Day 7, Sunday 9 December - Haad Thung Whua Laen

Back on two wheels..... For a change I take a full American breakfast at the restaurant I've used before, just a couple of minutes away from Sea Beach. I can also pick up the weekend sports news on the internet. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi signal at Sea Beach doesn't extent to my room. I also manage to collect some information on local tourist attractions. So far I've not been able to locate a decent map of the area noting there doesn't seem to be a tourist information centre on Haad Thung Whua Laen. I also have some difficulty when I come to renting a motorbike. Two shops nearby have only newer machines and the practice here is to charge extra for these. I seem to have left it too late to have a choice. However, I persevere and much further down the beach I find one for 200 baht at one of the resorts. Formalities complete, I head off south. My destination is the port of Pak Nam Chumphon and the nearby beach at Haad Sai Ri. However, by taking the coastal road and referring to local signboards, other tourist attractions present themselves. Most of the tourist attractions and direction signs are in English as well as Thai so it's not too difficult and if one can overcome language difficulties, I find Thai people generally most willing to help. Soon, a number of viewpoints from this rugged coastline are signposted.
Sahm See-am..... Sahm See-am is a small fishing community not far south of Haad Thung Whua Laen. Easily missed to the left of the main road, it is a refuge for small fishing boats on a river tributary leading to a pier. While at midday there is little activity, being a weekend, a few individuals and families endure the strong sun to fish off the pier bringing with them beer and snack meals.
Ao Kaw Kwang..... About 15 kilometres south of Haad Thung Whua Laen, a blue tourist signboard indicates the presence of a viewpoint. Following the sign takes you along a headland with magical views of the bays on either side and the islands beyond, but otherwise there is nothing here. Ao Kaw Kwang is translated as the deer's neck bay.
Hua Thannon..... At the end of the next larger rocky bay really unsuitable as a beach location is where I stop for a coffee and to replenish the fuel I've used. Hua Thanon is the former pier for ferry boats departing for Koh Tao before the new port was constructed at Pak Nam Chumphon. Hua Thanon translates as head (of the) road, really end of the road or dead end.
Pak Nam Chumphon……..Situated at the mouth of a larger river outlet and since converted to a seaport, Pak Nam Chumphon now handles boats travelling to Ko Tao off the 4001 Highway. The fishing boats are moored nearer to the river mouth and best viewed from the tourist pier accessed through Pak Nam town. Here there is a reminder that this is part of Mu Koh Chumphon National Park. Pak Nam is found in many coastal names and means mouth (Pak) water/river (Nam).
Prince of Chumphon Shrine..... Continuing on the 4001 in the direction of Sai Ri beach, my final destination today, is a memorial to Prince Chumphon Khet Udom Sak. Little known in the West, but much revered all over Thailand the Prince, a son of King Rama V is remembered for his deeds in modernizing the Royal Thai Navy as well as his wisdom at a time of cordial relations particularly with England where he studied as a naval cadet. Sadly, his life was cut short when he died after high fever in the village of Sai Ri where his shrine is located today. To further meet the Prince click Wikipedia. The shrine also contains a small museum dedicated to his life and appropriately a decommissioned torpedo boat 'Royal Chumphon', located nearby.
Opposite is an OTOP minimart. This is an outlet for fair trade local produce. I take this opportunity to purchase something to take back home.
Haad Sai Ri (Sai Ri Beach)..... Immediately after the Prince of Chumphon Shrine is Sai Ri beach, a relatively small beach with a few resorts interspersed with the normal retail activities. As with Haad Thung Whua Laen, it has suffered from recent storms with a substantial amount of debris still on the beaches. However, its location on the edge of Mu Ko Chumphon National Park with its numerous offshore islands gives it a character all of its own.
Charging Bull Beach..... I have travelled nearly 50 kilometres between two more well-known beaches of Chumphon. However, I head back a different way reducing this to around 40. This takes me back on the 4001 then bypassing Chumphon to the east and out again, the 16 kilometres to Haad Thung Whua Laen. I generally have few problems with the motorbikes I rent, but this smaller automatic does not run smoothly. Whether it's suffering from fuel pick-up or poor ignition I don't know, but its sluggish performance reminds me to translate into English the location to which I'm heading. Haad is beach, whua is a cow, laen is a local expression for running while thung is an open space possibly a field. Putting this together in a meaningful way helps by the fact that on the beach road is a statue of a bull looking rather fearsome. So Charging Bull Beach is probably the best translation and somewhat resembles the performance of the machine I'm riding. It's definitely going back tomorrow. It's time for dinner at my local which is both wholesome and relatively cheap.
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