12/31/07

We have been on the island of Phuket for this past week, living the life of luxury. We were fortunate to get a timeshare exchange to the Marriot Beach Club which lies in the north east corner of the island. It is a self-contained zillion star resort with acres of glorious tropical gardens,  Siam style architecture, art and sculpture, 3 attractive pools, a private beach, 4 restaurants, a spa, etc. In the evenings there are performances of traditional Thai music and dance. There are legions of service workers doing everything from bringing us watermelon at the poolside, to providing massages. We find the Thai people friendly, helpful and charming. They greet us with a bow and address us as “sir” and “madam.”  We feel awkward and guilty being doted on in this way, but also recognize that as tourists we are their livelihood.

We have found a taxi driver we adore,” Mr. Lucky”, who is our driver and guide around the island. He escorted us to the National Park where we rode elephants on a trek through rainforest and rubber plantations. It was fascinating to see the elephants in a natural setting as they tore up plants and knocked down trees in their relentless search for food.

Mr. Lucky took us into the vibrant city of Phuket and into the tourist area of Patong Beach. Phuket exemplifies the new South East Asia with a fascinating blend of traditional temples, shrines and markets, and modern global IT businesses, car dealerships and real estate agents. The Thai billboards and signs are fascinating to see, as are the Thai renditions of Western icons like McDonalds, 7-11 and KFC.

Patong Beach is the gathering spot for European tourists. Its white sand beach lies in a pretty bay surrounded by forested hills. The beach is lined with hundreds of chairs for hire, and hawkers ply their parasailing rides and boat trips to outlying islands. Topless women are a common site. Along the waterfront are hundreds of little shops selling souvenirs such as T-shirts, silk pillows, elephant carvings, and a myriad of fake pirated items like DVDs, Rolex watches, Gucci bags and Nike clothing. At night, the bars, nightclubs and sex trade come to life. The place frankly gave us the creeps and we were happy to scurry back to our secluded resort.

Patong Beach was the area hardest hit on Phuket island by the tsunami of December, 2004. There are still areas filled with the rubble of ruined buildings and many places where reconstruction is taking place. The Thai people are generally unwilling to talk about that awful experience but when they do they speak with grief of the international visitors who lost their lives. Typically, they focus on rebuilding and the future.

There is some political unrest in Thailand right now – a  financial scandal involving the prime minister and a call for his removal. There are demonstrations, and a bomb was set off in Bangkok. While we are far away from it, we are fascinated by the political culture as we watch the Asian version of CNN, and read the Bangkok Post.

Tomorrow we leave for Hong Kong and will be sad to leave this exquisite exotic place, and the very relaxed time we have had here. However, we look forward to our new adventures.

 - Carol, Erich and Jordan