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| View of Jomtien beach from the road |
So, by Tuesday and we were all in Jomtien. Well, the weather is beautiful, the water was comfortable - no surf though.
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| Peter & Lek |
We were staying with Peter & Lek in their house which was really pleasant and comfortable, and they were wonderful hosts. The house is contained within a housing complex, both for security and efficient land usage. We had some great meals at home, and the girls really liked the food in their bar - mostly Thai fried rice.
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| Entrance to the housing complex |
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| Peter & Lek's house |
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| The superb outdoor dining area |
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| Frances relaxing by the pool |
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| Charlotte enjoying the pool |
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Another enjoyable dinner - it was
always difficult to take a photo before
the eating started |
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| Charlotte |
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| Travelling in luxury |
The next few days were pretty busy, finding that holidaying is really hard! Mostly going to the beach and shopping, both at local stalls and large malls.
There was also a supermarket that had food from just about every country in the world, similar to the range of restaurants at Pattya. Fancy Iranian, Indian, Mexican Russian, Dutch, etc. Pattya is a popular destination for Europeans, although mainly portly middle-aged men looking for dalliances with young Thai girls.
The main form of transport consisted of converted utilities with rear covers and wooden seats. The fare was always the subject of intense negotiation.
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| The typical converted utility. |
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| Frances & Ric |
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| Charlotte & Frances |
We were looking at what activities we could fit in over the next few days as well as confirming our return flight for the 11th of December, hopefully from U-Tapao airport which is much closer than Bangkok.
Jomtien is only a stone's throw from Parttya, but has a completely different feel. Fewer tourists, and mostly families and young travellers. There has been some development, but it seems that even the short distance from Pattya (just too far for a comfortable walk) is an impediment to attracting the Pattya-style tourist. Just back from the beach is a huge new multi-storey hotel that is largely unoccupied.
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| Shopping in downtown Jomtien |
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| Beach to the left, apartments to the right |
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| Largly unoccupied apartments |
There was also a very nice, but small temple fronting the main street, including a shop where you can buy your offerings by donation. It seemed a little neglected and in need of attention, but that summed up a number of the buildings in Jomtien.
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| The temple entrance... |
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| ...spoiled somewhat by electric cables |
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| Looking back to the beach |
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| Offerings available by donation |
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| Some very colourful mosaic work |
Of course there were a lot of street stalls selling all kinds of interesting foods, some of which we tasted.
In late 2008, Frances and I decided to take our three girls on a holiday to Thailand, including a visit to Frances’ cousin Peter in Jomtien which is just south of Pattya City and about 150 km south of Bangkok.
There were 300,000 stranded tourists flocked to Utapao aiport. Thus, Pattaya City, theTourism Authority of Thailand and the private sector had joined in hand to help tourists.
In the afternoom we visited Pattaya Underwater World which is located a few kilometres west of Jomtien. It is a leisure attraction showcasing the rich variety of marine life found around the region. Underwater World Pattaya also plays an important role in education and marine conservation. School visits are actively supported, and it provides educational programs.
Currently, the jetski association of Thailand has 21 world class players, ranked at number two in the world. The scheduled competition would have 19 categories and around 2,000 people would participate. The deputy mayor said that the opportunity to host the event locally would lead to many more people, Thais and foreigners alike, falling in love with the sport.
