Chumphon - Tuesday 9 December
Dec. 21st, 2025 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeI awoke at 5:30am on Tuesday with the need to get to Krung Thep Aphiwat train station for a 7:30am train. Annoyingly, this was before the BTS and Metro started operations, so I had to get a taxi. Still not trusting the Grab app and running to a timetable, I decided to get one through the hotel, despite it being far more expensive. Still, it should be able to navigate the thick Bangkok traffic with ease and get me to the station in plenty of time. What I didn't realise was that the Bangkok traffic was largely non-existent and I ended up getting to the station over an hour ahead of time. Still, this gave me time to look around this rather sleek and new building, as well as pick up some breakfast. The food court was rather modest, but there were about 10 options for food, although none of them were what you call typical. In the end, I had some red pork, rice and a hard boiled egg, which was far more than I would usually have at this time of day. It was still tasty though.
My destination was Chumphon, around seven hours south of Bangkok. When I had planned this trip - admittedly last minute - Gao had invited me to visit his hometown of Nakhom Si Thammarat. Chumphon is about halfway to there and I reasoned it would be a good stopping off place on my travels. He did suggest I fly, but I wanted to experience Thai train travel, as it would allow me to see much more of the country. Alas, what I didn't realise was buying the ticket would be such a frustrating pain in the arse that flying became a strong alternative. In the end, Gao had to buy my ticket for me at his local train station and then send me the QR code. I checked in Bangkok as to whether this was okay and apparently it was.
Thai railways are under-resourced and thus the trains are often delayed. Mine was about half an hour late getting into Chumphon but the ride itself was pleasant enough. Watching the countryside go past was fascinating, as were the neat red and beige station houses at all the places we passed. Sadly, I did have an aisle seat, which afforded me less of a view and for most of the journey I had a man-spreader next to me, but it was still a fun ride nonetheless. The carriages were showing their age, while I found it fascinating that the conductor was selling pot noodles and other food on a regular basis. There seemed to be three members of staff per carriage and we weren't allowed to go to other carriages for safety reasons. As for the toilets, well I have seen worse, but they weren't particularly good.
I arrived in Chumphon at around 2:30pm, where Gao's friend Lookky was waiting for me. She is a rabbit fur who lives in the town and had agreed to meet up with me and show me around. She is half my age, at 21, and perched on the back of her moped as we drove around, I did feel a little self-conscious that I looked like one of those creepy Westerners with a Thai bride, but I tried to put this to the back of my mind. Lookky's English wasn't the greatest either and so we had to communicate through apps quite a bit, but she did take me to a range of interesting places.
The first was the Prince of Chumphon Shrine, built to honour Krom Luang Chumphon Khet Udom Sak. He is celebrated as the father of the Royal Thai Navy and the shrine is built as a replica of the HTMS Phra Ruang warship. This used to be the British warship the HMS Radiant and on its bow there are numerous Thai naval flags which adopt the traditional Thai flag and superimpose an elephant on it. The shrine is right by the coast near Laem Son Beach, about 20 minutes away from downtown Chumphon. We had dropped my bags at the hostel first before travelling out there, which was just as well as the wind was buffeting my face and balancing was difficult enough without the additional weight. At the shrine, Lookky insisted that I made an offering to the Prince by lighting incense candles and placing them in a shrine. She then tore a piece of gold paper, which we affixed to the statue itself, with some of it going on my forehead too. I do not know the significance of this ritual particularly, but I went along with it. After this, we knelt down at an area that predicted your future. There were a number of sticks in a cup and you had to shake them out slowly until one fell to a floor. Your fortune was related to the corresponding number on the stick. I drew the number six, which warned me ominously to take care when going far from home. While up here, Lookky also bought a coconut-based snack from a local street food vendor. Cooked in brittle green leaves, you remove the spikes holding it together and unfurl them to reveal a sticky brown mass with a coconut flavour. It was quite gelatinous, but certainly a tasty treat.
After this, we climbed up into the nearby hills to get a better look of the sea. It was a rather windy day and the sea was quite choppy, meaning it was churned-up and brown rather than the usual aquamarines and blues you would expect in the tropics. From a higher vantage point, the sea became prettier, and you could see random islands dotted about. However, it was the view in the other direction that was the most breathtaking, as you could see the whole valley along with the river systems that fed it. There was a small cafe, the Thamsing Cafe, up here where I picked up a delicious iced pink drink, which I drank while overlooking these wondrous views. Like in the temple, Lookky insisted she take loads of pictures of me in various poses, even though I hate seeing myself anywhere, particularly in photographs.
Going back down the hill perched on the back of Lookky's motorbike was more difficult than going up the hill and I nearly fell off on occasion. The lack of a helmet did concern me and I wondered whether this would be my final day, but my balance wasn't too bad. Our next stop was to a local deer island, which you could feed with bananas you bought on site. This was part of a lake complex and they had built a large wooden bridge which allowed you to access it. Most of the deer kept themselves to themselves on an island and I had to throw bananas over to them, but there were one or two who nibbled them out of my hand. This was a real thrill and they got through three full bags of bananas. On the roadside here, Lookky bought some grilled meats, while I picked up an ice cream from the same company I had bought my ice cream from in Bangkok on Sunday. I know the family who owns this company and I was more than happy to support them. It was around this time that Gao told us he was approaching Chumphon. He had been in contact for much of the day, detailing his progress during his four-hour drive north, and once we realised he was on his way, we knew we had to move quickly.
We met at Lookky's house, in the suburbs of Chumphon, and decanted into Gao's car. I liked this from a safety point of view, but there is a thrill to riding a motorbike that I did miss. As we drove back towards the beach, Lookky shared her grilled meats with us. I was reticent to sample this as I know this is route one to food poisoning, but in the end I relented. What I didn't realise was that I was given chicken liver, which was equally rich and gritty. I hadn't had much to eat though - we had stopped off at a 7-Eleven to pick up a ham and cheese toastie at around 3pm, but this was my first meal since my very early breakfast - and that stage I would have eaten anything. Fortunately, we were heading to a restaurant called Blue Moon. This was by the coast and it was great to hear the roaring water crashing onto the beach, even if it was now dark and we couldn't see the sea. Sat on the beachfront with just a small road between us and the water, it was everything I would have hoped for the SE Asian experience. The food itself was wonderful too, although some of it was perhaps a little too spicy for me. The coconut soup was particularly piquant, until Gao realised that all the spicy stuff had been concentrated at the top and it needed to be stirred in. This dish is served in the coconut, so this flavour is infused more and more as you go deeper into the dish. It was a nice concept and one I particularly enjoyed. The papaya salad was also way too hot for me too, but everything else was pup safe, with the grilled peppered steak being full of flavour and especially delicious. The crispy pork was ice too, while I also got to try jellyfish. This was largely tasteless and more about texture, but was pleasant enough with a bit of wasabi and soy sauce. This was the first exotic food I ended up trying, but certainly not the last, as Gao was quite encouraging of me trying a smorgasbord of local cuisines.
We walked by the beach for a short while after the meal, spying the twinkling lights of the boats in the water. There were palm trees everywhere and it felt a little like a tropical oasis, albeit one with lots of small restaurants. We then headed back into Chumphon as we wanted to experience the night market, while Gao needed to pick up some sewing supplies as he was helping to construct Lookky's new fursuit. We stopped off at a 7-Eleven for these supplies before finding a car park just off the main drag, very near to the train station where I had arrived. There were a number of small eateries on the side of the road and the atmosphere was lively. Aiding this was a camera crew filming what we were told was the Romanian version of The Apprentice. Two teams were helping the street vendors sell things and they were desperate to sell to us. I have been on the Cambodian version of Treasure Hunt so I thought I'd get involved, even if I didn't really need any more food due to the sheer volume I had just eaten at Blue Moon. Still, I bought a small sample of spiced fish and salad from one of the teams, with the camera crew filming me as I did. I was buzzing for the rest of the evening.
We walked around the night market area a little more, spotting a giant statue of a yellow horse who apparently is a mascot for a Thai loan company, before taking the car round the corner to a local craft beer bar. Tucked in a suburb near the train station, Hops & Malts is the store front for a local craft brewery and offers eight different types of beer and cider. Alas the Chumphon Blue Ocean Double IPA and the Thung Wua-Laen IPA were both off, which were the two beers of greatest interest to me. We ended up going for a tasting tray of four which included a mango cider, Stout Chumphon, Back to Basics Altbier and a Kyoho Grape Mead. I found the stout and Altbier the best of these four, while the owner of the brewery came over to chat to us about brewing and the bar in general. This was largely in Thai so I didn't really understand, but I learned quite quickly that this part of Thailand is either very welcoming and friendly, or Gao has the ability to chat to anyone and everyone. The bar itself was rather small and there was a live guitarist and singer playing. They were rather good, but like all music in Thai bars, the volume was so high as to be borderline deafening. Chatting with friends was pretty much an impossibility so after our sample tray, we decided to move on.
We had heard word that a local ramen place was open that was worth a try. Apparently, their reputation in the city is so good that they only open when they feel like it, and they are guaranteed to have customers. Food was the last thing I really needed at this point, but food seems to be a primary pass-time in Thailand and it was something I wanted to try. So, we were sat in this ramen place with worn-out wooden tables at 11pm, slurping some of the most delicious ramen I have ever tasted. The three of us shared one huge bowl and afterwards, the owners again spoke to Gao at length. Alas, I was feeling very tired at this point and just wanted to get back, so I made my excuses and left shortly after midnight. This made sense as Gao had to drive Lookky back to her house before heading to the same hostel that I was staying in, and so there was little point me joining them for this half-hour detour just to end up at the same place I could just walk to from where I was. This is what I did, but I got barked by a dog and asked by a pimp who pointed to her daughter and asked whether I "wanted boom boom". The answer was no, and I got to the hotel shortly after 12:30am.
I had booked a hostel-style room which was basically one step up from a capsule hotel. It was four beds with a walled partition, yet the wall didn't reach the ceiling. We shared the same ceiling fan, but it was so cold that I turned it off. Ten minutes later, I got a WhatsApp message from the hostel asking me to turn the thing back on again. Not in the mood for any of this nonsense, I asked whether they had a spare single room going. Fortunately, they did, so I decamped into my own room shortly after 1am. I should have probably booked this beforehand really, but at least I got a decent night's sleep ahead of a busy day the next day. As I was drifting off, Gao confirmed that he had one of the weird capsule hotel sharing room spaces and he seemed quite happy with it. I just knew I would struggle to sleep in such circumstances, despite my tiredness. Disturbing others with my snoring and needing to go to the toilet in the middle of the night was also a concern. I think I made the right choice by moving.
My destination was Chumphon, around seven hours south of Bangkok. When I had planned this trip - admittedly last minute - Gao had invited me to visit his hometown of Nakhom Si Thammarat. Chumphon is about halfway to there and I reasoned it would be a good stopping off place on my travels. He did suggest I fly, but I wanted to experience Thai train travel, as it would allow me to see much more of the country. Alas, what I didn't realise was buying the ticket would be such a frustrating pain in the arse that flying became a strong alternative. In the end, Gao had to buy my ticket for me at his local train station and then send me the QR code. I checked in Bangkok as to whether this was okay and apparently it was.
Thai railways are under-resourced and thus the trains are often delayed. Mine was about half an hour late getting into Chumphon but the ride itself was pleasant enough. Watching the countryside go past was fascinating, as were the neat red and beige station houses at all the places we passed. Sadly, I did have an aisle seat, which afforded me less of a view and for most of the journey I had a man-spreader next to me, but it was still a fun ride nonetheless. The carriages were showing their age, while I found it fascinating that the conductor was selling pot noodles and other food on a regular basis. There seemed to be three members of staff per carriage and we weren't allowed to go to other carriages for safety reasons. As for the toilets, well I have seen worse, but they weren't particularly good.
I arrived in Chumphon at around 2:30pm, where Gao's friend Lookky was waiting for me. She is a rabbit fur who lives in the town and had agreed to meet up with me and show me around. She is half my age, at 21, and perched on the back of her moped as we drove around, I did feel a little self-conscious that I looked like one of those creepy Westerners with a Thai bride, but I tried to put this to the back of my mind. Lookky's English wasn't the greatest either and so we had to communicate through apps quite a bit, but she did take me to a range of interesting places.
The first was the Prince of Chumphon Shrine, built to honour Krom Luang Chumphon Khet Udom Sak. He is celebrated as the father of the Royal Thai Navy and the shrine is built as a replica of the HTMS Phra Ruang warship. This used to be the British warship the HMS Radiant and on its bow there are numerous Thai naval flags which adopt the traditional Thai flag and superimpose an elephant on it. The shrine is right by the coast near Laem Son Beach, about 20 minutes away from downtown Chumphon. We had dropped my bags at the hostel first before travelling out there, which was just as well as the wind was buffeting my face and balancing was difficult enough without the additional weight. At the shrine, Lookky insisted that I made an offering to the Prince by lighting incense candles and placing them in a shrine. She then tore a piece of gold paper, which we affixed to the statue itself, with some of it going on my forehead too. I do not know the significance of this ritual particularly, but I went along with it. After this, we knelt down at an area that predicted your future. There were a number of sticks in a cup and you had to shake them out slowly until one fell to a floor. Your fortune was related to the corresponding number on the stick. I drew the number six, which warned me ominously to take care when going far from home. While up here, Lookky also bought a coconut-based snack from a local street food vendor. Cooked in brittle green leaves, you remove the spikes holding it together and unfurl them to reveal a sticky brown mass with a coconut flavour. It was quite gelatinous, but certainly a tasty treat.
After this, we climbed up into the nearby hills to get a better look of the sea. It was a rather windy day and the sea was quite choppy, meaning it was churned-up and brown rather than the usual aquamarines and blues you would expect in the tropics. From a higher vantage point, the sea became prettier, and you could see random islands dotted about. However, it was the view in the other direction that was the most breathtaking, as you could see the whole valley along with the river systems that fed it. There was a small cafe, the Thamsing Cafe, up here where I picked up a delicious iced pink drink, which I drank while overlooking these wondrous views. Like in the temple, Lookky insisted she take loads of pictures of me in various poses, even though I hate seeing myself anywhere, particularly in photographs.
Going back down the hill perched on the back of Lookky's motorbike was more difficult than going up the hill and I nearly fell off on occasion. The lack of a helmet did concern me and I wondered whether this would be my final day, but my balance wasn't too bad. Our next stop was to a local deer island, which you could feed with bananas you bought on site. This was part of a lake complex and they had built a large wooden bridge which allowed you to access it. Most of the deer kept themselves to themselves on an island and I had to throw bananas over to them, but there were one or two who nibbled them out of my hand. This was a real thrill and they got through three full bags of bananas. On the roadside here, Lookky bought some grilled meats, while I picked up an ice cream from the same company I had bought my ice cream from in Bangkok on Sunday. I know the family who owns this company and I was more than happy to support them. It was around this time that Gao told us he was approaching Chumphon. He had been in contact for much of the day, detailing his progress during his four-hour drive north, and once we realised he was on his way, we knew we had to move quickly.
We met at Lookky's house, in the suburbs of Chumphon, and decanted into Gao's car. I liked this from a safety point of view, but there is a thrill to riding a motorbike that I did miss. As we drove back towards the beach, Lookky shared her grilled meats with us. I was reticent to sample this as I know this is route one to food poisoning, but in the end I relented. What I didn't realise was that I was given chicken liver, which was equally rich and gritty. I hadn't had much to eat though - we had stopped off at a 7-Eleven to pick up a ham and cheese toastie at around 3pm, but this was my first meal since my very early breakfast - and that stage I would have eaten anything. Fortunately, we were heading to a restaurant called Blue Moon. This was by the coast and it was great to hear the roaring water crashing onto the beach, even if it was now dark and we couldn't see the sea. Sat on the beachfront with just a small road between us and the water, it was everything I would have hoped for the SE Asian experience. The food itself was wonderful too, although some of it was perhaps a little too spicy for me. The coconut soup was particularly piquant, until Gao realised that all the spicy stuff had been concentrated at the top and it needed to be stirred in. This dish is served in the coconut, so this flavour is infused more and more as you go deeper into the dish. It was a nice concept and one I particularly enjoyed. The papaya salad was also way too hot for me too, but everything else was pup safe, with the grilled peppered steak being full of flavour and especially delicious. The crispy pork was ice too, while I also got to try jellyfish. This was largely tasteless and more about texture, but was pleasant enough with a bit of wasabi and soy sauce. This was the first exotic food I ended up trying, but certainly not the last, as Gao was quite encouraging of me trying a smorgasbord of local cuisines.
We walked by the beach for a short while after the meal, spying the twinkling lights of the boats in the water. There were palm trees everywhere and it felt a little like a tropical oasis, albeit one with lots of small restaurants. We then headed back into Chumphon as we wanted to experience the night market, while Gao needed to pick up some sewing supplies as he was helping to construct Lookky's new fursuit. We stopped off at a 7-Eleven for these supplies before finding a car park just off the main drag, very near to the train station where I had arrived. There were a number of small eateries on the side of the road and the atmosphere was lively. Aiding this was a camera crew filming what we were told was the Romanian version of The Apprentice. Two teams were helping the street vendors sell things and they were desperate to sell to us. I have been on the Cambodian version of Treasure Hunt so I thought I'd get involved, even if I didn't really need any more food due to the sheer volume I had just eaten at Blue Moon. Still, I bought a small sample of spiced fish and salad from one of the teams, with the camera crew filming me as I did. I was buzzing for the rest of the evening.
We walked around the night market area a little more, spotting a giant statue of a yellow horse who apparently is a mascot for a Thai loan company, before taking the car round the corner to a local craft beer bar. Tucked in a suburb near the train station, Hops & Malts is the store front for a local craft brewery and offers eight different types of beer and cider. Alas the Chumphon Blue Ocean Double IPA and the Thung Wua-Laen IPA were both off, which were the two beers of greatest interest to me. We ended up going for a tasting tray of four which included a mango cider, Stout Chumphon, Back to Basics Altbier and a Kyoho Grape Mead. I found the stout and Altbier the best of these four, while the owner of the brewery came over to chat to us about brewing and the bar in general. This was largely in Thai so I didn't really understand, but I learned quite quickly that this part of Thailand is either very welcoming and friendly, or Gao has the ability to chat to anyone and everyone. The bar itself was rather small and there was a live guitarist and singer playing. They were rather good, but like all music in Thai bars, the volume was so high as to be borderline deafening. Chatting with friends was pretty much an impossibility so after our sample tray, we decided to move on.
We had heard word that a local ramen place was open that was worth a try. Apparently, their reputation in the city is so good that they only open when they feel like it, and they are guaranteed to have customers. Food was the last thing I really needed at this point, but food seems to be a primary pass-time in Thailand and it was something I wanted to try. So, we were sat in this ramen place with worn-out wooden tables at 11pm, slurping some of the most delicious ramen I have ever tasted. The three of us shared one huge bowl and afterwards, the owners again spoke to Gao at length. Alas, I was feeling very tired at this point and just wanted to get back, so I made my excuses and left shortly after midnight. This made sense as Gao had to drive Lookky back to her house before heading to the same hostel that I was staying in, and so there was little point me joining them for this half-hour detour just to end up at the same place I could just walk to from where I was. This is what I did, but I got barked by a dog and asked by a pimp who pointed to her daughter and asked whether I "wanted boom boom". The answer was no, and I got to the hotel shortly after 12:30am.
I had booked a hostel-style room which was basically one step up from a capsule hotel. It was four beds with a walled partition, yet the wall didn't reach the ceiling. We shared the same ceiling fan, but it was so cold that I turned it off. Ten minutes later, I got a WhatsApp message from the hostel asking me to turn the thing back on again. Not in the mood for any of this nonsense, I asked whether they had a spare single room going. Fortunately, they did, so I decamped into my own room shortly after 1am. I should have probably booked this beforehand really, but at least I got a decent night's sleep ahead of a busy day the next day. As I was drifting off, Gao confirmed that he had one of the weird capsule hotel sharing room spaces and he seemed quite happy with it. I just knew I would struggle to sleep in such circumstances, despite my tiredness. Disturbing others with my snoring and needing to go to the toilet in the middle of the night was also a concern. I think I made the right choice by moving.
