Day 10: Had Niyom - Surat Thani - Frankie goes to.....the Gulf of Thailand (2022)

January 17, 2022

Day 10: Had Niyom - Surat Thani

I always knew that neither today nor tomorrow to Koh Samui would be the most exciting days on the bike. It starts off nicely though and you roll along Had Niyom and Had Laem Sai with some more decent resorts for 10 km. About 40 km north of Surat Thani I had to leave the coast and it´s all about getting into town from there. I was actually looking more forward to the time off the bike today as I absolutely adore the food options in Surat. In particular the two nightmarkets: One more or less next to my regular hotel, the My Place, the second one down at the pier for the overnight boats to the islands of Koh Phangan, Tao and Samui.

I had pre-booked my hotel for the night but when I sat at the boat pier nightmarket I thought I might actually be a good idea to take one of those wooden vessels as it safes you the night in the hotel plus the 60 kilometers from Surat Thai to Don Sak the next day which is certainly not the most exciting ride either. The boats leave at 10 pm so there would still be plenty of time to check out the nightmarkets. Probably the next time....

A last attractive stop at the Laem Pho Beach Park before the road takes you away from the coast. There are plenty of good seafood restaurant right behind me if you should get there at lunchtime.

Exactly 10 km before Surat Thani the scenery becomes more attractive again and the actual entry into the decent size city is surprisingly easy. Only once you crossed the bridge it feels like urban traffic but then you are already right in the town center where almost all the hotels are.

The Surat Thani City Pillar Shrine. Each city in Thailand has one of those, containing the document with the city rights.

It´s so easy to make your customers feel welcome, isn´t it? The My Place hotel have been doing this ever since I first stayed here years ago. The location is perfect and the good fan rooms come at 399 Baht / 11€.

In my opinion one of Thailand´s best. The Surat Thani Nightmarket basically next to my hotel.

Course no. 1 for me, the mussels in Thai chili sauce on the bottom right

You wouldn´t believe how nice a banana can be if it get´s grilled, flattened with a hammer and....

The other nightmarket down at the boat pier I talked about. You can see the Koh Tao boat moored in the background

And if you feel like getting rid of all the calories instantly you might join the public aerobic class. These instructed courses are basically held every evening in every Thai city park. And as it is Monday most participants are wearing yellow, the royal colour.

Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 651 km (404 miles)

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