Ranong, also a Thai pearl on the Andaman Sea (video)
In a recent story on this blog, a foreign journalist from Thaiger made an account of his visa run to Myanmar via the city of Ranong. His goal was of course to get the necessary stamps to extend his stay in Thailand and I thought he didn't have much regard for Ranong as a tourist attraction.
He didn't think it was an attractive part of Thailand, but I did some research on the internet and concluded that the province of Ranong, the northernmost Thai province on the Andaman Sea, does have a lot to offer the tourist with an abundance of mangroves, beaches, hot springs , islands, mountains, caves, waterfalls and temples.
History
Founded in the 19th century by Chinese migrants as an outpost of the tin mining industry, Ranong gets its name from the phrase, rae nong, "awash with minerals." A large community of ethnic Chinese still lives here, along with quite a few Muslim Thais and migrants from Burma. Extensive Chinese cemeteries can be seen in the hills to the north of the city, as well as the tomb of the province's first governor. In addition to Chinese pagodas, these cemeteries also contain detailed statues of horses and guards. Chinese architecture is omnipresent in the form of gates, shrines and lanterns.
Sai Rung La Ong Dao Waterfall
What to do in and around Ranong?
What the tourist should not miss is a visit to a hot spring to enjoy a hot water bath with the feet or with the whole body, the temperature of which can reach up to 60 ° C.
A visit to a copy of the Rattanarangsan Palace, where King Rama V stayed during his visit to Ranong in 1890, is also interesting. A trip through the Ngao Mangrove Forest should also be on your “what to do” list. A boat trip from Ranong to Kawthaung in Myanmar is also possible, but then you leave Thailand, which requires the necessary border formalities.
Ranong is becoming more and more attractive to tourists because of the several pristine islands nearby, such as Koh Kam, Koh Kam Tok, Koh Khangkhao and Koh Yipun.
Finally
Google Ranong and you will find quite a few websites that tell you more about the province and city of Ranong. For the text of this story I have: Made use of a beautiful report with photos in the Bangkok Post, which you can find at this link: www.bangkokpost.com/
It is perhaps even better and more beautiful to watch the video below about Ranong:
About this blogger
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Bert Gringhuis (1945), born and raised in Almelo in the beautiful Twente. Later lived for many years in Amsterdam and Alkmaar, working in export for various companies. I first came to Thailand in 1980 and immediately fell in love with the country. Been back many times since then and moved to Thailand after my (early) retirement as a widower. I have been living there for 22 years now with my somewhat younger Thai lady Poopae.
My first experiences in Thailand as a kind of newsletter sent to family, friends and acquaintances, which later appeared under the name Gringo on Thailandblog. Many, many articles followed those first stories and that has grown into an almost daily hobby.
In the Netherlands still an avid footballer and football referee, but the years are starting to tell and in Thailand still avid, but the pool billiards is really of inferior quality, ha ha!
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Nice story, Ranong is indeed great, a pity that most of them have to get a stamp in a hurry and forget to look around
As written, Ranong is a beautiful province in the south of Thailand, if you travel from Chumpon to Ranong city you will pass through several national parks. I myself live halfway about 60 kilometers north of Ranong in the mountains, because it rains quite a lot, it is often cool and good to stay there. There are rumors (from local people) that a border post will be built near the town of Kraburi and that it will then be possible to travel to Myanmar from there, the question remains whether the non-Thai would be allowed to use this option. new border post. Must say on the other side of the river on the Myanmar side, so it is only jungle and there are also few roads, it must be beautiful according to my in-laws, unfortunately I am not allowed to come and have a look. The visa for Kawthaung or the old name Victoria Point is only valid for the city and you are not allowed to go further than 15 kilometers outside the city. Outside the city of Victoria Point, about 15 kilometers from the city, there is a military checkpoint that if you are lucky will send you back to the city (unless you have any permission to travel there).
Previously when I lived on Phuket I did my 3 monthly visa run there, early in the morning by car, and if you were lucky you were back by boat from Burma around 14:00 PM.
And yes then you didn't have time to take a look at Ranong again, then you were happy when you were back at 6 o'clock.
A few months ago we visited the so-called paradise island of Koh Phayam, where we sailed there from Ranong by boat. Unfortunately, we had already paid for our accommodation on Koh Phayam. We didn't like it at all on the island. It's nice for a few hours, but after that we had seen it.
On the last day we sailed back to Ranong early in the morning and only had the bus back to Hua Hin in the evening.
If only we had stayed in Ranong and only made a day trip to Koh Phayam. We stayed at the Tinidee Hotel in Ranong the night before we left for the island. We liked that hotel. I would like to go back there someday to explore the area in more detail.
Dear Sjaak S. To each his own, we loved the peace, nature and the wonderful sea and no stress.
We were there at the end of Feb. 2020 at the start of the corona time but you didn't get any of that. because we travel around Koh Phayam is an oasis of peace for a few days when we arrived there from Phuket… a change of food…….
Koh Phayam is a wonderful island, I would love to come there with my partner. Rest in the late season, hut on the beach, dogs that watch over you at night and go swimming during the day. Friendly people, good food, a bit of a hippie / rasta island, but an island where I feel at home even though I am over 70 years old. It's just what you're looking for and expect because it's not Koh Samui, luckily I'd almost say.
Ranong is quite worth a visit. There is a lot to see there: hot springs, waterfalls, viewpoints .... and just outside Ranong, Patho, you can make a fantastic rafting. I have been going there several times as it is well within reach of a pleasant motorbike trip. Is barely 180km from my homestay. A few years ago I wrote an article about the trip the Bikerboys Hua Hin made to Ranong under my guidance. There are enough facilities in Ranong such as hotels and restaurants to make everyone happy. There are even hotels that have a swimming pool with water directly from the hot springs.
see: lung addie on the road 5…https://www.thailandblog.nl/?s=lung+addie+on+the+road+5&x=22&y=16
About 5 years ago I could also go to the (Burmese) island of Pulo from Ranong for a visa.
You stay there for a few hours, can go to a luxurious hotel with casino (Grand Andaman) and then return. This is a fairly unknown route for a border run, but for me it all went pretty quickly and smoothly.