Cha Am

The followimg day we drove north to cha Am. It is only another three or four hours drive from Thung Wua Laen Beach.

I have been to Cha Am a few times and the place is slowly growing on me. You get plenty of western tourists here but still the majority of visitors are Thai, mostly coming down from Bangkok.

This visit is the first time I have seen Cha Am really busy. Rooms are normally easy to find and pretty cheap but we had to look around for a while before we found a big bungalow a little overpriced at 1700 baht. Still it was by the beach and big enough for us all to sleep.

The beach at Cha Am is quite a thin strip of sand and is set up with rows of deckchairs and tables so you can eat and drink on the beach. The waves were a little too big to let our little-uns play on their own so we had to keep them nearby on the beach. The problem is they have ponies riding up and down the beach which is a little worrying when your kids are running around. Jenny had a couple of close shaves.

They have jet-skis and banana boats and all kinds of goods being hawked up and down the beach so in that way it is a little like Patong. The good thing is the prices are much more competitive here (again they are aiming more at the Thai market). Ben and Jenny were very entertained with two polysterene airplane kites that kept them happy for an hour or two at 50 baht each.

The water is distinctly dirty and digging in the beach to build a sand castle pulled up all sorts of rubbish like polysterene and plastic cups. I guess it is difficult to avoid spoiling the environment a little when you get so many visitors.

There are lots of food and drinking options in the evenings. All in all, Cha Am is a decent option for a day out.