From: Rob Saxe 
To: "Saxe, Rob " 
Subject: From your local beach bum
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 04:48:10 PDT

Sawadee (Thai greeting - I think?),

What a shellshock it was arriving in Thailand.  Had I arrived
from Ottawa, I would have thought that Bangkok was dirty and
crowded, etc.  But coming from Nepal, Bangkok was clean, had
food that you didn't have to worry as much about, and the hotels
were quite decent.  It was nice to be able to shower and feel
clean afterwards.

I met someone from Ottawa (right around the corner from me) in
the Kathmandu Guest House and she was traveling to Bangkok as well
(on the same flight).  We flew over together and then went to
Koh Suan Road for dinner that night.  I had Phad Thai.  I'm making
it a point to only eat Thai food while I'm over here (except for
breakfast).  It was nice to be able to eat vegetables again.
Afterwards, we went to PatPong, which has the night market.  It
also has all the prostitutes trying to pull you into their
establishments.  We went to one bar for a drink.  In the bar, there
were about a dozen Thai girls on stage in bikinis dancing around.
The sad thing was that it wasn't a strip club.  Instead, the girls
all had red buttons with numbers on them.  If you saw one you liked,
then you choose her number and take her to ??? the back room maybe?
There were girls circulating on the floor as well.  Luckily, they
were hitting on Georgette (the girl from Ottawa), and leaving me
alone.  Don't worry, I didn't take it too personally, but Georgette
was a little freaked out by it.  Course I had to laugh.

Left the next morning for the airport and took a flight to Ko Samui,
a nice tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand.  From there, I took
a boat to Ko Pha Ngan, where I've been ever since.  I was planning on
checking out other islands or other beaches on this island, but
I found my paradise and I've stayed.  I'm on Sunrise Beach in Hat
Rin Nok, Ko Pha Ngan.  The beach is beautiful, the water is warm
and calm, and I've been swimming and playing beach volleyball all
day for the last few days.  I did take a boat trip around the island
one day and that was a blast.

The nightlife consists of choosing your restaurant bases on which movie
they were playing at 5pm, 7pm, or 9pm.  Each restaurant has a different
movie.  The food is all the same anyways, so it doesn't matter.  After
the movies (around 11pm), everyone files to the beach where the bars
lay out mats or benches and have tables with candles on them.  The
beach looks beautiful at night all lit up by candlelight.  The bars
stay open all night, but I've been calling it quits around 2am most
nights.

I'm staying in a little bungalow on the beach.  No one can believe that
I'm paying 650 Baht per night when average accomodation is only
about 150-200 Baht.  Thing is 650B is only $25, so it doesn't seem
like a stretch.  Plus I like being right on the beach.

I've met a ton of great people here so far and haven't spent too much
time on my own yet.  Unfortunately the time has come and tomorrow
morning I take the boat back to Ko Samui.  I'll spend the afternoon
there and will most likely get a Thai massage at the Tamarind Springs
resort (a spa).  After which I fly to Bangkok.  I'll grab a hotel
by the airport and Saturday morning, bright and early, I board
that long flight cross the Pacific back to the land of my home.  I'm
not ready to come home just yet.  I want just a couple more days
of beach and especially volleyball, but unfortunately I gotta get back
to the real world and occupy my 8x8 cubicle come Monday.

Thanks for keeping track everyone.  I'll be home Saturday night and
pictures hopefully developed by Tuesday.

Until the next trip,

Rob