Andy Chatman’s Thailand Adventure

We just got back from 2 days in Pattaya on Mike’s boat, the Jantana. Pattaya is a waterfront city about a 2 hour drive SE of Bangkok. It’s a very seedy place, a stronghold of the Russian mafia and a good place to look if you need some penicillin. It can be a very dangerous place to be if you’re not careful. We didn’t have to worry about that.

Upon arrival in Pattaya we had a quick lunch outdoors at the Hard Rock on the beach, then drove another 15 minutes to the Marina. The boat is docked at the furthest point from the marina entrance. It is an 88 foot Sun Seeker Manhattan 84 (Sunseeker made 10 84’s, two of which were 88 feet). It’s difficult to describe what an 88 foot boat is like but I’ll try. The boat is maintained by a full time crew of 4 (Captain, 2 mates, cook). There are outdoor seating/eating areas on both the main and upper decks, there is a jacuzzi upstairs, there are several cushioned sun decks. A rigid inflatable can be lowered by built-in crane for use in reaching land from where you are anchored. One jet ski sits on the back of the boat (the entire back portion of the boat hydraulically lowers to launch the ski), a second is towed along. The inside has a master bedroom, 3 guest rooms and 2 crew quarters on the lower floor. The main cabin is divided into two areas: a living room complete w/ satellite tv and a sitting/dining area. There is a secondary bridge here too. But the captain pilots the boat from the primary bridge on the upper deck, next to yet another large sitting/dining area.

We remained docked Saturday and used the jet skis to check out the area. The jet skis are SeaDoo supercharged 255 horsepower monsters. One has a stabilization system built in, but the other one is the fun one. On Saturday I took it easy, as the machines can be dangerous at the speeds they’re capable of. I’ve never jet skied in salt water before, it was a blast.

We were joined by Rom and Prow, Lek’s relatives who live in the same building in Bangkok. It was Prow’s bday party I attended on Friday the 13th, she is a sweet girl and Rom is a very nice person. After dinner on the boat we hung out and fell asleep pretty early. I woke up at 5:30am, and found Mike already awake. The two of us caught a very bright International Space Station pass directly overhead at 5:40am, then waited until Lek and Bert woke up. We had breakfast while waiting for Bert’s family to arrive from Holland. They got to the boat at 10am and we immediately left the marina. We were headed for an island owned by the Thai army, which Mike often uses as a private beach. It was a 35 minute 20-mile boat ride. We anchored in a cove several hundred yards from the beach, and began 6 hours of water play. I was getting the jet ski up to 66 mph on some very quiet water (I’m pretty sore now from getting thrown around). Bert’s family spent a lot of time on the jet skis and in the water. A tent was set up for us on the beach, and the crew drove us back and forth in the inflatable (although I swam it a few times too). I spent about an hour snorkeling around an absolutely gorgeous reef filled with tons of live corals, anemones, various angel fish (and others) and a zillion sea urchins. I would have done this longer but I was worried about my back burning. We did a lot of swimming in the warm blue-green waters. Lucky the dog learned how to jet ski and had a blast playing fetch from the beach into the water. Lunch on the boat was mostly various seafoods including crab, lobster, fish and more.

At 4:30 we packed up and headed back to Bangkok, had dinner, and now I’m looking forward to a long sleep!! Tomorrow I don’t have much planned. I have some work to finish and then I’ll probably look around Bangkok with Bert’s family in the afternoon.

Jetskiing at the marina

Approaching the beach

Lowering the inflatable

The Flying Kikkerts

Bert and his daughter Michela

88' Sun Seeker Manhatan 84

Mike and Lucky

Lunch

With Bert on the beach