The sea smells different at Samut Sakhon. The Tha Chin River winds through town to the Gulf of Thailand, and the land around is a flat patchwork of fish ponds, mangroves and, near the shore, salt pans, where seawater is dried in shallow beds under the sun and raked into white heaps.
Samut Sakhon is one of the country's main fishing centres and processing hubs, and the harbour is thick with boats, nets and ice trucks. A huge seafood market starts before dawn, with baskets of shrimp, crab, squid and fish, and the town has a large community of workers from Myanmar, so the shops and food stalls offer Burmese tea leaf salad and curries as well as Thai dishes. A short train line runs from the market to the old railway at Mae Klong, and a small ferry crosses the river to temples on the other bank.
The ride from Mae Hong Son, the mountain province on the Burmese border, which this route nods to in its label, is a very long way north, so this finish is a gentle ending after the bends of the north. The roads here are flat and straight, with canals and ponds on both sides and long lines of lorries. Surfaces are generally decent, but busy and sometimes rough with patches of repair. Summer heat is heavy, and in the rainy season the roads can flood quickly. Early morning is the best time, when the air is cooler.
Fuel is easy, since stations are on every main road, and nearby Krathum Baen and Sam Phran have more services. For a meal, go to the market area for grilled seafood and crab curry, and be ready for fish sauce in everything. Watch for motorbikes and for slow trucks turning without warning.