Experiencing Nature and Thai Hospitality in Easternmost Thailand

 

The summer of 2008 was one of our family's best family experiences. Aside from our country-hopping from Thailand to Malaysia then Singapore, we got invited by a Thai friend at her hometown in Trat, the easternmost province at the border of Cambodia, about 400 kilometers from Bangkok. In Thai culture, guests are never invited to a Thai house or family unless they are so close with one another. So I felt so surprised and honored that I and my family got this very rare opportunity. And look, we had a real experience of a traditional Thai house! Believe me, one teak wood post alone costs about 500,000 baht (about US$15,000.). So count the posts of the entire big house. Every piece of furniture of this magnificent house is exquisitely made from the very rare and expensive teak as well.
Trat serves as a major producer of fruits in Thailand. So we enjoyed our hosts' own farm harvests. Who could resist the finger licking fruit? It's the fruit that smells like hell but tastes like heaven. Guess what it is? durian! And theirs is a rare variety. Oh, it's so creamy and sweet! The whole family enjoyed picking rambutans, longgans and lanzones from their hundreds of acres of fruit trees. They also have the green sweet mango so famous in Thailand.

 What surprised my kids most is the very vast farm of cashews. They knew cashew-nut as they're both monsters of it but they'd never seen cashew fruit tree before. They could not believe that Auntie Ying, an only child, owns all those 5 wide farms we visited.

Cashew tree

My friend Ying's dad is showing my son how rubber sap is collected from the tapped rubber tree before it is made into a tire.

Trat also offers delightful scenery and a tranquil hideout for nature-lovers.On our third day there, the last day of Songkhran Festival, our gracious hosts took us to a beach at the border of Cambodia. To our excitement, we all walked around the very fine white sand beach before we finally dipped ourselves into the pristine water.

Our generous hosts also took us around Koh Chang where we had the chance to view the beautiful sunset. Then finally, they toured us around the area's Nature Park.

Sunset at Koh Chang (Elephant Island, Trat)

The trip was long, about 6 hour-ride, but the great experience and unsurpassed hospitality was more than worth it. We got back to Bangkok soooooo refreshed and filled with memories to cherish!