Hi everyone.

Just a quick note from me as the resident web-tech.  The BaanPakSabai.com site has just had an afternoon of tender Loving Care (TLC) to bring everything right up to date technologically.  It’s now running under the very newest version of WordPress, and with all add-on programs turbo-charged with the newest programming code.

Everything except one function that is – the reservation system is so heavily customised that it now has very little in common with the one issued by the original developer.  Because of this I’m continually tweaking and improving it outside of the main maintenance schedule, and therefore it did not receive any upgrades today.

Is there anything new on-site after the upgrades?

Well, quite a lot really, but it’s all behind the scenes stuff, and very boring for non-programmers.  However, it does mean we have a lot of new flexibility and functions to expand and further develop the website.  This means you can look forward to seeing many new toys and tools on the site in the future, all designed to make the site more useful and more fun.

BUT, it’s important you let us know what you think needs added to make it one of your favourite sites.  You can do this by posting a suggestion in the comments below, or by adding something in the guest-book.  I promise that all comments and guest-book entries are read by Baan Pak Sabai management, and where needed – by me, so your opinion is valuable to us.

If you’re only visiting the site to see what changed, please do remember to visit our guest-book and leave a comment with what you think of BaanPakSabai.com, and mention anything extra you’d like to see added.  You can also leave comments there about the resort and restaurant, especially if you’re a guest who’s stayed here before.

Gaz

I woke up today to see the most beautiful sight of fog covering the surrounding area, in fact, the fog has completely blocked any views we have, it is such a sight.

We do have quite a lot of foggy early mornings, but this was such dense fog you can’t see more than 50m. The hills and the mountains in the background are completely invisible.

I took the pictures around 7am and the fog lasted until around 8.30 when the sun broke through and cleared the fog away by 9am.

07.08.10

The grass and flowers from Bangkok arrived on time at 7.30am on Wednesday 4th August. We have had eight people constructing the course and brought in another eight to lay the grass and plant the flowers.

After a full day of hard work by all we had laid nearly all the grass, fantastic job. The rain kept off and it was looking good.  That night it rained steadily and was most welcome in order to water what we had laid.

Thursday, out of the eight extra starters yesterday only three made it, obviously they couldn’t keep up with the demanding work. Never mind, onward and upward.

The remaining grass was laid and all 3,000 flowers planted. In two days 2 rai of grass and 3,000 plants planted, I could not have asked for more.

Friday. Some tidying up to do and the paths between the holes are laid. A bamboo shaded area was created at the start of the course and a few flower pots placed around.

Saturday. The flags, holes, markers are all in place today and the whole area just needs rolling with a roller to flatten the grass, roll out any bumps and lumps and help the grass to establish itself.

From start to finish in under two months is a fantastic achievement by all.

The course needs to settle for a while, then will need cutting and ensuring the golf ball runs smoothly with no bumps. That done we are ready to play.

03.08.10

After a couple of hard days graft we have finished the course up to the point of laying grass and flowers. We have two types of grass arriving tomorrow, Japanese grass for the actual course and Thai grass for the surrounding areas.  I will let the pictures do the talking, just please note the dedication of the staff in working so hard and myself drinking my way through all those bottles to give the crazy golf course a character of it’s own.

27.07.10

We have made good progress with the course, it is all laid out and leveled off. We have also managed to finish off the first five holes, that is prepare the tee off area and the hole area ready for the grass. We still have five more too do, but the rain has been a problem, it poured down all day yesterday and it seems to be the same today so no work being done. Then tomorrow we will have the problem of the ground being to wet to work on. We really need a few days of sunshine to get this completed to the stage of ordering the grass and plants. These will take a couple of days to be delivered from Bangkok and then a couple of days to get the grass laid and the plants planted. Without rain we could be finished in a week or so.

31.07.10

Excellent progress the last couple of days, all very nearly ready for the grass and flowers which will arrive on Wednesday. We are having 3,000 plants to go around the course and it will look great when all done. Fingers crossed it doesn’t pour down all day on Wednesday or Thursday.

11.07.10

This is the third day of the tractor clearing the land. It will be finished today thankfully. Then we start the difficult job of marking out each hole, from the tee off area through to the hole, this will take some doing as we are trying to create a fun filled course, with lots of  subtle differences.

Yesterday was a good day, we manged to buy all the materials to complete the construction in the morning with the exception of the grass which has to be ordered. As soon as we know the quantity we can order and it will take a week to be delivered. This does not present a problem as there is plenty of work to do to ensure things are level and all the plants in the surrounding area have been planted. There is also the watering system to put in place. I even managed to but some putters in various sizes for both adults and children, with different coloured balls so each player can have a colour of their choice.

06.07.10

Today we started clearing the saplings planted 4-5 years ago.  These have not grown as expected and need to be moved to more fertile soil.

There are about 100 of these saplings so it will take a few days to complete the work.  We are re planting them to the left of the chalets, so in years to come there will be a nice orchard in that area.

After clearing the saplings we will then get a tractor to start to level the ground with new topsoil.  Then the major task of laying out the outline of each of the 10 holes.

There will be different features on each hole and will be a fun filled game, good for children and adults alike.

01.07.2010

We planted some saplings here around 4-5 years ago, but, due to the very poor soil condition, they are not growing very quickly. We have decided to move them to better soil and use that area to create a “crazy golf” course.

We have enough land area to hopefully create 10 holes of various dimensions.

This project is going to take some planning as the land is triangular shaped and sloping downwards from the house. Once the tress are removed we will have new topsoil delivered, and a tractor to level it off a little.

We aim to create a fun course, with a few traps and surprises along the way, and are now busy drawing up the plans for the course.

Once the ground is cleared and levelled, then the layout of the course can be pegged out. There will be some holes going downhill, and some uphill, although all the greens will be on the level.

Each hole will be different, with various materials used to create the “fairways” and greens.  We have been advised that Japanese grass is the best for creating a smooth putting surface.

We will be adding more blog posts as work progresses, and add some pictures to show you the work in progress. We’d like to assure you that the location for the “crazy golf” is sufficiently far away from our chalets and poolside that the work in progress will not affect the enjoyment of your stay during construction.

Please add us to your Face book or Twitter accounts and you can follow the action “live” as it were.

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The photo gallery below shows the site where we are developing the crazy golf course.

Summer is here, and with it the low season for domestic and international tourism within Thailand.  There’s no better reason for Baan Pak Sabai Resort to offer you substantial discounts and the chance to enjoy our facilities without the winter crowds.

From now until 15th October, we’re offering a massive 25% discount on all our accommodation rates, whether you choose to stay in one of our purpose-built holiday chalets, an executive-quality poolside room, or make use of our two or four berth, frame tents.

Our tents and camping ground are perfect for a budget “country expedition” with a large group of friends and colleagues.  We have over twenty, 2 and 4 person, tents available for nightly hire on-site, and we’ll set them up for your arrival, providing all your bedding needs etc.  Or bring your own, and pay only a nominal site fee for using our shower block and other amenities.

Don’t forget we also have a large outdoor swimming pool to help you cool off in the hot season, and our mountainside location will also give you a break from the heat, especially in the early mornings and evenings, plus of course, overnight.

Our restaurant is open every weekend serving breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and opens midweek when we have guests staying in our accommodation.  You’ll love the views and sunsets from the restaurant’s elevated position.

The summer discount promotion is also a celebration of our new website going live, and you’ll find that the discounted prices are preprogrammed into the all-new bookings and reservations system, so you can instantly check how much an extended weekend will cost you, even if booking a mix of our accommodation types for a large group.

Give our new online booking system a try today, and see how simply it works.  If you find any problems using it, use the Contact Us page to let us know, and our site developer can quickly fix them for you, and email you back to let you know he’s done so.  Sometimes it might just be that you need a little advice or help to pop up, that’s fine, tell him and he’ll get onto it.

Everyone here at Baan Pak Sabai looks forward to seeing you, and to helping you have an enjoyable break away from the city’s daily grind.  Treat your family, bring them to the countryside for some fresh air and fun.

Baan Pak Sabai has commissioned a new website with a more up to date design and functionality.

Work is under way and the basic structure could be completed as early as the end of April (this month).  However, it will take a little longer than that to install and configure all the additional features and useful tools that are planned for our readers and visitors.  In particular, the internationalisation of the site to fully multi-lingual is expected to be an ongoing and never ending task.

The new site will have an online bookings and reservations system that will allow you to instantly check if your favourite chalet or poolside room is available on the dates you want.  You’ll also be able to subscribe to news and promotions in a number of ways that were not available on the old site, including both RSS news feeds and email newsletters.  We’ll be able to use the newsletter system to send exclusive discount offers and promotions to subscribers – so be sure to opt-in when you see the sign-up form in the sidebar.

There’ll be more news as it happens – check back regularly

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