Heading Toward Thailand

[ktmrider]

I was in Thailand about a year ago with my daughter. We spent time in Bangkok and Chang Mai. This year I am renting a motorcycle and touring the country for a week and then a week on the beach with a good book.

Am planning on traveling light with just the X100 leaving the Leica stuff at home. Think I am making a mistake? And what should I see beside the beach. Did not think Chang Mai was really worth it last year but my daughter wanted to play with elephants.

 

[ARB]

Sorry, no advice on beaches.

There are ruins in Ayutthaya and Sukhothai that are fascinating and lovely to photograph if you are interested in history, art and archaeology. I've gone more than once and wish I'd been better prepared, camera-wise. The X100 is small and lighter than any Leica, and it takes great pictures. You'd be more distraught over loss of or damage to your Leica, I imagine, but were I to leave it at home, I would probably wonder whether I should have brought it.

Car culture has caused a great deal of smog in Chiang Mai, to the extent that people have been advised to stay in at certain times of year -- sad when you can see it must have been a very agreeable place to live until recently. When my wife and I visited Doi Suthep a couple of years ago, the view was really spoiled by the thick haze all around. I like the north but would advise keeping track of air quality.

 

[Avotius]

One camera sounds good to me. I am going to Thailand next week and I will just take an Olympus EP1 and a Panasonic 20mm lens. K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupi.....well you get the point. I will be on Koh Samui for most of the time and frankly I dont want to carry my Leica kit there. The Fuji should be fine.

 

[ReeRay]

Just come back from a month in the north and it was great. A visit to the hill tribes of Chiang Mai is not to be missed. Photo opportunities galore. Amazing cultural differences and lifestyles amongst the many varying tribes and exceptionally friendly people. Take a bike ride from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son through the mountain region (185 kilometers) and it's famous 1,874 hairpin bends. Awesome scenery en-route. Visit Doi Suthep and the amazing temple complex. Stunning site. Doi Inthanon, the highest point of Thailand where the temperature drops down to 12 degrees! Visit the waterfalls whilst in this area. Not quite Niagra Falls but pretty spectacular. Believe me, there's plenty to keep you busy BUT, avoid the area during February and March when the smog from farmers burning the fields in the whole of the region is intolerable.

No beaches up there so you'll need to head south. I live in Hua Hin which has some pretty good beaches. Quiet and secluded. If you get down here I'll be pleased to show you around.

You'll be limited with a fixed X100. I took my M6 TTL and 35, 50, 75 and 90 lenses. No weight issues at all.

Hope this helps

 

[Pablito]

Think I am making a mistake?

Depends on your photographic interests and what you want to accomplish photographically....

And what should I see beside the beach.

Depends on your general interests & reason for traveling there in the first place......

 

[Mablo]

I've done island hopping a couple of times starting from Krabi. Koh Lanta, Koh Lipe and finally by a speed boat to Langkawi. Back to Bangkok by train. Islands are by no means 'untouched' anymore but it's still much better way to spend a week than in hellholes like Phuket or Pattaya.

 

[ktmrider]

Slight Change

Slight Change

Thanks for the input. I am leaving El Paso in three days and have decided that renting a motorcycle in Cambodia for a week would be fun. Then a week on the beach in either Cambodia or Thailand.

Have decided to add an M2 with a 21/50/90 to the bag and will probably leave the X100 in a locker at the motorcycle rental agency. I figure rain and vibration may be a bit much for digital.

It should be a great trip. I just saved myself $2600 by NOT adding another camera: D600 with 50f1.4 nor do I need a digital Leica although that may be added before my round the world trip with my daughter next summer.

 

[Leica All Day]

Thanks for the input. I am leaving El Paso in three days and have decided that renting a motorcycle in Cambodia for a week would be fun. Then a week on the beach in either Cambodia or Thailand.

Have decided to add an M2 with a 21/50/90 to the bag and will probably leave the X100 in a locker at the motorcycle rental agency. I figure rain and vibration may be a bit much for digital.

It should be a great trip. I just saved myself $2600 by NOT adding another camera: D600 with 50f1.4 nor do I need a digital Leica although that may be added before my round the world trip with my daughter next summer.

Hello ktmrider,

I have been living out here (S.E. Asia) for the last 7 years and I love taking motorcycle trips in Cambodia........Sadly though, it has changed a lot over the last couple of years due to more paved roads and a lot more cars.....that said, you can still find some nice dirt roads that follow the Mekong River that go through small villages....

I live in Bangkok, so if you want any info, please feel free to send me a PM....

hope you have a safe and good trip....

cheers, michael

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the owner asked (told) me to bring my motorcycle into my room because he thought that someone might steal it.....This is somewhere in the countryside....

 

[Mablo]

Sihanoukville is a good beach destination in Cambodia. A couple of hours by bus from Phnom Penh. There is a boat connection from there to Thai border. A shared taxi will take you from the border to Koh Chang island. After a week in red Cambodian dust and mud Koh Chang feels like a paradise ;-)

 

[__--]

ktmrider, if you're going to Chiang Mai and renting a motorcycle I would definitely go to Pai and Mae Hong Song. There is a little guide book for motorcycle travel in the North that has interesting circuits; and you can also go to through Payao to Nan, Tak and Loei and head back through Lampang. Seems a shame not to take the Leica-M, if that is what you have.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Bangkok Hysteria (download link for book project)

 

[funkydog]

The book referred to in the previous post is very likely:

A Motorcycle Guide to the Golden Triangle
David Unkovich
ISBN-10: 9747100363
ISBN-13: 978-9747100365

It's long out of print but oddly enough I found a copy in new old stock condition in Chiangmai. Thailand has good book stores selling books in English (and other languages).

Motorcyling in Cambodia - some might find this GT Rider site useful.

Ochheuteal Beach, Sihanoukville 2007.. probably way more commercialized now

sihanoukville_01 on Flickr


sihanoukville_02 on Flickr


sihanoukville_03 on Flickr


p.s. "Have decided to add an M2 with a 21/50/90 to the bag and will probably leave the X100 in a locker at the motorcycle rental agency." - Probably not a good idea to leave the X100 at the motorcycle rental shop.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Another vote for Hua Hin if you're looking for a nice beach in Thailand. A short distance out of town there's a military base that surrounds a former royal palace that you can drive in to and tour. I forget the name of the palace off the top of my head, but it's a charming series of teak pavilions built on the beach, all connected by elevated walkways. All of the support columns have these little troughs around the feet that are kept filled with water to prevent ants and other insects from climbing up into the living space.

 

[__--]

The book referred to in the previous post is very likely:

A Motorcycle Guide to the Golden Triangle
David Unkovich...

It's long out of print but oddly enough I found a copy in new old stock condition in Chiangmai. Thailand has good book stores selling books in English (and other languages)...

Yes, that's it. Another book that is ideal — I would say, essential for the North — is either one of Michael Freeman's two guides to Northern Thailand, which actually are guides mainly for the temples of the region, and outstanding as such.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Gods for Sale