Keith's Blog

Scary

2026-11-01T12:11:14.460+01:00

I decided to scare people this Halloween by letting they see my whole ugly face. Following is the before and after photo.

I may make it one week before letting my face go back it's normal state.

Breakdown on the Way Home

2026-10-14T14:09:00.000+02:00

While in Krabi I had to decide what to do next. I had thought about going to the The Phuket Vegetarian Festival but it would not start for almost a week. I could find a place to stay for a week or I could be home in less than a week. I decided to head home.

This is my Route Leaving Krabi

I decide to take a bit of the long way going via route 401 between Phang Nga and Surat Thani. I heard that this route going by Khao Sok National Park was one of the best route in Thailand. The section around Khao Sok was pretty but I think the highlight was the the last 10 or 15 kilometers of Route 4 in Phang Nga before turning north on route 4090.

I was having a good day of riding and thinking about where I wanted to stop but once at the outskirts of the town of Chaiya in Surat Thani my bike decided it was time to stop. It seems I had got an oil leak at some point and I am not good at checking the oil and the only oil light that the bike has is when it is time to change the oil so I ran it dry and the engine seized up.

I was pushing the bike and some sort of shop asked me what was the problem. I tried to tell them the motorcycle was broken and with the help of google translate asked if they knew of a motorcycle repair close by. With it being a Sunday not a lot was open but a guy at the shop went off in search of a motorcycle repair shop that was open. About 10 or 15 minutes later a guy showed up on a motorcycle and pushed the bike with me on it to his repair shop.

He spent some time looking at the bike and quickly knew this repair was going to take some time. He had me hop on the back of his bike and he took me to a hotel a couple of kilometers away. We had exchanged details of a messaging app common in Thailand called Line and he messaged me later that he would need to check on parts the following day before being able to guess on the repair cost or timeframe.

This hotel was sort of in the middle of no where but they did have a menu with a phone number and I was able with my little bit of Thai to call and order some food even without really knowing the name of the hotel. The following day I paid for the room for another day and walked to what I thought was the closest place to eat but turned out to be about a 4 kilometer walk with temperature of about 35c or 95f so was not enjoyable.

I received a message with a price break down for the motorcycle repair and what he wanted as a deposit to start the work. I said OK to the price and transfered the deposit which was about 1/2 of the price of the total repair. He said it would take at least 3 days to do the work. I messaged back that I would be going to a larger town and message me when the bike was ready and I would return.

I had mixed feeling about me breaking the bike. I was not happy about the breakdown but when I look at all the places I have been I could have broken down in a lot of places that would have been a lot worse. I felt really lucky to have brokendown somewhere that had such nice people that helped me.

The hotel I was staying at helped me get to the train station and I took a train to Chuphon where I stayed for the next 5 days and did a lot of nothing. The guy doing the work on my bike ran into a couple of problems but messaged me and told me the bike would be ready in the afternoon so I caught the afternoon train and took the 2 hour train journey back to Chaiya. With my crap Thai and using google maps to show the driver I found a motorcycle taxi that took me to the repair shop. The guy doing the repairs was putting the last few things on my bike when I arrived.

You can see my bike at the shop and a bit of the repairman's head on the opposite side of the bike.

I paid the remaining balance for the bike repair and even though he had other issue with the bike he charged me what he had originally quoted me. I gave him a bit of a tip for all his work and head back to Chumphon where I had left all my stuff. It was about a 2 hour ride and I was very nervous the whole way but it all went well and the bike is still running great after all the work.

The following day I did the long ride from Chumphon to Hua Hin. I got some rain on and off throughout the day but cleared up by the time I got to Sam Roi Yot Beach, where I made a bit of a pit stop before going to my hotel in Hua Hin.

I spent 2 nights in Hua Hin and decided to see a couple of the beach close to the city that I don't think I have visited before. My first stop was at Khao Takaib Beach. I had watched a video on YouTube that said this was the best beach around Hua Hin. I visited a lot of beaches on this trip that I thought were much prettier.

I saw another beach on the maps and headed south to Khao Tao Beach.

Hua Hin is a city with a lot of expats so I decided to look for some Mexican food while I was in town. It is the one food I seem to miss living in Thailand and found a place for lunch I really liked and will visit again the next time I am in Hua Hin.

The last day of this trip was another rain filled day of riding about 4 and a half hours going from Hua Hin to my home in Kanchanaburi. Even with the breakdown I would say it was a very good trip but am happy to be home.

Krabi

2026-10-03T18:37:00.000+02:00

From Trang I made the ride north to the city of Krabi. I have been to Krabi before but it is close to 20 years ago so didn't remember much.

My first stop in Krabi was at Phra Maha That Chedi but I didn't go in and just took a picture.

Wat Kaew Korawaram (วัดแก้วโกรวาราม) was in the center of town.

I booked my room where I would stay in Krabi where I normally book hotels but this time ended up in a condo with 2 rooms and a kitchen. It was a lot more space than I needed for my 2 nights in Krabi but would be great if I would stay a week or more. The one thing I really enjoyed was the view as shown in the following pictures.

I had visited a few of the sites I planned for Krabi on the day I arrived so did not have a lot left to see but this was my route plan for the day of the Krabi Sites.

My first stop was at Klong Muang Beach (หาดคลองม่วง). It was a nice looking beach and ended up talking with an expat that have been living in Krabi for a few years. It is nice to get some local insight on an area but didn't add much to my agenda.

I had not planned on visiting Tubkaek Beach but saw it was close to my last stop and made the detour to see what it looked like. This beach had a number of high end resorts in front of it so access to the beach was not great. I found a lower end type of place where I could park and access the beach for the price of an ice coffee. The price of the coffee was more than double what I normally pay but it did provide a good view of the beach.

Ao Nang Beach was my final site in Krabi. It is the main tourist beach in this area and is the one place I remember visiting about 20 years ago that I wrote about in the link. The area around the beach has changed a lot with a very vibrant tourist area with all kinds of shops, restaurants and hotels.

I stopped at the north end of the beach and took this picture before riding south along the beach on one side of the road and all the shops and hotels on the other.

Satun to Trang

2026-10-01T17:43:00.000+02:00

I got a late start leaving Satun late on purpose. I had a few stops planned on the ride but didn't want to arrive at my hotel in Trang prior to check-in time.

I rode for an hour and stopped for a fill up of both the bike and myself. I wasted a bit more time and then back on the road. I was not that far along and the sky opened up and started dumping sheets of water on me.

I stopped at one of those road side shelters that I think are used by people waiting for public transportation. After about 20 minutes I thought it had let up so headed out again but it must have only been a brief pause and the sky let me have it again.

I was stopped at a traffic light next to a gas station and a restaurant. I went into the restaurant and dripped all over their floor for about an hour. I stayed in the restaurant until I needed the toilet. I walked across the parking lot to the toilet and regained any water I had dripped off in the restaurant.

After the toilet I didn't want to drip all over the restaurant again so took off on the bike. I have had a few days of heavy rain on this trip but had not had issues with deep water in the road before so it was really slow going but after about 30 minutes the rain let up and was only a light rain for the remainder of my ride into Trang. I gave up the idea of stopping to play tourist and it also well after the check-in time when I arrived at the hotel.

I had dried off by the following morning and the sun was shining. This is my route plan for seeing the Trang Sites.

My first stop was at the beach of Hat Ratcha Mongkhon. Some Thai people had a tent setup back under a rock over hang or maybe it would be considered a cave. I tried not to disturb them while walking around on the beach taking pictures.

The tent seemed to have come alive while I was wondering on the beach so exchanged a quick hello before riding off on the bike.

I had pasted this lighthouse when going to the beach but stopped for a photo on the return journey.

My next stop was at the Hat Pak Meng beach.

I enjoyed the statue of dugong that is the landmark of Pak Meng beach.

I had marked Chao Mai Beach as a stop and it was a pretty beach a little off the road and nothing else around.

When I was at Chao Mai Beach I didn't know there was a National Park by the same name. I pasted the park headquarters as I was headed to Ling Beach (หาดหยงหลิง) and couldn't get to this beach without paying the park entrance fee so removed it from my route.

I kept seeing signs for Yao Beach so added it in to take the place of the one I skipped.

I got something to eat and drink at Yao and just enjoyed the lovely view of the Andaman Sea.

My next stop was at Mot Tanoi Beach (หาดมดตะนอย). I just see beaches on the map and add some of them to the plan without knowing anything about them. This was the case for this beach and it was pretty but I don't think it sees many tourists. I snapped this picture on the way to the beach.

I rode on down the muddy and sandy path and found what I think is Mot Tanoi Beach.

I had rode past Khai Botanic Garden (สวนพฤกษศาสตร์ทุ่งค่าย) yesterday because of the rain but this day I didn't go in due to the dual pricing. I live in Thailand but do not get the local price at tourist sites. Some of the times I have paid the tourist price I have felt like I havebeen ripped off because the site seemed way over priced. Now it has to be something I really want to see for me to pay the inflated price. I might be missing some good places but this dual pricing seems wrong.

The Chao Pho Muen Ram Shrine (ศาลเจ้าพ่อหมื่นราม) was also a planned stop that got skipped due to the rain but this one I did visit when the rain was gone.

Trang Clock Tower (หอนาฬิกาตรัง) was not on my original plan but saw pictures of it at my hotel and I have been to a number city's clock towers on this trip.

I was riding to my hotel and pasted The Dugong Circle (วงเวียนพะยูน).

I had set a goal for this year to visit the remaining Thailand provinces that I had never visited. When I arrived in Trang I had achieved that goal. I have now been in all 77 Thai provinces or as Google keeps saying 76 provinces plus Bangkok.

This is the first country I have reached this type of goal. I have only been to 49 of the US states. I also have never visited one of The Netherlands provinces even after living there for 15 years but never really thought about it until I left.

I am happy to say I have visited all the Thai provinces but still have things I want to see in Thailand, so the journey continues.

Betong to Satun

2026-09-29T15:13:00.000+02:00

This is the route that google maps gave me for going from Betong to Satun.

I took 2 days to make this ride. I had planned a more remote route but having encountered some roads that scared me on previous rides I decided to take the safe route.

I headed out from Betong and turned right to avoid going through the center of town on what Google showed as alternative route until I wound up at the Malaysian border.

I guess I need to be a little more careful when picking my routes when close to a border. I turned around and made my way to route 410 and headed north staying in Thailand. Not sure about taking the bike across the border but I don't have a re-entry stamp in my passport so would require me to get a new Thai visa if I left the country.

I spent a night in Hat Yai to break up the ride and then the following morning I continued on to Satun.

Satun is not really on the tourist trail. When I was trying to plan what to do in Satun most everything I looked at only had the island of Lipe and I am not much of an island person. The only tourist attraction I had planned was the Satun National Museum and it was closed the days I was in Satun.

I clicked on Tam Malang Observation Tower (หอคอยชมวิวตำมะลัง) on Google maps and decided it would be a good place to visit.

I have spent a lot of this trip looking at the Gulf of Thailand on the east side of Thailand but now I was on the west side of Thailand and was got to look at the Andaman Sea.

After walking around the pier at the site I proceed down the raised walkway through the mangrove forest and to the tower.

I climbed up the stairs to the top of the tower thinking I would get a good view out over the Andaman Sea and this is the best view I had.

While I was sitting in the tower catching my breath from the stairs I decided to do some searches on my phone. At various coastal locations on this trip I would look up and see a raptor flying high above me with a brown body and a white head, it reminded me of a bald eagle. I believe what I had been seeing are white-bellied sea eagles. Following are a couple of pictures I downloaded off the internet.

When I was descending the stairs of the tower I noticed some branches shaking in some nearby trees. When I got to the ground I went over to see what the movement was and saw a troop of Dusky Leaf Monkeys.

I couldn't capture a good picture or video of any of the monkeys but this is the best I got.

I made my way back through the mangrove forest and rode back to the town of Satun. I found a hotel and then a laundromat before going to the night market for an evening meal.

Narathiwat through Yala City to Betong

2026-09-27T17:23:00.000+02:00

This is the link for the route I took from Narathiwat through Yala City to Betong.

I made my way to the city of Yala and rode past the City Pillar without stopping or knowing for sure if that was what it was. I stopped at the Yala Clock Tower (หอนาฬิกา), snapped a picture and figured out it was the city piller in the middle of the last traffic circle.

I tried to add the main Mosque in Yala to my route plan but somehow got Google Maps into some kind of freaked out state. When starting the route the map it would switch to some location a long ways away from where I was. I could zoom out and see the route and where I was but if I hit re-center it would zoom in to some random location.

The directions at the top of the screen seemed to working so I followed them but ended up at Wat Kuhaphimuk (วัดคูหาภิมุข) and not the city mosque.

Wat Kuhaphimuk was a planned stop so I just visited it and skipped a stop at the mosque.

Wat Kuhaphimuk has a lot of stairs up to a cave temple. Not sure it was worth climbing the stairs but I got some pictures.

I had seen a YouTube video that said Route 410 between the city of Yala and Betong was one of the best motorcycle routes in Thailand. I had rode about 60 or 70 kilometers of this route and had a turn coming up so thought I was almost to Betong. I thought there has been some pretty scenery but not really an amazing ride.

I had misread my GPS and still had about 60K to go to Betong and that 60K was a really fun and pretty ride. My phone had me turn onto route 4363 and then route 3006 which ended connecting back to route 410. Not sure if taking those roads saved me any time but those roads had very little traffic and was a really fun ride.

I did this ride on a Saturday and encountered large groups of riders on route 410 before turning off the main highway. When I returned this way 2 days later I made a point to stay on route 410 and it was also a fun ride but with more traffic even without the weekend riding groups.

I didn't take any pictures on the ride south but stopped at a view point on the ride north. These are from a section of 410 I had bypassed on Saturday for this photo.

I spent two nights in Betong and this is my route plan for the Betong Sites.

I had planned for stopping at the Betong Clock Tower (Betong City Centre) (หอนาฬิกาเบตง) and the World's Largest Mailbox (ตู้ไปรษณีย์สูงใหญ่ที่สุดในโลก) later in the day but went right by at the start of the day. Here are the photos.

My next stop was at the Winter Flower Garden in Betong (สวนหมื่นบุปผา เบตง) and is was a great ride to get to the entrance. Once I was there I just didn't feel like going in for some reason.

I snapped a photo near the entrance and then stopped again above the gardens and snapped another.

I rode on up to the entrance to the Piyamit Tunnel (อุโมงค์ปิยะมิตร) but again decided not to go in. I think I have become a bad tourist. The tunnels site is the top tourist site in Betong and I had no interest in seeing it. I did take a picture from the road.

I really enjoyed ride out to and past these tourist sites even though I didn't go in. It was a lot of fun on these twisty roads through the mountains.

I made my way back into town and made a stop at Phra Mahathat Chedi Phra Phuttha Thamma Prakat (พระมหาธาตุเจดีย์พระพุทธธรรมประกาศ).

In Betong I also stopped at Wat Phothisatto Chao Mae Kuan Im (วัดโพธิสัตโตเจ้าแม่กวนอิม).

I had time left in the day but had visited all the stops that I had planned. I guess when you skip going into places you save a lot of time. I sat in a coffee shop and looking at Google maps came up with an idea of a loop to ride and another temple to visit.

I rode over to the start of my planned loop and found a muddy mess of a road and abandoned my loop idea.

I headed out to the temple I had found on the map. I missed a turn so backtracked and then missed another turn and was riding down a small road that was not on Google maps. This non-mapped road had some pretty views.

I went on down this road until the pavement stopped and kept going until I got to a section that looked to be used very little and was very steep. I decided this was a good place to go back the way I came.

I think on my return I found the missed turn to the temple but decided I had done enough exploring for the day. I abandoned visiting this temple and called it a day.

The area around Betong was really pretty and I was happy I made the trip to the southern tip of Thailand.

Pattani to Narathiwat

2026-09-25T17:17:00.000+02:00

This is the link for my planned route from Pattani to Narathiwat.

This day was full of riding along the coast and looking out on the Gulf of Thailand.

I am ashamed but I am not sure which picture goes with which beach. I will arrempt to get them correct but please don't plan travel on what I put here.

My first stop was at Penarik Beach (หาดปะนาเระ).

I was riding along and just turned left down an unknown road and wound up here.

My next stop was at Ratcharak Beach.

When I road down to the beach I pasted this mosque so stopped and snapped a picture when I was passing on my way back to the main road.

Once again I saw a sign pointing to a beach so off I went but don't think I made a point to get the name of this beach.

I think this is Wasukri Beach (หาดวาสุกรี) but when I look at pictures on line of Wasukri Beach I don't see a light house so now I'm confused.

My last beach before riding through the city of Narathiwat was Ban Thon Beach (หาดบ้านทอน).

I would say that Narathat Beach is part of the city of Narathiwat. I stopped on a bridge on the way to the beach for a picture and then a picture of the beach.

I seem to have a knack for arriving at a Mosque as prayer is taking place. This was the case at Masjid Klang Pracha Changwat Narathiwat (มัสยิดกลางประจำจังหวัดนราธิวาส) so just took a picture.

I seem to have entered the temple grounds at Khao Kong Temple (วัดเขากง) via the wrong entrance. Google maps had me going in circles and wanting me to turn in places there were no roads but I eventually found my way over to the big Buddha.

San Chao Mae Kow Leng Jee (ศาลเจ้าโก้วเล้งจี่) was my final stop of the day and I was getting ready to snap a quick photo in front of the temple when a lady showed up urged me to go into the temple. I forgot to take the picture outside but have this one from the inside.

It was a very good day of riding along the coast and not what I expected of Narathiwat.

Songkhla to Pattani

2026-09-24T14:38:00.000+02:00

This is the link to route I followed from Songkhla to Pattani.

The next three provinces (Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala) that I will be traveling in have a travel advisory about them as follows.

"The U.S. Department of State issues a Level 3: Reconsider Travel advisory for the provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat due to civil unrest and ongoing insurgent activities.Key

Advisory Details

Overall Rating: While most of Thailand is rated at Level 1 (Exercise Normal Precautions), the far southern border provinces carry an elevated warning to reconsider travel.

Security Risks: Sporadic violence, bombings, shootings, and arson attacks occur in the region involving insurgents and security forces.

Targeting: Tourists are rarely the primary targets of these attacks, but collateral risks remain high for anyone caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."

This is not the first time I have traveled somewhere with an advisory but am still a bit nervous. I'm writing this a few days later and have had no issues.

It was a bit of a long ride before my first stop at Teluk Samilae Beach (หาดตะโล๊ะสะมิแล). I found this to be a very pretty beach and sat and enjoyed an ice coffee while watching the surf rolling in.

I saw on Google maps that the road continued north another 10 kilometers to what appeared to be end of this outcrop of land at Laem Tachi.

Laem Tachi did not have much to see other than a couple buildings a bit of sand and a few goat but the ride there and back had some great beach views.

My next stop was at the mosque Masjid Kerisik (มัสยิดกรือเซะ).

I had marked the Pattani Skywalk but think it permanently closed but enjoyed riding around area and through Somdet Phra Srinagarindra Park (สวนสมเด็จพระศรีนครินทร์).

I arrived at the Pattani Central Mosque (มัสยิดกลางจังหวัดปัตตานี) as the call to prayer was going on so didn't enter the mosque.

I found my hotel and then went out for something to eat and made it another early night.

Phatthalung to Songkhla

2026-09-23T17:54:00.000+02:00

This is the link to my route from Phatthalung to Songkhla.

I made the ride from Phatthalung to another island in Phatthalung Lake this was called Ko Mak. I rode through the island to the northern tip of the island but other than the bridge to the island I don't think I saw the lake at all.

I saw a temple called Koh Khop temple (วัดเกาะโคบ) and went to it to have a view of the lake.

I rode across another island in the lake named Ko Nang Kham.

After leaving the island I continued on towards the town of Songkhla and tried to find a view of the water ended up at a place called Songkhla Pier.

I rode onto another island but this one is in Songkhla Lake and is called Ko Yo (เกาะยอ). The pier I stopped at earlier is on what I would call a channel that connects Songkhla lake with the Gulf of Thailand.

When I was going onto the island I saw a Buddha on a hill near where the bridge ended and decided to ride up there.

I didn't find the Buddha but ended up at the Folklore Museum The Institute for Southern Thai Studies, Thaksin University (พิพิธภัณฑ์คติชนวิทยา สถาบันทักษิณคดีศึกษา). I didn't go into the museum but enjoyed the view over the lake.

I rode back down the hill from the museum and all the way around Ko Yo. This island ride had great views of lake as I rode along.

I rode off the island and into the town of Songkhla, found a hotel and then a much needed laundromat.

I spent the next day visiting Songkhla Sites on the linked route.

My first stop of the day was at Masjid Ban Bon - Usasan Islam (มัสยิดบ้านบน-อุสาสนอิสลาม). My phone kept telling me it was not open yet and when I arrived there seemed to be construction in front of the Mosque. I snapped a photo and moved on.

I had planned on stopping in the area known as Songkhla Old Town (เมืองสงขลา) but just keep on rolling and looking around from the seat of the bike.

I stopped and snapped a quick picture at the Songkhla City Wall (กำแพงเมืองสงขลา).

Following is a picture of The Great Serpent - Naga Head (ประติมากรรมหัวพญานาค).

While I was at the Naga Head I also snapped a shot of a fishing boat returning to Songkhla.

I stopped at Samila Beach and the Golden Mermaid Statue (รูปปั้นนางเงือก). This area was overrun with school kids. I always remember my Mom once saying about school kids at tourist attraction "Do kids spend anytime in school these days? It seems like they are always on field trips."

I rode along the coast going south and stopped at Bor It Beach (หาดบ่ออิฐ) for a few pictures.

I had completed the sites in the town of Songkhla that I had planned and Bor It Beach was not even a planned stop. It was still early in the afternoon so decided to make the ride to Wat Khuat (วัดขวด).

I wrote about visiting Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew or Temple of 1 million bottles and Wat Khuat is a similar temple. Wat Khuat means bottle temple.

I wonder if any of the bottles I emptied are somewhere included in this very special temple.

I had thought this would be a short day and rest a bit but decided to try and hit the link for the Hat Yai Sites as well.

I rode throught the off and on rain showers from Wat Khuat into the city of Hat Yai and went to the Chinese style temple of Wat Chue Chang (วัดฉื่อฉาง).

I rode up the hill behind the hill behind the Hatyai City Municipal Park (สวนสาธารณะเทศบาลนครหาดใหญ่) to the Kho Hong Mountain vista point (จุดชมวิวเขาคอหงส์).

The viewpoint had views over Hat Yai and also a standing Buddha on this hill top.

I also snapped a photo of my next stop from a distance.

I rode down the hill and a bit through the park before heading to my last site of the day at The Central Mosque of Songkhla (มัสยิดกลางประจำจังหวัดสงขลา).

I extend my hotel stay for a third day in Songkhla. I had reached the milage on the bike for an oil change the previous day. I spent my 3rd day as a bit of a rest day but accomplished getting the oil changed.

Nakhon Si Thammarat to Phatthalung

2026-09-20T16:43:00.000+02:00

This is the link for my route from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Phatthalung.

My first stop of the day was at Masjid Salahudin (มัสยิดซอลาฮุดดีน). I assume I picked this mosque from Trip Advisor but not sure what is special about it from the other mosques in the area I passed to get to this one.

My next stop was at Sanam Na Muang Public Park (สนามหน้าเมือง นครศรีธรรมราช) but didn't see anything special in the park but found the temple type place across the street attractive. It was called San Lak Mueang Nakhon Si Thammarat(ศาลหลักเมืองนครศรีธรรมราช).

My last stop before leaving the city was at the Old City Wall, Nakhon Si Thammarat (กำแพงเมืองเก่า จังหวัดนครศรีธรรมราช).

I rode around the island of Koh Yai that sits in the middle of Phatthalung Lake. This is one of the pictures at a random stop.

I stopped at Koh Yai Grand Canyon (เกาะใหญ่แกรนด์แคนยอน). I think the Thais use the terms grand and canyon a bit more freely than I think is appropriate.

I did enjoy see the swans at the so-called canyon.

I noticed a temple next to the lake and needed a stop so took a break read a bit of a book and snapped a picture of the lake and one of my bike.

I had rode down the road between the Gulf of Thailand and Phatthalung Lake, went around the island and then had to ride back north and turn west on what I think is route 5050. A long section of this road is raised over a wetland type of area and is really pretty. There are signs every few meters of the birds in the area and made for a very nice ride.

My last stop along the lake was at Lampam Beloved Pavilion (ศาลาลำปำที่รัก).

I did find the tourist being pulled in small boats sort of funny. I am sure I would have flipped these boats that look like bowls if I was in one.

My last stop of the day was at the cave temple of Tham Khuha Sawan (ถ้ำคูหาสวรรค์).

Another good mostly dry day.

Surat Thani to Nakhon Si Thammarat

2026-09-19T17:02:00.000+02:00

I had to split the ride from Surat Thani to Nakhon Si Thammarat into 2 route plans due to the number of stops I was planning. Following is the first route plan of the day.

Surat Thani to Wat Chedi (Ai Khai)

I thought about taking a rest day but was happy I didn't. There was blue sky at the start of the ride and I was thrilled to see it.

My first stop was in the city center at the Surat Thani City Pillar Shrine (ศาลหลักเมืองสุราษฎร์ธานี).

I then rode out of the city and up to Phra That Srisurat Viewpoint (พระธาตุศรีสุราษฎร์) that over looks the city.

It was a bit of a ride to get to the coast where I stopped at a beach that I think is named Kho Khao beach.

My route followed the coast line but only caught occasional views of the water.

My next stop was up at the Naern Thae Wada Viewpoint (จุดชมวิวเนินเทวดา).

I had planned on stopping where Viewpoint on Khanom-Sichon Road (จุดชมวิวถนนสายขนอม-สิชล) was marked on the map but the area was really busy so I rode on to the next viewpoint where it was easy to park. I took these pictures at this viewpoint.

Not sure if I talked about some of the planning of this trip in previous posts. One of the things I used was Riding Routes on the Goran BMW Overlander YouTube page. I don't think my few pictures does this stretch of road justice so am including a link to his ride video. Route 4232 Khanom to Sichon | Nakhon Si Thammarat Video.

The Khanom-Sichon Road was a fun ride but there seemed to be a lot more people on the road for my ride compared to the BMW video. I did the ride on a Saturday so it may be the reason for the groups of riders that were on the road.

When I arrived at Wat Chedi (Ai Khai) (วัดเจดีย์ (ไอ้ไข่)) the place was rather busy but I have no idea why. They seemed to be selling a lot of firecrackers with markings like they were for a Chinese holiday. I guess I should have taken a picture of that but didn't think about it at the time.

I started the 2nd route plan at Wat Chedi (Ai Khai).

Wat Chedi (Ai Khai) to Nakhon Si Thammarat

I stopped near a place on the map called The good view (อ่าวทองคำ ท่าศาลา). I spent a bit of time here with an ice coffee and enjoying the view of the Gulf of Thailand on a nice sunny day.

I rode into the city and was planning on hitting a few more stops. I then decided I was a bit tired and it started drizzling on me which made my decision to head to a hotel an easy one. It was a great day and I hope she sun is back tomorrow.

Ranong to Surat Thani

2026-09-18T18:22:00.000+02:00

I had planned to go from Ranong south into Phang Nga and then back up to Surat Thani but changed my mind in Ranong and went straight to Surat Thani. I plan to go through part of Phang Nga later on this trip.

Following is a picture of the route I ended up taking.

Sorry this is going to be a boring post and I didn't even take one picture on this day.

I headed out on my bike for another day full of rain. I saw a guy riding along on his bicycle with panniers on the front and back and I thought I'm not enjoying the rain but at least I'm not him.

I started by riding up to Ranong Canyon and it looked more like a lake than a canyon. I thought I would keep going down the road that went past the canyon until it hit the road going west to east. I didn't understand why my phone was telling me it would take so long to go what seemed like a short distance.

About 5 kilometers past the canyon the road got really narrow and had places with about 6 inches of water covering the road. Maybe a kilometer later the pavement ended and there was a steep hill. I started up the hill but quickly thought this was a bad idea.

I turned around and went back through Ranong and took the main highway.

I think the route going from the west to the east would normally be a nice ride but with the heavy rain I can't say I enjoyed it.

I didn't have any problems reaching Surat Thani but was happy when I arrived, found a hotel for the night and dried off a little bit.

Chumphon to Ranong

2026-09-17T15:36:00.000+02:00

Following is my route plan to go to Ranong from Chumphon.

Chumphon to Ranong

I wasn't 5 minutes away from my hotel when it started to pour. This dsy was full of rain rain and more rain.

I battled my way through the rain to Wat Suwan Khiri (วัดสุวรรณคีรี). Here are a few of my pictures from the temple.

I missed the turn for the Khao Fa Chi View Point (จุดชมวิวเขาฝาชี) but went a few kilometers down the road until I could make a U-turn and return to the access road. It was a very steep road with a lot of leaves and jungle stuff on the road. I didn't think about it when going up but trying to control my speed with the wet and the leaves caused me to be a bit nervous.

I made it up and down OK and snapped a couple of pictures where not much is to be seen. I think there are supposed to be great views across the water into Myanmar on a clear day.

The Punyaban Waterfall (น้ำตกปุญญบาล อุทยานแห่งชาติลำน้ำกระบุรี) is right next to the highway so you can see it a bit from the road. It is part of a national park so there is an entrance fee to go to the viewing platform. Even though I live in Thailand I would have to pay the tourist price which is 5 times the locals price. I am too cheap so only have pictures from the road bridge.

I made my way into the city of Ranong, found a hotel and tried to towel off.

After a bit of a rest I went to the Rattana Rangsarn Palace (พระราชวังรัตนรังสรรค์). This Royal palace is built from teakwood and is where King Rama V stayed when he came to Ranong.

I arrived just after the closing time but have read there is not much to see inside.

After a stop at the palace I stopped at the local market and bought a curry and rice for my dinner in my hotel room. I also bought a custard apple which seem to be currently in season and it was wonderful.

Chumphon

2026-09-16T16:32:00.000+02:00

I planned to stay in Chumphon for 2 nights and do a bit of sightseeing around the city. My plan was to use the following route for my sightseeing. I ended up adding in places I skipping on the route to Chumphon from the day before and then skipped some of the sites around Chumphon due to afternoon rain.

Site to see in Chumphon

My first stop was at Wat Sala Loi or Wat Chao Fa Sala Loi (วัดศาลาลอย or วัดเจ้าฟ้าศาลาลอย) but it appeared to be closed so only snapped a photo.

Nong Yai Wooden Bridge (สะพานไม้เคี่ยม หนองใหญ่) was my second stop of the day. I didn't make the full 40 minute walk of the lake going over and around it. I only walked to the middle of the bridge and then moved on.

Cape Pathiu was supposed to be a stop yesterday but I ended up skipping it so added to this day. There is a pier here for Lomprayah ferries to Koh Tao.

My camera lens must have been fogged over because my pictures are awful so not posting them.

I stopped along Ao Bo Mao Bay and snapped a photo and then rode up to the Shrine of Krom Luang Chumphon Khet Udomsak at Laem Thaen and snapped more pictures of the bay and a statue.

I rode up the steep road to Khao Dinsor Viewpoint(จุดชมวิวเขาดินสอ) and was rewarded with an amazing view of the coast below.

My next stop was at Saphli Beach (หาดสะพลี).

I was sitting at Saphli Beach when the sky opened up and ended what up to that point had been a gorgeous day.

I decided to keep going through the rain and made it to Laem Hua Mong-Kho Kwang Viewpoint (จุดชมวิวแหลมหัวโม่ง-คอกวาง). I think this place may make for good views without the rain.

I stopped for a coffee and dripped all over the coffee shop. The rain seemed to let up so I went on to Khao Matsee View Point (จุดชมวิวเขามัทรี).

I was riding up the hill to the viewpoint when the rain became heavy again.I parked snapped a picture and sat down under a small shelter to think what I wanted to do next.

I looked at my route and came to the conclusion that checking off things on a list was a bit silly. There were no must see sites on this list so the dry hotel seemed like the one site I wanted to see.

A bit of a sneak peek to the next day post, rain rain and more rain.

Prachuap Khiri Khan to Chumphon

2026-09-15T16:36:00.000+02:00

I was bound for Chumphon (ชุมพร) on this ride. Google limits the number of stops you can have on a route plan so I broke this ride into 3 routes. Following is the link to the first section and the screen shot of the route.

Wat Ao Noi to Turtle Sculpture

I started my 2nd day at Ao Prachuap Bay (อ่าวประจวบ) in the town of Prachuap Khiri Khan (สถานีรถไฟประจวบคีรีขันธ์) since I hadn't stop to take a picture yesterday.

I ended up going through a military base and got asked where I was going. I don't usually know the name of my next stop until I get there so took me a bit of time to figure out via Google maps to find the name Klong Wan Beach (หาดคลองวาฬ). I had to sign in and was off through the base and to the beach.

When I arrived at this beach I found it difficult to access the beach. The beach seemed to be behind the resorts and took me a couple passes to find an access path where I didn't have to walk through a resort or hotel. Following are a couple of photos from Klong Wan Beach.

My next stop was at Lamkum Beach (หาดแหลมกุ่ม). Here are a couple photos along Lamkum Beach.

I stopped at Phra Mahathat Chedi Phakdee Prakat (พระมหาธาตุเจดีย์ภักดีประกาศ) but not sure the temple was worth the walk up the stairs from the parking lot.

I did enjoy the view of the beach below the temple.

Ban Krut Beach (หาดบ้านกรูด) was a pretty beach with a good length of beach road next to it so made for a pretty ride.

My last stop on this planned route was at the Turtle Sculpture.

This is the route link and screen shot of the 2nd part of this ride.

Turtle Sculpture to Bang Boet Beach

I took a bit of a detour and ended up at this pretty bay but couldn't find a name for it.

I set a stop on this small peninsula just to see what was there and seemed to be mostly a fishing community. I took this picture of a ship that has seen better days.

I had Hat Ton Thonglong beach marked as a stop but think I meant to turn down to the road that ran along the beach a bit earlier than I did. I back tracked a bit before stopping at the beach and getting a bite to eat. Not a bad spot for lunch.

Laem Son Beach (หาดแหลมสน) was on one side of the road and a bunch of fishing boats on the other side.

Following are a couple photos I took at Bang Boet Beach (หาดบางเบิด).

Bang Boet Beach is where I switched over to following the 3rd part of this day's route.

Bang Boet Beach to Sairee Beach, Chumphon

I took another detour into a village with a small harbour with a pier.

I believe the racks in this picture are for drying squid.

It was just after leaving this fishing village when it started pissing down rain. I somehow messed up the route on my phone and the thought of looking at beaches in the rain didn't appeal to me so I skipped most of the remaining stops on my route.

The rain let up a bit when I saw a sign for Thung Wua Laen Beach and decided to make one more stop.

I have been to Thung Wua Laen Beach before but thought it was called white sand beach. I went to Chumphon shortly after moving to Thailand back in 2020 and spent a day at this beach. This time the area was a lot busier even if there is no one in my beach pictures. The beach was empty this time due to the rain but in 2020 it was due to COVID.

I made my way from the beach into the city of Chumphon found a hotel and tried to dry off.

Off to the South of Thailand

2026-09-14T15:35:00.000+02:00

I am heading to the South part of Thailand to try and visit the provinces I have not been to before and maybe also attend the vegetarian festival in Phuket.

I have done something different for me and planned the routes for most of the trip. You can click on this link to see the route I planned, Route from Home to Wat Ao Noi. Following is a screen shot of my route from my phone.

It has been raining a lot lately and looked like rain when I headed out on the bike for today's ride. I got sprinkled on a bit but remained mostly dry and had a great ride.

I had a mix of stops that had things I wanted to check out and other stops to keep me on the route I wanted to ride. The problem with this is I forget which is which and often wonder why I marked this stop.

I didn't have the Huay Mongkol Reservoir (อ่างเก็บน้ำห้วยมงคล) planned as a stop but needed a break so stopped and snapped this picture.

My next stop was planned at Wat Huay Mongkol (วัดห้วยมงคล) and I took the following pictures there.

My next stop was my first beach stop of the trip and turned out to be a really pretty place, Following are my pictures from the View Point Khao Kalok (จุดชมวิว เขากะโหลก).

Wat Khao Kalok (วัดเขากะโหลก) was close to the view point and wasn't planned but made a quick stop for pictures.

Sam Roi Yot Beach (หาดสามร้อยยอด) is a pretty beach with a road running the length of the beach. I tried to film the ride along the beach and may post it later with some editing. Here are the beach pictures I took before the ride.

I stopped at Wa Khao Beach (หาดหว้าขาว) and took the following picture.

Wat Ao Noi (วัดอ่าวน้อย) sets next to a bay full of fishing boats. I took a number of photos at this place.

Wat Ao Noi was my last stop of the day before going into town. The route to the hotel took me along the road next to Ao Prachuap Bay (อ่าวประจวบ)

I didn't stop and take a picture but found this bay pretty so returned the following morning for a picture. I don't think the following panoramic picture does Ao Prachuap Bay justice but it's the best of my pictures.

I rode past Khao Chong Krachok with monkeys all around the base. I was happy none of the monkeys attempted to bite me or steal anything off the bike while I was waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

I found a hotel in the town of Prachuap Khiri Khan (สถานีรถไฟประจวบคีรีขันธ์). The town setting on the bay made it very attractive and this was a real surprise to me. This was a great way to end my first day on the ride to the South.

Short Update on Building at Phra Borom That Chedi Manikan (พระบรมธาตุเจดีย์มณีกาญจน์)

2026-09-06T08:17:58.201+02:00

I have not been up to much lately but was talking to a friend about one of the temples and the building work that is being done and decided to go for another visit. I had not been out to Phra Borom That Chedi Manikan (พระบรมธาตุเจดีย์มณีกาญจน์) in about 6 months and the link is to my last post.

I could not ride past the new standing Buddha that they seemed to have just installed at the enterence of the site. They were busy working when I arrived and still had a large crane next to the large standing Buddha.

The following picture popped up on my facebook feed so I stole it and posting it here since it is a different view point of the temple and a great picture.

I also went out to the Wat Mettatham Photiyan (วัดเมตตาธรรมโพธิญาณ) which I also visited 6 months ago and wrote about it in Another Visit. For 6 months work I was not impressed with the changes that I could see. It seems that have added about 20 or 30 feet to a few of the walls that I believe will be the base for the large Buddha.

This is a picture from outside of the building.

These are pictures from the inside of the building and the 2 walls that have increased in height.

I will try and visit these sites again in 6 months or a year and do another update.

My 2026 Rocket Festivals Video

2026-07-18T15:57:34.075+02:00

It has taken me a long time to go through all of my videos from my time at the rocket festivals this year. Following is the summary I have come up with of my time watching the rockets.

Plow Field Buffalo Races (วิ่งควาย)

2026-06-29T10:25:00.000+02:00

The day after my birthday I went and watched the buffalo races. I have been to this type of the buffalo races once back in 2024 and blogged about it in Plow Field Good Buffalo. Following are the videos that I have done of the races.

Back in Yasothon for More Rockets

2026-06-23T09:48:49.998+02:00

One of the festivals that I wanted to attend but had not been to before was at Phanom Phrai Roi Et (พนมไพร ร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ). This is only about 17 Kilometers from Yasothon City and I decided I would spend about a week in Yasothon and then go to this rocket festival scheduled for the 1st of June.

I had a couple of places maked on my map that seemed to be on the route from Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น) to Yasothon City (เมืองยโสธร) so decided to stop along the way and visit these sites. My first stop was at Wat Nong Huling or Wat Ruea (วัดหนองหูลิง หรือ วัดเรือ). Ruea in Thai means boat and this temple was built to look like a boat.

This is a picture of what I would call a Stupa that is also at Wat Ruea (วัดเรือ).

My next stop was at Wat Prachakom Wanaram or Wat Pa Kung (วัดประชาคมวนาราม หรือ วัดป่ากุง). I didn't know anything about this temple and have no idea when or why I marked it on the map but the first thing I thought when I saw it was it reminded me a temple I visited on Jave in Indonesia. I looked up this temple when writing this and the first line on the webpage was "The pagoda imitated from Borobudur in Java Island, Indonesia"

There was also a stupa in the middle of a pound at this site that I found made a pretty picture.

When I was at Wat Pa Kung I was looking at Google maps and noticed Ku Mahathat of Prang Koo Ban Khwao (กู่มหาธาตุ หรือ ปรางค์กู่บ้านเขวา). It was a bit out of my way to visit but I am always up for going to an Khmer Ruin so off I went.

I had seen on Facebook that there was a rocket festival at Ban Kok Kaeo in Roi Et (บ้านกอกแก้ว). I got rained on while on the way to the rocket festival and when I arrived I was soaking wet, had my backpack on and the road around and the festival was muddy and slick. It was a bit crowded and I just wasn't feeling it and didn't want to leave my backpack hanging from the bike so just sat on the bike and watched a few rockets before heading into Yasothon and finding a hotel.

The day after returning to Yasothon it was off to the festival at Ban Don Klang Rockets (บ้านดอนกลาง บุญบั้งไฟ) which was not far out of the city. It was a large site and seemed to keep the rockets coming quickly throughout the day.

At one point during the day I heard what sounded like a rocket going off and a bunch of smoke in the area where they were prepping the rockets. It seems a rocket went off when it was still in the tents and shot into a couple trucks and motorbikes in the area. I didn't know much of what happened while at the festival but read the following day on Facebook that 3 people were hurt when this happened and facebook had some pictures of the trucks hit by the rocket.

I also saw the following rocket not get off the launch platform at Ban Don Klang.

On the 25th of May I went to Tambon Kham Nam Sang (ตำบลคำน้ำสร้าง) and watched the rockets. Following is the short I did while at the festival.

The 26th of May it was off to watch the rockets at Ban Phon Wai (บ้านพลไว บุญบั้งไฟ). I really should have made some notes to remind me a bit about the festivals because I am writing this about a month later and a number of the festivals blend together. The funny thing is it does not mean that it was a festival I didn't like. It seems easy to remember the things I didn't enjoy. Following is the short I uploaded while at this festival.

The festival on the 27th was at Ban Sang Paen (บ้านสร้างแป้น บุญบั้งไฟ) and was within a few kilometer from the festival the day before and may be part of the resaon these 2 festival blend together in my mind even though both were a great day out of watching rockets.

The 28th I was off to Ban Pa Wai (บ้านป่าหวาย บุญบั้งไฟ) to watch rockets. I had seen two festivals scheduled on this day and maybe the reason this place did not seem to be as crowded as a number of the other festivals. It also only had one launch platform so had longer gaps in time between the rocket launches. I was surprised to see another white face at this festival but he didn't stay long. He watched one rocket launch and was off. I wondered if he went to the other festival taking place the same day.

I still enjoyed the day with the bit slower pace and following is the short I uploaded while at Ban Pa Wai.

The festival at Ban Tha Pho Roi Et (บ้านท่าโพธิ์ บุญบั้งไฟ) on the 29th seemed to have a different type of area. The tents were pretty close to the launch platforms and then right behind the tents was an astroturf football or soccer pitch. For most of the rockets I would sit under the tent until it was about ready to launch and then retreat to the football pitch to watch the launch.

I caught one of the rockets that did not work the way they should and uploaded it to YouTube.

I got to Nong Hi Roi Et (บ้านเขวาหนองฮีร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ) on the 30th a bit later than I usually go to the rocket festivals and it was really crowded by the time I arrived. I looked around at the tents close to the launch platforms and didn't find any places with views of the platforms so ended sitting a long way away on the other side or what I would call a large basin and watched the rockets.

Sitting where I was I could also see rockets flying through the sky from a different festival that I believe was about 20 kilometers away.

The festival I attended on the last day of May was at Ban Lao Khao Roi Et(บ้านเหล่าข้าวร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ) and was another really crowded festival. There was a really long traffic jam of cars to get into the parking area and it would have been a long walk from the parking area to the festival grounds but they let bikes through and I found a place to park only a short walk to the launch platforms.

Another good day of rocket watching and following is my short video at Ban Lao Khao. I found the name of this village a bit funny because Lao Khao (เหล้าขาว) is Thailand’s traditional, cheap, and potent fermented rice alcohole. It has a different tone and spelling so not the same word but I thought I was going to the village of rice whiskey.

I ended my month of rocket festivals on the 1st of June at Phanom Phrai Roi Et (พนมไพร ร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ). I had this festival on my list of resolution for 2026 along with the spinning rockets at Kut Wa and neither festival was a disappointment. If you are going to go to one Rocket festival and only one I would recommend this festival or the one at Kut Wa. I had no idea how wild the rockets are at Phanom Phrai. I think I saw almost as many rockets on this one day as I did at all the other festivals combined. It seemed there was a big rocket going off every 5 minutes and they would set off smaller rockets in groups of about 8 with launching one right after the next. I don't think my video captures how amazing this festival is in any way but here it is.

If they timed and gambled on the rocket at this festival I did not notice it. I would also recommend if you come to this festival bring a chair and an umbrella. I sat for a while on what google tells me is called a Paddy Bund or the built up place to keep the rice fields separated. The sun was brutal so I did not last long on the Bund and found a chair in a tent a bit further away from the launch platforms than I would prefer but I am sure it was safer and a hell of a lot cooler.

I did see a few rockets explode but only captured one on video in the following YouTube post.

I am currently back in Kanchanaburi and sorry I am so slow on getting this blog post up but seems I have been busy trying to catchup on stuff I didn't do while being away for over a month. I still need to decide if I want to upload any more rocket videos to YouTube but am sort of thinking all the shorts and bad rocket videos I have already posted covers this trip but still have tons of videos I have not posted so may play with the videos if I have some spare time and desire.

Thnaks for checking out my blog and hoped you enjoyed all the rocket stuff.

Long Video of Spinning Rockets at Kut Wa, Kalasin (กุดหว้า กาฬสินธุ์ บุญบั้งไฟ)

2026-05-25T05:32:00.000+02:00

I have added the following video to the end of my post on Kut Wa but adding it here in case people read this blog in order and might be interested in seeing this video.

Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น)

2026-05-23T07:22:00.000+02:00

The day after the fun day of watching spinning rockets I headed to Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น). I had a bit of a scare on the way waiting too long to fill the bike and when I got to the station I put into the phone GPS they were out of fuel. I stopped at two more stations that were also out of fuel. I was heading to another station that I wasn't sure I had enough fuel to reach when I saw one of those vending machine type of pumps. I was thrilled to get a 100 baht of fuel. I tried to buy another100 baht but the machine kept refusing all my bills. It did accept a 20 and I maybe should have used more 20 baht bills but made it to a gas station with fuel and filled up.

I didn't find many festival this week so had decided that spending a week in Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น) would be a good use of my time. I don't think it was a really a good use of my time but I enjoyed a bit of down time. I had seen on Facebook that 2 bars had darts so tried both bars. I didn't see a board in one bar but the owner of the other bar gave me a couple of games.

I have been to Khon Kaen before and had been to most of the tourist sites which I wrote about in Khon Kaen and Backtracking to Khon Kaen but spent one day playing tourist while here.

I sometimes watch a YouTube channel of an English expat living in Khon Kaen and learned of both of the places from his channel.

My first stop was at the very unusual site of Shiva Mahadeva Temple (เทวาลัยศิวะมหาเทพ). It is a Hindu temple and seem to have some images of what I would call the devil.

My 2nd and last tourist stop was at the Khmer Ruins at Ku Kaew (อโรคยาศาล “กู่แก้ว”)

I didn't do a lot in Khon Kaen other than recharge my internal batteries for more time at rocket festivals the following week but enjoyed wasting some time.

Spinning Rockets of Kut Wa, Kalasin (กุดหว้า กาฬสินธุ์ บุญบั้งไฟ)

2026-05-18T12:00:00.000+02:00

I usually skip the parades that most of the rocket festivals have. The parade is usually the day before the rockets but I attended a bit of the parade in Kut Wa. The following video is a small bit of the parade.

I have thought about coming to this festival for 3 years and am so glad I finally made it to Kut Wa, Kalasin Rocket Festival (กุดหว้า กาฬสินธุ์ บุญบั้งไฟ). The spinning rockets are amazing.

I uploaded 2 shorts to YouTube. One while at the festival and the 2nd the following day.

I also uploaded a video of a rocket exploding. I saw 2 rockets explode but only caught this one on video.

The rockets have parachute and when they reach the top it's supposed to deploy but often doesn't and drops like a stone. I was surprised by how far they kept the crowd back from the launch area until I saw a couple rockets drop and I was happy to stay back. This is Thailand so a lot of the area they kept out of during most of day was full at the end of the day but I didn't see anyone have a rocket land on them.

A fun day of watching rockets and I hope to return to this festival in the future.

This is the long video I added when I returned to Kanchanaburi and played with my videos on my PC.

More Rockets and a Temple

2026-05-16T17:09:00.000+02:00

I didn't have anything planned on the the 13th so moved to a hotel closer to where the rocket festival that was taking place on the 17th at Kut Wa. I couldn't find any hotels that I could book online so just went to a hotel and got a room for 5 days.

I stopped for coffee while on the way to the new hotel and checked facebook. A post for a festival taking place on the same day popped up on my feed so I rode on to the hotel, checked in, dumped my bags and then turned around and back tracked for about an hour to the festival at Ban Nong Muang Klang (บ้านหนองเมืองกลาง).

This was a large festival and they seemed to just keep the two launch platforms moving along with little delay between rockets. I was really happy I attended this festival and not sure why it wasn't listed on the Yasothon Rocket Festival schedule.

I had a listing for a festival on the 14th but was unable to find it. I was in the area where I think it was supposed to be and even saw a rocket but couldn't find where it was launched from.

On the way to the area I got caught in a down pour and stopped to put my recently repaired phone under the seat but sadly it had already gotten too wet. Not a good day, no rockets and I had once again broken my phone.

On the 15th I rode to the town of Mukdahan (มุกดาหาร) to buy a new phone and visit a Temple I had pinned on Google maps. I posted a Mukdahan Face back in 2014 when I was on a trip in Thailand.

I had marked Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom (วัดรอยพระพุทธบาทภูมโนรมย์) on Google some time ago but am finnaly getting around to visiting.It is set up on a hill overlooking the town of Mukdahan, the Mekong River and the country of Loas on the other side of the river.

I didn't spend a lot of time at the temple before heading into town to search for a new phone.

I found and bought a new phone, got most of my apps setup and then went to my 2 Thailand banks to get those apps working. I am glad I don't have to go into my US or Dutch banks each time I get a new phone and just have to hope I never break a phone when out of Thailand or will not be able to pay any of my Thailand bills until I return. Getting the apps working in the bank was painless this time which made me happy. Last time I got a new phone I spent over 30 minutes trying to get the app to recognize my face but worked on the 2nd attempt this time.

My bank account may be a bit smaller but was happy to have a working phone again so a successful day.

Next post will be on the spinning rockets of Kut Wa.

Rocket Festivals or Bun Bang Fai (บุญบั้งไฟ)

2026-05-12T10:23:00.000+02:00

Well it's that time of year again where I head off to the Northeast part of Thailand to watch PVC pipe stuff with gunpowder fly through the air.

I think I have been saying the name of these festivals wrong all the time I have been coming here. I thought it was Boom Bang Fai but now think it is Bun Bang Fai but still don't know what tone I should be using for each syllable. I don't think I will ever learn this language but am thrilled each time someone understands me.

Following is the Yasothon Schedule of festivals that I used to try and plan at least part of this trip.

I spent a number of hours with this schedule, google translate and google maps. I was attempting to make a plan but even when finished it was still full of holes and errors but at least I had something.

I wanted to be in Yasothon for a festival on the 3rd of May but left Kanchanaburi on the 30th of April and made it to Yasothon city on the 1st. I went to the hotel I have stayed at the past few years and checked in for 11 days with only causing a little bit of confusion.

After getting my room it was still early afternoon so I checked the schedule and went in search of some rockets. I found what I was searching for at Ban Dong Bang (บ้านดงบัง).

This was a big festival with 2 launch platforms, 3 performance stages and a huge number of vendors and viewing tents. I found a place to sit and enjoy the activities.

I had problems with my phone camera so just enjoyed the day with no videos or pictures of this days events.

On the 2nd of May I relooked at the schedule and headed out to watch Rockets at Ban Kut Phan Khiao (บ้านกุดพันเขียวบุญบั้งไฟ).

This festival was a bit smaller than the one the day before but was a fun day out. I still don't understand what they are betting on with the rockets but I found it funny at this place it seemed like a monk was the bookie.

Following is the short I uploaded to YouTube while at the event.

On the 3rd it was off to Ban Si Than Rocket Festival (บ้านศรีฐาน บุญบั้งไฟ). I have been coming to this place for a few years and it is one of my favorites

I uploaded 2 videos from this festival. Following is the short.

I got hungry at one point and went off to eat but decided to still try and capture a rocket launch while eating and this is the 2nd video. It turned out to be a good time to have some distance between me and the launch area. I didn't hear of anyone being hurt.

On May the 4th the Star Wars day I was off to see the Rockets at Ban Song Rocket Festival (บ้านโซง บุญบั้งไฟ).

I have been to this site a few year now but not one of my favorites. It is impressive for the rockets with 2 launch platforms but it's crowded and I find getting in and out a bit difficult. I did have a nice guy hold down some barbed wire fence while I attempted stepping over.

Following is the event poster I saw on Facebook and believe it listed the rockets and teams competing. After that my short video.

I had not found any festivals on the 5th of May so thought it would be a day off but when checking Facebook I saw the following banner.

After playing with Google translate and Google Maps it was off to Phra That Non Nong Hang,Roi Et Rocket Festival (พระธาตุโนนหนองฮาง บุญบั้งไฟ).

This festival was not very crowded but was fun until a storm rolled in and attempted to blow all the tents away. I got very wet leaving this festival and riding back to my hotel.

Following is the banner I found for the festival at Ban Pong Rocket Festival (บ้านโป่ง บุญบั้งไฟ) that I visited on the 6th.

Following is the short I uploaded while at the festival.

I also uploaded a video of a rocket exploding at Ban Pong. I was a bit too close to this one with the majority on the rocket landing less than 100 meters/yards from where I was standing. I don't think anyone was hurt but a bit scary.

I have been carrying two phones with me. I use the newer phone for GPS on my motorcycle since it's supposed to be waterproof and it had the better camera. I think it has something to due with the heat but the camera seems to go haywire when hot so have been using my older phone to capture the rockets.

On the 5th I dropped my older phone on the floor and the screen broke. It looked like the upper left corner had blue ink poured on it. I was able to video with it on the 6th but the ink stain seemed to be spreading and really was unusable.

I use the older phone for email and all my banking so it is more important than the newer phone. Not sure if I could move to a new phone while traveling so I was thrilled when a shop was able to replace the screen. It may have made more sense to buy a new phone but I was happy to have my old phone working again for about $50.

I got the phone repaired on the 7th and didn't have any festivals planned for the day but I still had a wonderful day.

I had a festival planned for May 8th but saw something on Facebook about Sao Hae, Roi Et (ตำบลสาวแหร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ) and seemed there were more rockets here than the one I planned.

Following is the video I uploaded at Sao Hae and the event banner.

The festival in the City of Yasothon is a 3 day event. The main street through the town is closed off on Friday and stages setup along the road. I stopped by after the rockets but I must be too old because I found the music pumping out of these stages painful and just went to the peace and quiet of my hotel room. I also didn't attend the Saturday parada through the city.

On Saturday the 9th I went to watch rockets at Rockets at Ban Dong Mafai (บ้านดงมะไฟ บุญบั้งไฟ).

This event had a single launch platform but with it being a Saturday it seemed a bit crowded. I still found a good seat under a tent and enjoyed the day.

Rocket Festival in Yasothon City (เมืองยโสธร บุญบั้งไฟ) on the 10th of May this year is the festival everyone knows but in my opinion not as much fun as some of the others. There are fewer tents with chairs and the ones they have are a lot further away from the launch platform. The food vendors are even further away.

It seems to be about a 50% foreigner crowed where the other festivals I attended only had a few foreigners. There are a lot more signs saying danger and I didn't see any gambling. I still had a good day watching rockets and this event has the largest number of rockets starting around 9AM and going till 6Pm.

I saw 2 events on the schedule for the 11th. I first rode to what I thought was Ban Sing (บ้านสิงห์) but couldn't find any events in the area. I then rode out to Ban Bak Ruea(บ้านบากเรือ บุญบั้งไฟ).

I arrived just before a large rocket was launched and then sat and watched rockets for most of the rest of the afternoon. I did find the people here very friendly but no one seemed to understand me and I didn't understand them very well either. I do like the picture at the end of the video.

They did have one more big rocket but I was getting on the big as they were carrying it to the platform so missed it.

I'm not done with Rockets for this year yet but am moving away from staying in Yasothon City tomorrow. Stay tuned to the blog for more rockets in the coming weeks.