khunwilko

Camping Thai-style... with the nouveau bourgeois.

Do you like camping? Well if you do, welcome to the middle classes! Camping is a sure sign you are a fully paid up member of.
In a “developed” society people spend most of their lives in offices and factories as a cog in the industrialised machine. Working classes buy themselves a bit of luxury - a step up as it were - in a hotel or resort but the middle class, once a year, likes to reconnect with some deep-seated rural roots, to touch or commune with Mother Nature and get back to something they perceive as being more human.

Back home in Europe, USA or Oz we have been part of an industrialised nation for several generations. Few of us are farmers or work the land any more (when was the last time you saw a farmer go camping?)...and we have long lost touch with our agricultural roots. Long ago, there was a time when our forefathers almost universally lived “of the grid”, pumped water from a well, had cold showers and fought with broody hens for an egg.
Thailand is different - go back just one generation - and you are back in the most basic of rural communities - ask most people what their parents did and the overwhelming majority will reply in terms of rice and agriculture. The industrial society is new and rapidly expanding, and as it does it starts to take on the neuroses of an industrialised society - the yearning to commune with nature, to reconnect with one’s roots...for many this is still a trip back to the family smallholding, but for others this is increasingly unavailable... so they are beginning to adopt and adapt the western antidote for this - camping.

15 years ago, camping in Thailand was a fledgling pastime - the concept of purposely living in basic conditions with no facilities was considered quite barmy, why would you go and live in a manner that you had just spent a lifetime extricating yourself from? But now the more sophisticated and wealthy middleclass are increasingly feeling the need to assert themselves as capable of living like their ancestors used to even though they themselves spend their days gazing into the screen of a computer.

“I just want to get away fro Bangkok and relax with nature” - this was the most common remark from the people I spoke to at the top campsite in Phu Toei
National park, whilst they were crammed into a small flat piece of land with about 500 other people from Bangkok - the irony seemed to have escaped them.

So these are my observations from spending 4 days in a national park with the bourgeoisie of Bangkok.... and one or two other towns around Thailand.

Equipment - the buying of camping equipment has not reaching the giddy consumer heights we are familiar with in the west, but they are keen to follow...at present camping is an interesting mix of the old and the new......... rather basic flimsy tents bought from the local shopping malls are interspersed with rather more substantial imported brands such as Coleman. As camping becomes more popular the tents have become larger and more sophisticated...they are designs largely to stay cool and keep out insects; rain-protection is a secondary concern. There is still little evidence that people consider the best place and orientation when setting up their tents - and the urge to place a tent so close to the next one that they almost touch goes against all mores of western personal space!

Cooking is done on a traditional clay/bucket BBQ and copious quantities of fresh vegetables and meat are carried in enormous plastic iceboxes portered by the whole family young and old and promptly prepared by the older women. Thai families sleep in communal groups and the number of people able to cram into a single tent seems to well exceed the manufacturer’s expectations.
Lamps - here the hi-tech LED option is now well within the price range of most campers, a variety of solutions can be seen - table lamps hanging lamps and a multitude of people walking around with a bulb strapped to their head. Even a petrol-driven 220-volt generator was in evidence.
For cooking the charcoal stove is probably the most popular but there is also the ubiquitous single ring gas canister stove - this wonderful device is simplicity itself - with a plethora of fool-proof safety features it really has to be the safety-pin of camping stoves - a masterful piece of design - open, pop in the canister and click-click you have a flame to cook on. ...and with a low centre of gravity it is much less likely to spill or topple like those old camping stoves of the 60s and 70s. Some or course settle for the gas ring and cylinder as used at home or in a “Rot Khen” food stall.
Sleeping - a lot of the bedding seems to have been stripped from the beds at home - duvets etc. at least match sleeping bags by numbers...huge bundles are crammed into the tents. Duvets and pillows adorned with brightly coloured cartoon characters seem to be the preference over quasi-military camouflage sleeping bags.
Drinking water - well bottled water is the norm in Thailand - and is usually delivered to the home in large 20 litre bottles - these are set into a rocking dispenser...these are pretty good for camping.... also most supermarkets carry a range of large water bottles some fitted with taps which are excellent for camping too.

Equipment hire - all national parks in Thailand have camping gear for hire...originally because people simply didn’t have their own gear...you can rent tents - these are now pretty good - they comfortably sleep two - 4 or 5 if you like the Thai/sardine style of sleeping...mats for sleeping on, sleeping bags, blankets etc. - usually around 30 baht an item - tents are more...look out for the tents they are usually set up in rows vey close to each other and one or two have seen better days and are in need of quite major repairs. I think if you are a westerner you might try to persuade the Rangers to allow you to erect your rented tent on a pitch of your choosing.

So how about Phu Toei itself? Phu Toei is a relatively unknown National park - at least apparently by the locals in Suphanburi.... however it is popular with a chosen few from Bangkok...it’s about 220 km NW of Bangkok, about a three and a half hour drive. From Chonburi you can add another 100 km and about an extra 1 hour 20 minutes driving.
For those of you with navigator apps, I had approached the park from the East along rural road 3008 following my Google map instructions and came to a park entrance. The people on the military check-point style gate were really nice, welcoming and friendly - apparently it’s a bit unusual to see a farang there...they explained there was camping by the gate or further up - when I asked how far to the “top” they explained “46 kilometres” - it was about 4.30 pm and would be dark soon and I didn’t want to pitch camp that late - but they said there was another camp about 10 km up the track...up till then the road had been asphalt but I could see it would soon turn into dirt track.
The charge of entry was 100 baht “for a foreigner” and 30 baht for camping and 30 baht for the car - 160 baht was all I ever paid over the following 4 days.
I paid and set off without any real idea of how far it was or how long it would take - it seemed an age the road was very “choppy” and at times steep, the going was slow - about 10 to 15 kph...I met a few people in vehicles coming down - which is always reassuring as you don’t want to break down in the middle of the jungle at night with no phone signal...they assured me there was a camp site “not far” up the hill...........I continued and even caught up and passed another vehicle - this was particularly reassuring as it meant that if I had a brake-down, I knew there was someone coming up the road not far behind........my fears were unfounded and within an hour with a reasonable bit of daylight left I arrived at the main ranger station and campground; another military-style checkpoint (barrier and all). I was greeted with smiles by the rangers who showed me where I could pitch my tent. For those who can’t be bothered with the hassle of erecting tents there were a few quite presentable bungalows for rent (about 700 baht I believe) - I’m not sure if one has to give prior notice but a couple looked unoccupied. There were actually quite a lot of people there; a few private tents dotted around and a row of about a dozen NP tents all in the regular brown camouflage and spaced less than a foot apart from each other. Parked away from most of the tents were the visitors’ vehicles mostly pickups and SUVs but to my surprise, quite a few ordinary sedan cars - how the hell they had made it up that track was beyond me.........but there they were. I chose a place where I could park my truck next to my tent - I like this as I keep most of my stuff - including kitchen - in the vehicle and if it’s parked a way off it is just damned inconvenient.

Near the entrance to the campground there were a few temporary looking stalls selling food and other basics - tissues, tinned fish, drinks. I get the feeling that out side of New Year and Song Khran it would be less likely to see cooked food and such available. I ate there later and had a really nice “pad khra phao moo” -minced pork with that minty basil on rice with a fried egg on top - one of the most common dishes in Thailand and seldom got wrong by even the most elementary level chef.

Washing and toilet facilities - every NP campsite I’ve stayed at has a shower block of some kind... the facilities here were fine; clean but basic - there was an option of sit or squat toilets both flushed from the water barrel and scoop in the closet, the “showers” were again just poor it on from the barrel type - don’t ever expect a hot shower in these places - unless like me you carry your own solar shower (a black plastic bag with a hook and a tap).

I stayed one night on this site as it was my intention to do the trek to the top the next day - I was quoted anything between 20 and 46 kilometres for the distance - so it could take anything up to 4 hours, although most advice suggested 1 to 2 hours was enough.

Long after dark there was a steady trickle of vehicles arriving at the campground, there seemed more vehicles than tents - then I realised that they had booked the NP tents - so the first thing most groups did was fire up a BBQ and lay out an enormous spread. The nearest tent to me a group from nearby Suphanburi, had a full size half-oil-barrel BBQ and apparently most of a dead pig - they were still cooking great slabs of it for breakfast the next day - needless to say I was offered copious quantities of “moo ping” and sticky rice together with a deliciously spicy homemade dip.
It is something that always delights me when meeting Thai people in these sort of circumstances that they will always offer you food - and not in a “just-being-polite” way it is done in the west, they genuinely want to stuff as much food into you as they possibly can...and when they found out I wasn’t put off by a high chilli content, they wanted me to eat even more...all this one top of my already ample Pad Khra Phao Moo! I was a bit embarrassed as the only thing I could bring to the table is a pot of Marks & Spencer Extra strong tea. (One tin of baked beans and a small pack of bacon are not really an option.) Thai people are very polite about foreign foods but most of it is regarded as foul-tasting muck.

However if their vehicle had been stuck - I had a winch, if they had a flat tire, I had a repair kit and compressor - unfortunately I didn’t have a welding kit and replacement shock strut of one of their vehicles. - they just towed it of the mountain behind one of the other trucks the next day. They had only come up for the one night anyway!

Dogs - all campgrounds have a few dogs that hang around - the ones on this site were totally friendly - with the humans at least...thy occasionally through the night would erupt into some kind of alpha dog establishing fight which involved a rather high level of noise - growls howls and scrabbling... they also tended to greet new arrivals with a chorus of barks as they drove up the lane and of course as soon as you start to cook they come to see what they can get - but they’d learned not to hang around if shooed away ...... but at this time of year with all the extra visitors, they must have thought it was Christmas...which it was really, so well done them.

I slept well that night - going to sleep really early and waking up with the dawn...there were already pole wandering about and starting to cook.........cooking whilst others dismantled the tents seemed to be the 2 main occupations that morning - I wandered over to the Rangers HQ - and although there was virtually no phone signal to speak of, I noticed a Wi-Fi signal, presumably emanating from the Ranger HQ - I went over and asked if I could connect and the ranger obliged by putting their password into my phone - this would be my last phone or internet for 3 days.......... only a very few looked like they were staying for another night and one by one they packed up and left. I’d decided that it was best to leave late morning early afternoon - that way I would have plenty of daylight for the next leg “to the top”.

Around midday I was packed and ready to go...I then almost immediately made a discovery. On turning right out of the campsite and then left down the road, I found it was no longer dirty track but a fine new concrete road leading onto a proper metalled road...that explained how the sedan cars had got there - we were only about half a kilometre from the national road system. Looking at the map it appears that the park straddles several roads and you can get from one area to another with relative ease.... the map at the campsite was accurate for directions, but I didn’t notice the types of roads.... anyhow, I made a quick detour to get diesel and then set about finding the “highest point in Suphanburi”.

I’m pretty sure the route number I followed was rural 3142 and then 4031 until eventually you see the signs for...”Taperkeenoy” waterfall, for some reason I couldn’t see signage suggesting this is the way to the Tewada peak...however there are a couple of general stores at the turn off who are pretty good at telling you where to go - but in a nice way.

I stopped to buy a few supplies and then headed on up the dirt road... all in all it wasn’t too bad - in general it was smoother than the previous track and there was a comforting amount of other traffic and a couple of nice viewpoints to stop off at on the way. My guess is it is about 15 to 20 km..... but you lose sense of distance (and time) when you are travelling so slowly

Round a bend and you come upon the car park for the upper campsite... Rangers are there to direct traffic there is a small store selling essentials and renting out camping equipment and a toilet block of 2 toilets! Vehicles are not permitted onto the campground itself. There is a short walk up to the site from the cars - I find not having my car next to my tent a bit inconvenient, but there is a “rot khen” - a handcart - to transport your gear. In the end I didn’t make use of it as I only took a small amount from the car to the tent.
One reason I like to have my truck near at hand is for security, but I have to say that at no point did I feel my truck or any of my belongings were at risk. There was for a start a permanent 24-hour ranger presence at the car park - and quite frankly any kind of petty crime here seemed incredibly unlikely - people left all their gear lying about with total confidence it would be safe.

I selected a pitch for my tent set at a respectful distance between two others and then investigated the campsite. The site itself was slightly dome shaped - so a level site was carefully selected. At the lower end was the car park ranger hut a store and a few other shanty buildings that I suspect were home for some of the local Karen people. On one side of the site was a large dilapidated toilet and shower block, some water tanks and a little way into the woodland behind was a “cooking area” - this appeared to be set up for those both cooking there own and selling food... At the far end of the site was another area that had two or three temporary food outlets. There was also a wind generator and a bank of solar panels - I really didn’t see any advantage from these on my visit apart from one solitary strip light in the middle of the campsite. On the other hand the food stalls were selling a range of Karen style food, largely yams and sweet potatoes, and fruits of all kinds. They also made the usual Thai rice dishes.

I had a my own food in the form of cereal eggs bread bacon etc., but you could turn up here with nothing and eat like a king for the duration.... albeit a very rural poor king.

I stayed on this sight for three days - I spent most of the time eating and sleeping - reading and drinking cups of Marks & Spencer tea, and chatting with other campers......... I made one excursion to a local waterfall.... did I climb to the summit? Like 90% of those there I didn’t.

Strangely for me - the site filled to capacity as the evening drew on, many arriving in the dark - truck after truck arrived and hoards of people poured out carrying huge boxes of food, tents and arms overflowing with the usual cartoon-covered bedding. Some had hi-tech imported camping gear, others settled for a cheap auto-erect tent and the ubiquitous clay/bucket BBQ.... the main task was to sit down cook and eat...the tent was for many an after thought. Tent erecting was for many a comical affair.... it was really quite windy and the resulting efforts to put up a tent were often closer to kite flying or paragliding. Tent instructions tell you to erect these tents first on a ground sheet and then make no mention of actually pegging them into the ground...whilst a lot of thought is given to shade and ventilation, very little is give to rain or wind, which is unfortunate as the weather over the next few days was going to be largely cold, wet and windy....
Day 2 was new years eve I awoke to find the campsite full to the brim...the gaps I’d left between my neighbours had been filled by other tents - there was now less than a foot between tents... tents were cheek by jowl throughout the site.... but it appeared some were leaving - yet again it seemed many had come just for one night and having eaten their fill, were packing to go home. By mid-afternoon there was space again.... but not for long - the next wave of campers was arriving.... this time with a vengeance. I didn’t believe it was possible to get any more tents on the site than the night before - I was wrong. What was once a bald patch on a mountain top was now a sea of canvas, you could barely pick your way through small alleyways that had been left more by accident than intent, a higgledy-piggledy hill-top village.........the car park was jammed and had extended across the track into another field, others had parked down the lane...If you were in Bangkok over near year and wondering where everybody had gone - I can now reveal to you that most of them appear to have been in a small field about 800 meters from the summit of Phu Toei - the highest point in Suphanburi. The point is frequently shrouded in mist, but this time it was shrouded in Bangkokians.

There was a party atmosphere - but the noise levels were remarkably low - the loudest sound being the rattling of the wind generator and a few Thai folksongs on acoustic guitars...BTW, I’d like to thank the group of young guys who pitched camp directly behind me - their singing and playing was amazing - the first time I’ve heard close harmonies sung well live in Thai...they were genuinely great to listen to.

In all the time I was there, I was the only foreigner on the site, as such I was treated as a bit of a celeb.... offers of food, children forced to practice their English and questions of where was I from and did I have a Thai wife prevailed - they were also slightly surprised to find I had come on my own. Of particular interest were my efforts at cooking...on biting into my first bacon and egg sandwich, I realised the whole process had been scrutinised from all sides...
“Aroi mai?” (Delicious?)
My reply - “Saep lai lai!” - “very delicious” in Lao, the language of Northeast Thailand, is greeted by laughter all around.

I got to chat with a load of people - most were from Bangkok - TV program makers, IT technicians, students, internet shopping executives from Tesco’s, a few local families from Suphanburi and Uthai Thani, largely the new Thai middle class reconnecting with their rural roots.

The weather was cold - about 12 degrees Celsius and we also got some strong wind and a bit of drizzle...all of which was part of the experience for people who pass most of their lives in an ambient temperature of about 30 degrees Celsius. To experience “cold” in Thailand you really need to been over 1000 metres above sea level.... if you are lucky you might eve experience...frost!
People had succeeded in coping with the weather to varying degrees - some had clearly underestimated what 24 hours or chill can do to a body, whilst others were parading around in quilted clothing that would have been fine inside the artic circle. the cagoule and integral pat of British camping was notable by it’s relative absence - apart of course from mine and one or two wearing motorcycle versions.

New Year’s day was particularly soggy - wind cloud and drizzle (Scotch mist?) was the order of the day .........By noon on New Year’s Day, the mass exit (Thexit? Cexit? Bankexit?) Was well under way, tents dismantled. I felt like was beginning to get a cold so I thought that I might join the exodus later on...hoping that the weather might improve I waited - but in the end gave up and just packed my tent wet.

With my truck fully packed I decided that before leaving the area, I’d take a quick drive to a nearby waterfall, about a kilometre of dirt rack and I was there - I quaint Tolkien-esque grove with a small waterfall or set of small cascades. On leaving there I made a little discovery; by following the track a little further, I came upon another camping ground.........this one was privately owned, well landscaped and totally kept secret by the rangers - who’s only motivation must have bee to keep as many people in the NP site as possible. I have to say that the next time I visit that place I will make a beeline for that other site - it really looked so much better laid out and organised...100 baht for a tent, I was told - although it has occurred to me that that may be per night - as opposed to the 160 baht I paid for the whole trip in the national park.

After that I set off back - not home but to find a hotel...after 3 days in the hills I wanted a room with a nice hot bath to clean up...finding a hotel room on New Year’s day though is another story....

So there you go - “Khao Dow” in the hills with a host of Bangkokians.... what’s “Khao Dao”? Translated to English - “countdown” - to New Year... BTW I slept through that bit.

khunwilko

next National park 4x4 trip will be in the Westen Forest complex, but due to wet season probably not in a tent. Any takers??