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Published: March 21st 2009
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Kata Beach scene
Notice the sitting Buddha on the hill and the tsunami alert tower on the right Greetings from Phuket, an island on the southwestern coast of Thailand that was hard-hit by the December 26, 2004 tsunami and where many people perished. Today, it has mostly been rebuilt and the tourist industry is flourishing. Real estate development also seems to still be going strong, despite the global economic crisis.
Although I'd been to Thailand before, it was to Bangkok and the north, including to Chiang Mai, but never to this "island paradise", as some call it. Inga, my young German friend from Shanghai and I came down here for a week's holiday and booked a hotel in Kata Beach through a Chinese tour operator.
Kata Beach, where we stayed, is south of Patong and quite touristy. The "main drag" has loads of souvenir and clothing shops, restaurants and massage parlors. Prices are much higher than I remember them--and far higher than in Shanghai for similar clothes and meals. In addition, our hotel isn't directly on the sea.
But the beach more than makes up for the touristy side. Only a three-minute walk away, it is really lovely, with white sand and inexpensive lounge chairs and parasols available for rent for 2,50 euros a day. I've
been swimming for hours in the warm, turquoise-blue water and have finished two rather long novels. Just what the doctor ordered after two months of teaching in Shanghai. My cold and sinus problems disappeared almost immediately and, apart from sun-burn, I've spent a week in pure aquatic bliss--coupled with frequent aromatic oil foot and body messages, given both inside and outside on the beach (and even more reasonably-priced than in Shanghai).
Norwegians and Swedes, as well as Russians, are everywhere. Guess they're the ones who can still afford exotic holidays these days, although there is also a smattering of Germans, Dutch, Italians, French (at the Club Med down the beach) and Brits!
Besides lounging on the beach, last Thursday I took a day-long boat excursion to Kwai and Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee)Don and Phi Phi Lai islands, all of which were lovely (see photos). It was amazing how big an island Phuket looked when arriving back here from the sea. Poor Inga missed the excursion. Shedecided not to come, as she was just getting over a "tourista" problem from something she'd eaten the day before.
A few impressions...
As I remembered them from my previous visit,
I've found the Thais to be lovely, friendly, smiling people. Gracious and calm, they make everything seem easy and possible. You see of them bathing at Kata Beach. I read in a guide book that, since the tsunami, many local people now fear the water. Or maybe they're just too busy earning a living. In any case, when they do go swimming, they go in completely clothed, just as I saw many Malaysians do several years ago. Maybe it's because 35 percent of the population on the island is Muslim.
A curious, but not unsurprising phenomenon (that I've also observed in Shanghai) is the number of not-so-young Western men walking around with young (or young-looking --it can be deceptive) Asian (in this case Thai) women. For example, there are three "regulars"--grey-haired men in their 60s or 70s--hanging about the massage salon where I go. I was told by my masseuse that one of them, an Italian, is the father of a cute little girl I'd noticed whose mother, a plump Thai woman who spends her time on a divan watching TV all day, is the owner of the salon. I've also noticed (my hotel window looks down on the
photo of King
in front of Kata Beach Resort Hotel across the street salon!) another white-haired man and his young masseuse girlfriend holding hands over tea every afternoon outside the salon and over dinner next door in the evenings. In the travel agency where I bought my excursion ticket, a middle-aged Frenchman from Alsace and his friend from Montreal, both with girlfriends working in the agency, started up a conversation with me and told me they'd never go back to their countries after living on Phuket. And on the boat I took to the islands, several oversized, grey-haired Saudia Arabians brought along their Thai girlfriends for the day.
You also see a lot of younger, Western men with Thai girls. But as of yet--and even though I know it must exist--I haven't seen any Western women my age hanging out with Thai "party-boys"!
Patong is the "hot spot" on the island (just as Pataya, a beach next to Bangkok, is in that part of Thailand). Out of curiosity, Inga and I took a taxi up there the other night to have an early dinner. Although we'd been warned to be careful, it didn't seem any seedier to me than Pigalle or Amsterdam, and the warm climate, the sea, and the friendliness of
public bus
going to Karon Beach and Phuket Town the Thai people make up for "that" aspect of Thai tourism, I suppose. Still, the stories you hear of Thai parents selling their children off to people in the sex trade are frightening. Such a problem in developing countries. In Patong, about 900 people died after the tsnumai hit the town, which today has been rebuilt. There's even a Carrefour hypermarket there now!
Tatooes and body paintings are definitely "in" among Western people of both sexes and all nationalities and ages --not really MY "cup of tea", however. Lots of people smoking everywhere. English is definitely the "lingua franca" in Asia (if not in the whole world). It's funny hearing some of these Western men conversing with their Thai girlfriends in (pidgin) English. I'm getting quite adept at "globish" (global English) myself since living in China!
Back to Shanghai tomorrow morning --we leave the hotel at 5 a.m.--then ten days later I fly to Paris for a week. I arrive April 1, and Sebastien's wedding is on the 4th. Since my apartment is rented, I'll be staying at a friend's "studio" but will be available on my French cell phone. Would love to hear from those of you
Inga at bar on Kata Beach
notice her belly sunflower tatoo! in town during that time.
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Brenda
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Pics of Thailand
These pictures are beautiful! Thank you for sharing, and thank you for having such an adventure that we can see vicariously. Also, bon voyage on your Paris trip and may the wedding be joyous.