I am still searching for a route through Bangkok that will be my normal transit through the city. I liked the route I returned on after my attending the boat races. I tried to go this way in reverse but seemed to have messed up and my trip to Chachoengsao where I would spend the night took a bit longer than I thought it would. The following day I stopped at Wat Sanam Chan (วัดสนามจันทร์) on my way to Chonburi City where I had a hotel booked to attend this years Buffalo Races.
I often add stops on Google Maps not because I want to stop at a place but rather I want to take a different route to the destination than google wants to send me. I have also found it is really useful so that I do not get bounced back to the faster route when I have selected an alternate route which maybe a few minutes slower. The problem is I do not hear the phone when riding and if I am not looking at the phone but watching the road I often find myself switched back to the faster route. I used Wat Sanam Chan (วัดสนามจันทร์) as a stop to route myself away from the highway but seemed to enjoy stopping at this temple around the city of Chachoengsao.
The temple sits along the Bang Pakong River and I found it a nice place to sit and watch the water flow by and it had a number of different statues shown in the pictures below.
I attend the Buffalo Races (วิ่งควาย) again this year 2025 and had a good time. Following is the video I put together of the event.
I usually end up going to Pattaya when I am on this side of Bangkok as a sort of holiday where I eat and drink too much but this time I was not feeling very good. I seem to be suffering from a cold or the flu and decided I did not want to go on a holiday where I would not want to leave the hotel so headed back home. I seemed to get the route through Bangkok correct this time but was still too long of a ride when I was not feeling at 100%.
I saw a YouTube video of someone riding on one of these Long Tail Racing Boats a number of years ago and thought that would be fun to watch. The problem in Thailand is finding information about events like this. Someone recently shared a Facebook group which posts information on upcoming events and where I received the following information.
Run the picture through Google Translate to try and understand the information. I had a concert planned for the day the event was in Chachoengsao but once the concert got cancelled it was off to Chachoengsao to watch the races.
It was a fun couple of days with smaller boats and engines on the first day and then bigger boats with larger engines the second.
This is the video I made when I returned home for a few days.
The next video is not my video but one of the guys I bumped into that has his own YouTube channel. If you want to see how good a youtube video can look when someone knows what they are doing. The only thing wrong with the video it does not my ugly face in it at one point.
I am off on another trip to go to some events in Thailand. I decided I would stop again at Wat Pho Bang Khla (ค้างคาววัดโพธิ์) to see the Flying Foxes/Fruit Bats on my way to some boat races.
I have visited this temple back in January of 2023 and have since been to two other temples to watch these amazing animals. This is my post from my first time seeing flying foxes.
Following is the 3 minute short I uploaded to YouTube while at the temple.
I am updating this with the full video of all the clips I got while at this temple now that I am back home in Kanchanaburi.
To get to the temple in Chachoengsao I went through another episode of my love hate relationship with Google maps. My phone for some reason stopped having the motorcycle option when selecting direction. I assumed incorrectly that using car direction would not be an issue.
There is a new toll road between Kanchanaburi and Bangkok called the M81. Google maps kept trying to get me to take this new highway. There are a couple of issues with this first motorcycles are not allowed on this highway and second the highway is currently only open on weekends.
I knew about this new toll road but had a avoid toll roads selected on Google maps. I assume that since this toll road is currently free when open it is not seen as a toll road.
When I arrived at the closed entrance to the M81 I just kept going on the alternative route and figured all was good but after riding another 30 minutes I was at another closed entrance to the M81. I am not the smartest person because I did this one more time before stopping at a gas station and selecting stops so I would avoid this closed highway. I think all this fighting with Google maps added an hour and a half to what was supposed to be around a 4 hour ride.
I still arrived in Chachoengsao with time to find a hotel and get to the temple before it was dark. The bats seem to become more active as the sun is setting so it all worked out well.
A few days later I did a bunch of Google searches and found a resolution to the missing motorcycle option by clearing all the Google map data.
I follow a couple of Thai bands on Facebook and sometimes enjoy going to their shows even though I don't really understand a word. I saw something about a concert in Lopburi which is about a 3 or 4 hour motorcycle ride from my home in Kanchanaburi.
I decided to try and go but I didn't understand how or where to buy a ticket. I got a facebook page and a picture of the bands to preform and went to a 7-11 store where I had bought a ticket to a concert in the past. The people in the store were wonderful and really tried to help me but tickets were not for sale via 7-11. They did point me to a QR code that I already had for a line group. Line is a messaging app that is widely used in Thailand. Line is about the same as the WhatsApp but everyone seems to prefer Line in Thailand. The two things you need to have in Thailand is Line and Facebook to have any hope of finding things that are happening around Thailand. The third thing I would be lost without is Google Translate.
I joined the line group and then using google translate figured out I had to send a message in Thai with the text buy one ticket and then send 499 Baht or around $17 to a bank account number. After doing this I received a message asking for my name and phone number and what I think was my ticket. It felt a bit like some sort of scam. I would be upset about getting scammed out of $17 but didn't know any other way to get a ticket and the stuff I had seen on Facebook said there would not be tickets for sale at the concert.
I booked a hotel for the day of the show and the day before I rode a bit over half way to Lopburi and stayed at a hotel in the city of Suphan Buri. The day of the show I rode the rest of the way to Lopburi and did not have any idea of where the concert would take place. I was hoping that my hotel in Lopburi would be able to point me in the right direction but as I was getting close to city I heard music and saw people selling folding chairs on both sides of the road. I went in to the parking area walked up to a desk pointed to the picture on my phone of the band lineup and said "Here" in Thai. They told me yes and at 4 in the afternoon. I am always surprised when things work out and when I understand something said to me in Thai.
I checked into my hotel and took a bit of a rest before heading to the concert. With the last band going on after 1 in the morning it was going to be a late night for me. I am not good at waiting around. I knew I didn't need to get there before 6:30 or 7 but couldn't help myself and showed up at the field around 5. I bought one of folding chairs just outside the parking area and went up to the desk before the entrance. I handed the lady my phone opened up to the line chat. She took my phone typed in something in Thai and handed me my wrist band that was my ticket. I am not sure if me exchanged a word but it had not been a scam and I had my ticket.
At the entrance someone put my wrist band on for me and I passed through security. Security seemed to be checking peoples pockets and bags but I guess with me being a big fat ugly old foreigner I was trustworthy enough so I passed through without any checks. The pictute is what greeted me after entering.
This is the lineup for the concert. I did not make it all the way to the end of the show and left just before the last band was going to come on stage about 1:30. I stayed for about 8 hours and got rained on a bit and the field was a bit muddy. One of the people I was setting next to lent me a umbrella when the rain was at it's heaviest and he took pity on this old man when I returned from the toilet and pasted my chair, he caught me and lead me back to my seat or I might still be wonder around that muddy field.
I only knew one band but enjoyed most of them and I didn't expect to hear my favorite Thai song or which happens to be the only Thai song I recognize. It is the Rocket Festival Song by Joey Phuwasit. The video is not great but I was thrilled to hear this song live and am now following Joey Phuwasit on Facebook.
I got back to the hotel around 2 and was covered in mud. Walking around in a muddy field wearing flip flops was not a great idea. They seems to get stuck in the mud and then flip mud everywhere when they come loose. I did my best to not track mud through the lobby of the hotel going to my room but am sure I left a bit of a trail.
I rode back home the following day and didn't even visit the Lopburi Criminals I encountered back in 2008.
