At midnight, as I was shutting my kitchen door, I noticed a large frog by the door frame. It had flesh pink patches and looked sorry for itself. Unsure whether it had been squashed, I did not fancy picking it up with my hands, so used a pan and brush. I was careful and pushed it onto the pan. It was alive. I put it in the garden, on the grass then went indoors.

Call me soft but I began to think that if it had been in the house then it might be starved of water, so I filled a jug and went outside. It was were I had left it. When I poured the water over it it hopped away. Not huge leaps and not fast but it seemed to be okay. It had gone in the morning. At least I don’t have a chlorine swimming pool.

Why am I writing about frogs? Eighteen months ago when I moved into the house and after a huge rainstorm the noise from what must have been thousands of frogs woke me. I thought I had left a machine on and went to investigate until I realised. Since then several new houses have been built around me and the noise is far less. I assume the digging has driven the frogs away and it is something else that makes me sad, although I still hear a fair number, especially in my garden, after rains.

They are also a delicacy. Wander through the tracks around the village and the marsh at night, even on the main road, you will see people with miners’ hats on collecting frogs for supper.

I prefer a round of toast with blackcurrant jam myself.

The twin-engine, Spanish-made Casa 210 banks sharply to the left over the Gulf of Thailand. The pilot levels off and begins a steady climb to 6,000 feet. The skies along the coast are clear, but I can see banks of low-lying clouds in the interior – our target.

I am flying with the Royal Rainmakers based out of Hua Hin Airport There are eight of us on board, including the pilot, Maj. Amian, who, like most pilots in the rain-making service, is a former army aviator.

In the bay to the back of me crouch three crewmembers surrounded by plastic bags filled with powdered sodium chloride, the chemicals we plan to spread once we’ve reached our destination.

Our mission, as briefed at the 9 a.m. morning pilot’s meeting in Hua Hin, is to fly exactly 147 kilometers to the northwest, then turn due north seeding “warm” clouds along a 50 km stretch over Rachaburi province near the border with Myanmar.

The aircraft banks slowly to the north and begins to enter clouds. To my untutored eye they don’t look promising for making rain. They are broken and whispy, and I can see patches of ground through them, including a sinuous river.

For a moment I wonder if the mission might be aborted, but just then the crew in the after bay comes alive, and, with practiced moves, begins to empty sack after sack of sodium chloride into a chute, where it will be released into the clouds from the underbelly of the aircraft.

By now the view out of the cockpit window is all white. After twenty minutes, all of the powder released, the crew tidies up and Maj. Amian turns the aircraft back to Hua Hin. The whole mission has taken about an hour and a half.

Did we make rain today? I asked station manager Mr. Prinya Sudhikoses as we deplaned. He simply smiles shyly and nods his head “yes.”

Unknown to many there is an animal park/zoo in Hua Hin, you can get there by taking Soi Huay Sai which is about a kilometer after the Palm Hills turn off heading north on Petchkasem Road. Around 4 km down this soi on the left is the entrance to what is sign posted as a “deer research center”. It seems to be government funded and has never been promoted since all signs are in Thai. Entrance is free which is a pleasure to see as one quickly gets used to these racist two tier prices for tourist attractions in Thailand.

There are a number of large deer pens and plenty of pheasants and wildfowl roaming around the large complex. Monkeys are also popular here with a whole range of species from gibbons to macaques, some are caged and some free swinging. The only slightly worrisome sight was the inadequate cages for the Malayan Sun Bears and Asiatic Black Bear that looked thoroughly depressed. Other park residents included exotic birds, tortoises, porcupines and more gibbons.

There is a canal system running around a number of “islands” where the gibbons live and seem to enjoy watching and mocking the humans tossing the occasional banana at them. It provides a great little picnic spot for an afternoon out but be sure to bring your supplies as there is nothing in the way of shops there.

More busy times on the forums last month as low season in Hua Hin slowly starts to come to an end. Accommodation hunters will be delighted to see our range of places to stay expand with the inclusion of Markwin Lodge, Chada Guesthouse, Hua Hin Avenue, Baan Nilawan and house and condo rentals by Room by Room. A new website with easy online booking has been launched at Hua Hin Accommodation , the forum also makes a great place to ask for recommendations and reviews of Hua Hin hotels before making your booking. As high season approaches the internet will be the key tool for securing online bookings.

More local topics involved discussions on crime levels and police in Hua Hin and although there were a couple of negative comments Hua Hin still remains to be one of the safest places in Southeast Asia to live or visit. A new local news website at Hua Hin News also highlights some of the top stories in the town, focusing on news for foreigners; it covered the opening of the new Sheraton Resort and updates on property and real estate news.
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The little known town of Bang Saphan lies 180km (2 hours by car) south of Hua Hin. It’s attractions are miles of empty beaches, acres of coconut groves, quaint beach bars and bungalows, idyllic offshore islands and of course none of the traffic, noise, construction, tourists and mayhem that is commonplace now in Hua Hin.

The main island of Koh Talu is popular with weekend Bangkokians who jostle for the shady spots on tour boats offering fully clothed snorkeling day trips from the mainland. Sadly the once pristine fringing coral reefs of Koh Talu have suffered lately from careless captains dropping anchors, and tourists standing on the coral and littering.

My mission was to find some new undiscovered snorkeling and diving spots and so I headed for the two islets of Koh Sing and Koh Sang with a friend who happened to own a small boat! Once beneath the surface the coral cover and condition was impressive, large boulder corals abundant along with carpets of sea anemones and finger corals. Although maximum depth was seldom over 8 meters marine life was plentiful enough to keep me occupied. A moray eel was found free swimming, a group of remoras decided to attach themselves to me, crabs scuttled for cover and large schools of glassfish parted like a silver curtain as I swam through. Some large pufferfish could be spotted and a rare saddleback anemonefish family was discovered vociferously protecting their home from the scuba intruder!

These two small islands are a haven for marine life and ideal for novice divers and snorkelers as currents were slight and everything was found in the shallows. There are plenty more undiscovered dive spots around Bang Saphan but I’ll save those for the next trip!

More information on the area can be found on www.bangsaphanguide.com