On the Beach

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I made it safely to Thailand. I had three flights, from Dalian to Koh Samui. the island I am staying for the time being, and due to my experience flying Chinese airlines I expected the flights to take much more than the allotted 12 hours. I flew China Southern Airlines, which like most Chinese airlines isn't very concerned with timeliness or convenient service, from Dalian to Guangzhou, and then from Guangzhou to Bangkok, to where my bags were being checked. However, the flight to Bangkok was delayed for an extra hour, for some reason unexplained to me but what from judging the scene outside the plane window seemed to be lazy baggage workers. Anwyays, I was met at the gate in Bangkok by a visibly agitated Bangkok Airways attendant, who rushed me and four other passengers to the connecting flight, which was taking off in 30 minutes. I finally got to ride one of those beeping airport carts that I always see and wish I could race my friends with. But we were shuttled through customs and security (where the Thai officers found a bottle of water, a tube of toothpaste, and a bottle of hand lotion that the Chinese workers missed) and then practically sprinted to our connecting gate. Needless to say, our luggage was left behind in Bangkok, but that didn't really matter because I ended up on an island that was 32 degrees Celsius warmer than frigid Dalian. My bags came the next day, but that was the only stressful situation I’ve encountered so far, and I didn’t really notice.

Koh Samui reminds me a little of Martha’s Vineyard. We are staying in a hostel in a very touristy area, surrounded by white people (but almost no Americans, the tourists here are very international. Lots of Europeans and Australians, and even Indians, Arabs, and Russians). The streets are narrow, and everything is designed to be sold. But Koh Samui is like Martha’s Vineyard’s bastard child with Las Vegas. The vibe here is very laid back and exotic. Thai people all speak English to some extent, which is a big change from China. People approach us on the beach (our new second home) and sell egg rolls, spicy salads, watches, necklaces, henna tattoos, and ice cream. One vendor has a unique approach: he comes and stares at you intensely, then throws his ice cream sign into the sand like a javelin and begins singing a Thai love song (or an English song about ice cream, depending on the attitude of the customers). He’s hilarious. Thai people are much more comfortable and friendly with foreigners than Chinese; and we think this is partly because the economy here is based on foreign tourism, but also because Thailand has never been occupied or influenced by any foreign governments. They are confidently independent, so they don’t need to prove anything.

The beach is beautiful. The water is emerald green and clear, and the waves are small. The water is warmer than the air sometimes, which can be as much as 32 C. We haven’t done much else but swim in the ocean and sleep, but I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. Tomorrow we are going on a boat tour/snorkeling tour to another island near here, and then making our way to Bangkok to catch a flight back to Shanghai.

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Comments

[sam b]

perfect vacation
Sounds relaxing. I thought you were going to say the Thai ice cream vendor threw his ice cream at you.

[lunchbox]

Hmm
I believe some area in thailand was conquored by the japs in WW2. Enjoy that beach.

[suntianhao]

yup
You're right, Tubby, I was misinformed. The Japanese occupied Thailand from 1941 to 1945.