Last night was Loi Krathong, the festival in which Thais float lanterns on rivers and lakes to apologise for polluting them the rest of the year. We were told to go to Saphan Thaksin to watch it, and so we it. It was immensely crowded, though there is clearly more personal space in Thailand than […]
JJ Market
In the morning we went to Chatuchak Market. We’d been there on our first visit to Thailand over ten years ago, and had forgotten how immense it is. We found the section we were looking for – sections 2-4, where the trendy young designers are. Ten years ago I bought myself a canvas bag that […]
A kind of homecoming
Strange how much South East Asia feels like coming home even though we have never lived in Thailand. We arrived late at night and it felt such a relief: the warmth, the humidity, the smells, the bearing of the people. Today my eczema, which had flared in both Lebanon and Nepal, has calmed down; the […]
Last days
On Saturday, after breakfast the GF and I took out the kayak and paddled to the two islands in the bay where, we were told, there was snorkeling. I went in front and took the role of steering, while the GF provided the power, the speed and, if one must be honest, most of the […]
A lesser adjutant
This morning I woke before dawn. Again the moon was so bright on the water it felt like day. I got dressed and sat in the terrace watching the sea change from silver and grey to white and blue as dawn brightened behind me. The moon sank towards the water but the sun outstripped it, […]
Not Wharton
The full moon lit the sea up all night so I woke, mistaking it for dawn. The sound of the sea was lovely, and whilst I wouldn’t say I slept very well, I did wake feeling quite relaxed. In the mid-morning we took kayaks out to the mangrove lined creek. I enjoyed it and wondered […]
A sense of guilt
The Golden Buddha Beach Resort is a slick operation indeed. We were collected from our Phang Nga hotel at the stroke of 1030, as requested, and driven north along the west coast to a small pier where a long-tail boat took us on a one hour journey through mangrove lined waterways to the hotel on […]
Arrived
Arrived in Phuket after a delayed, but not dramatically so, flight. The delay appeared to be due to the late arrival of the crew (not, as the announcement stated, unavoidable technical difficulties), which I don’t really understand but there it is. At immigration we were in a queue with a truly unpleasant immigration official whose […]
On the road again
We’re off to Thailand this evening where (all going well) we’ll meet the GF’s adopted uncle, a Kiwi gentleman. We’re supposed to go to a fairly bland hotel for an overnight stop, about half an hour from Phuket airport (a true shithole), and then drive a couple of hours north, followed by a longtail boat […]
Back from Phuket
Phuket was pleasant and I’m glad it’s all over. I don’t do well at luxury resorts at the best of times and, thanks to my work, am acutely sensitive at this time to the ways in which tourism development affects local populations, evicting them from homes and traditional lands, and overlaying their culture with that […]