Photo Trip Report: Camping Thailand's Northwest

[buksida]

The road is tarmac all the way but very twisty as it winds up into the mountains and down again. What makes it horrendous is the idiots wanting to overtake on these dangerous turns as they just have to get where they're going seven seconds faster than the car in front of them.

[buksida]

After another good night’s sleep (the hi-sos are usually quiet and in bed early), we decamped and headed south again, with a four-hour drive taking us to Suan Pheung west of Ratchaburi, our seventh province on this trip.

This mountainous Amphur on the Burmese border is also a bit of a big playground for Bangkokheads, being less than three hour drive from the capital. Needless to say, it was uber touristy with fancy resorts, animal parks, and pricey coffee shops for the phalanx of weekend warriors that would invade tomorrow. Being a Thursday, the place was deserted, so we found a campsite near the hot springs, which would be one of our first activities after another week of sleeping on the floor!

The ‘Daddy Camp’ was a picturesque spot on a lake that didn’t appear on Google Maps but it was also one of the noisiest of the trip despite there only being only two other tents there. Some muppet practicing the drums across the lake shattered the evening peace, while the morning’s mist over the lake tranquility was destroyed by hundreds of roosters wandering around the campsite trying to out-screech each other.

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To follow: Kaeng Krachan

[Big Boy]

The road is tarmac all the way but very twisty as it winds up into the mountains and down again. What makes it horrendous is the idiots wanting to overtake on these dangerous turns as they just have to get where they're going seven seconds faster than the car in front of them.

Thank you for the clarification. They were all talking about harshness on the car, but your explanation makes a lot of sense.

[buksida]

Once the tent had dried out from the moisture of the cool night, where temperatures dropped to 15 degrees, we hit the road again to finish the trip at our regular camping spot on the river in Kaeng Krachan, which was also pleasantly peaceful despite being a Friday and pleasantly cool in the evening.

That concludes our trip which lasted two weeks with just two nights in hotels. We stayed in eight different provinces and seven different national parks. Photos were taken on a Nikon Z50 and POCO phone, edited using Adobe Lightroom.

To follow: thoughts and observations

[caller]

Great report and pics again as ever, Buksi, and whilst camping has never been my thing (horrible memories of night fishing in the UK), I really get the freedom that comes with it. We spent a few days in Khao Kho, Phetchabun, over Christmas and enjoyed the chillier mornings and evenings. I'll post some pics shortly.

[buksida]

Thoughts and observations part 1

It was the longest stint we’ve tented for, but after the first night and the obvious differences of sleeping outside, you get used to it quickly. The body seems to need much less sleep when out in nature and we were up before sunrise almost every day.

The key to avoiding crowds is to avoid the weekends, but we found that this was only really necessary within about three hours by road from Bangkok. Way up north, places were generally quieter though I did notice most of the cars at these campsites had Bangkok plates. The locals must have been amused seeing these rich folk turn up in cars worth more than their homes, only to sleep on the floor in a tent!

Also, the driving and roads are much better up north with far less traffic and fewer self-obsessed lunatics on them. Google Maps was its usual inconsistent self, trying to send us through somebody’s field to shave 11 seconds off a journey. It also listed many places that simply did not exist or were closed down.

Camping in Thailand is very cheap, and we spent less than a thousand baht per day on average, including park fees, fuel, food, and camping costs. The most expensive thing, as usual, was the drink, which can add up if you fancy a decent bottle of wine or a dram of single malt in the evenings while on the road. Only in Thailand can a bottle of vino cost more than a day’s food and night’s accommodation combined!

Camping is surging in popularity, especially among the city folk. As a result, every industrious local with a plot of land near a stream or hill seems to be converting it into a campsite, after all, it is easy money for doing virtually nothing. Some sites were fully loaded with a shop/restaurant, water, power, wifi, and ‘selfie stations,’ while some had only the bare basics: a toilet and bucket - I preferred the latter more natural versions.

In terms of social interactions, we found the Thais aged between 40 and 60 were the most approachable and happy to talk and share camping and travel tips once they realized the farang spoke their language. The Bangkok hi-sos just looked down upon everyone, and everyone under 30 was so engrossed by their phones the whole time that they had no idea what was going on around them!

To follow: part 2

[buksida]

I have grown to enjoy Thai national parks again during this trip, but only if I can camp in them. I will still refuse to pay 400 baht just to look at a waterfall or cave. In provinces where there are few farangs, the park entrance fees can be as little as 100 baht, which is a lot easier to swallow even if it is still five times the Thai price - the park prices are hiked the closer they are to tourist centers such as Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, or Chiang Mai - not many farangs go to Uthai Thani or Tak. It is a similar principle to the private campsites which get more expensive the closer they are to Bangkok.

National Parks have more rules and restrictions than a kindergarten with long lists of things that you cannot do plastered everywhere. However, we were left to our own devices, and I suspect the banning of pretty much everything in them is aimed at preventing groups of teens from partying all night.

The only drawback with staying in the more remote national parks is you have to deal with the government website and officialdom to book them and the platform simply does not function properly. The procedure, which seems more involved than launching a rocket into orbit, involves a lot of form-filling, registering, data entry, QR codes, and messing around. To pay in advance, it wants you to go to the state bank (the light blue one that is always packed) since it will not accept payments from any other bank or platform. Thailand loves its paperwork and a lot of it is needed if you want to visit remote places, even though it costs virtually nothing to do so. Even the usually unflappable Mrs got frustrated dealing with these things. I hope one day they’ll have a national parks app in Thai and English that actually functions, but given this country’s track record with apps, I’m not holding my breath.

The private campsites, while generally more expensive, offer much more freedom with having a beer without having to hide it from the park gestapo, playing some music, fishing, or having a small fire or barbeque. But then these bonuses are available to all campers, so they come with a risk of being disturbed by groups of rowdy neighbours (we generally try to avoid other people when camping, especially large noisy groups). On the whole, all of the campsites we stayed at were very quiet, and most other campers were tucked up in their tents before 9pm. We saw virtually no farangs on the entire trip, it is not really something tourists come to Thailand to do, and most expats/retirees are not interested in the great outdoors any longer (or sleeping on the floor) from what we saw.

I’m hoping the cool weather continues into February so we can do a few more short camps before it gets hotter than the surface of Mercury here in March. Thanks for reading and the feedback.

Edit: would anybody be interested in a camping thread to share updates, new spots, local camping stores, tips, etc, or is it just me?

[KhunLA]

National Parks have more rules and restrictions than a kindergarten with long lists of things that you cannot do plastered everywhere.

Yep ... that's what keeps me from going the camping route, since having a dog, and Nat. Parks ban them.

Camped quite a bit back in the motherland. Agree with 400 baht is silly price to visit, but acceptable if overnight at the parks. We can find guesthouses with views as nice or better than some parks offer in the same area, for a few baht more some times. The option of camping would be nice though, especially cool season.

Finding pet friendly guesthouses can be a challenge sometimes, so camping would be a nice option, if available.

Excellent stuff, and photos ... THANKS

[buksida]

Yes, definitely no pets in national parks. The only place we saw dogs was at the hi-so campsites, targeting the Bangkokers with their foo-foo condo rats! But being the most expensive and usually the busiest (Bangkokheads seem to have a lot of holidays), we tended to avoid them.

[pharvey]

As is the norm, a cracking report and incredible photo's Buks - I would just love to view the "Night Skies" in these locations, must be absolutely breath-taking.... The (more local) scenery certainly is!