I contacted Hua Hin auto rental from the forum, and they were great, offering a good price for 15 days. Unfortunately we got delayed at the last minute. I didn’t want to rebook knowing my schedule was not set so we ended up borrowing my Father in Laws year old Toyota pickup ( bought for his 33 year old girlfriend (He’s 73)).
We left Hua Hin at 9:30am and took the road down to Chumphon. Turned onto hwy 4 towards Phuket. Most of the route was well marked, in English or by road signs, but a couple of towns had construction going and we had to ask for the correct turns. Even with my translator sometimes the signs got waylaid with the construction, but we asked a couple men in brown and they pointed out the way.
The drive was fine, and I have to admit that Thai drivers, on the whole, are more polite than California drivers!! Almost always when we approached a car in the passing lane, they moved to allow us to pass. Here in California it rarely happens!!
We stopped a couple times for food and hit Phang Nga around 3:30. We’ve never been to Phuket and had been driving through only small residential areas. We didn’t know what to expect and while we could have reached Phuket easily I decided that if we saw a place we would stop. About 15 minutes later we saw signs for Kuraburi Greenview resort which was set among the trees right off hwy 4. We stopped and found rates were 1,500 bt per night including breakfast. Not knowing what lay ahead we decided to stop.
The resort has individual cabins and a 3-4 story hotel complex all overlooking a small, probably man made lake. The rooms reminded me of a hunting lodge in Maine, all wood (fake, but nicely done) log walls and furniture. A very clean room with TV, wireless internet and a bathroom featuring a rock shower, a nice touch. And a porch with log easy chairs, all in all a very comfortable room. They had a dining room but an insurance group was up for the weekend so they set up a few tables on the terrace for us other guests. Menu was mostly Thai, but 3 dishes, 2 glasses of wine and a juice ran 700 bt with a tip. Food and portions very good as was the service. The insurance group was singing karaoke but enough doors and walls were in the way it wasn’t disturbing. All the service staff were friendly and we learned their big claim to fame is service to the Similan islands for diving, tours etc, something we noted for a future time!!
I awoke early so set out on the balcony reading before sunup and was surprised to see no bugs. Breakfast was a buffet and quite a few choices with real coffee!!!
Hit the road and about 30 minutes out saw many different hotels of all sorts, but no problem with where we stayed.
We crossed the bridge to Phuket around 10:30 and discovered that the Marriott beach resort we were booked into for 7 days was only 10 minutes from the bridge. We have a timeshare based in Cancun, Mexico and swapped it for a week at this Marriott. We decided even though we were early lets stop by. The resort is 5 stars and definitely a place to be pampered (and spend money!!). All staff instantly attentive and helpful. I’m not sure the nightly rate but we had 2 bedrooms, 2 large baths ( the master with a huge tub) dining room, living room and kitchen, I’ve lived in smaller places. The resort has 5-8 restaurants (didn’t count) all at western prices plus! Three large pools and right on the beach. The resort is distant to towns and nightlife (other than their own) so if you go either rent a car or plan on some hefty taxis.
At these timeshare places we generally head out and stock up the bar and fridge, usually eating breakfast in the room, lunch maybe at the resort if a lazy beach/pool day, and usually dinner outside somewhere. I always research sites on the internet for different restaurants. During the week we drove to the various corners of Phuket and ate at a variety of restaurants. My favorite was off Phuket town a pier took you out to floating restaurants where the seafood was live in the pens and you ordered from there.
After 7 days at the Marriott we regretfully packed up to leave, but I was anxious to see other places too. The wife wanted James Bond Island and we had foolishly waited until the last couple days which, of course, rained. The day we were to leave was not so bad so we drove quickly to the dock area I had read about on a website. It’s all wood longtails and for 1,200 baht we had the boat to ourselves. The driver took us to James Bond and a few other islands, a nice private 5+ hour tour at a great price compared to some of the ads I saw.
We stayed that night at a Thai resort just north of the bridge, so a little backtracking but a great place that I swear we were the only guests. Ranyatavi resort is right on the beach with a nice pool area and friendly staff and about 55 rooms. We paid 1,200 for the night with breakfast for a small clean comfortable cottage with free wireless. Now I have to mention, and preface with my mother in law is the best Thai cook I know, she worked here in California for 14 years as a head chef. The food at this resort was fantastic, as good as (I won’t admit better) my MIL. Great prices and a great find for a cheap resort on the beach, it would be a nice quiet place for a family outing.
We left the next morning and drove through Krabi, cutting across to Nakhon Si Thammarat where it rained as hard as I’ve ever seen it, all night long. We stayed at a Thai high rise hotel 500bt and ate in the hotel restaurant. Like most we’ve seen, Spartan, clean and OK for a night in transit.
From there we headed to Surat Thani getting out of Nakhon before they closed it from flooding! On the road we were constantly switched from one side of the divided highway to the other to avoid flooding. Out in the middle of nowhere 2 trees, one on either side of the road had fallen and blocked the roads completely, great what do we do now???
The roads were divided by a deep canal, but both trees had fallen in the same spot so even if someone could traverse the canal, they would hit the tree on the other side (and the canal was deep, no way to cross). It was still pouring rain about 30 minutes later when a Thai vehicle pulled up on the other side and a guy with a chain saw started cutting up the tree. Some of the drivers came out and helped him clear. When finished he came to our side and did the same thing. I got out and helped clear and received a few looks, but also lots of smiles and laughs as we got soaked and muddy!!
At that point we decided to just head back to town and drove on to Cha Am that night.
A couple observations;
We were stopped maybe a dozen times by cops but as they saw me driving, they immediately waved us on, no delays.
In the small towns and off the tourist areas, all people we met were friendly, helpful and not once did I feel any type of scam.
Other than the obvious with directions, driving outside of the towns in Thailand is great.
Any details I’m happy to share.
