A canny shopper has a lot of choices when it comes to mortars and pestles

No self-respecting cook in Thailand can survive long without a mortar and pestle.  Julie is becoming a more serious student of Thai cooking, much to my benefit, but she was seriously lacking in the mortar and pestle department.  I wasn’t even sure which one was the mortar and which one was the pestle so it seemed like a good excuse to have a weekend excursion and include a stop at the mortar and pestle capital of Thailand.

Unlimited fresh fish at the Ang Sila fish market

Ang Sila is a small fishing community on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, just south of Chon Buri and about two hours’ drive from Bangkok.  Its main feature from a visitor’s perspective is the wharf where all the old fishing boats bring in their catch each morning.  The fish market which takes up most of the wharf is a lively and colourful (and smelly) place to see an endless variety of the latest fresh and dried fish for sale.  We’ve now been there a couple of times and find it a fantastic stop.

Who would have guessed the variety?

But for reasons unknown Ang Sila also has endless stalls along the road selling all types and sizes of mortars and pestles.  And should you think there is not much variety in mortars and pestles, think again.  They come in different sizes to suit different purposes and different dishes, they come in different material such as stone, wood or clay.  They come painted or polished or sanded or varnished or just plain.  There are little ones I could barely put my thumb in and huge ones I could fit my head in. 

Plenty of seafood at the fish market restaurant

We slowly made our mortar and pestle purchase, strolled through the fish market, enjoyed a seafood lunch on the wharf and then drove further south along the coast to our evening destination, the southern beach and town of Jomtien.

Jomtien is the beach resort area past the headland just south of Pattaya.  Pattaya is the more famous beach destination, close to Bangkok, nice beaches, good variety of hotels and a very lively nightlife.  It is said that the famous Thailand red light districts and girly bars were first established here in Pattaya for American soldiers on leave from the Vietnam War.  Whatever the case, Pattaya is now dominated by the seedy nightlife and heavily infiltrated by drugs and organised crime.  There goes the neighbourhood.

Colourful scenes on the beach at Jomtien

Jomtien is the upmarket cleaner version of Pattaya, still with great beaches and a string of hotels and restaurants along the waterfront.  We found a good little hotel opposite the water and used the afternoon to explore the place in more detail.  We had drinks down on the beach while enjoying the sunset followed by some beautiful fresh fish at a local restaurant.  A very relaxing and enjoyable evening. 

Sunset at Jomtien Beach

As well as the beaches and food and layback Thai atmosphere Jomtien also has one other stand-out element.  Russians.  A lot of Russians.  And to cater for this invasion signs in the front of buildings, menus in restaurants and even some billboards were in Russian.  We’ve seen it many places before, the new middle class of Russia with their very distinctive looks escape the harsh winters this time of year and come to Asia on their direct charter flights and package holidays.  This change in tourism demographics adds different layers to how a destination operates, what its appeal is to other tourists and why people go there.  It’s a whole new dimension to the concept of multi-cultural. 

The Big Buddha on the headland above the beaches

The following morning we drove up to the impressive Big Buddha at the top of the headland and took in the views from the King Taksin memorial overlooking Pattaya beach.  We hired beach chairs and umbrellas on Jomtien Beach and read the paper for a couple of hours while we watched the action in and out of the water.  All great fun and one of our favourite pastimes at any beach we visit.  Reluctantly we had to pack up early because we had a Spanish-Thai wedding to go to that night in Bangkok (which was also amazing good fun).   

Happy travellers from a lookout above Pattaya

The important thing is that we found the mortar and pestle of our dreams, I learned which was the mortar (the bowl) and which was the pestle (the phallic thing), we had an enjoyable and relaxing time at the beach and continued our fabulous exploration of Thailand.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

A handy bit of advice in this popular tourist area