Thailand June 2003

(Mouse over pictures to see the captions)

Bangkok reminds me of Hong Kong with its modern conveniences but authentic atmosphere. The Thai seem a fun loving people and I like how the Buddhist culture is engrained in society combined with other traditions like every house having a little spirit house. To avoid the hassles of bargaining with the tuktuk drivers I try to go round taking the river taxi and skytrain and walk the rest. My first hotel which is near Khao San Road makes me get new appreciation for the word "spartan". But then again for 100 Baht I probably shouldn’t expect that much. Someone has written on the inside of my door "I wish my wife was this dirty"
On Sunday night I bump into Mark from Nepal on the streets - the travellers world is a small place. On Monday I take a heavy load of winter stuff to the GPO to ship to Hong Kong. On the riverboat I meet an Indian man who turns out has lived on Lamma for many years. He starts naming all the people he knows, of which most of them I have unfortunately never heard of. Now my pack is a bit lighter I can finally change hotels to the quieter Soi Rambutri area.
On my way to the new hotel I bump into Aron and Adam who did the same trek in Nepal as well and at night we all go to the Mae Thai (kickboxing) at Lumpini stadium. We try to understand the proceedings. Initially nobody seems to be too interested, in round 3 the bets are being placed and all is sort of quiet still. In round 4 the stakes go up and everybody shouts "tie" (kick). Towards the end of the 5th round the bets are being adjusted and panic breaks out. The 6th round all is over, the boxers are still at it but the audience has lost interest. Afterwards we enjoy some good food at a night bazaar where we are being entertained by local talent giving toe crunching renditions of Shakira’s " Underneath your clothes" and the like.

Phetburi

Manchester United is clearly the favourite in Thailand. I see Man U posters and flags everywhere I go and David Beckham's face in the papers and magazines. The girl opposite of me in the train from Bangkok to Phetburi was also wearing a Man U t-shirt. She enjoys some snacks and unceremonially disposes of the remaining rubbish by shoving it out of the window. I see waste management is not yet high on Thailand's civil agenda.

Phetburi didn’t look like much at first sight and it didn’t turn out to be much either except a rather sleepy town with some ok temples, spectacularly mean packs of dogs, but good food and nice people. Everybody including myself is wondering what I’m doing there. My first hotel would have been fine were it not that the only other guest is a crazy Fin who takes to screaming and banging the walls at night ("Cannibals!"). I start banging on his door telling him to shut up NOW, but that sets him off all together. He runs out on the street in nothing but his undies shouting for the police. The lady from the hotel has a hard time persuading him to go back in. The next day I change hotels.

The lack of sights is being made up by the people here who are really nice and happy to see me in Phetburi. Apart from that idiot that took me on a wild goose chase in his songthaew looking for a swimming pool which wasn’t there in the end. The road towards the "swimming pool" was long and windy and took us around many a bend. The road back to the station miraculously only took a minute or two. And he was genuinely surprised not to get big money for this. Anyway, I was desperate for a pool to escape the heat of the day and managed to find one on my own. There was a swimming class going on when I went in I was invited to join but I politely declined. After a long cooling soak I headed back to the hotel for my pack and got myself a lift to the station where I was looking forward to some hours of quiet reading before the overnight train to Surat Thani would arrive. However, little did I know that the station hall becomes a public playground at night with three little girls, Ping, Bing and their little sister dedicated to my entertainment. The station furniture is being rearranged, ticket booths are being transformed with help of pieces of string and all the while mothers are walking around trying to feed some of the kids. That night I sleep well in the airconditioned sleeper train.

Koh Samui

I am being brought up to date with all the latest hot gossip and ins and outs in Hong Kong by Dana who has joined me on Koh Samui. She brings with her a disaster relieve goodies bag which she and Deanna and Isabella have put together for me. I am being restocked with all sorts of essential items like perfume, silver crown, candles, face mask, temp tattoos, lip gloss etc etc. Thanks girls! We already use up some of the supplies while on Koh Samui.

The next day we meet up with Rebecca, Barbara and Warwick also from Hong Kong for cocktails at their swanky Rocky Resort. The coming few days we spend doing not much in particular apart from sunbathing, driving around the island and having great Thai meals and lots of Dacquiri’s and Mai Thais. On Wednesday we all meet again on Koh Nangyuan a little island off the coast of Koh Tao joined by Julia and Doug also from Hong Kong where some of us will be diving and I apply myself to snorkeling. The snorkeling is great, I can only imagine how good the diving must be. The fish come so close to you it is almost a bit daunting. Especially the parrot fish are an amazing sight. We spend the nights on the beach looking at the starry sky. Dana and I have to wade through the water at high tide at night to reach our cabin. If we can find it that is, since our place is so hidden we have to look for it every time we go back. On Friday we return to Koh Samui for one big last night together. After dinner Dana, Julia, Doug and I want to go on to the Reggae Bar which is supposed to have good live bands. To get there we have walk through this out of this world area lined with girlie bars with lots of girls but hardly any customers. An incredible and sad sight. But the Reggae Bar is fun and we dance the night away.

On Sunday morning I say sad goodbyes to Dana to go on my way to Hat Yai, which is on the way to Malaysia, my next stop.