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Published: April 10th 2008
CHAWENG BEACH
IN THE LATE AFTERNOONIt is now just 2 days away from the thai new year, and i have been back in bangkok for a week. i am staying here until next wednesday, ie until after the new year holiday (which involves 3-4 days of water throwing madness, from which there is little means of escape!). april is the hottest month in thailand, so it is some relief, but personally, having been here at this time on 2 previous occasions, by the 3rd day i will have tired of a 72 hour water fun/dodging marathon.... to give you some idea, it is impossible to go anywhere with any possessions you mind getting soaked, for 3 days and 4 nights. and western tourists are always a favourite target!
since my last blog, i spent another week on Koh samui. it was a very fun time, and we got to know several people very well. went to a drag cabaret everynight, which was a bit of campery overload, but i loved it. made friends with some of the guys who work at the best show, Star club, near tops supermarket on chaweng, and also at fah samui, a small gay bar and spa opposite starbucks in
A ROMANTIC SETTING FOR A MEAL
EVENING ON CHAWENG BEACH. IF YOU ONLY KNEW HOW MANY ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO GET THIS PHOTO RIGHT!! chaweng. hope to go back soon. found out that a lot of illegal burmese immigrants are working on samui, many of whom get very low wages, and work very long hours compared to thais. shame that some unscrupilous western owned businesses are prepared to exploit them..
the days on koh samui were spent on the beach and also going around the island. went to a few other beaches, including lamai and cheong mon. also visited the dubious phallic symbols of the grandfather and grandmother rocks. my hotel room at chaweng was on stilts right by the beach, but also was right above where they stored and repaired jet skis. it also was rather rickety, everytime i walked across the floor the tv would nearly bounce off its table. it was also right under the flight path of nearby samui airport, the water that came out of the electric shower smelt like rotten eggs, and all the holes in the floor and walls invited mosquitoes into my boudoir. still, it was a big room, quite cheap, right on the beach and also very close to the nightlife!
between the chaweng gardens beach hotel where we were staying, and the
ARK BAR, BY DAY
CHAWENG BEACH, NORTH next resort north, there is about 50 metres of pitch black beach at night. this i found out was the prime spot for being offered what they would amusingly call "some flowers from burma, sir?" needless to say i politely declined all such offers, and also any other offers of the other kind i would often get from scary looking lady boys hanging around on motorbikes on chaweng beach road at 4am! chaweng aint no disneyland, thats for sure!
while i was on samui, the north east monsoon, which blasts the island with rain and/or wind from about october to march, finally died down. this meant that the sea retreated leaving a far wider beach, and the calm nights meant mosquito hell, and so no more sitting on the deck outside my room. one thing i observed on samui, is because chaweng beach faces east, many western tourists will point themselves west, with their backs to the sea, in order to get the full afternoon sun. as if the tropical sun isnt strong enough already without having to face directly into it every minute of the day! why go to beach at all, might as well sit in a
garden or by the pool...
most resorts on chaweng have beach restaurants, with a great view of incoming aircraft and potential crash landings in the sea! also you can view the moon rising over the sea most nights. one of the best beachside places is ark bar, which pumps out very gay friendly house dance music for 12 hours every single day from 2pm to 2am!
we left koh samui via the lomprayah catermaran for hua hin. it was a relaxing way to go, i have to say, it left koh samui at 8am, and via stops on koh pangnan and koh tao, it arrived at a pier on a remote beach near chumphon at midday. from there they transfer you to either hua hin or bangkok. we arrived at hua hin at 5am, stayed at ekk's sisters house outside of the town, and he cooked some food we bought at the local tesco! it was bliss!
the next day we took the 3 hour bus journey to bangkok, it was been good to be back. the 1st night here we met up with a erstwhile friend from dundee, scotland, andrew brooks, who was in bangkok for
CAMPER THAN CAMP
STAR CLUB CABARET, CHAWENG BEACH, SAMUI a conference, me and ekk took him on a whirlwind tour of bangkok by night! it turns out the the very welcome smoking ban, is also linked to a forced 2am closing of all nightlife, so thats a bit of a downer, but also a money saver! it is also against the law for shops to sell alchohol after 2am and before 10am, and also between 2pm and 5pm, but amusingly, as the signs say in the supermarkets:" THE ABOVE DOES NOT APPLY IF YOU ARE BUYING MORE THAN 10 LITRES, IN WHICH CASE YOU CAN BUY WHENEVER YOU WANT" (!) that is very typical thai!
while we are in bangkok, ekk and i are trying to get ekk a visa to come to the uk to work permanently.
however all thai people wanting such a visa have pass a medical. ekk had his yesterday, and turns out he needs further tests for TB, a common ailment here. he has to go and give a spit sample every morning at 7am for the next 3 days. we will find out next week if that we be sufficent, if not, we may have to wait 2 months for more tests.
MORE CAMPERY
AT STAR CLUB CABARET... after that we can apply for the visa, but only if he turns out TB free. if he has it, then we will have to wait for treatment to clear it up, which may take 6 months! so thats a bit crap, but fingers crossed for next week !
i have to leave thailand next week, i am going to laos. future plans are a bit sketchy and depending on ekk. tune into my next blog to find out what happens!!!
Ps THANKYOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE EMAILED ME TO SAY WHAT THEY THINK OF THE BLOG!
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reza
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