Welcome to the new feature on Regain's website. The intention of this new feature is to provide advice, tips and ideas for travel and holidays specifically aimed at tetraplegics. Also we will provide readers with news about any innovations and new technology of equipment specifically to aid tetraplegics.
This first article is actually a double feature highlighting travel to Thailand combined with the use of a Praschberger Challenger handbike.
The journey started out at Heathrow where myself (C5 tetraplegic) and my partner, boarded the Gulfair flight to Bangkok. (A tip for any body travelling with a wheelchair, make sure you can transfer at the gate and not in the departure lounge.) Once on board, as I am rather tall, I find a good tip is to actually remove the airline base seat cushion and put my own in its place to avoid increased height and having the headrest in the middle of my back. Most people don't realize that you can remove the cushion as it is only velcroed down. This particular flight meant flying for six hours to Bahrain, stopping there for two hour then a further six hours to Bangkok. This can be particularly exhausting so I would recommend, if possible, choosing a direct flight or stopping night or so in Bahrain, as splitting up the journey only seems to elongate an already long and tiresome flight.
From Bangkok airport we had previously arranged a taxi to pick us up and take us on a two hour journey south to our hotel in the beach resort of Cha-Am.
The hotel we stayed at was the beautiful Holiday Inn Regent Beach regarded as a five star hotel. This might not as luxurious as other five star hotels in the region, but for the wheelchair traveller, the facilites, location and value for money is difficult to beat anywhere in the world. This is truly a fantastic slice of heaven.
Situated 7km from the small town of Cha am and 21km from Hua hin, the Regent Beach is located in a very peaceful area. You can enjoy the superb beach, play a round of golf at one of the many championship golf courses in the area, or explore the nearby towns. Hua hin and Cha am both have great night markets, the later being mainly for the tourists. If you want a more authentic local market experience, then head to Cha am night market to indulge in some of the regions specialities such as, stir-fried grasshoppers or grilled maggots, which are actually quite tasty! There are many excursions and day trips to enjoy, including visiting temples, elephant riding, fishing, scuba and snorkeling and also tropical parks and rainforests.
We've stayed at the Regent Beach Resort twice, for a total of six weeks, travelling in late November as the rainy season seems to have ended. For me the weather is perfect. Normally, I do not tolerate hot weather very well, but here in Cha-Am besides the sea there seems to be always a cooling breeze, and plenty of shade for those who require it. The hotel complex is surrounded by 120 acres of incredible lush tropical forest with lakes, traditional Thai wooden buildings and lots of fairly smooth walking/wheelchair/cycling paths. There is plenty of wildlife to see including a huge variety of tropical birds, snakes, lizards and tree squirrels. The garden areas within the main hotel are meticulously groomed by an army of gardeners, creating the most incredibly beautiful environment.
Regain has negotiated a fantastic deal through the kind Mr Klinpikul, front of house manager. Regainers can book a standard room in the hotel and will be upgraded to an Anavana bungalow in the exclusive regency wing for no extra cost. This is subject to availability, please contact Regain for more details.
Staying in the Anavana bungalow is the most perfect combination I've ever encountered in a hotel. The bungalows have adjoining rooms, so as to accomodate families or larger parties eg; carers/personal assistants. There is level access to the bungalows which are situated ideally just a few meters from either one of the pools close to the beautiful beach. On the outside of each bungalow is a relaxing veranda and sitting area, which is great for sitting sipping an afternoon cocktail. Once inside there is remote control air conditioning, a seating area, flat screen tv and twin queen size beds which can be joined to make the most luxurious eight foot wide king size bed. The room is huge, luxuriously decorated with lots of teak in a simple traditional Thai style. There is a separate desk area which adjoins the dressing area with vanity unit, safe and wardrobe. The bathroom is also huge with a giant corner whirpool bath (not really practical for us), separate roll in shower with a bench but no handrails, this is ideal for those who choose to bring a shower chair or shower using your own chair. The toilet is positioned in a corner, this may prove difficult as there is limited space for a side transfer without handrails, so you may need assistance there.
The level access bungalow is only a few meters away from the beautiful white sand secluded beach. A raised platform with sun loungers is the best place to take in the sun and enjoy the cool breeze while admiring the tranquil views. The staff are incredibly helpful and they are always prepared to lift or help you on and off the sun loungers (or bring you a cocktail!). To the left of the sun loungers is the beach front massage parlour providing good value massage/manicure etc. highly recommended for weary bodies and a great rejuvenator. During the day you may be approached by beach vendors who are extremely polite and courteous, and a shake of the head and a smile are enough for those not interested in buying. I highly recommend buying fruit from the "fruitman" who works really hard, he will put on a great show cutting and peeling the pineapple right there on the beach.
Of course, you may prefer to lounge by one of the pools instead, which tend to be hotter with less of a breeze, recommended for late afternoon when the sun is less fierce. Staying in the regency wing the pool area has its own outdoor free flow jacuzzi and the pool is for the exclusive use of the Regency wing guests, so its less crowded than the main wing pool. The Regency pool has a shallow area, 65cm deep which has three shallow steps to enter but no chair lift. But, if you are so inclined the pool staff would only be too happy to help you in.
For any guests with children there is an excellent children's club and activity area and of course the wonderful clean beach.
There are three fine dining restaurants including an italian, which does a pretty good pizza. The hotel restaurants obviously tend to be a bit more expensive, so a cheaper option is to choose one of the two restaurants on the beach front either side of the hotel which are difficult to access by wheelchair but great to take-away for lunch. For the evening meals I would suggest wheeling yourself to the village immediately to the left of the regency wing reception. There you'll find plenty of modestly priced, clean restaurants and bars, amongst which I recommend, the Family restaurant (say 'Hello' to Rene the owner and great host), and also the Bow Tie owned by Mrs King. In the village you'll also find plenty of tailors who offer made to measure suits, shirts and dresses etc. For around ten pounds Mr King, next to the Bow Tie, will make you a nice made to measure shirt.
For your daily supplies of drinks etc., you can either use the mini mart in the village or the one dirctly in front of the hotel.
We specifically chose this hotel because of its huge area of tropical forest with plenty of walking/cycling paths, which are perfect for using a handbike. My Praschberger Challenger handbike was kindly provided by Regain and for the second time I have taken it along to Thailand. To my knowledge the Praschberger is the only handcycle built specifically for tetraplegics. The bike's design, build quality and simplicity of use are impeccable. This german, built to order bike makes bikes made by the many other handbike manifacturers look decidedly garden shed quality. The bike is clamped to an undercarriage attached to your chair and has a simple mechanism to attach/detach. I personally use specially designed gloves which velcro around the handgrips. For those with better hand function there is an array of grips available.
Once attached to the bike, it's a simple matter of pedalling forward. As you build up speed a computer automatically calculates your speed and changes gears for you unless you set it on manual mode. The bike has four normal gears plus a mountain drive which gives you altogether 8 gears.
There are two lcd displays to provide you with lots of information including speed, distance and time etc. The braking system is incorporated in the front wheel hub and is a simple matter of back-pedaling to apply the brakes to slow down and stop. Overall it is a fantastic piece of equipment and a great way for us quads to get out and exercise.
We payed £800 for 21 nights acommodation only for a room booked through Hayes and Jarvis. We flew with Gulf Air booking directly with the airline, for £440 each. For more information about this trip or the handbike please contact regain.
Updating content, please wait...