Toiletries of Thailand

I was very much looking forward to a 10 day jolly in Thailand. I hadn't been able to stretch my legs in any warm beach side sand since Chris and I headed to Italy back in June 2007, and before that, it was a good 2 years since I'd felt the sun blistering my shoulders. So, the excitement of cracking open a new bottle of factor 8 and donning my size 10 flip flops, mixed in with a family reunion and Himley Towers reunion, was rife. You have to take into the equation the freezing temperatures of my current residential climate, here in Korea. To summarise, I was very much 'up for' a little trip to Thailand. Finishing work a little early before flying from Seoul to Bangkok allowed me to maximise my time away.

I landed and headed straight to meet Chris (Manski), a small hiccup with international phone calls and the stupidity of my Korean phone delayed the reunion with him by about an hour. I was sitting outside the hostel, eagerly awaiting his arrival. He had been sipping beers in a bar 10 minutes away waiting for me to land. Finally, he came roaring around the corner in a tuk-tuk. Our eyes met and the shouts of 'Wii' 'Wii' 'Oi, Oi' could have been heard from the 20th floor of the adjacent hospital. No time for rest bite, I was whisked off to a local club to drink some whiskey and mix in with the locals. Christmas Day passed, along with Boxing Day morning, in similar fashion. Then trouble began. Taxis.

I hope I never have to set foot, or arse, in a colourful Bangkok taxi ever again. We spent about 4/5 hours in taxis on the 26th December 2008. An exaggeration some might think, I promise you not. MBK to KohSan Road, one hour, too much traffic. KohSan Road to MBK, one hour and 30 minutes. No traffic this time, just a cheeky robbing taxi driver. Two hours and 20 minutes to go from our hostel to the Bus Terminal. Distance traveled = 22K...... Oh my god, this wasn't too far from torture. We were stationary, at a set of traffic lights, for about 25 minutes. Can you imagine? Two hungover men, cramped up in the back of a taxi, with somewhere to go, with a deadline to meet, stuck rigid for 25 mins. I say no more, I'm getting worked up just thinking about it. We had a 12 hour night bus trip to drain away the recent memories of hell taxis, so all was relaxed and we were embracing ourselves for some sunning.

Bus journey was moderate. Slept a fair chunk of the trip. We awoke to some generous sunshine and beach optimism, piercing through the 60's pink bus curtains. Seconds later, the realisation that Manski had had his I-pod stolen from beneath his seat, sunk in. Moving on, we booked ourselves onto the 11:00am ferry to Koh Lanta. Full reunion with Father and Step-Mother followed by a bright two hour ferry ride South, to our island destination.
Found hotel. Undressed for a refreshing shower, found biggest Cockroach we'd ever seen. Booked out of hotel. Found new hotel. Booked for 6 nights. Found mopeds. Booked for 5 days. Ate nice meal. Went to bed. Very happy.

Woke up to the sound of Manski being sick in the toilet. Woke up again to the sound of Manski sitting on the toilet. Woke myself up needing to go to the toilet, in a hurry. Woke up again, very soon after waking up the last time, needing to go to the toilet. Morning of day two, on the island, was spent sitting on or very near to the toilet. Afternoon, finally built up courage to leave the comfort zone of 5 paces from the sitter. Went to change Manski's moped due to acceleration situation. Going down hill. Manski, and bike, tumble. Result - a number of cuts and harsh toe bruises. So far so good huh?

Day three. continues in some shocking toilet action. I won't describe to you, because nobody needs to know. But I will help explain by saying that there was a whole lot of action from the back and none from the front. (I was urinating from my bottom). From this point on all the days sadly rolled into one. Not sure what day I started to pass fluids and solids a little more normally, but in the midst of all this, my dear friend Manski, had another unfortunate accident on his moped. This resulted in some pretty raw looking wounds.



Please don't get me wrong. Although this sounds pretty horrific so far. The company of Manski, my Dad, Wizzo and close friends David and Jane was amazing. It was great to hang out for meals, even though the meals didn't hang around for me, and have some quality catch up time. News from home was great, and news from Manski's new life in KL, was informative and very interesting at all times. I regret that I didn't have time to get some much wanted sun in. It's a shame that I couldn't get some scuba diving in. It's a shame that the hottest part of my body was too far south for comfort. But it was a great 10 days of rest and more rest.

I must add that it was interesting to see the vast alterations that have transformed Koh Lanta. I've now been there three times in the past six years. Each time has shown some significant changes. This time even more so. Our end of the island boasts two new, high end, flash resorts, that sadly take a little edge away from the once before peaceful corner of Koh Lanta. The prices have risen enough to warn of the backpacker crowd and welcome a more family orientated clientèle. Which isn't a bad thing, nor good. The once barren, jungle dressed mountain sides are now draped in brightly lite 5 star family bungalows. The beach has about 20% more sporting activities and sun seekers. The ocean water that laps into the bay has doubled its amount of people carriers (boats). But with all this expansion means the amount of smiley, happy, loving and warmly hospitable Thai people has also risen, which is definitely a good thing. Thai people on the island really are a joy to be around. Most are enthusiastic about meeting you. They want to know where you're from and where you're going. I must have been asked about 10 times a day "Where are you going?", I sadly must have answered about 10 times a day "I'm looking for the nearest bathroom". Thailand is a great place, but I sadly feel that it used to be a much greater place. I've been three times now and I think I'm ready to move on to new ventures. Therefore, on returning to Seoul, I promptly booked myself and four day trip to Tokyo for the end of January.



Happy New Year friends and family and any random blog readers. I'm excited about 2009. I feel this could be a very big year. I have no idea what is around the corner, but something tells me it's positive. A new years resolution of mine, that I wish to divulge, is to remain (try and remain) positive at times, when before, maybe I wouldn't have.