Ekachai Bridge Phatthalung & More 28 Dec 2019

After Pa Phai Sang Suk Market, we headed towards Ranot leaving Phattalung. We had booked a stay at a challet near Ranot.

Our car passed through the beautiful massive bridge, that we were travelled under it. It is the longest bridge in Thailand and connects Phatthalung and Songkla.

One can drive over it and stop off on the side to see the old huts and water buffalo grazing below. And, that was what we did.

This bridge is the 80th Anniversary Road. Local people call Baan Saikling - Baan Hua Pa. The first was a dirt road, which had to be closed frequently during the flood. The province want rebuilt it.

During that time, Ekichai Srivichai came to open his concert for donoting funds to rebuild this bridge. Therefore, the bridge is called Ekachai Bridge.

This bridge connects between Khuan Khanun district of Phatthalung and Ranod district of Songkhla.

The scenery is just so amazingly beautiful! Our car stopped at few spots of places just to take photos. We stopped at the landmarks of the famous Phattalung bridge and took a group photo.

Further down we drove, there are few spots at both sides of the road that the cars can be parked aside and one can see and observe the birds at the Thale Noi Lake.

There are even some infographic signage for the visitors on the flying birds. We can see some water buffaloes but quite far from our eyesight.

After we drove through the Ekachai Bridge, we were on our way towards Ranot. It really indeed a long drive to find the challet which we booked.

We saw some windmills along the highway. And this is the first time I saw a real windmill that can generate power. I do not think I can see one in Malaysia.

After a while then I only realise that we were driving on a highway which is just along side the coast which facing the South China Sea.

Alvin stopped by a village beside the seaside, and walked towards the beach. The wind was so strong and so refreshing just standing at the beach.

We decided to head to our challet – Palm Phayom Village and take a rest for later travel to our next destination, the Klongdan Floating Market which is nearby.

Here are some of the photos that we took at the seaside…

Kwanjai Bamboo Garden @ Pa Phai Sang Suk Market Phatthalung 28 Dec 2019

After our trip to Napokae Rice Learning Centre, we headed to Pa Phai Sang Suk Market.

The journey to Pa Phai sang Suk Market was quite a distance. May be due to we were going to a more rural place.

I believe it is a very famous market among the locals. When we arrived, there were a few men directing the traffics in front of the entrance of the market.

They were directing visitors to the parking area which is located at the opposite of the road. We paid a small parking fees.

This rural market among bamboo forest, called “Pa Pai Sang Suk”. “Pa” in Thai, means “Forest”, “Pai” in Thai, means “Bamboo”, and “Sang Suk” in Thai, means “Create Happiness”.

So, the whole market name means “bamboo forest creates happiness” or “create happiness from bamboo forest”.

The market is divided into 5 zones; namely, Pa Phai Sang Suk Market, a relaxation area, children’s activities, a learning zone of the Kwanjai Bamboo Garden, and a pleasant bamboo forest.

It is open every Saturday during 7.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. And the market is open only one day a week which is on Saturday.

The bamboo forest much helps the local people and visitors feel refresh while walking around the market to buy the things they want and it did create a beautiful scenery.

It is one of a unique experience that we have as we did not encounter walking under the shades of such a nice bamboo forest area.

The green market where people in the community bring local food, rare local desserts, fresh vegetables, fruits as well as handmade products for sale at a reasonable price.

There are many interesting stalls shops which were built by natural bamboo. Most of them are presented in ancient Thai foods styles which are very interesting. This is one of them – ice cream wrapped with banana leaf.

There are various kinds of Thai foods selling at “Pa Pai Sang Suk”. We do not know what is this call, but it seems like the Bánh Cuốn or steamed rolled rice pancake that we ate at Saigon.

It is better known here as Chu Cheong Fan, eat together with the homemade sauce. Different is it is incredible delicious and yummy!

We came to a stall which crowded by a lot of people, and we were curious about what good food that was selling. It is actually pan fried steamed sticky rice pancake.

Surprisingly it is really delicious! It is just a simple and normal ingredients – steamed sticky rice and beans, turns out to be very delicious snacks.

We passed through a stall selling worms and insects for snacks. Well… this is not the first time we see this but this is the first time we see in bulks!

The stall next to it was selling some sort of Thai locals made sambals. We did try some and it is indeed nice but so spicy!

We did not buy it because we were thinking that we still be travelling and cannot keep it.

Then we came to the famous stall selling “Khao Yum”,or it is better known as Nasi Kerabu in Malaysia. Mat Salleh called it as Rice Salad because the dish is mixture of various variety of raw vegetables with rice.

I like “Khao Yum” better because the portion of vegetables are more than the rice compared to Nasi Kerabu whereby it is a rice dish and the rice is more than the vegetables. And it taste really yummy!

We came to the drinks stall. The unique part is that they use the bamboo as the container to serve the drinks.

Besides all these that we tried, there are so many stalls selling local Thai foods with reasonable price starting at only 1 Baht!

All these are some of the food that we saw at the market, namely Thai coffee, Thai traditional desserts, rice or noodles with curries, and so much more.

And of coarse I saw some exotic Thai food too. We really don’t dare to try it! I just took some photos only.

At end of our stroll in the Kwanjai market, we came to the area which are handicrafts and art stalls. There are various handmade and art pieces for sale.

There is a small lane filled with various types of bamboo species at both side of the lane. It is a popular spot for photo taking. We did the same thing that everyone will do here!

It is such a nice place to visit. One should never forget to come here to experience something nature and difference!