Saturday, October 30th, 2021
5:45 a.m. Room 50, P. Resort Hotel
Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand
I’m feeling more and more like a genius this morning following my decision to stay in Kamphaeng Phet for at least two more nights. And that is because it rained nearly all day long yesterday, and it rained hard. Any poor soul on a scooter riding from Kamphaeng Phet to Sukhothai or back to Tak or Mae Sot would have had a wet, wet day. Instead of being soaked through all day, I was warm and dry in my fabulously pink room at the P. Resort Hotel.
I timed my departure from the FIG Boutique Hotel to be as close to the required checkout time of noon as possible. I believe I walked out the door at 11:55. The cleaning staff had already knocked on my door once to see what the heck was going on in there. Was I leaving or not? I like to think that they were pleased when I finally left and they got a look inside my room. I tend to be a very inactive guest at hotels. I don’t disrupt the place or make a mess. I also clean and organize as I go. Therefore, the room looks as neat and clean when I leave as it did when I arrived. I usually even remove all my own garbage. This should minimize the amount of work they have to do. I’ve had many chances to look inside rooms that other guests have just left, and they often look like a party bomb has gone off inside.
There was no damage deposit requirement at the FIG, and I was not held prisoner at the front desk while they checked the room. I simply handed them my keycard, waited a beat or two to see if there was anything we needed to deal with or talk about, and then left. On a travel day, I would normally leave my room in stages. I would first bring down my full backpack and other items that go into the helmet compartment. Simply strapping down the backpack and getting the scooter ready could take a while and make me hot and sweaty. So I would do that first without checking out. Then I would return to my room, take one last shower to be as fresh as possible, and then go back out with just my knapsack, which I had left in my room to stake my claim. This sometimes leads to confusion, because they think, when they see me walk by with my big backpack, that I’m checking out. But I explain however I can that I’m not checking out just yet. I love that last visit to the room for a chance to take one more shower, use the facilities one last time, and go over the room a final time to look for any items I may have forgotten.
Yesterday, however, was not a travel day, and I had no need to do any of this. I was simply riding my scooter a short distance in Kamphaeng Phet to a new hotel. So it wouldn’t matter if I was a bit hot and sweaty and in need of a bathroom by the time I finished strapping on my backpack. I would be at my new hotel and in my new room in just a few minutes anyway.
I had mapped out a route to take me to the P. Resort Hotel (which I’ve now established is the full and accurate name of this place), and that worked out perfectly. All it took was one quick U-turn at an intersection, and I arrived at the small street leading to the P. In terms of the official check-in time of 2 p.m., I was dramatically early. I think it was 12:30 when I got there. However, the friendly woman at the front desk was willing to check me in and give me a room. I had my passport ready for her, and she set about the task of examining it and making photocopies with a thoroughness that would have made an immigration officer proud. I don’t think she did this out of any great concern for my identity or legality. I think she just wasn’t that familiar with passports and visas. And she wasn’t quite confident that she knew which pages and stamps in my passport were the important ones. She compensated for that by simply examining and photocopying every page that looked vaguely important.
I decided to pay for just two nights. I might end up staying longer, but there was no need to pay in advance. I can always pay for extra nights later. The room cost exactly 350 baht per night. There were no taxes or fees or hidden charges on top of that base rate, which was nice. I handed her a thousand-baht note, and she gave me three hundred back, and that was the end of our transaction. No need to print out receipts or sign forms or do anything at all. I like that lack of formality.
Comparing the FIG Boutique Hotel to the P. Resort Hotel is an interesting exercise. With all the taxes included, a night at the FIG cost 700 baht per night. The P. cost exactly half that at 350 baht. The obvious question is whether the FIG is twice as good as the P. It’s definitely better. Even much better. Perhaps it really is twice as good. But does it matter? Are the features and qualities that make it twice as good important? Do you need them? And are the negative features at the P. Resort Hotel a real problem or not? And I guess that depends a bit on your personal preferences. I don’t mind the informality at the P., as well as the funkiness and oddness. And I like the ability to ride my scooter right up to the door. Another person might be put off by the excessive oddness of the P. and would prefer more of a modern and standard hotel experience that you get at the FIG.
The facilities at the FIG were several steps above what is here at the P. The mattress, duvet and towels were luxurious. Here at the P. everything is kind of bargain-basement. There’s nothing wrong with the mattress or the towel or the duvet here, but they have none of the luxurious and rich feeling of those at the FIG (or the SOHO for that matter). At the FIG and the SOHO, you get a full set of toiletries – luxury shampoo and soap, plus toothbrushes and toothpaste – plus coffee and creamer. At the SOHO, you even got a kettle and a hairdryer. Here at the P. I got one cheap little rectangular bar of hotel soap, the standard bar you see at every cheap hotel worldwide. And that’s it. Not even any shampoo. (Shampoo is in a plastic dispenser on the wall in the bathroom.) Certainly no coffee. The furnishings at the FIG and SOHO felt new and modern. Here at the P. I’m living in a world of bright pink curtains and doilies, a bit like I’m inside a grandmother’s living room. And the furnishings are old and worn. The included breakfast at the SOHO was great. The breakfast at the FIG was good. It’s not entirely clear to me that there is a breakfast at the P. There might be, but it’s certain it won’t be up to the standards of the others.
And then there are some intangibles, such as security. Your room and belongings feel secure at the FIG and SOHO. Not so much at the P. The doors and windows could be popped open by a stiff breeze, I think. There is also noise and light. My room at the FIG and the SOHO were both super quiet and dark at night, both on upper floors. At the P. Resort Hotel, my room is on the main floor and the doors and windows open onto the parking lot. The FIG and the SOHO both had a kind of blackout curtain over the windows. The homemade pink curtains on the windows don’t keep out much light. And the thin walls and more open plan of the place means that the noise of the outside world pours in. That can be a good thing, since it’s interesting to feel more in touch with the outside world rather than cut off from it. But I definitely didn’t sleep as well last night here at the P. as I did at the FIG. I don’t know what was going on out there, but there was some kind of party happening, and the noise filled my room for quite a while. And you get the sound of all the vehicles driving in and out of the parking area as both staff and guests come and go in their cars and trucks, and on their scooters and motorcycles. You even hear the conversations of the other guests and the staff as they walk around outside your windows. You can even see their shadows through the thin curtains, and your sense of privacy is reduced.
Luckily, I think I’m pretty flexible. I can enjoy both types of places. I appreciate the luxury of the FIG and the SOHO very much. But I also get a kick out of the quirkiness of a place like the P. A night at the P. Resort Hotel comes with an amusing story you can tell later.
I had vague thoughts of riding to the banana market in the afternoon after moving into this room. But the rain had other ideas. It rained heavily and often, and I gave up on any thoughts of going anywhere. The only time I left the room was to walk to a nearby restaurant, where I had a somewhat strange meal of a pork steak, sausage, french fries, and buttered toast. Just like my night at the P. Resort Hotel, my meal at this odd restaurant may not have been the best, but it was definitely interesting.
And with that, I’m running out of thoughts for the morning. I find I’m a bit distracted from the here and now by thoughts of what is going to happen next in my life. My plan was to spend the month of November in the northern provinces as much as possible on a scooter trip. I want to finally ride around the famed Mae Hong Son Loop. But circumstances are a bit complicated. I still have my room at the Green Guest House in Mae Sot. I will keep that for November. Plus, I have to return to the immigration office in Mae Sot by November 25th to apply for what will probably be my last visa extension. I also have to get my vaccine certificate in Mae Sot. And then there is the second procedure to get my vaccine passport. And with all of that going on, the clock is kind of ticking on my trip to the north. And that is making me think that it would be better to return to Mae Sot sooner rather than later. I would need to quickly regroup there and get back on the road in order to have enough time to fully enjoy the trip through the north. If I spend a week on a trip to Sukhothai right now, it might disrupt my plans for going to the north.
A loop from Mae Sot to Mae Hong Son to Chiang Mai and back is a journey of at least 1,000 kilometers. Even at 100 kilometers per travel day, that would take ten days. And I would like as many days as possible to be off the scooter and hanging out in various places. For a slowpoke like me, even three weeks feels like a short amount of time for a trip like that. And the way things stand now, I’d be lucky to even have three weeks. That would be without going to Sukhothai. Of course, there is the option of going to an immigration office outside of Mae Sot for my final visa extension, but the thought of doing that makes me nervous. I’ve heard too many stories of foreigners being denied visa extensions for random and bizarre reasons at other immigration offices. I am much more confident of a positive outcome going to the immigration office in Mae Sot. They know me there. I think I am going to stick to the plan of going there.
I think the math is plain. Either way, I think Sukhothai will have to wait. And that’s not such a bad thing. I’ve been so immersed in the history of Kamphaeng Phet that it might be a good idea to sandwich in a break from history before going to Sukhothai. I have this feeling that I will be passing through Sukhothai anyway when I leave Mae Sot and start to make my way towards Bangkok and wherever I end up next. By that time, the ruins of Sukhothai will feel fresh and new.