Tasting the spirit of Thailand

During a recent time of civil unrest in the Thai capital Bangkok, Penny Batchelor took the opportunity of visiting some less familiar tourist destinations and found herself on the real life set of a Hollywood musical

The Thai King knew a good place for a seaside retreat when he saw one. Back in 1928, King Rama VII decided to make the quiet fishing village of Hua Hin, in 21st century terms a three hour drive south of Bangkok, his summer holiday home. He built the cheerily named Klai Kangwon (Far From Worries) palace there.

This year Hua Hin is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Nowadays a modern seaside resort has built up around the area’s five miles of beaches but there’s still an atmosphere of old-world charm about the place. Favourite spots on the tourist trail
are the animal sanctuary and Monkey Mountain.

The animal sanctuary, a mini zoo, was set up by royalty to protect the local species of animals and birds. Deer used to roam wild in the Hua Hin area but thanks to over-hunting they are now only found in the animal sanctuary. By Western standards the animals don’t have a great deal of room but it’s a step in the right direction for Thai conservation efforts.

Animals that have lots of freedom to move are the pesky inhabitants of Monkey Mountain. A taxi drove us past the food stalls and souvenir sellers to the top of the hill. Here, expectant simian eyes viewed us questioningly – did we have any food?

The monkeys are notorious for nicking whatever they can get their hands on: sunglasses, bottles of water, packets of crisps … and can leap with great enthusiasm at their chosen booty. Their home is by a temple that I’m told gives great views over the town. I left the monkeys to it to climb the many steps to the top of the temple and basked in the heat of the sun.

The majority of Thais are Buddhist and their beliefs are also intertwined with animism, or spirit worship. When Thai people build a house they believe that this act disturbs the spirits who live there already. To keep the spirits happy they build a little “spirit house” outside the property for the spirits to live in. Woe betide if you build the spirit house in a dank, dingy area at the bottom of the garden: the spirits deserve pride of place, which is usually in a sunny area at the front of the house. The spirit houses may be decorated with mini pieces of furniture and some Thais choose to offer food and drink to the spirits in order to keep them happy.

My quiet and relaxing hotel was just south of Hua Hin in a village called Pranburi. I’d chosen the Evason, a modern hotel complex, in order to have accessible accommodation. The bedrooms are set in two-storey accommodation blocks around the complex and the staff whizzed me round in an electric buggy to whichever part of the hotel I wanted to go to. Reception? Taxi pick-up area? No problem!

On the hotel’s television news channel there were pictures of the violence and disturbances going on in Bangkok whilst we were in the country: the red-shirts (protesters against the government) and yellow-shirts (supporters of the government) were opposing each other and clashes had taken place between civilians and the military. I hastily crossed the Bangkok city tour off my holiday “to do” list.

Instead I went on a trip to see a floating market and another King’s Summer Palace at Phetchaburi. The cheapest way to get around in Thailand is by tuk tuk. These are tiny three-wheeled vehicles that have never seen a suspension system, therefore not great for anyone with a bad back or who is carrying a mobility aid. Pay a bit more and you can hire a comfy, air-conditioned taxi – just agree the fare in advance and insist you don’t want to visit any shops they want to take you to on the way!

The floating market at Damnoen Saduak is the largest in the country. Some of it is for the tourists – there’s an array of textiles, woodcraft and soft drink sellers on the shoreline – but it’s also popular with the locals too. Vendors paddling dragonboats peddle their fruit and veg, whilst others hope to interest you in souvenirs. It’s a busy and fun place – I tried my hand at haggling after being warn ed by the tour guide not to pay more than a third of the original price quoted. The seller was much more experienced than me at it though – she stared me down and in this game of wills I ended up paying two-thirds of the price quoted for my souvenir floating market fridge magnet!

Another King who wanted a summer pad to escape to was King Rama IV, who built his on top of a hill in Phetchaburi. I caught a cable car to reach the foot of his palace.

The area is now the Phra Nakhon Khiri national museum. King Rama IV is the monarch featured in the film

The King and I, in which a Western woman comes to teach the King and his family English.

King Rama IV is said to have had over eighty children – they must have been a strapping lot because his land has quite a few stairs to manoeuvre to reach the palace. The cable car is a recent addition – in the King’s day his servants were known to carry him up the mountain to the palace above. No such luxury for me.

The palace’s varied contents reflect the King’s interest in many cultures, including that of Europe. As well as intricately carved Thai furniture there is English pottery on display. Visitors must take off their shoes out of respect before entering and carry their shoes around in a bag. You even have to do this if you are looking around one of the country’s palaces in a wheelchair.

Travelling back to the airport at Bangkok to catch the flight home I came across the only sign of the Thai civil unrest I’d heard about on the news. The taxi driver explained that we were lucky that the airport was open – previously demonstrators against the country’s rulers had taken it over and prevented flights from taking off or landing. “Government no good!” he said animatedly. “Government corrupt!”.

I sincerely hope that politics doesn’t prevent tourists from discovering Thailand’s charms for themselves.

Don’t miss:
Trying the whole Thai curry traffic light – red, green and yellow curry.
A cheap foot massage by the beachfront – expect to pay about £5 for an hour.
Browsing local markets for souvenirs – Tiger Balm is particularly recommended.

How to get there:

Penny travelled with Virgin Holidays from London Heathrow to Bangkok. Many other companies also offer package holidays to Hua Hin.