Thailand - Sawadee ka

Well Thailand, the ups and downs the highs and lows. Come on, we hear you say, you were in 30 degree C (plus) temperatures every day on an island (two islands) off the coast of SE Thailand drinking lemon, coconut and coffee shakes and eating curries till your bums burned, swimming in the bath-like waters, or relaxing by the pool and with friends! - surely there were no downs? Well if you put it that way!!! We just have to say that traveling with your kids (as we were forwarned) is not always an easy task (see lessons below).

We acclimatised on Maenam beach, Koh Samui with our aircon huts and swimming pool trying to make the transition from winter to summer as easy as possible for us all. Umm time changes are not easy to explain to kids are they!!



But we were lucky, for three weeks on Laemson beach, Koh Phangan we had Kirst, Patrick, Zoe and Aunty Helen to hang out with. Not only were they great company, but they also helped entertain kids and not to mention make fantastic sandcastles, go for walks and swims at the beach. Tim at the time thought he had Malaria, so that wasnt a good time!! But hey when your huts on the beach and your hammock is swinging and a good book is in your hand, we couldn't complain. We even managed to get to the legendary Full Moon Party and a Half Moon Party. To think it is 10 years, yes 10 years, since my first Full Moon Party.


The Team





Olivers highlight, was the motorbike trips to the 7eleven to get his icecream after doing poos in the potty (yes we were trying to potty train Oli while at the beach!!) He also loved feeding the elephants and playing with Zoe (and Albert AKA Patrick).




Suits a baby doesn't he??!!






After three weeks of hanging out we said our goodbyes and went to the south of the island to "Sanctuary." This was a gorgeous bay with a great restaurant. Pity the mozzies were the size of birds and they were everywhere. You get that when your "house" is in the jungle and there are no walls. This place is amazing if you want to meditate, practice yoga, eat vegetarian food, have a papaya wrap and a colon-scrape! BUT if you have two kids with your lodgings placed behind the meditation hall its not so good. Can't you imagine Oliver loving the echo in the zen outside bathroom at 6:30am. They practically kicked us out after 5 days! I don't blame them...but hey state 'no kids under 5!!'







So we jumped on a boat that took us to back to Koh Samui and decided to try somewhere new! So we rented a jeep and headed north. After a few drive bys (one of which we were bomb sweeped at - a bit posh for us!!) we stopped at Choeng Mon beach. After lots of looking around in the hot sun, I decided to try the Tim approach 'go to the one that looks the most expensive and stay there!' This, you might note, is the very reason I always have to do the walking and choosing. But I did it, and we all loved it (especially Tim who is still going on about it). We spent out last 5 nights at http://www.imperialboathouse.com/ This place was perfect. The rooms were boats, real boats. They used to carry rice down the rivers and were renovated by the hotel for accommodation.






There were lots of other families, so plenty of entertainment for Oli and great swimming pools. So we went from 400 bht per night to 3,700 baht (big gasp for me) to 7,000! This is ridiculous, but hey breakfast is included!!! To think as a youngun I paid 200 bht for my hut on the beach! But it was worth it! Not so keen on all the fat Brits and German boys with their Thai girls.

Sam was a real conversation stopper. If we walked in a room and he had limited clothes on I swear the room would go quiet. At 10kgs everyone had to come over and pinch him and grab his fat. It was verging on embarrassing. Hey what can I say I have a good yield and plenty of butter fat!

Exhibit A.


Exhibit B.


So that is it really! Lessons while holidaying with kids:

1. Dont try and potty train (you just end up in tears)
2. Do not let the kids drink the local water (especially important considering point 1 above)
3. Try to avoid teething time
4. Do not change time zones
5. Do not fly for 12 hours
6. Take your grandparents or nanny!