Huahin

Hua Hin is the oldest and most traditional of Thai resorts combining a modern holiday destination with the charm and fascination of a still active fishing port. Its name (Hua Hin - head stone) is derived from the rock formations that is on the beach in front of the Sofitel Central Hotel hotel (formerly the Railway hotel, which dounled as the French Embassy of Phnom Penh in the move the Killing Fields). The beach beach stretches about 4 kilometers from the town center to Khao Takiab in the south, and a few kilometres northwards to Chaam. It is a beach is well known for its spectacular sunrises.





Hua Hin beach is never overcrowded, it is wide and long with white sand and scattered rocks in some areas. Mostly it is a tranquil beach but activities such as horse riding, kite boarding, and water sports can be found, mainly in the parts of the beach in town, where, if you want to relax there are plenty of deck chairs, sun loungers and beach umbrellas available for a small charge.





Offshore you will see plenty of boats, including naval vessels which are there to protect the Thai monarch and his family when they visit their "home away from home" at Klai Kangwon Palace, built in 1926.

West coast breakfast

Having breakfast on the west coast (which faces east), after a rain squall. Brightened up pretty fast after.

A Thai "cinemagraph"

I've jumped on the bandwagon of the new fad: cinemagraphy. A "cinemagraph" is more than a photo, but not quite a video. Certainly it's just an old fashioned gif.file, but with a more "artistic" feel to it than a regular gif, it is simply bringing back to life certain elements of the photo.

This was the first attempt, not quite as good as it should be, for example the model's shadow could have been enlivened. It was back to the drawing board, and I now have a few stored up for future posting.

My first post in several months, apologies.

Rangsit "fresh" market - part#2

And so, we come to the "meat" of this post.


Thai markets have everything. Yup, some are even under the watchful eye of conservationists and the World Wildlife Fund who worry about trafficking illegal and endangered species (but if you want dogs, go to Vietnam . . . or Sakhon Nakhon), but our market only has the catch and release merit making frogs, toads, eels, turtles and tortoises..


But . . if you are bovine, porky or even chicken . . .


. . be careful,


. . for your fate may be sealed.


On hooks . . . . in plastic bags . . .


. . . or skewered!


. . . and here's the live ones. Oh man, someone save them . . . .



Last man(?) standing?
Well, supposedly some get away . . .


. . . (no, he didn't.)

Rangsit "fresh" market - part #1

Was up at the crack of dawn today to accompany my wife to our local market for foodstuffs and also for fresh paraphernalia (food, flowers) for our spirit house.


Rangsit market, on the northern outskirts of Bangkok, is not particularly famous, but it hit the news about 9 months ago when one government soldier was killed and several people injured during fierce clashes between anti-government red shirt protesters and armed security forces who were attempting to halt a large convoy of red shirts using the market as a rally point.


At 6:30 this morning things were much more serene, although the market was busy with stallholders and shoppers going about their business. The market sells flowers, fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, and adjacent to it is a separate market of the "flea" type, selling clothes, shoes, flipflops, household & decorative items, all at low prices.


Thai people are superstitious and believe that every place has a spirit (or more) residing in the area, or in their house, and the spirit house or Sanpraphum (Thai: ศาลพระภูมิ) is an offering to the spirits as their "home" to keep them peaceful and happy to watch over the inhabitants. Regularly Thais will place fresh foods, drink, and flowers in the spirit house as offerings to ask the spirits for protections and to bring good luck to those living in the area. This is what we were buying, to allow our spirits to "celebrate" Chinese New Year.


My wife did most of the shopping, allowing me to have a wander round the market with my camera, although I did have to find her every 10 minutes or so to carry the heavy bags back to the car.


With the fresh fruit and flowers collected it was time to move on to the food side of things, and fresh vegetables and meats as well as cooked AND live food (and certain animals) were in a different area of the market. But those images are for part 2.