One thing I love about travelling with Lyn (my boo) is the massive pre-trip preparation and research she does. I am talking about a comprehensive list of restaurants, places to visit, possible pricing, exchange rates and a whole chunk of very useful information all nicely filed in a clear folder (two copies) with attachments. She did it for Taiwan and of course much to my hilarity, for Thailand as well.
Not wanting to be the average Singaporean tourist in Thailand (meaning just shopping alone), she made an extensive research at Trip Advisor and other sites I can’t remember to find out what kind of attractions we would possibly be interested in. There in the world wide web, she chanced upon a few forums with many of positive reviews about a personal tour guide called Pernpitcha Kaewtrakulpeng…erm..let just call her Tong 
To tell you the truth, we were very much entertained while reading the reviews posted by very satisfied customers on the services she provides. I am almost certain that they were 100% positive.
It wasn’t long before we confirmed our day trip with her and the next time we communicated was when we were in Bangkok. There were two major places she planned for us (Lyn, her sister Christine, and me)…the Fishermen’s village and the floating market (which I will post in the final installment of the series).
The Fishermen’s village is located about 2 hours off Bangkok. Unfortunately I am not able to tell you what the name of the area was because (a) the place is preserved and no big tour groups are allowed there, and (b) I forgot (the name is in Thai for crying out loud). Anyhoo, there at the jetty, we were greeted by a local fisherman named Reed.
Reed
Reed, about a couple of years back had rented a plot to grow/rear oysters, cockles, mussels and a whole lot of seafood…I mean fish. His home like many others out there are built on stilts…or how we like to call it…Kelong.
The Fishermen’s village is huge. It spans about a few hundred kilometers (no I am not kidding), and as far as the eye can see. The weather was good, the place was relatively quiet except the occasional sound of neigbours travelling around by boat, the sea breeze mixed with salty river water kept splattering on our faces as we moved from location to location…it was just perfect. Somewhere I always wanted to be for a long time…to get out from the hustle and bustle of urban life and move to a place more remote.
There, Reed brought us to his plot with oysters, mussels and cockles and gave us first hand experience at looking them before they hit the shelves. Yes, I love seafood and that meant alot to me. Reed pulled an oyster out from one of the strings it was hanging on to, popped the shell open, washed it a little with water, passed it over to me beckoning me to eat it. I saw heaven!!
Left: Fresh mussels | Right: The fresh oyster I ate
We then headed to a nearby mangrove area where we were greeted by monkeys. According to Tong, their diet only consists of mangrove leaves and the apples, pears, bananas, watermelons and other fruits we threw to them were delicacies. Reed would head there almost everyday to feed them…that man has a good heart.
Left: Monkeys | Right: Monkey
Once the primates had their fill, it was time the homo sapiens head for lunch. Reed brought us to his little stilt house where we were greeted by his employees who prepared a wholesome meal for us consisting of one heck of a seafood tom yam soup, fish, crab, king prawns and oysters…loads of them 
To me, that is authentic Thai seafood. If you beg to differ, please do let me know, cause iHungry…:)
After a little rest on bamboo beds enjoying the cool afternoon breeze and witnessing how fast a rising tide can be, Reed took us back to the jetty and Tong sent us home. If there was ever a highlight to my trip, I believe this would be it..well..that and the floating market. More photos of the Fishermen’s Village here. My last installment coming soon.
Thank you Tong
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That’s a nice post and good photographs too. Sigh…. makes me think of my holiday in Krabi recently which was so unforgettable. Thailand’s great ain’t it?
Brudder Walter: Thanks man..iLikes photography. U got that right man Thailand is a nice place. Although we did get some real nasty people there but generally friendly..