Back in the Land of Smiles

June 30th, 2006 at 12:00am

Yes I am in Bangkok again, finally, and it seems like an eternity since I was here last. A lot has changed since I was here 2 years ago – my favorite coffee shop, best restaurant for green curry, and most favorite spot for a pedicure – they are all gone, long since replaced by another operation. So it’s kind-of sad, but the smiles are still everywhere on the faces of Thai people and the friendly feeling that brings everyone back to this unique place is still very much alive and well. And yes, there are still old-man perverts everywhere you look walking tall with their 20-year old Thai mistresses, and I am sure in all the years between visits to Thailand, that is one aspect of this place that will never change. Even as I write this I have an ugly scrawny Frenchman sitting directly across from me chatting with his Thai lady-friend-of-the-day, and really, it is so pathetic that it’s actually humorous in a way. He is pretty drunk and incoherent and she keeps talking about some job that she applied for, but who cares? It’s Bangkok and I’m sure their romance will flourish for the time that he’s here.

I will try to ignore their imminent love connection while I write of the things that bring me back here – mainly the notion of having a proper holiday filled with Thai massage, beach time, and of course colonic irrigation down on Ko Samui. Yes it’s that cleaning-out time again, and I’m sure you are all delighted to know you will be hearing all about it very soon. I am anxious to do another round of cleansing after having finally figured out what was causing my rash in Australia for over 2 years. It was about 8 months ago now that I determined through an elimination diet that I have a food intolerance to a flavour enhancer known as ribonucleotide, or 635. I cannot begin to explain what a relief it was to finally find the cause of my misery and to know that I wasn’t crazy as many doctors made me feel. Once I removed that additive from my diet, the horribly itchy and weepy rash went away. It seems so easy now that I know, but from 2 years I was led and misled in every direction other than that by doctors who tested me for everything from heavy metal poisoning to HIV. And then, when everything would come up negative, they would say, oh well I guess it’s just eczema here’s a cortisone cream. I am still amazed that such a dangerous chemical is legally allowed in foods; it disgusts me really. If you are curious to know what items this particular nasty is in I can tell you: flavoured chips, rice crackers, veggie burgers at Burger King and Hungry Jacks, tofu hotdogs and most tofu burgers, chicken salt at KFC, Maggi noodles, and some flavoured margarines just to name a few. I have been in contact with an amazing Australia woman, Sue Dengate, who has a website dedicated to educating people about the many effects of preservatives and chemical additives. Its called fedup.com.au. Anyway she has used a photo of my face with the rash in her latest DVD that just came out in Australia (it’s available on her website if anyone is interested or just wants to support her which I think we all should). This new DVD has been getting some good media attention in Australia, and an evening news program there actually interviewed me this week about my experience with 635. It all happened so fast once they found out I was leaving for Bangkok, and the afternoon before I flew out of Darwin I had a film crew meet me at the house where I was staying to do the interview. I didn?t even really know the guy I was staying with since he’s the brother of my boss at the cattle station, and here I was ringing him at work saying, um, it’s a long story, but Today Tonight will be in your house when you get home from work!! I don’t know if they will use the footage, but the show is meant to be aired in Australia sometime in the next week. As I told Sue, I am willing to do anything and tell my story to anyone if it stops this from happening to other innocent victims like myself.

Just a little background info there gone wild, but that is why I am back in Thailand – to give myself a chance to purge this toxin from my body once and for all and hopefully repair some of the damage that it’s done to my liver. The best way I know how to do that is through my cleansing and fasting at the Spa, in combination with herbal steams, dry skin brushing, massage and liver flushes, so that is what I’ll be doing in the upcoming weeks. I’ve got a friend coming over from Australia for a visit too so that should break up the cleaning-out with a bit of fun. So, it’s a few days in Bangkok for me and then I head south.

Entry Filed under: Bangkok,Thailand