In terms of travel adventures, those long-duration tours lasting weeks are a thing of the past. I said when I completed visits to all of Thailand's provinces that I would step back and concentrate only on the things I enjoyed doing. Now in the third week of my current visit to Thailand, there is a trip planned, but its duration is limited to a more reasonable ten days. The day starts with a late morning departure as we head south. Initially, though, there is a drive through Bangkok to look forward to.
To start with there's not much excitement on offer, but as we reach the Rama II Road, the massive elevated highway construction comes into view. This huge project to relieve congestion west of the city seems to have been going on for years. It's an incredible piece of engineering. We continue through Samut Sakhon and into Samut Songkram, debating what to do about lunch. I guess it was an obvious choice since we end up at Krua Ban Nawk, a favorite seafood restaurant we've visited several times. Our choice today is baby clams and mackerel, known locally as 'bpla too'. I'm thinking so early in this tour and on a day of travel that this meal is rather exotic, but then the total journey today, non-stop, is little more than four hours.
Back on the road again, we continue into Phetchaburi province, connecting with the Phetchkasem Road. With a straightforward route south now, I'm soon asleep in the passenger seat. Heading around the Hua Hin bypass, we cross into Prachuap Khiri Khan province. There's now not much more than an hour left until arrival in Prachuap City.
For this overnight stay in the city, we've selected yet another apartment, the one we prefer being fully booked. We locate 'Your Place Apartment' to the south of Prachuap, and check-in is simple enough. Of course, using new accommodation always comes with apprehension. Will it meet our expectations? We're allocated a room on the ground floor, and in keeping with the exterior, it's quite pleasing, clean, modern, and spacious. There is no breakfast included, but this is available for 150 baht/person. That won't be needed. I notice a 7-Eleven within walking distance, but we have our mobile kitchen with us just in case. We're settled in the room by 4.30 PM and take a rest. It's now a matter of waiting for the entertainment we've selected this city for.
There's a football game on tonight between the local team, Prachuap FC, and Bangkok's Port FC. It's another game that looks even, with the home team 8th, just inside the top half of the table, and the visitors 4th. There are presently just 4 points between them. In keeping with other leagues, the TPL occasionally schedules a Friday night game, and this is one of them.
At 5:30 PM we head out, our first call, the night market, to find food where things are quieter than expected at the stadium. At Sam Ao Stadium I end up with tickets for just 100 baht, and we make our way to the E Stand. Here we can settle in and consume the food we bought in, remembering that we couldn't take food we bought from outside at Kanchanaburi Stadium last weekend. One thing of note is the temperature this evening, just 22 degrees Celsius, remarkably low for Thailand.
The game between Prachuap FC and Port FC kicks off on time. Prachuap are in their familiar orange shirts, while Port are in white. One thing I'm looking for is a bit of quality, but that's a rare commodity, as neither team is taking control of the game, but on 32 minutes there is a goal, and a quality one too. A really decent strike from the edge of the penalty area by #12 Kaka Mendes puts the visitors in front. Port just about deserve the lead, which they take into halftime. Into the second half the home team increases pressure on the Port goal but cannot find the goal they need. The match degenerates into one of attrition and stalemate that favours Port who are happy just to counterattack. Quality continues to suffer, and Prachuap's efforts come to nothing as the final whistle blows. This has been a bruising match, with Port celebrating a hard-fought win. They bag the 3 points and move into second in the TPL table for now.
We return to 'Your Place' (not mine LOL). If things go to plan, we'll be back here in a week's time.

Source: Visit