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I had made a similar trip in 2005/06
but once our season had quietened down I could wait no longer
and headed straight back to Thailand. This time, however, I wasn't
alone and invited some close friends that included pilots Mathieu
Rouanet and Julius Gee.
We travelled north from Bangkok to Tak and
then on towards Changmai where in
the city we participated in the opening of the Princesses Flower
Park Festival. With our display greatly appreciated and with
some other friends that I had made last year (Tee and John) we
set off into the jungle on the back of elephants up
to the mountain range that overlooks Changmai. We took off from
a small village and flew down through the valley, snaking our way
along the river under tall trees, flowers and tropical foliage...
we all knew that this was first of many more spectacular flights
in paradise.
After leaving Changmai we headed south by bus.
We had all of our equipment with us and if I had said it was an
easy ride I would of course be lying... Still, with good friends
and always a good sense of humour we arrived in Krabi (south Thailand).
We had been greeted by perhaps one of the most beautiful coastal
locations I had ever seen, and with the weather and flying conditions
nearly perfect at this time of year we were off again to fly around
the large teeth like volcanic rocks that stood alone and high
out to sea.
My 'Puans' (Thai for friends) and I flew from coast to
coast, island
to island. We rented a boat and proceeded to skim across the smooth
blue open water between the small rocky masses of land, always
under the watchful eye and camera of the talented Sophie. It would
be fair to say that among these islands it's not difficult (especially
with a paramotor) to feel like you have just discovered a new
world untouched by civilisation. We would arrive on deserted sands
and religiously crack open a coconut, take 5 minutes to wonder
at the natural beauty and be off again before the milk turned
warm in the hot Thai sun...
The last trip we made before saying good bye to one and other was
a trip to the party island that is Kohpangyang. I had visited this
island the year before but swore that I would return with my friends.
We had only planned to stay for a few days but days turn into weeks
in Thailand and with picturesque flying everyday and cool beers
by night, it was obvious nobody wanted to leave!
I'd like thank everyone we met and helped us along the way!
A special Thanks goes to George Macack & Dream (Paramotor Pattaya)
and Teerasak (Changmai Paramotor Club) for guiding us around Changmai.
Thanks to Sophie from indasky productions - www.indasky.com
who followed us closely with film cameras, and even rigging us
with tools to take incredible shots on board and in-flight, watch
out for her DVD soon! Some of the most amazing images of paramotoring
ever captured i'm sure!
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Pascal - Paramania Team
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