some great National Parks around the area that are well worth visiting. We went to a large waterfall on one about 25 kms south of Khao Lak which was ideal for swimming. As normal, the Park wanted 20 Baht from Thais and 400 Baht from farangs. Fortunately, my friend has a Work Permit, so he got in for 20 Baht and also managed to blag me in for the same, simply saying that I worked in Thailand as well - the officials never bothered to ask for any verification from me.
The weather was great. Despite my wife saying that there had been flood warnings in Ranong and Phangnga provinces each day for a week before we left, we didn't get any rain at all. Be prepared for hot temperatures though, it's always 4-5 degrees hotter down there than HH. The mosquitoes are as big as pterodactyls and can be fierce, so take some decent repellant along if you visit.
The infrasture is now all back in place. New schools have been built, including a kindergarten that boasts a new playing field and swimming pool for the kids. Internet connections are good, in fact quicker than I've got at home and there are exchange booths and ATMs all over the place as mentioned.
The area has long been a favourite destination for German and Scandanavian (particularly Swedish) visitors, but the word's getting out and the place is becoming more cosmopolitan now. There are a few bars in Bang Niang. We didn't visit them, but heard they're all family friendly and good fun. There are no girlie bars. Go to Patong Beach on Phuket if that's what you're after.
All-in-all, Khao Lak/Bang Niang are very restful places to visit. Everyone's friendly and you'll get "sawadiis" from all and sundry everywhere you go. There's plenty to do - diving trips to The Similan and Surin Islands can be arranged from here - but if you're not into diving, I'll bet that most don't get much further than the beach and lazy days there.
The return journey was a piece of cake. Got a Bangkok bound bus from Phuket at Takua Pa (25 kms north of Bang Niang) at 9am and we were back in the hustle and bustle of HH at 7pm. Fare 380 per person. Wish it had been that easy going down.
Now when's my next visa run? September, I think. Bang Niang may well get another visit!!
Hopefully, Admin dosn't mind this link. It's to The Amsterdam Resort in Bang Niang where we stayed and the owner, Kees van Dobben has lived in Thailand for donkey's years and had two well-established businesses in HH until he moved south some 6 years ago. I know this is a plug for his business, but it's miles away from HH and the resort is one of the very few affordable places (at least for the likes of us) in the area. Admin, remove the link if I've gone too far:
bangniang.freeservers.com
Kees is currently updating it for the high season.
If anyone gets down to the area, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Lomu

Thanks for the effort m8, that's a really interesting read.

I was intrigued by your comments on the temperature. The Mrs and I used to go the Phuket regularly and always found it both hotter and much more humid than HuaHin, but this is never shown to be the case in forecasts or apparently in recorded temperatures. Never worked this out.

Cheers

Jim
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buksida
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Post by buksida »

Top report there lomu, brings back memories of our trip, went down there about 18 months ago. Yes plenty of visible reminders of the tsunami including a military boat that was washed 2km inland!

Regarding the land we were looking there and while prices were not as high as Hua Hin there were a lot of restrictions on building there so unless you wanted a beach front garden on your rai there wasnt much point buying.

Some great little restaurants along the main road and beach and as you say lots of accommodation but not much for budgeters, although there is a big difference between high and low season prices.

An article on diving and the area in general was published here:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_ ... 9Ae01.html
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
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Post by Norseman »

A very good and nice report lomu!!
My wife and I went there 3 months after the tsunami hit, and at that time it was nothing left.
The water had completely destroyed everything.
Khao Lak area was just a big pile of palm trees and the road was closed.
The Phangnga province must be one of the most beautiful areas in Thailand.
I intend to live forever - so far so good.
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Roel
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Post by Roel »

Excellent report from Iomuamart!! I could have written it myself. Agree with every bit. I have been down there for two weeks last April. Stayed at the Amsterdam Resort as well and it was brilliant. Certainly worth a visit since most expats have already been to the more obvious spots (Chiang Mai, Koh Samui etc.) I can highly recommend visiting Khao Lak/Bang Niang for a change.
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Post by The understudy »

Hallo there Lomu!

a very nice piece of reading right there Lomuamart. I think it is very interersting in deed to see how everything changed after the Tsunami struck in 2004. And now everything is build up aagin withe few new Amenities and so on.
Lomu you say Khao Lak/Bang Niang is very popular with German and Scandinavian Tourists? Hmmm. very interesting!!! The last time I was in Phuket area around 2001 as part of a Tourism Club Trip to Phuket.
Thanks for the Good report Lomu!!!

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richard
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TSUNAMI

Post by richard »

A grim reminder for those of you who were here or near and saw the result of this catastrophic event.

My wife actually lost family in it and that prompted me to do a sponsored sky dive to raise funds (not considered working). Many volunteered to help but were refused as they had no work permits.

>
> http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/ ... -interview
RICHARD OF LOXLEY

It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
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Re: TSUNAMI

Post by Bristolian »

I was in Tokyo at the time of the earthquake. A truly terrifying experience!! I needed to visit the devastated areas some 2-3 months later to check on damage to equipment supplied to my customers. Fortunately none of my friends, customers or their immediate families were hurt. The devastation some 3 months later had to be seen to be believed.
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Re: TSUNAMI

Post by johnnyk »

Post-tsunami debris now washing up on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
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