With a view like this at the end of my driveway it’s sometimes tough to find the motivation to go anywhere else. But I want to let everyone in on the secret of the Thai Riviera, so, I guess sometimes I just have to get off my derièrre.

Yesterday I headed up to Khanom. It’s about 30 minutes north of here, and the next town of any substance. Not that there’s a heck of a lot of it. Like Sichon, its raisons d’être are fishing and the beach. Unlike Sichon though, where the main street runs inland along the river, Khanom’s main street is roughly parallel to the beach. So much so that it’s almost two towns in one.

The town has a peaceful and not-so-peaceful river area…

It’s much more of a touristy area than Sichon, with various resorts and hotels along about a 12km beach road. The place should be booming, but it’s more of a ghost town. The image on the right is one of the largest hotels, and as you can see, there’s just one car outside, probably the manager’s!

The strange thing is, despite the fact there’s so many empty buildings, many of which look really derelict, construction continues apace. New resorts, shopping areas, offices, you name it. I figure the people of Khanom must be the most optimistic on the planet. If they can’t do anything with the existing buildings why make more? I wish them luck.

Okay, we all hope the downturn in tourism is temporary, but for sure it’s not going to bounce back anytime soon.

Anyways, I know you all like beach photos, so here’s some more of some completely deserted ones…

Did you spot any tourists? Many of my beach pix are taken in remote locations, but these, as I say, are in an important resort area. Oh well, it’s fine with me. I don’t like tourists 🙂

Actually, if you look carefully at the third one down, I think there are two people standing on a rock in the middle of the picture, but they could be local fishermen.

Say “Hallo” to the nice trees.

Khanom has one of my favorite restaurants, hence the subject line. Khun Lee’s is only a few meters away from the beach and has a comprehensive menu with good service, and staff who mostly speak English. I must go there more often in an evening as the owner doesn’t seem to be around at lunchtime, and she’s an interesting lady. But that’s not so easy, because like a lot of places in this sleepy part of Thailand, they close at 8pm, and roll-up the sidewalks at 8:30!

But yesterday, I also found this place, Khanom Seafood, and I have to admit the location is superb, overlooking a large bay. Next time.

While nosing around I spotted a sign to a waterfall and headed inland. As you can see, my kind of road…

But, like all waterfalls at the moment, due to the lack of rain, there wasn’t much to see. To get this shot I had to keep one eye on two untethered bulls. Luckily I wasn’t wearing a red shirt otherwise I might have had to do a Putin, which for sure would have scared the bulls, and anyone else who might have been around.

And while nosing round the back roads, what else did I find? Yes, the inevitable wat. This is Wat Kradang Nga, and with fresh paint and a spot of sunshine, really looked spectacular.

Before signing off… I found this guy who was busy guarding the monks. Tough life!