One night in Ban Phe

We wanted to go to an island called Ko Samet, but we were in Bangkok, about 3 hours away by bus. We were hoping to arrive there before the sun goes down and swim in the afternoon; but, again, traffic jams in Bangkok changed our destiny.

Reaching the Southern Bangkok bus station took us over 3 hours and, once we arrived, there was no transport to get out in the next hour, so our bus departed at 3pm.

The trip took longer than expected and our stop in Ban Phe, from where we were supposed to catch a ferry to Ko Samet, wasn’t until 7 pm. At that time there was no cheap options, just hire one of the speedboats, so we decided to find accommodation in a city that is often overlooked by tourists.

We finally found a hostel, probably the only one in town, run by two Scottish guys who have been living in Thailand for more than 2 years; there we got a huge room for 300 baht. With hot shower and wifi from the bar in front, a luxury.

I will remember now that 1 euro is 41.2 Thai baht, so 300 baht are about 7.5 €.

But the best discover was that we were not in a dead town as we feared, during that week was celebrating a Sea Festival. Turning our night at Ban Phe in a much more interesting than we expected.

The main income for Ban Phe are fishing and traffic associated with the port, its main attraction is being the connection to Ko Samet. Shops and guesthouses are spread along a long road, turning at the time the festival in an extension of it.

Local businesses are adorned with a multitude of shells, but what struck us most was the freshness exhibited by the sea food; especially those squids and prawns in the stalls. A good reason to stop, especially after seeing people fishing in the dirty Chao Phraya River which divides Bangkok.

After a nice evening, in the morning we went to our desired destination, Ko Samet. But first things first, we got breakfast and went to buy in one of the 7 Eleven for having a minimal supply of water and food.

On our Facebook page you can find more photos of Ban Phe.