Mar 13, 2013 |
It’s only 50THB a ticket, can’t hurt to check it out…
Returning from our little trip to Cha Am’s Puktien Beach which I wrote about on my last post my wife did a bit of searching on what’s new and happening in the area.
A quick search though google we saw some news about a new zoo/farm near Cha Am called Swiss Sheep Farm 2012. Not quite sure why the ‘2012’ has to be there but I guess it’s significant to the owner. Anyways it’s about 7 kilometers from where were staying in Cha Am and on highway route #4. We were headed that ways to get back to Bangkok so it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.
When we got there the parking lot was jam packed. It’s a Saturday after all and there were a lot of people armed with cameras and iPhones. The biggest attraction in the farm are obviously the sheep. Particularly the baby ones which everyone, not just the kids, including me were fawning over.
Tickets for adults cost 50THB. For kids it’s either 20THB or 30THB, I can’t remember at the moment. You also get a handful of long grass to feed the sheep, mini-horses and baby cows. Surprisingly there is not a whole lot of poop with all the animals eating constantly so I guess they’ve got staff picking up frequently.
You can also buy bottles of milk or a pack of carrots which cost 50THB each. One word of warning, the cows go nuts when they see a bottle of milk and the sheeps go ape s**t when the see carrots. I was getting surrounded by sheep and a few stood up to try and grab the carrots in my hand. A couple of front hooves touched the bottom of my shirt and jeans and and left some s**t on my clothes. Yes, I was not happy.
There is also a small archery range but you’d have to pay 100THB separately for a dozen arrows. Not worth the money if you ask me. But there are quite a few things for children to do like kiddie rides. There’s also a small section with bazaar games. Though it’s 40THB to play a game and take your chances of winning as stuffed animal.
We bought 3 tickets. Of all the games to play there, play the one where you get 5 small plastic balls and the objective is to throw it into a small wooden board with hole about the size of a softball. Trick is to push the ball and not throw it overhand. It worked for me and it should work for you with just a little luck. It’s much easier than playing the game where you try to pop 7 balloons with 10 darts.
There is a restaurant at the center of the farm but something tells me not a lot of locals go there to eat. It’s basically one giant place for people to come and take pictures upfront with animals and the scenery.
Swiss Sheep Farm is about 7 km from Puktien Beach where we were staying. It’s right on highway route #4 heading southbound. So you can’t miss it.
Swiss Sheep Farm is just one of the many new attractions in the Cha Am and Hua Hin section of Thailand becoming more popular with families looking for a place to go on a quick weekend holiday. I’ve been there twice and most recently just a few days ago. It’s definitely a whole lot more crowded on weekends so I would try to avoid visiting then especially since it can be difficult to find parking.
A big hill at the back of the farm…
Mar 10, 2013 |
A lot of people say that Cha Am’s beaches are not the most beautiful nor cleanest in Thailand. I agree with that statement to a certain point.
Cha Am is not that far off away from Bangkok, which is just north west, about 2 hours and 45 minutes by car. So a lot of “the stuff” will still make its way to the waters of Cha Am. So you won’t find that crystal clear Listerine blue you’d find in Phuket and Samui.
That said, I still like heading down to Cha Am for a little beach getaway. Sometimes Bangkok can get a little crowded, so it’s always a treat to go somewhere and just chill out in peace.
This time around my wife and I drove down to Puktien Beach which is the northern section of Petchaburi province. Cha Am and Hua Hin’s beaches are so easy drive to. You don’t need a GPS because the highways have English signs. From Bangkok we hopped on the highway via toll expressway. Follow Dao Khanong which is highway route #9 to Samut Sakong which leads to highway #35. Finally connect to highway route #4 which leads down to Cha-Am and Hua Hin. Sounds like a lot but Thailand has a pretty good highway system.
When we arrived tho this part of Cha Am we noticed it’s not area that’s ready for loads of foreign tourists. You’ll mostly see locals on a short family weekend holiday instead of a family from Australia. And I prefer the less crowded touristy places with jacked up prices. So I like Puktien Beach just the way it is. But I can see perhaps in a few years the area will get to see more development.
I just heard that Fitch ratings has increased Thailand’s credit rating back to BBB+ from BBB. Not sure exactly if that’s a big whoop dee do but it can’t be bad for Thailand’s near future. So perhaps foreign investors will start pumping some cash into building up Cha Am’s tourism infrastructure.
But I hope they keep the resorts small. For this trip my wife and I stayed at a beach side resort called Puktien Cabana Beach Resort.
Entrance
Resort Reception
Beach View Cabana
A Happy Camper
Our Cabana (after a night)
Small Private Pool
There’s also the Puktien Sea View Residence Hotel which is a separate hotel just a little ways down from where we were staying all under the same owner. This hotel is in a traditional hotel style setting.
The only difference is that all of the rooms at Puktien Cabana Beach Resort are all closer to the beach and the rooms are as the name implies cabana style.
It’s not an expensive hotel as far as it goes for staying at a beach side resort. But we got these vouchers for a free night from our insurance broker. But we paid 1400THB extra to upgrade to a cabana with private pool and a can’t beat view of the beach. And it was worth it.
But either way, you can check Agoda.com to see if you can get discounts for Puktien Cabana Beach Resort.
The area surrounding both properties is quiet and you’ll find a few locals running small shops and beach side restaurants.
We chose one of the smaller restaurants which had no customers but neither did the larger restaurants. So we took a chance and dove in. Yeah, the food didn’t taste so good but at least the ambiance was nice. Wasn’t exactly cheap either though, we had a plate of fried rice, larb gai, vegetable stir fry and shrimp tom yum and the bill came out to 300THB.
Then we headed across the street to one of the few small shops to get 2 sticks of ice cream and 4 cans of Singh beer. The cost, 300THB. Yes folks, that’s pricey. No I’m not exactly complaining, because it’s a quiet area where the shops don’t make a lot of money because they’re probably only busiest during weekends.
The shop where we bought our beers and ice cream…
After dinner we dropped of our beers and ice cream back at our cabana fridge and took a stroll along Puktien beach. There were only another couple with their kids so we were basically alone. And the sun was coming down and the weather while not exactly cool it was breezy and comfortable as we watched tiny birds chase after tiny clams running for cover. I tell you, walking on a beach barefoot with the sundown on my back and holding my wife’s hand was wonderful.
A walk on the beach to end a great day…
When we got back to our cabana we plopped ourselves down on the sun chairs, popped open our cans of beer and devoured our ice cream. None of us said a word as we just chilled and watched the ocean and time past by. Life is good! No, wait… life is freaking awesome!
Feb 26, 2013 |
Just like Bangkok’s MBK Mall, everyone knows about Chatuchak Weekend Market from their basic travel research about Bangkok. CWM is supposedly the largest open air market in the world, even though a vast majority of the stalls and shops are covered with aluminum roofing or large swaths of tarp. CWM is the place to find clothes at a good price, cheap food, cheap souvenirs and many funky stuff that you probably can’t find anywhere else.
But during most times of the year, CWM is hot like hell. And it doesn’t help that you’ll be rubbing shoulders thousands of visitors and locals. With all that body heat a 100 degree weather cooped up in tiny cramped alleys it can easily feel like a 150 degrees.
So whenever I’m in Chatuchak area I always like to head over to a little mall called JJ. It’s located by the southwest corner of CWM. You can’t really miss the mall since it’s one of the tallest buildings by the market. JJ Mall is not the newest or latest but it’s AIR CONDITIONED.
The ground floor of JJ Mall…
And better yet it has CLEAN BATHROOMS. I really don’t mean to be so over dramatic but at my age those are 2 very important criteria.
There is also a big clean food court with some awesome rocking oxtail soup and curry chicken on yellow rice!
There’s only 3 floors with a lot of products similar to what you would ordinarily see at the larger weekend market. But inside the mall you will see more shops geared towards the locals. I came across a few shops selling door locks, large safes with electronic and traditional security measures to fingerprint scanners.
Loads of shops also selling furniture too on all the floors. Though I’m trying to figure out why many shops inside are selling gaudy Roman styled statues, columns and giant Greco-Roman inspired furniture. And those shops have been there for years so somewhere out there are many Thai homes decked out like Caligula’s abode.
And there are many wedding supply shops as well. A recently married friend of mine came to JJ Mall to pick up wedding trinkets to hand out to guests. Apparently many locals come to the mall to do the same for their wedding day needs.
Lots of shops selling camping equipment can be found too. Been always thinking about camping out somewhere in Thailand someday so I’ll be heading back to those shops when the need arises.
Lots of t-shirts in JJ Mall too…
Prices at JJ Mall are slightly higher but not by so much. Because shops inside still have to remain competitive with the shops on the outside. And you can still ask for discounts too. Though JJ Mall is opened everyday. I heard that the prices in the shops go up during weekdays when Chatuchak Weekend Market is closed. I honestly don’t know if that’s true. Because a lot of shops inside don’t have fixed prices so I guess shop owners’ will interpret the cost on the fly. For me, it’s just a tell tale sign to bargain a bit harder for the best deal.
View Larger Map
Getting There:
The mall opens at 10am and closes at 10pm everyday.You can easily wrap a visit to Chatuchak Weekend Market and JJ Mall in half a day. Though it’s probably better to visit the latter just to cool off. The closest MRT subway station is called Kamphaeng Phet. Make your way out to exit #2 and you’ll end up on the southern end of CWM. When you head into the market you should begin to see JJ Mall, it’s the tallest building within Chatuchak, which is about a 5 to 10 minute stroll.
You can also get there by BTS at Mo Chit Station but requires a longer walk.
