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After a coupe of days in Phuket, we flew to Ko Samui. Ko Samui is located on the other side of the mainland, in the bay of Thailand. The seasons here are almost opposite of Phuket, so it was hot, really hot here. It's nice during the day when you are on the beach, but at night it doesn't cool down like it does in Phuket, so Boris and I were sweating like pigs. The beach up here is really nice and beautiful surroundings. We stayed at Lammai beach. It's like what Patong in Phuket was like 10 or 20 years ago. It's not as commercial, the resorts by the beach are smaller mom and pop places and the red light district is not as in your face and pushy. We decided to upgrade a bit, so we stayed in this nice resort with a pool and a great view, 5 minute walk to the beach. We spend like $50 a night on what I think is a 4 start resort breakfast included! Gotta love Thailand.
The biggest negative are the Indian suit touts. Now they are everywhere in Asia, I've seen them in Hong Kong and Phuket, but I've never
seen so many as on Lammai. Holy cow. Every fifth shop must be a suit shop up here with a guy standing in front asking passers by if they want a suit. After being asked 10 times in 5 minutes, you just want to strangle these people. Who the hell gets a suit while on vacation? I just don't get it. They are the most annoying people. They all pretend to be your friend, come over and try to shake your hand, ask where you are from before pitching what a great buy a suit is from his place. So Boris and I had a little game, before the guy would make a move, Boris screaming that I need two suits, at which point the tout was overjoyed. Of course it took him a minute to realize we were pulling his chain. Then before the next one, I did the same 😊 It was fun for a bit.
Anyways, Thai people are gentle souls, even the sellers are gentle and usually are not very persuasive and leave you alone if you are not interested. There is an exception to every rule, and we met ours. We were sitting in a
restaurant, waiting for our food. Here comes a very cute little girl selling necklaces made of orchids. She must have been 6 or 7 years old. She comes over straight to me and says:"give me 40 baht", which is just over $1. Now, I have a policy of never buying anything from children, since I've had bad experiences in Cambodia 5 years ago and I believe kids should be in schools anyway and not selling trinkets to tourist. So I say, " no thanks". Now in 90 percent of the cases that would be sufficient. Not this time. She grabs an glass ashtray off the table, proceeds to bang it on the table and says: "give me 40 baht". Now that gets my attention. I've had a couple of beers by now and I am calling her bluff, since I doubt she has the resolve to throw the ashtray at any of the two huge Russians sitting in front of her. ( My cousin Boris is 6'5 and is built like a brick house ). So I tell the girl to go away and return to my conversation with Boris. So the girl stands there for like a minute while
we pretend to ignore her and the ashtray, tells us to "Fuck Off", turns around and leaves. I gotta be honest with you, I've been in Thailand for 3 weeks by now and this was the first time I heard a Thai swear. Thais have this thing about saving face and avoiding confrontation at all costs. So this was just totally shocking to me. Now, I don't know if she got that off a tourist or what, but there is still no excuse. Now, of course after a couple of beers all was forgotten, I just thought I'd tell you this amusing episode.
So after a couple of days at Ko Samui, we flew back to Phuket. Now a couple of words about Ko Samui airport. It is my new favorite airport. The terminal is open air, with shops, bars and restaurants all located outside. Even the gates are open air with thatched roofs! How cool is that. It's all surrounded by lily ponds and tropical vegetation. It's just simply fantastic. Check out the pictures.
Anyways, Boris left on the 7th and I've been recuperating ever since 😊 Going to Ho Chi Min, Vietnam on the 12th.
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