Archive for November, 2008
Well it has been a week now and we still have our major international closed in Bangkok. It’s crazy really that this has gone on so long and the government doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it! Everyone keeps hoping that this will end quickly and so I think most people just waited a few days, extending their holidays a bit. By Saturday a lot of tourists started to look for other ways to get home. We are lucky here in Koh Samui in that we have an international airport here with direct flights to Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, so many people are packing the airport and trying to get on those flights. Others are taking a boat to the mainland and then buses down to Malaysia. From here to Kuala Lumpur by bus it is about a 20-hour journey. But compared to the situation in Bangkok, we are pretty lucky. Some tourists are still holding out, hoping for fast resolution, mainly because they cannot afford to buy a new plane ticket home. The main problem we are feeling now is that no new tourists are arriving…and at the beginning of the high season in Thailand, this is not good for business! The Spa is very quiet at the moment where normally there would be 3 to 4 times the number of guests there. So we wait, and most importantly, hope for a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
If anyone is looking for a good holiday destination, Thailand is a fantastic place to visit, even more so now because you can negotiate good room rates and not have to deal with crowds! So, as long as you find an alternative way to arrive here, be sure to come – the Thai people really need the business! And I can tell you that the average Thai person is very unhappy with this current situation; most of them are embarrassed and feel that their country is losing face. I would have to tend to agree.
So, we continue to wait.
November 30th, 2008
Things aren’t so great in Thailand at the moment, but the only thing that has affected me in any way is the continued rain here on Koh Samui. The Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok has been closed since last night due to protestors, and we are all hoping that the problems will be resolved very quickly. Tourists are still able to travel within Thailand via the old Don Muang airport – we had a guest arrive today who flew from Don Muang to Suranthani and then took the boat from there to Koh Samui. Mostly people are struggling with their outbound flights from Bangkok, so many people are just diverting their flights and flying directly from Samui to Hong Kong, Singapoe or Kuala Lumpur. We just have to wait and see what happens. A good site for up to day information is the Thai Visa Forum.
Here in Samui the more pressing issue at the moment is the continued rain. We actually had a break today for a few hours for the first time in over a week. Most people are saying that they didn’t think it was possible for it to rain so much without a break. It is funny watching how people still manage to get out, holding umbrellas while they ride their motorbikes, most people wearing ponchos with a helmet over top, I even saw one guy simply wearing a plastic bag on his head – I guess he didn’t care about his clothes, just wanted to keep his hair perfect. I have also seen a lot of people just surrendering entirely and riding around in their swimming trunks with no shoes even. When the rain does break, everyone quickly runs out to do shopping or errands before the next onslaught, and there is flooding in the streets, mud on the roads and broken umbrellas littering the sides of the roads providing evidence of the magnitude of these storms. I have a friend who is a school teacher at the grammar school down the road and her partner told me today that their sewage system backed up from lack of drainage and flooded the school kitchen with rain and sewage water. Lovely!
The photos below were taken on my way to Tesco Lotus in Chaweng 2 days ago. I nearly had water coming over the hood of the car at one stage! It was rather entertaining watching the young Thai teenagers trying to blast through the high waters on their motorbikes, only to have the engines stall half-way through and then have to walk the bike through the rest of it. I think the old Thai men were sitting along the side of the road taking bets over who was going to make it and who wasn’t! I suppose it is our equivalent of a good winter storm. The Thais seem pretty used to this chaos.
So, with any luck the rains will subside and the protesters will retreat and we will be back to big smiles and sunny weather in Thailand very soon.
Samui Rainy Season
Note the umbrella holding method
November 26th, 2008
I am happy to report that we have finally started the drying out process here in Koh Samui and we have finally seen the sun again! It is so great to see and feel the warmth of the sun after so many days of gray skies and rain!!
But even bigger news for me is that I plan to get a hot water heater installed in my shower this week!! Yeah!! Yes, that is right – I have been living with cold water showers for over 2 years now! Could you imagine?? Well I should say that most days here when it is 30C you don’t really mind having a cold shower and that is usually for about 10 months of the year. It’s the other 2 months that can be rather unpleasant.
The amazing thing is that it hasn’t really bothered me at all. In fact the very simplicity of my life here is what makes me love it so much. I have very few possessions and the ones that I do have I really appreciate. For example, I have a refrigerator, a juicer and a blender and with that I feel that my culinary needs are complete. I don’t even have a kitchen but it doesn’t worry me!! I have a bicycle which is rusty and has no gears but someone left it here and it is perfect for jetting into town and back. I love it! I have an old desk with 2 drawers that have no frame so you pull them out and there is nothing but who cares! I love the desk just to have a place to sit at my computer. I have a hard wire internet connection and with that life is truly complete, isn’t that right! I have a desk lamp which someone gave me – it works but is a bit wobbly…but how I love using it when I just want some soft lighting! I also have an extra fan which someone else gave me – and since I don’t have air conditioning, that extra fan has saved my life in very hot spells.
My point in outlining all of that is to show you how little you really need in order to feel fulfilled and grateful. In fact, you probably never even stop to appreciate the hot water in your shower every day do you? Yet alone all the other wonderful means of abundance you have all around you?? Sometimes in life we become so focused on everything we still don’t have or what we think we still need, and we forget to stop and feel the gratitude for everything we already have. I am quite sure that I feel more ‘complete’ and at ‘one’ with myself and my life than many of you out there who have 10 or 20 times the material wealth that I have.
So stop, look around you, see and feel the abundance in your own life, and take a moment to say “I am so grateful for……’
November 16th, 2008
Too much water – that has been my welcome back to Thailand. It has been bucketing down from the heavens for days now, not a nice gentle peaceful rain, but more the torrential tropical down pour style. It’s kind-of fun for an hour or so when you are inside and dry, but after that the sounds becomes deafening and it is impossible to get out and about so the novelty wears off quickly. You have to plan your day around the rain. When it lets up, you dash out to get food or run errands but never without the umbrella and rain jacket because it can come back at any moment!!
So I am happy to be back and out the the North American approaching winter, but just wishing for some sun and warmth! It will come…eventually. In the meantime I’m trying to keep on top of the mold situation inside my bungalow, which is pretty near impossible, and waiting patiently with the Thais for this to be over! Yesterday was Loy Kratong, the full moon and sign of the end of the rainy season so according to the locals the rain should stop. Should.
Hey, it is the tropics, and part of being in the tropics is living with the rain.
November 12th, 2008