Backpacking Thailand
Jomtien Beach
The date is Novemeber 17 2024
I’ve been in Jomtien for 3 days now. I have done nothing but smoke reefer and explore the main beach strip. This place is packed full of tourists, street vendors and Thai massage ladies….ladyboys
It’s the tail end of the monsoon season or wet season. Past few days have seen some pretty wicked rainfall, often occurring in heavy, torrential bursts. The downpours can last for hours, flooding the streets and stopping traffic. The bravest of people you will ever see, Thai locals ripping around on scooters, drive balls to the wall no matter how intense the rain. But for most people, the rainfall can bring movement to a complete halt. I experienced flood water almost reaching my knees while crossing from one street to another. The wet season typically runs from May to October….Novemberish.
Jomtien Beach is a town on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand about 165 km south-east of Bangkok in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province.
It’s a pretty relaxed alternative to its bustling neighbor Pattaya, just a few kilometers away. Golden sands, clear water, chill atmosphere, and a long stretch of beach perfect for swimming, water sports, or chillin high on Thai reefer. The main beach street is lined with restaurants, reefer stalls, reefer cafes, feefer bars, and some pretentious resorts making it a popular yet tranquil destination.
The Date is November 18, 2024
I left Jomtien Beach this morning. Checked out of Matcha House Hostel and headed to Pattaya Pier. Grab is an app I use when traveling. Especially, when landing into a new country or massive chaotic airport. Airports suck ass on their own… toss into the mix the airport taxi hustlers, faaaack. Grab skips all the bullshit and allows you to escape the chaos of the airport and get to where you want to be at a much better rate than you will ever negotiate with the airport taxi hustlers. Bangkok BBK airport is massive and can feel chaotic. Grab has a meet-up point with people able to assist and help you with your bags. The Grab taxis are an endless loop running 24/7 through the meet-up point. Grab Staff call out the plate numbers…. like going to any gov office where you grab a ticket and wait to be called. Now Grab does this through the app and staff call out the plate number when your Grab taxi is ready. You wait out in the parking lot pasture with all the bovine, wandering around, sweating, looking exhausted and waiting for Grab…. Faccking Thailand, they have their shit together.
The Reefer In Jomtien Is Fantastic
Reefer Shop: The Old Man Weed Restaraunt.
Google Map: Old Man Weed Shop
Rambled a little there. This is my first..ish blog. My plan was to start on day 1 of landing into Bangkok. Well…. Bangkok got me. Drank like a faacking sailor for 5 days. Experimented with the devils lettuce….faack,…maybe the whole garden. I know, it was a lot. It was also fun. Here I am now. I will work on a Bangkok Post at some point.
The Pattaya Pier is another place that is chaotic, but its well-organized chaos. Taxi boat hustlers meet you the microsecond you step foot onto the pier property….it’s game faaacking on for those cock suckers. They swarm you like flies on to shit speaking Thai, well over 730 words per second. Dressed in every single piece of sun blocking fabric and accessory you can imagine. These guys want to take your hand and help you squeeze your fat ass into a tiny faacking jet boat, made of light duty tin, some tires strapped to the side to act as a bumper, and some wood planks barely fastened….held up by life jackets. The jet boats fly on top of the water, occasionally colliding with waves and wake. The collisions are not fun. The tin jet boat sounds and feels like it’s minutes away from falling apart. Within 30 seconds from leaving Pattaya pier you are at Koh Larn Island. Two, sometimes three, guys waiting for you on the Koh Larn Pier. While the jet boat, fighting for its life and coming in hot to the pier, A very old and frail looking man, with all his might, tosses a rope to the guys on the pier. Somehow, with those rope, the pier guys can stop the jet boat before from slamming into the concrete pier. Then, you are pulled by your hands, up and out of the jet boat and set down onto the pier. Nothing easier. Definitely nothing quicker. Cost 300bht. This method of transport was popular with many young Indian tourists and Russian families.
Once past the water taxi hustlers you can find the public ferry. 30bht. Mostly friendly Chinese, very happy, slow moving and taking pictures. Some local Thai people, smiling, singing and really glad to be on the ferry. I opted for this method of transport. Took a lot of photos with many people. Good times. Cost 30bht. Total travel time 30min. No concussions. No sore muscles. No splinters in your ass.
This ends my day…. For Jomtien Beach, anyways. I never really did shit in Jomtien. It felt good. Bangkok was wild. Jomtien can easily get wild. I enjoyed smoking the devils lettuce and wandering around the beach and wild side streets. I enjoy getting lost in new places. Blows my mind how people live and work and interact. Jomtien is a place you should see once, if you come to Bangkok.
