Thailand - Final Thoughts

This is the final word I’ll have on Thailand for the moment, just to try and wrap up the experience. We spent most of our last days on the beach but we took one trip around the island on Thursday to see what we could. It rained on Thursday so we felt it would be a good time to spend the time in a van driving around the island but unfortunately for us, the rain never seemed to let up. We started at the nearby Big Buddha and then went around to various other spots we selected from all of the information we could find on the web. Our driver, Dan was a pleasant guy that we had met previously. He gave us a lot of information about each area and Thailand as a whole. The temples or Wats were nice and much different than we were used to seeing in China but with the heavy rains, it never really had the impact that perhaps it might’ve had otherwise. As we drove around the island, we noticed the change in scenery from the heavily populated, more modern tourist areas of the island to the more local flavor of the southern side of the island. We rode through a rubber plantation and saw the taps on the trees for getting the rubber from the trees. It is similar to getting sap from trees to make maple syrup. Unfortunately for the farmers that sapped these trees, with the rain, no one would purchase the sap because it was degraded from the water. We also saw a palm tree plantation to get coconuts. It was much different as we rode around the island to see the rather remote Southern end of the island to the more densely populated and modern Northern end of the island. Dan gave us an offer to come to Thailand and stay in his home village with his family anytime we want to come back and experience the real Thailand. It sounded interesting but it wasn’t something that we could do with the kids. Take away the TV. Computer, PSPs and other games and the kids would be like meth addicts going through withdrawals…not pleasant. Although it rained practically the whole day, we still got to see many of the sights we wanted to see (at a much quicker pace).

The next two days would be back to the beach to enjoy the sun and surf. What else did we do, we rode on go karts. At the track, there were two speed options, 35 kph and 60 kph. We chose the 35 kph because it seemed the 60 kph would be a lot more speed than needed and I didn’t want the kids to be killed on a go kart track in Thailand. It was an interesting track surrounded by palm trees. While we rode, they were knocking coconuts out of the trees to keep them from dropping on people as they went by. It is a real problem for people around here and they have to ensure to keep the trees coconut free to prevent someone from being killed by one of these things. We had to wear helmets for the track which made it even more fun to ride. We started on the track and it was okay, the speed wasn’t too much but there was little in the way of tread on the tires so you would slide around the corners. While we were getting used to the speed, I would pass the kids and then slow down to keep us together and there was a lot of passing back and forth. However, Jacob then put on his game face and once he passed, it was all over. He kept the pedal down and rode like a madman. The pictures Tammy took show how serious he was in his quest to win the cup (the coconut cup). Warren somehow managed to take a turn to the left on a right hand turn and went off the course. I slowed down to be sure he was okay and he was laughing as the track workers all ran over to get him back on the course. It didn’t slow Jacob down at all and as I was slowing down to get ready to turn in on the final lap, he zipped on past me with a very nice laugh and a comment that I couldn’t hear due to my helmet but I’m sure it was some trash talking. The course was pretty small so I would’ve hated to see what the 60 kph ride would’ve been.

There were times we saw things that made us wonder about foreigners that come to these places. Much like China, tips were not commonplace and so were not expected (and unlike in the US, tips were appreciated and not figured into the salary for the people). However, we watched some Westerners and wondered what they did before they came to Thailand. One the beach, we actually saw a US older couple paying the vendor in US Dollars. US Dollars!!!! It’s like a 30-to-1 exchange and who knows how much they were paying but they were way out of bounds. How many people walk around without local currency? It was stupid because they were overpaying, perhaps they had money to throw away and didn’t really care but if that was the case, how about throwing that money my way. I’ve got two growing boys to feed.

We stopped into an English Pub one night to eat to see how the food was. It was actually really good although the kids got hamburgers, Tammy had the Thai food and I had Bangers and Mash (after all, it is a British pub right). The owner was obviously British and we spoke with him and asked why he came to Ko Samui. He indicated that after his divorce, he decided to start over and since he had traveled to Ko Samui in the past he decided that is what he would do. So we went from England to Thailand and opened up a restaurant. Can you imagine the kind of guts it takes to make a move like that? He told us about how the 15 straight days of rain impacted the businesses all over the island. They had no power for 3 days and basically stayed open just to cook the food in the freezer. He said it could’ve been much worse but the economic issues around the world have led to a big decline in the tourist trade in Ko Samui but hopefully things would get better.

The shopkeepers all around the island were so much different than we had experienced in China. In China, as soon as you walk in the door to a shop, they are asking you want you want and showing their stuff. Heck, you can’t walk by without hearing the “looka, looka” routine. It varies from place to place but it can go from just a friendly “please look in my shop” to a more direct grabbing at you to usher you into a shop. In Thailand, it was totally different. You would walk into a shop and sometimes there was no one there. The keeper might stroll in when they see someone inside but there was never an awkward silence as they watched you and waited to pounce. They gave you space if you wanted it and left you to make a decision on if you wanted to buy or not buy something. There was the haggling but we didn’t really do too much like China. In China, it’s a sport but in Thailand you didn’t feel much like going through the haggling. You could knock down the price a little and if you did, then it was okay. In China, you should always start bargaining at about ½ of the price they start (and in some cases, you need to do more than that, the bottom line is never love anything and if you think you are being overcharged, you probably are. Don’t convert the money into USD, always consider the cost for the locals and go from there.). For some shops, you had to take off you sandals before walking in just to keep the sand out. We saw one shop keeper praying outside his shop before opening one morning. He was lighting incense and bowing to his god. There was also another shop where the woman took the money we gave to her and touched it to many small idols around the front of the shop. Perhaps this was a way of thanks for the first sale of the day. It was strange to see but we didn’t stare. They were just so friendly it was like you were walking with friends shopping. In the one store where we bought many things, the woman would bring down the prices as we bought more. We didn’t ask for it but as we added, how about this, she would drop the price on another item. We bought a lot of stuff from her one day and then went back on the Saturday before we left to ensure we had everything we would want as a souvenir.

The toilets in Thailand were the cleanest toilets I had ever seen. There was never the nasty smell of a public toilet in China which is like the rest stop toilets in many places in the US. Every toilet was kept clean and smelling fresh. I don’t know how they did it but never once did you walk in to a toilet and wonder “What died in here?” Now this doesn’t mean that sometimes I knew I wasn’t at home when one of the female cleaning ladies would walk into the men’s room look at me and continue to do their job.

Overall we loved Thailand. Granted we were on an island but everyone was so laid back and it didn’t seem to have the same “chasing the $$$” attitude we see a lot in China. The people didn’t seem as concerned about having the cars, TVs, and all of the stuff. They actually seemed to value the important things, friends and family. It was so different; it was probably the best and worst vacation we’ve been on. The best because it was so relaxing, we had nothing specific to get done and did what we wanted, when we wanted. The worst because we had to leave and go back to the real world. When we got to Bangkok, we recognized immediately that we were headed back to China. We got in line to check-in to the flight to Shanghai and the Chinese were obviously too important to wait in line. Once again, they showed that they don’t understand how to queue in a line. They created their own line so they could check in first because they are so important. They also reminded us of the need to push and shove regardless of the situation. The visit to Thailand actually soured us on returning just due to what we experienced at the airport. I know it’s not all Chinese people but man, there are a lot that just feel the need to be first. We were headed back so the vacation was over the moment we set foot in Bangkok. While in Thailand, we found out that many of the hotels won’t allow bookings to come from “certain countries” because they don’t want those people around due to the attitudes the owners get from this group of people. They never specifically said which countries they were talking about but we knew. And that is where we were headed. Welcome back to China!!!

Thailand beaches

Our second day in Thailand revolved around the beach (as would many of the other days in Koh Samui). We had checked the elephant trek from our to do list and now it was time for some rest & relaxation on the beach. In Koh Samui, the best beach was Chaweng so we woke up, ate breakfast and prepared to go to the beach. We had a car pick us up at the Villa and then we dropped off at McDonald’s of all places which was our starting destination to the beach. We walked past McDonalds (not without noticing a few new menu items, the double Big Mac and the Chicken and Ham pie. The double Big Mac….really, and we wonder why people are so fat) and a Starbucks as we passed through a small mall to find the road leading to the beach. We walked down the road and it changed from a paved path to a smaller path through the palm trees and could smell the salt air and hear the waves as we got closer to the water. The beach was exactly what we expected, a very nice sandy beach with good size waves crashing in. We walked down the beach a short while to get away from one of the major entry points (and therefore one of the more crowded sections) until we found a place where we could rent some chairs (50 Baht each, less than $2 for the day…compare that to the prices for beaches in the US) so keep off the sand a little. We moved the chairs into the sun, Tammy put on her basting oil and the kids and I slathered on the SPF 50 stuff so we didn’t get fried. The last time we went to the beach I was lobster red after the first day which I didn’t want to happen again. The beach wasn’t so crowded with people, at least not as many as I would’ve thought so you could get some distance between yourself and the others around you.

Since I am a pessimistic person, I’ll mention the negatives about the beach first;
· The speedos and the bikini bathing suits. I don’t know if the inventor of these articles of clothing ever envisioned the people that would be wearing these things. There were more people in self-denial walking around in these things than you could imagine. Now I know that the Europeans are a lot more “accepting” than the typical US person but c’mon people! This was ridiculous. The old men wearing speedos with the guts hanging over the suit….scary. Even more scary were these older men taking pictures of each other in these suits. I mean what is that all about? I can’t imagine being at the Mrytle Beach with a guy saying “Hey Scott, how about taking a photo of me in the surf?” Um, how about “NO!” I can accept that some people can pull off this look but those that cannot (and you know who you are), why would you subject yourself and everyone else to your illusions. This is also true for many of the women. If your belly is bigger than your boobs, it’s time for a one piece suit (and a robe!). Flabby, out of shape people were not the target market for these items so help a brother out, don’t wear them. If people tell you that you look good in that suit a) check their mental state and b) check their vision. You aren’t 17 anymore (and probably at 17 you couldn’t pull it off) so accept your age. People are staring at you because you are hot, it’s because they can’t believe you are actually crazy enough to believe you look good.
· The beach marketers. On our way to the beach we were stopped by Westerners on a motorcycle asking if we spoke English. They gave us a book of coupons and started in on a well-rehearsed speech about us winning a contest, blah, blah, blah. We didn’t have to buy anything, etc. We listened politely for some time since it appeared we had the option of 3 prizes. Then comes the final straw. “You can pick up your prize by taking a taxi to our offices and listening to a 90 minute presentation”. WHAT!?!? 90 minutes, this is when it went downhill for them. Tammy isn’t giving up 90 minutes on the beach for anyone or anything so this wasn’t going to happen. Bring the kids, we’ll tell the friends you are going to meet on the beach, etc. If you do this, we make 100 Euros (which would be close to probably 7000 Baht), help us out. Sorry folks, ain’t gonna happen! 90 minutes, they had to be crazy. This is the same old time share, high pressure sales techniques used back home. Sorry folks, we’re off to the beach!
· Beach vendors. On the beach, every 2-3 minutes you would have a Thai person carrying some trinkets (jewelry, silk, souvenirs, etc.) come by and slow down in front of you to show you their wares. Now I have to point out that they were very polite, if you didn’t want something you could shake your head and they would move on. There was no pressure to buy anything so although it was somewhat of a nuisance, it could’ve been much worse.

The positive things about the beach;
· The food options that were being made fresh in front of you. There were women carrying a small grill and all the “fixins” to cook food for you right there (they had a wooden “balance” over their shoulders which had the small grill on one side and the fixins on the other side). They had stuff on a stick (whole fish, squid, chicken butt, chicken shoulder) for the grill and other things to eat. They made a papaya salad right there for you, as spicy as you wanted (this was awesome!). They also carried rice and other things to eat. There were other women that had fruit, specifically mangoes and pineapples, cut fresh for you. All of these items were very cheap, delicious and allowed you to remain on the beach and enjoy lunch.
· The twins. On the other side of the spectrum from the people wearing the wrong beach attire were the people that wore limited beach attire. There were two European women that decided that they needed to walk the beach without wearing a bikini top. It wasn’t enough to walk from the North End to the South End of the beach but they also had to make the return trip as well (of course). Now, in the information we had about Thailand it seemed to be frowned upon to expose yourself but I don’t think there was any enforcement of a dress code for the beach. We didn’t see anyone else flaunting it as directly as these women but I am certain that they weren’t the only ones who figured that they could take advantage of the opportunity to get some color. We understood from others that the beaches on some of the smaller, neighboring islands (where they held the snorkeling tours and stuff) that these women would’ve been overdressed for the beach but we never went there so it’s strictly hearsay on my part to repeat this. What was the funniest about this was one day when another family we knew from Suzhou (another small world story) was setting up next to us, the women walked by (in full view of the kids). They walked over to the mom and asked her the time (as you can imagine, even a watchband tan line was unacceptable to these women). It was funny to see this happen and it seems that this episode didn’t harm the kids (although it probably didn’t do any good either). Another lady that was near us on another day had 3 different bathing suits. She would change between the suits for reasons I don’t know but she would do it right there on the beach. She could change out the top without too much on an issue but the bikini bottoms were another matter. She actually would sit in her seat, remove the one bottom and then place on the other bottom. We were sitting behind her so we got the full moon/buttcrack treatment. We were just hoping the kids weren’t looking in from the water to get the view from the other side of the world (and you know what I mean). There was another woman that had on a strapless bikini top that wasn’t quite sized correctly. Anytime she moved around she was in danger of bearing all to the world. Then she went into the water and we knew that we were “seconds from disaster” which is what happened when the first big wave came in and knocked her down. Thanks for the memories!
· The surf was very nice, the water was clear and we had large enough waves to get out there and get knocked around a little. We don’t really go into the water to swim as much as just have a little bit of fun and the big waves that would crash over you would do just that. Being on the chair, it was just nice to hear the sound of the ocean as you laid back and relaxed in the sun. It was hot so every 20-30 minutes you had to hit the water to cool down a little.
· It was the beach (as my wife continues to say, there are no negatives about the beach).

As I may have mentioned before, there were dogs all over the island and this included the beach. Now these weren’t packs of wild dogs (or didn’t seem to be such) just domesticated animals that were left behind. These dogs would come by and sit near you whenever you ate. They didn’t give you the patented stare and drool as we knew from Shadow. They would just lay down somewhere near you and if you wanted to drop them a morsel or two, they would take it. Sometimes when we were just walking down the street from the Villa, we would attract one dog that would follow us to our destination. It would then sit there for awhile before deciding that we weren’t going to feed it and it would head off to another destination (or find another sucker). You felt badly for the dogs (being dog lovers) but there wasn’t much you could do about it. We actually read in the local paper that the previous year they were trying to reduce the dog count on the island. They were using blowguns with poisoned darts to kill off many of the dogs (think about it blowguns and poisoned darts, sounds like something that would’ve been done a long time ago). It wasn’t really anything you wanted to read about but it was what they had to do to try and gain control of the situation. Recently they opened a dog shelter to try and work another angle to the same problem. Everywhere you went you saw dogs and 7-11 stores.

Now we visited three beaches while in Koh Samui and saw others on a trip around the island. We went to Chaweng and it was the best beach on the island. From the other family that stayed on the Lamai Beach section of the island, it was a nice beach but very small. We also went to the Big Buddha beach (where we stayed), it was okay but it was also a small beach when the tide was in. Finally, we went to Bo Phut beach. This was a very pebbly beach with very calm water. Again, it was okay but Chaweng was the best beach and the one we went back to 3 times during our stay. From a general standpoint, the beaches went as follows, the Southern beaches were very rocky and not beaches where you would go out on the sand (because there wasn’t any sand) to get a tan, the Western beaches were more muddy and dirty. The Northern beaches were pebbly and the water was calmer and the Eastern beaches were where you wanted to be to get out and get a tan as well as get in the water.

Night Life

The nightlife on Koh Samui was everything you might imagine, if you imagine it’s like Vegas. We went to a bar on the beach to get a beer just to enjoy drinking a beer on the beach. We noticed that all of the bars had a bunch of younger women, many more than was needed for the customers in the establishment, two customers, 6 girls. These girls weren’t dressed like working women (and you know what I mean) but they also weren’t heading to church either. It was interesting to see so many of these younger women just sitting together or playing pool, whatever while waiting for a paying customer (and I think they were pretty much planning on men but who really knows).

I have to set the scene here so bear with me. We weren’t staying near the hotspots for the nightlife on Koh Samui, those were along the beaches at Lamai and Chaweng. We’re in the family friendly section of the island (or so we believed). There were bars by the piers, so there were fishing boats in the water right up next to the bar’s patio area. The bar patio had two sections, one with tables that was close to the water (and therefore the boats) and one with these odd “beach chairs”. There were families sitting out on the decks of the boats so you had an odd mix of families working on their nets or just sitting about the boat talking and the bar customers all within mere meters of each other. Lingering over the area was the mixed smells of bad perfume, cigarette smoke and dead fish. Okay, on to the story.

When we arrived, we got to sit in the strangely uncomfortable beach chairs facing the water but also with a couple of tables between us and the water. At one of the tables was one Western male (seemed to be from the former Soviet Union, now one of the “stans” based on his accent), three Thai males and three Thai women. On the table was a bucket of ice, glasses and several bottles of whiskey, vodka, scotch, whatever. One young lady was the designated bartender and would almost continuously mix drinks and hand them out. We’re not certain where these were going because we never saw any of them drinking as fast as she was pouring but it didn’t seem to stop her from topping off the drinks. At first it seemed like the women were dates but it turns out that they worked at the bar. One would go sit on the arm of the chair for the Westerner and he would grab her butt and it seemed they were together. Then she would move and another girl would take her place and her butt would get “caressed” and soon she would leave and the first one would come back. It was odd to watch as we seemed to be in a moment of understanding. We recognized that these girls were there as bait and he would drink and then get stuck with a large bar bill. He wasn’t going home with any of them, at least not from what we could tell. They didn’t seem real interested in him but they had to play their part to ensure his group stayed and continued to drink. The other Thai males received little attention from the girls. In fact, one of the girls sat down on the armchair of the bartender and they were touching each other in odd ways that would indicate that perhaps they had no interest in men at all. It was kind of surreal but interesting to watch.

What made it even more interesting is that less than 10 feet away was the Thai fishing family sitting on their boat, mending nets, talking, eating and watching. For them this was like a night at the movies. They were only missing the popcorn to be sitting at the drive through. We watched them and the table and enjoyed the show. However, we received little attention from the staff at the bar. I guess a man with his wife kind of threw off their game plan and they didn’t know how to react. If the chairs were more comfortable, we would’ve had a second beer and continued to watch this odd interplay happening in front of us but the seats were so bad that we left after the first beer. We actually had to get up and go to the bar to pay the tab as opposed to them bringing the bill.

The game we saw is similar to what happens here in Suzhou at some bars but the bars here like that here offer a wider array of “services” if you are willing to pay (and if you like to take the risk that you might go home with something more than just fond memories from Suzhou).

Another night going to the 7-11, we also noticed one other aspect of the island life. Sitting outside the 7-11 in plain sight were two guys smoking something other than cigarettes (Hello Cheech and Chong). We hadn’t seen any of this before then but that night sitting out on the porch at the bungalow, we also detected the odor of the wacky weed (and by detected, I’m not talking about a faint odor, we were craving some cheetoos within minutes of stepping outside). We also noticed it several other times when we were outside in the evening. There were other villas around ours so it could have come from any one of them but it was like someone made a bonfire of the stuff. It was crazy.

The last thing I will mention is something called the Full Moon Party. Each month, when the moon was full (duh), there would be boats that would pick people up to take them to a nearby island of Koh Tao (and by nearby I mean about 90 minutes by speedboat). The people would begin arriving at the pickup areas and start drinking in preparation for the party. Then after dark you would begin to see the speedboats come in to shore and the people board them. These boats weren’t small but they weren’t very large either. Perhaps 14-20 passengers would fit on the boat without too much of an issue. We watched as they would pack these boats with people (already drinking) carrying their booze for the ride and head out into the night. All you could see were the blinking lights disappear into the blackness. No life vests, no safety involved as they filled the boats to capacity and then some. Then they headed out for several hours of partying and after 1:00am, they would start to being people home. Tan informed us that the departure from the island was very chaotic as the boats would indicate they were leaving and people would push and shove their way on a boat to avoid being left behind. Again, no body count, just fill the boat and take the 90 minute ride across open water to Koh Samui. Then it’s find a taxi and go back to your hotel to sleep it off. Crazy stuff, even for the younger generation. We saw many people arrive to buy the tickets to the party and as I indicated, we watched many of the boats fill up as the partygoers left to take the trip. We saw many young people on the island during our vacation and could not imagine being 22-25 years of age and being allowed to go out on our own to Koh Samui. All of the temptations that we saw (and knowing that we didn’t see half of the seedier side of life on the island) that were available. Aiya!

Now I say all this not to say that Thailand is the devil’s playground but just as an observation about what is available. This is probably true just about anywhere in the world where you go. Sometimes these “options” are more obvious and in your face and if you want to find it, it’s available if you know where to look. Although these things were there, it did not sour us on Koh Samui or Thailand. It was just more obvious here than what we are accustomed to seeing (or not seeing).

Thailand - Park I

It’s been a crazy last 3 months for us, a lot of travel both individual and together to end 2010. We decided we should take advantage of this opportunity to get out and see a little more of this region of the world while we were still here. So we made the decision to go to Thailand and spend our Christmas holiday on the beaches of Ko Samui (also can be spelled as Koh Samui, I’m not sure which is correct).

We packed on Friday night and made ready to leave out for Pudong airport early Saturday morning. Saturday I got up early, showered and made some coffee to wake up. Shortly after the coffee was made and just as Tammy got up to shower, the lights went out (along with everything else). Damnit! I assumed we blew a fuse with too many heaters running. I went around and turned off the outlets and went to look at the fuse box (in the dark, it wasn’t yet 7:00). Nothing was tripped but I still flipped each and every fuse to ensure that they were all reset. Nothing happened but I did the Chinese thing (oh-oh, I’m starting to become a local). I continued to flip each and every switch thinking perhaps there was another trick to this. After the 3rd time with nothing happening, I went out into the hallway and noted that the hall light wasn’t working. Other buildings around us had power but I could not see lights on in our building. Upon further review, our building had lost power for whatever reason and there was no hot water or heat. Now, this could be thought of as some kind of ominous warning sign (similar to the Amityville Horror, “Get out!”) but we tried not to look to far into it. Tammy had not showered and had a decision to make, shower and freeze or go without showering. She put her hair up and made the call, no shower (no surprises there, the water temp would’ve been freezing and that is a really bad start to the day, no shower was actually the better option). The power did come back on about 20 minutes before we left but there was no time left to shower so it was a test of deodorant day.

At the Pudong International Airport we checked in and looked for a currency exchange station to change our Chinese Yuan for the Thailand Baht (The Baht is about 6-to-1 versus the Yuan and about 30-to-1 versus the Dollar). Oddly enough, when we found the place, the agent indicated they had no Thai Baht. Really, a currency exchange center without currency from every country in the region?!?! That seemed strange since I had never encountered this problem before but what could we do? I shrugged and hoped that I could get the money changed out in Bangkok. We ate our PB&J sandwiches in the airport and waited on our flight to “paradise”. Lucky for me it seems the European couple sitting next to me on the plane also had a problem with their shower in the morning and the deodorant just wasn’t up to par. We’ve all heard how the Europeans don’t have the same hygiene standards as the US, well they were holding up their end of the deal (and not in a good way). It was a short 4 hour flight to Bangkok where we had a 3 hour layover to grab some food and get ready for the very short 1 hour flight. There is one interesting thing to note about flying on Chinese airlines. They have a standard Western toilet on the plane (well, duh) but you have to remember that many of the Chinese are accustomed to a squatty potty and that’s what they are comfortable with. They believe the Western toilet is dirty because everyone’s touched it with their butts so it’s not like the squatty which has fewer germs (nothing to sit on, nothing to spread the germs). Because of this, you will see shoe prints on the toilets in many restrooms (as the ladies, they see it all the time) and it was no different on the plane. There were shoe prints on the toilet seat. Consider that for a moment; the size of the restroom on a plane, the angle of the walls, etc and then think about how you would squat on this toilet. It can’t be comfortable and if you hit turbulence, it’s got to be much more difficult to keep your balance. Too much information….perhaps but it’s probably something you didn’t know (and didn’t want to know).

The Bangkok airport had interesting architecture where everything looked like big tunnels/tubes. It had some gardens around the terminals that you can see from the walkways. It’s really a nice airport and not like we expected. We had to process through customs, pick up our bags and then re-check them because we changed airlines. We also changed our cash here but we got robbed by the exchange place. I know the exchange rate was 6 Baht to 1 RMB but they gave me 4 Baht to 1 RMB and had a nice exchange fee just to add insult to injury. [SCOTT’S TRAVEL ADVICE: Before you leave the US use a place like Bank of America to exchange money just to have some pocket money for the country where you are traveling for food or whatever at the airport. Then wait and use the ATMs for your money, you pay a fee but you get a much better exchange rate.] Anyhow, there’s a good food court in the concourse with both Western and Asian options. The boys saw Burger King and their decision was made. Tammy and I noticed the Thai food area and immediately went over and got a Noodle Soup and Pad Thai. We both really like Thai food so we were looking forward to the trip for the food as much as the beach (well, almost as much). Then it was time to board the flight and head to the island. We used the ramp stairs to disembark from the plane and were picked up by a trolley car (you know, open car with seats facing each other that can seat about 20 people) to the “terminal”. The terminal was designed to look like a hut with no walls and just a roof. That’s exactly what it was; it was a wooden roof and no walls with a luggage carousel in the middle. Seriously, it was like stepping into an airplane terminal from Gilligan’s Island (it was a little surreal). Although it was raining, it was nice and warm outside (about 9:00 pm) about 80 degrees (when we left China it was in the 20’s). We had a driver meet us at the airport to take us to the Villa Tannamera, our home for the next week.

Now, I have to mention the “small world” thing again. At the Pudong Airport, we ran into the SSIS Elementary school principle and his family. It turns out that they were also headed to Thailand and they were on our flight to Bangkok. We never really asked for their final destination but when we got to our terminal for the flight to Ko Samui, there they were. They were on an earlier flight than us so we wished each other a good vacation and went on our separate ways. Well, when we arrive at the Villa who do we see sitting out on the deck? That’s right, the principal and family. This was really strange because there are a huge number of places to stay on the island and the chances that they would not only be at the same place but in the bungalow right across the pool, that has to be odds that Vegas would love.

At the Villa, we were met by Tan, the resident manager. Tan showed us to our bungalow and gave us a brief introduction to the place. A quick description, the kids shared a room with two beds and a shower that had partially open windows (meaning the window had two sections but was never fully closed so the local creatures could get in). The Master Bedroom was across the hall and had an open shower, meaning there was no ceiling over the shower area. The toilet was just under a ceiling but the shower, you looked up and you saw sky. You have to remember that this was an island getaway and wasn’t a place where you would have someone wiping your backside when you clapped your hands (Wipers!). It only had AC in the two bedrooms and no AC in the kitchenette/living room. There was a porch around the front and side that face the swimming pool. Then, just a 30 meter walk away was the beach which was the reason for the choice of this hotel. The rain had stopped by now so we just soaked it all in and started to get ready for “island time”. We knew there were some things we wanted to do but mostly we wanted to relax and isn’t that the goal of every vacation.

Another pleasant surprise was that when we turned on the TV (it was the kids, really) and we got Fox News. Woo-Hoo, Fox News!!! We traveled all the way to Thailand to see Fox News…Sheperd Smith, Bill O’Reilly, Mike Huckabee, Glenn Beck, the morning show, etc. In China, we get CNN and BBC which may give us news but it’s not the same. I know there are those that believe that Fox is biased but from the perspective of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it’s straight and everything else is crooked. This is the same for the “news outlets” that had the monopoly for years. We REALLY missed Fox News and we enjoyed the chance to watch it again even if only for a short time.

The next morning, we got up and dressed in our shorts and sandals and took the long 20 step walk to breakfast. The Villa offered a basic breakfast (coffee, juice, some cereal options, milk or yogurt and toast or croissant) that turned out to be a pleasant surprise. They offered eggs if you wanted them for extra cost so Jacob took full advantage and had an omelet every day (along with the full complement of the other options; cereal, milk, apple juice and toast, he was killing me with the extra $3 every day on our bill). Tan spoke with us about what we could do and how to get things done. Tan turned out to be the perfect host for us, we could tell him every morning what we wanted to do and he would make the arrangements (I am sure this would be similar to other places on the island) for us. If we wanted a car and driver, he would make the arrangements. If we need laundry done, he would have it done. It was all about the service he provided to us that made the trip work. He would talk to us about our customs and the Thai customs. We usually spent 15-20 minutes just talking to him every morning after we ate breakfast. He is a nice man and worked very hard to make us feel welcome.

The first day we decided to do the elephant trek where we got to ride on an elephant on a jungle trek and see one of the waterfalls on the island. We arranged for the car to get us and when it did, it was a little surprise for us. It was a pickup truck with bench seats in the back that were covered with a tarp (much like traveling in the back of a pickup in the Army). We could see out the sides and watch the scenery as we drove around to get to the elephant trek. Some observations on the ride;
· Motorcycles are everywhere in Thailand, not electric scooters, motorcycles of all shapes and sizes. It was like the e-bikes in China, families were riding on the motorcycles, individuals, etc.
· Gas was sold on the side of the road in bottles for the motorcycles. It looked like shelves of whiskey bottles but it was actually gas.
· They drive on the wrong side of the road in Thailand
· There were sandbags along many of the road and signs noting flooding around the island. In November they had 15 straight days of rain and there were huge floods all over the island which had a very negative impact on the locals.
· There were small, street-side eateries everywhere. Little stalls, some with a few tables and others with no tables. These, along with Thai massage shops were everywhere on the route. We also saw a 7-11 at virtually every other intersection, these were everywhere like a Waffle House in the southern US.

We arrived at the elephant trek without much incident. We were late arriving but it didn’t really seem to matter, we were on island time. We could see many elephants milling about with their keepers and others with people aboard heading out on their trek. There were also 4x4 trucks with seats on top of the truck and bench seats on back. We didn’t know what those were for but we found out later. We walked over to the platform to get ready to climb aboard the elephants. They could come up and you would grab the rope to help you to swing over to your seat and then tie the strap to keep you “locked in”. Jacob and I climbed aboard our elephant and headed out in front of Warren and Tammy. Our “driver” had purple feet and I wasn’t really sure why until later but it was to identify him and his elephant. His elephant had a purple spot on his head so you knew which animal went to which driver by the colors (color matching, a novel concept). The driver was a young guy and he guided the elephant using his feet on the ears of the elephant. A little tap on the lower right ear turned the elephant to the right. He also used voice commands to get the elephant to do what he wanted (as much as you can get something that large to do what you want, it was quite obvious to me that if the elephant decided to do what it wanted, that’s what we all were going to do). It was a bumpy, herky-jerky ride but we set off and walked around the area. You thought you would have whiplash at first but once you became accustomed to the movement, it wasn’t all that bad. Along the way we passed cages of monkeys that the driver used a stick to get them to turn and face our direction. There were also some deer, birds and alligators that we passed by. We went on a trek through the “jungle” and walked alongside a small stream and then passed by a small traditional village with the slightly raised house and the straw roofs. You could see the mixture of the trees, the coconut palms mixed in with the standard trees, you could see where one type of tree stopped and the others began. It was very interesting to see the different types of trees. Just after the village the elephants made the decision it was snack time. We had purchased some bananas to feed the elephants but it wasn’t enough. Their trunk would come back and you would give them one green banana and they would grab it and eat it and then reach back for more. Since we had very few bananas, they started to forage a little for some extra food. The drivers got off the elephants and allowed us to sit up on the neck of these animals as opposed to being perched on a chair on the back of the elephants. This is when we got the real feel of the animal. They had tough leather skin and just long, coarse hairs on the heads of these beasts. I had a hard time keeping a good balance while sitting in this position but it was kind of fun, Warren did the same on his elephant. The elephant was being fed by the driver as we were perched on it’s head. I was afraid to touch the ears so I would not turn the animal the wrong way. I was also very conscious that this animal was in control and I didn’t want an angry elephant (I’ve watched Dumbo, I know what happens to an angry elephant). We got to ride on the neck of the elephant for about 10-15 minutes and then it was back to the “cushy” seat in back. It was an interesting ride and although it was 60 minutes, it didn’t seem that long. We were back to the “hangar” to get off of the elephant.

We asked about the waterfall since we didn’t see it on the trek. They indicated that we had to either walk (30 minutes) or ride to the waterfall on the 4x4 trucks. We decided on the ride (which turned out to be the absolute right decision). Warren and I sat on top of the cab of the truck as we pulled out and started along the muddy track towards the waterfall. We crossed the stream and then headed along the very uneven and washed out road to the waterfall. It took about 10 minutes and it would’ve taken a lot longer than 30 minutes to walk this path. It was treacherous and without the 4 wheel drive, we would never have made it. There were several areas where the wheels were slipping as we headed up and down the “road”. II wasn’t sure which was the more bumpy ride; the elephant or the truck. When we arrived, we were told we had 20 minutes so we walked out to the waterfall and took photos quickly. It was an interesting area and really required more time to explore the area but with the time limit we saw what we could and got ready to leave (if the truck was leaving, we were going to be on it). Both of the kids took the cab seats for the ride back down the mountain to the starting point. Once we arrived, they asked us to sit in one of the huts while we waited for the driver to take us back to the Villa.

Once we got back, it was relax and hop in the pool for a little bit. We had decided to try a restaurant by the hotel for dinner. Tammy and I ate the Thai cuisine while Jacob and Warren went more Italian (pizza and carbonara). It was good food and we were able to sit outside while we ate and just people watch. Although the airport was very close and we knew when every plane was arriving or departing, it was very relaxing. After dinner, we just went back and did nothing at the Villa except sit on the deck and watch the planes come and go for the rest of the night. It may sound very irritating that we were so close to the airport that the planes would interrupt your day for those 30 seconds while they came in to land or after they took off but it didn’t really bother us much. The last plane came in about 10:00pm and the first plane came in about 6:30am which became our wakeup call. It actually became a running joke; I mean we were on the beach, so we didn’t let it bother us much (why stress over something we could not control). We were on island time, which became the motto for the trip.