At Patong Beach - Phuket - Thailand

Hello everybody! On Tuesday I had a 7 hour flight from Perth to Phuket, Thailand. The last few days in Perth were really mellow and relaxing, aside from two more vulgar episodes I witnessed in the town. I wasn't exaggerating when I last descibed some of the people to be found there. If you go looking for disappointing behaviour in Perth you won't be disappointed. I won't go into too much detail because I don't have much time at the moment, but I was standing in line for a sandwich and some scrawny white trash kid with a rattail haircut storms through the doors and throws a full can of coke at the poor cashier's face - for no reason I could derive other than the sandwich maker being Chinese. I'll tell you more about this later though.

I spent both days after Adelaide at Perth's Cottesloe Beach which is one of the nicest stretch of beaches in Australia. After saying farewell to my friends I boarded the plane for Phuket... and here I am. It's hard to believe this place was completely obliterated by the tsunami only five years ago. There are no signs of disaster and the tourist industry is bustling. Last night I walked the shores of Patong Beach and saw a man sitting by himself, crouched with his head between his legs, sometimes looking vacantly towards the horizon. You could tell by his posture and expression that he lost somebody, maybe his partner or child or both. It was sad.

I've only been here for 2 days, but Thailand is an extraordinary place. It's like Bali in the way society functions. I've noticed you can tell a lot about a country by its traffic. The more chaotic the traffic, the more freeflowing the culture. There aren't really any rules and money speak the loudest. A lot of older white men walking around with young Thai girlfriends. It's a bit shocking to see at first, but fades into the cultural white noise. Patong Beach is surrounded by giant hills covered in lush green jungle. I'm staying here for another night and debating a trip to the Phi Phi islands just south of here. Apparently there is a place called James Bond island where one of the movies was filmed 10 years ago. It's a big attraction now. Speaking of which, my ultimate goal is to end up on Ko Samui by Saturday where "The Beach" with Leonardo di Caprio was shot.

Well, I've got a few decisions to make so I better run. I don't know where I'll be for Christmas or ew Years but I'll try my best to reach a computer when I figure it out. They might be few and far between until I reach Bangkok, so just hang tight! I'll try my best to have a couple of updates before then.

Bye for now folks!