Cha-Am, about a three hour mini-bus ride south of Bangkok on the the Gulf Of Thailand, is popular with two groups of people: Thai on holiday and European retirees...even heard Norwegian on the street. Very few young foreigners were to be seen.
The Thai way is to rent chairs, terribly uncomfortable for me, under huge umbrellas and spend the day in view of the water. Vendors, dressed as if it were really cold to avoid any touch of sun, wander about selling food, trinkets, toys, water inflatables, etc.
All over SE Asia there is terrible prejudice against dark skin. Many of my students come to school with faces covered with white stuff that is supposed to lighten their skin. Because of this feeling about dark skin Thai do anything they can to avoid sun exposure lest they get any darker. So, at the beach they remain under umbrellas and rarely touch the water.
For the younger set banana boats are the rage. These are long. inflated, boats on which up to sever people sit while being pulled at high speed through the surf. Often they capsize which is part of the fun. One is pictured below.
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| Portable kitchen |
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| The beach at Cha-Am |
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| Sea food live, make your choice and they do the cooking |
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| Banana boat |
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| Under the umbrellas |
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