Writers retreat with award winning author Paul Sochaczewski

Do you want to write your personal story but don’t know how to start? This workshop retreat will give you the start you need to begin crafting your own personal essay.

Paul’s creative writing techniques include “zen-music-speedwriting” exercises, numerous useful tips, and examples from a variety of personal essay styles.

By the end of the day you will have begun to write your personal essay using practical techniques that can be applied to all kinds of writing including travel and adventure writing.

Paul is a Bangkok-based writer and journalist and has written numerous books, more than 600 by-lined articles in the International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, CNN Traveller and Travel and Leisure. Paul has run this workshop in some 20 countries, including seven consecutive years at the University of Hawaii Summer Session.

The workshop retreat will be held at Faasai Resort and Spa, Chanthaburi and includes lunch and morning and afternoon tea. The peaceful and secluded eco-resort has a beautiful garden setting and is only a short walk to Kung Wiman Beach.

The all day workshop costs Bt 2,500 and participation is limited 14 people. The cost does not include the room but participants will receive a 20 percent discount off the room rate which is Bt 900, 1500, 1700 or 4100 and includes breakfast.

EXPLORING YOUR PERSONAL ODYSSEY
WORKSHOP AND WRITER’S RETREAT
FAASAI RESORT AND SPA, CHANTHABURI

8.30 AM – 5.00 PM MARCH 27, 2010

PAUL SPENCER SOCHACZEWSKI
BANGKOK, THAILAND

For further information about the workshop please email pauls@iprolink.ch
phone +66 89 517 4121.

To book or for information about the resort please email bronwenannevans@gmail.com,
phone +66 81 342 6234 or visit www.faasai.com

Faasai to turn off lights for stargazers during Geminid meteor shower

With more than half the world’s population now living in cities, it is becoming a rare treat to see the night sky; indeed, some urban children may never have experienced it. As the National Geographic explained in an article last year - “In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze that mirrors our fear of the dark.”

For those lucky enough to escape the city for star gazing, one of the biggest thrills is seeing “falling stars” or meteors. Even more exciting is showers of meteors, created by the debris of comets crashing and burning high in Earth's upper atmosphere.

On December 13-16 in Asia there will be a spectacular show, as meteors will be pouring down at up to 85 an hour during the Geminids Meteor Shower.

Conditions will be close to optimal as there will be little interference from the moon as it is a new moon on the 16th December, and the clear winter skies should prevent clouds from obscuring the view.

Experts recommend that for best viewing you should lie back or position yourself so the horizon appears at the edge of your peripheral vision, with the stars and sky filling your field of view. Meteors will be easy to see as they streak by and you won’t need binoculars or telescopes, your eyes will be enough.

This meteor shower is called the Geminids as it will appear to be coming from the Gemini constellation.

The darkest time of night will be the best time to see the meteors and so it should be perfect between about 2.00 am and 4.00 am on the morning of Tuesday 14th December.

Faasai Resort and Spa will turn off its night lights on Sunday night so that those who want to enjoy the meteor shower can do so in safety and comfort. Since there is not much commercial activity at our fishing village of Kung Wiman,there should be plenty of darkness to enjoy the show.

Family eco resort in Chanthaburi restores habitat in coastal eco system

Faasai Resort and Spa, an eco resort in Chanthaburi on the Southeast Coast of Thailand, has been long-listed for the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009.The Responsible Tourism Awards, which began in 2004, are the most prestigious of their kind in the world. This year the Awards have attracted nominations for a record number of almost 600 tourism organisations, destinations and individuals. Faasai Resort and Spa is long-listed in the Best Small Accommodation Category, a hotel with fewer than 50 rooms that is run with the environment and needs of local people in mind.

Faasai Resort offers nature based tourism including exploration of the unique coastal and forest ecosystem of Kung Wiman, a small fishing village surrounded by orchards, shrimp farms and rubber plantations. The owners, a Thai-New Zealand couple, Bronwen Evans and Surin Laopha, have planted more than 2500 trees including timber trees such as rosewood and ebony, aquilaria used for the production of krissana oil and Thai healing herbs. The trees and plants provide unique ingredients which are used in the resort’s restaurant and spa. Faasai is also establishing a spice garden with trees which are indigenous to Chanthaburi and which were part of the ancient spice trade such as cloves and cinnamon.

In order to preserve habitat for local fauna and flora, Faasai is restoring a fresh water lake and wetlands. Originally called White Water Lake, the small lake was the namesake of the local village and teeming with fish but it was dug over and used for shrimp and rice farming. They dug out the lake and stabilised the banks with vetiver grass, which also protects the quality of the water. Around the rim they made a walkway bordered by trees, bamboo and lemongrass. The lake is now home to dozens of species of fresh water fish and frogs and attracts more than 50 species of migratory birds, waterfowl and forest birds.

To mitigate global warming Faasai Resort uses solar power to heat hot water, has carefully constructed buildings to conserve energy and uses energy efficient appliances and lighting.

The central tenet of the Awards is that all types of tourism – from niche to mainstream – can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people. The Awards recognise individuals, companies and organisations in the travel industry that are making a significant commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and are providing a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation.

The 2009 Responsible Tourism Award winners will be announced on Wednesday 11 November.

For more information please see www.responsibletourism.com or www.faasai.com

You can contact the co-owner Bronwen Evans at bronwenannevans@gmail.com or phone +66868892595

New coastal road

When people think beaches in Thailand they certainly don't think Chanthaburi. They probably don't think of Rayong or Trat either - though some people may know Ko Chang (in Trat) or Ko Samet (in Rayong.) But actually the beaches in Chanthaburi are quite nice, and not yet buried under a sea of umbrellas or blocked off by luxury hotels. Faasai Resort is a ten minute walk away from Kung Wiman - or curving water in paradise. It is a rocky and sandy bay. The rocks are a reddish colour and this gives the sand its distinctive gold-red colour. The beach meets a forest covered hill at one end which we call Springwater hill and at the other, it bumps into a small round hill, which is a peninsula jutting out into Kung Kraben Bay. The peninsula is called Hua Laem, which is a fishing village, the home of the earliest inhabitants here, who were sea gypsies.

It is very quiet here at Kung Wiman, but we are wondering what it will be like in the future now that the roads are being rebuilt and widened as part of a massive project to link up the beaches from Rayong to Trat in a scenic coastal route. Eventually this scenic coastal route will go all the way to Cambodia and then Vietnam.

The beaches of Chanthaburi have many curves and estuaries and to visit them used to be a long and zigzaggy route. But over the last year or so a couple of new bridges have been built over the estuaries so now it only takes about half an hour to get from Kung Wiman to Laem Sing, a black sand beach with famous eatieries and Ocean Seaworld. the dolphin show.

A grand new road has gone in at Chao Lao Beach which looks a bit like a European promenade. Now sleepy Kung Wiman is getting the treatment. The country road past the resort is being widened and there are plans for sculptures and a kind of craft village not far from our resort. A pretty promenade area by the beach has already been built - though it is incongruous as the road to it is still full of potholes.

It is a multi year project. It is expected to take about a year to finish the Kung Wiman roads. They say there is even going to be another bridge linking up the peninsula with Laem Sadet, possibly the most beautiful beaches around here (though I still love Kung Wiman best.)

New roads always change everything. I have a feeling this sleepy littly fishing village may one day be an upmarket, ritzy little area.

Faasai Resort Helps Nature on World Responsible Tourism Day

Faasai Resort and Spa will plant 1,000 vetiver plants -- a 'super grass' for water conservation - to protect White Water conservation lake, 500 metres from the resort in Chanthaburi, Southeast Thailand.Tourists are being invited to join the planting on World Responsible Tourism Day, Tuesday June 2.White Water Lake (Nong Nam Kao) has healing mineral spring waters which collect in streams, the small lake and a swamp. To increase the water retention the owners of Faasai Resort, Surin Laopha and Bronwen Evans, have increased the depth of the stream and lake. They have also planted vetiver grasses, bamboo, lemongrass and about 1,000 trees around the perimeter of the lake and on adjoining land. The planted saplings include rare local trees and tropical fruit trees such as rosewood (my pradoo), balau (my teng) and aloes wood (my grisina).
"Our intention is to preserve the springs as a reservoir of pure fresh water and to provide a safe shelter for birds and other wildlife including fish, frogs, bats, lizards and snakes," says Bronwen. So far more than a hundred varieties of birds, dozens of varieties of fresh water fish, fresh water shrimps, water monitors, pythons, rats and water snails have been recorded at the sanctuary.On June 2 the edges of the water are being planted with an additional 1,000 vetiver grass plants - which is considered to be a 'super grass' for water conservation. Vetiver ('yaa faak' in Thai) has a strong fibrous root system which rapidly penetrates deep into the soil and develops into a tightly knitted net. It holds the soil together and serves as an underground wall which retards waterflow but allows water to seep into the soil. The roots are also capable of absorbing mineral nutrients for plants and other chemical substances such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides before they flow into the water sources. This protects the water from pollutants and maintains water quality.Faasai Resort and Spa is a family owned eco-resort in Kung Wiman, Chanthaburi, Thailand. Although Kung Wiman is by the coast, it is blessed with an abundance of fresh water in the form of natural turquoise coloured mineral springs which come to the surface in ponds and streams which local people use for their gardens and orchards. The resort is nestled beside a small forest reserve in the foothills of the world-renowned Cardamom Mountains which stretch into Cambodia 100 kilometres away. The resort and lake are only a few minutes' walk to the sea. These features make the area a magnet for wildlife, despite being only a three-hour drive from Bangkok.Faasai Resort & Spa was runner up in the budget category in the 2008 Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards. The judges awarded the resort a score of 96% for its sustainable practices.For more information please visit www.faasai.com. Email: bronwenannevans@gmail.com. Or call Bronwen (+66) 8688 92595 or Faasai Resort and Spa (+66) 39 417404.

the beginning of the rainy season

Aptly enough we had our first real rain of the season on May 1st. It wasn't a brief and dainty shower but a bucketing, which shook up the earth, and sent rivers tumbling down the driveway. Thunder and lightening bounced off the hills shaking up the valley. This was a wakeup call for the sleeping termites which had been slumbering above us in Springwater Hill and in the evening swarms of them poured out into the night sky. After their long months buried under the earth during the dry season, they are desperate for the light and with a suicidal impulse, hurl themselves into any lights they can find and drop off their wings before wriggling away. Called "maleng mao" in Thai, some of them manage to find a nice piece of wood to nest in, but the majority end up as food for other creatures. That night there was a massive feast for the ants, bees, lizards, frogs, toads, birds etc that live at the resort. In Isaan where my husband comes from they rush around with frying pans to catch them and cook them up too.

Unfortunately some guests unaccustomed to the liveliness of the tropics invited them into their room by leaving the door open with the lights on. After the room was invaded by the insects they left hurriedly in the night back to the safety of their city condomonium.

Gardens of Chanthaburi

If May and June are the time of the fruit harvest in Chanthaburi, March and April are the months of the flowers. Apart from the sweet blossoms that dangle from the branches of the pudgy fruit trees, tall elegant trees are swathed in blooms and the home gardens and public spaces are filled with a sea of gold - the vivid allamanda, the national floral symbol of Chanthaburi.

The trees that flower in Chanthaburi in March and April include the pink and white and purple blossoms of the tabaek, delicate mauve jacaranda, the graceful golden tassels of the ratchaphruek (cassia fistula) and the non-si. To add a touch of drama, flame trees line the streets, a tree which is known in the Thai language as the peacock tree due to its flambuoyant red and orange blossoms.

It is true that this lovely show of flowers isn't confined to the province of Chanthaburi but what sets Chanthaburi apart is that it is a province of gardens, greenery and hills. Everywhere you go you can see the pride that the people of Chanthaburi take in their gardens. Almost every shop front and house has a little island of trees and flowers in front, such as the ubiquitious crown of thorns which is considered to bring luck to households, the allamanda and showy gingers. In the city of Chanthaburi there are elegant avenues lined with topiaried rabbits and a lovely lake with green banks which was created in memory of King Taksin the Great and which is the site of the annual fruit festival in May. http://www.faasai.com/