Ranong, Thailand

If you’re new to the blog, you can always click the “Start from the beginning — Reverse the posts’ order” link on the sidebar to the left. The first page is even more dull than the rest, but it shows you where I started including the preparation and the USA section of my trip.

Ranong, Thailand

Ranong is a medium sized town located about 7 hours south of Bangkok by car where learned you must be properly restrained while the vehicle is moving or else will be breaking the law. I spent almost two weeks here and really fell in love with the place.  Even though I haven’t been in Asia long and am totally unfamiliar with my environment, I felt at home in Ranong.  The town is big enough to have all the modern expected conveniences, touristy enough to have westerners and Thai people who speak English, but not so developed that it has a touristy town feeling to it.

I stayed at a hotel called “Palmy Home” that is located within a 5 minute walk to some exceptional restaurants and about a 25 minute walk to the hot springs.  It was reasonably priced and it had exceptional internet access– which for me is a HUGE plus, even the room was well designed by the manager who chose a very nice runner rug for each not customer.

In a primarily agricultural area, Ranong is the hub for all the surrounding villages.  Every morning you can see truck loads of raw materials and produce flowing through the streets.

Nearby rubber tree farm where natural rubber is extracted each morning

This bucket is turned over when they’re ready to collect

Ranong is very wooded and as a result, you see lots of lumber trucks driving around

There are many shrimp farms along the roadside.  I met Carly in Bangkok who wrote a very good blog article about shrimp farming in Thailand

Fisherman seins in a river north of Ranong

This is the river near Ranong with a name I can never remember

Located south of the city is a Muslim village

Som Tom place on the side of the road

Buddhist monks bless the new hotel where I was staying — Palmy Home, Ranong

The Palmy Home feast following the blessing