Happy Chinese New Year -- Year of Rat

Happy Chinese New Year everyone :) Wish you all a prosper Year of Rat in 2020.

-- 01/2020

Nude Sunbathing @ Oriental Village Resort

Just finished my 2019 Christmas trip to Oriental Village Resort in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Hope you enjoy this departure angle drone shot as much as I filmed it :) Bad new is I trashed my drone shortly after, but the good news is I bought a new drone!



Disclaimer: I am writing this article to share my personal experience. This is not an advertisement and I had not received any payment in any form or by any means.

-- 01/2020

Phuan Naturist Village, Pattaya Thailand

Finally having the chance to visit this resort. Had been planning on visiting since it opened in 2017 but was delay by various reasons. My day began at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) where my plane arrived, followed by collecting my rental car before heading down the highway towards Pattaya. Traffic was much smoother than I expected until I hit the traffic jam in downtown Pattaya — which reminded me why I dislike Pattaya … and why had I delay this trip for so long.

I strongly recommend flying into BKK rather than Don Mueang Airport (DMK) not only because the ridiculously long queue at DMK custom but rather it is much easier to drive to the resort from BKK. If you start at DMK, you will need to go through Bangkok by navigating its complex highway network and notorious traffic jam. From BKK, I just follow my map and soon arrived at the resort.

Where is it?

Located near the southern tip of Pattaya City limit, the resort is about 2 hours drive from Bangkok and about 30 minutes away from downtown Pattaya. Both Google Map and Open Street Map does a good job pin pointing the resort at GPS coordinate 12.828330, 100.958613. You can park you car outside on the verge or you can ask the staffs to unlock the vehicular gate to park inside. Since the resort is at a considerable distance from downtown Pattaya, it will be much more convenient just park it outside if you plan on using your car often.

History

The resort was established in 2017 by a Thai naturist and her friend (hence the name “Phuan” which means “Friend” in Thai) which is now on lease to Naturist Association Thailand (NAT). I had the pleasure of talking to the manager Jai to clear up some of the details.

Q:	Why the previous owner decided to lease this resort to NAT?
A:	Because of health issue, the owner planned on closing down the resort. Hate to see this place go, NAT came up with a plan to lease the resort and took over operation.
Q:	Does that mean NAT now runs the resort?
A:	Yes. The resort is now being operate and manage by NAT.
Q:	Does that mean Phuan will be a NAT member only resort from now on?
A:	No. The resort is open to all naturist and they are welcome to book a stay. NAT was hoping to turn this resort into a gathering point for members in Pattaya, so they can have a place to go to and share their experience.
Q:	Are there any gender balance policy?
A:	No, all are welcome. We welcome single, couple and group. In fact, we are one of the major accommodation suppliers in every year's NATCON event when huge group of naturist stays with us throughout the event.

Which room should I choose?

Which to choose is up to you but I can give you some hint on what you are getting into:

The budget choice would be one of the five wooden bungalows. Each is roughly the size of a typical hotel single room with en suite bathroom. The benefit is obviously privacy but because they are all placed along perimeter wall neighboring the main road, you will be constantly bombard by traffic noise all day long. Worse, lorries and motorcycles will most likely keeps you awake all night as well. Unless you are traveling on shoestring, just don’t!

If you want some peace and quiet, share villa room may fit your bill. The villas are in good size with an open styled pantry. I am not saying it is a kitchen because there are neither stove, microwave nor sink. There is however, a refrigerator to keep your soft drinks and beer cool — much needed for your relaxing night out on the patio. Each villa comes with 1 bathroom, 1 small and 1 large bedroom which are both in decent size, clean and bright.

While I mostly enjoy relaxing on the patio at night for some reading or casual conversation with my partner, the downside is that you have to share a bathroom with strangers. At the moment, Phuan is not a busy resort and chances are you will end up having the whole villa to yourself — no promises but Jai will do her best to arrange guests having a villa to themselves. Honestly, if you had not stayed in (or had never considered staying in) a hostel before, sharing a bathroom with strangers may not be your thing. If you want some peace and quiet but are reluctant to share a bathroom, you can always rent the whole villa.

How is the swimming pool?



Good! Size is big and pool is deep. Most guests will end up spending most of their time sunbathing and swimming in the area. You can check out a 360 view of the pool by clicking on the photo.

How is WiFi Reception?

WiFi signal was good in most public/open areas but once I went inside my villa, reception dropped to 2 bars and when I was inside my room, despite the big window, reception dropped to 1 bar (and sometimes dropped connection all together) which made my Netflix viewing next to impossible :(

How is the food?

I have to say “typical” for small sized resort. As in most small scale resort, menu choice is limited but taste good (in a home-cook-meal context). It’s just … well … let’s just say you’ll be craving to dine at downtown Pattaya after a few days. It is not bad … just not exceptional either. If you fancy anything off menu, just notify the chef in advance and she can arrange ordering it for you.



Resort Drone Shot

This drone shot was filmed with permission from the resort manager. Please observe their strict photo policy and always ask for permission.
Disclaimer: I am writing this article to share my personal experience. This is not an advertisement and I had not received any payment in any form or by any means.

— Travel date : 03/2019