Thailand Redux

Hello everyone,

I arrived in Thailand the morning of December 29th. The flight was really quick and the shuttle to Patong effortless. Accomidation was another story. I had to walk to about 4 different places to find a place to stay. Luckily I got the last room at a hotel 5 min from the beach.

It feels really good to be back in Thailand, despite my dislike of certain aspects of the country. I really did miss the massages and beaches. The first thing I did was hit the gym. Patong has 3 great gyms with shakes and a/c. Im a solid 190 pounds now. 10 more to go!

The 2 days leading to New Years I simply relaxed. Hitting the beach, tanning, working out, staying healthy. I think I was the only single male in the area that didnt have a Thai girl on his arm. (Or ladyboy)

New Years was interesting. I finished my workout at about 10, headed to the strip and took some fantastic pictures of all the people out and about. I quickly had dinner and got to the beach to take shots of the fireworks display. I was thinking that the display was going to be neat. It was beyond unreal. The explosions were clearly too close for Canadian regulations. I swear they went off like 20 feet above my head. After the 30 min show I headed to a really nice dance club to listen to some tunes.

I got back to my room at about 2am and read some of my book and fell asleep. Now here is where it gets interesting. At 5:15am I heard a whole lot of banging, screaming, and what sounded like someone being very violent. I'm an angry sleeper so I woke up and went to check out what the heck all the noise was about. I opened my door to see a Thai dude chasing a girl. I said, "Hey, keep it down!". The Thai guy proceeded to turn and come at me. Usually in this situation when someone that is mad comes at me they look at me and backdown. This guy was about 130 pounds and shorter than my grandmother. That didnt seem to stop him. He punched me or tried to punch me about 5 times. He got in 2 good ones hitting my cheekbone and ear. I pushed him away and quickly shut the door. He went on to rage on everyone and everything around him until he seemed to pass out 2 hours later. He freaked me out. Despite the fact that I could have taken him out in about 2 seconds he was unpredictable and clearly full of some sort of PCP.

This morning I woke up really mad. I couldnt hear from my right ear properly and I needed to make sure this guy didnt do it again. I went and complained to the staff at the front desk and they immediately pushed off all responsiblity for the incident. The Thai guy ended up being the husband of one of the cleaning ladies. My anger (an emotion ive felt only twice in 6 months) kept escalating and I decided to call the police. They quickly came over and fined the guy for whatever it was he did. I think he broke some windows and smashed a bunch of furniture. I didnt press whatever charges due to the fact that I left for Ko Lak this afternoon.

As soon as I reached Ko Lak I almost felt home. This is what I missed. Ko Lak is just east of the Similian Islands. The 9 islands that make up the Similian Islands are home to some of the best dive sites in the world. I booked 2 days worth of diving and intend to enjoy myself.

The next two weeks I am travelling with some americans I met. Im looking forward to saving on costs and experiencing Northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

I hope everyone had a good New Years and Ill talk again soon. Sunset is coming, I wanna go catch it.

D.