Phuket Thailand

Day 44
Graham was up very early this morning. There was quite a strong wind blowing, and he wanted to see how the wind was troubling the floating structures at the Marina.
We had a restless night last night as the air conditioner [like all air conditioners] made one heck of a racket. We ended up trying to sleep without it. My goodness, were we hot!!
It takes me back to when we lived in Singapore. I really found the humid heat then very trying and I am finding it the same here in Phuket.
I took myself off for a long walk [while it was cool enough] this morning around the Resort.
It really is very lovely and the people are very gracious and charming.

Once again we are in a beautiful Resort with only one other couple that we have seen.
The staff have been telling us that this is their high season and they usually have 90% occupancy.
This year they have 10% occupancy, and the staff are going to be put on a three day week.

One of the Hostesses on our Singapore Airlines flight from Dubai to Singapore, was telling me that their loadings are way down and that they are concerned for their jobs as well.

The credit crunch has certainly had a world wide impact on the travel industry. For Graham and I it has meant being in accommodations either on our own or with very few other tourists.
It can be a little unnerving being the only ones at breakfast, dinner etc, as we have everyone giving us their undivided attention.
Charming as it all is.

Graham was saying to me that he can’t see how Dubai will come through the credit crunch. He feels that it is like a deck of cards all ready to fall over because there is nothing to prop it all up.
Chelle was telling us that she had heard [how true no one knows] that everyday there are up to 300 cars with there keys in just left at Dubai Airport. The owners of the cars have probably lost their jobs and have left Dubai for good.

This afternoon we were fortunate enough to be taken for a tour of Phuket Island by Kasen. Kasen is part of the Marina Company that Graham has been consulting with.
We have had a great afternoon seeing lots of interesting things and most importantly a little bit of shopping.
Phuket is quite a large city and there is certainly lots going on.
We were amused by all the small scooters. I saw one with, Mum in the middle, one child at the rear ,and two children at the front of the of the bike. No helmets etc. Crazy stuff!!
Tomorrow we leave at the crack of dawn for Singapore where we spend three days and two nights.
It will be ‘Home James’ for us after that.

We decided that it would be a good idea to have an early breakfast in our room before going to the airport. What fun we had trying to get the staff to understand that we wanted our breakfast delivered to us at 5pm today. They just couldn’t get the concept of our breakfast being delivered the day before we wanted to eat it.
We have a large fridge in our room so there was no problem concerning the food spoiling.
So it will be interesting to see if the food turns up in half an hours time.

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