Thailand

So our family spent 5 days on the exotic beaches of Phuket Thailand. We arrived on the island (no bigger than PEI) on December 23, 2006. We were warned that Thailand is an "interesting" destination to experience, but we were mainly going for the beach. Phuket is a small island, densly populated with Europeans, that is as liberal as any place I have been to in my life. We stayed on Patong Beach which is the biggest beach and the main tourist attraction on the island. Now the beach was unbelievable, and the sun was incredibly hot. My brother and I got burnt really bad on the first day trying to work on our tan, but it was worth it. We not only laid back and soaked up all the glorious sun, we went Jet Skiing on the Indian Ocean and my mom went parasailing. It was amazing to have 700cc of power, skipping over waves hitting speeds of 60kmph over the deep clear blue sea. Below are pictures of myslef taking a break from my new-found hobby crossword puzzles, and Jeremy and I on our way back from an exhilerating half hour adventure on the high seas. There are other pictures, but because the beach was a nude beach, and I agreed to the terms of use on this blog, some of them cannot be displayed here. The only bad parts about a nude beach are that your parents are around and point them out to be funny and the only ones topless are the really older ones. Nuff said.

After beach hours, we would walk along the strip and do a little shopping. Now the thing about shopping in Thailand, is that there are about 300-400 shops set up that each sell the same merchandise. And not just similar merchandise, but the exact same merchandise. I found it hard to do shopping there and thus didnt buy anything, because when you ask how much something is, they tell you a price that is 3 or 4 times the actual price, expecting you to barter. A classic example with my parents would go as follows:

"So what is the price for these coasters" - mom

Sales person pulls out calculator and types out 900 (around 30$CAN) because they dont speak english.

"Oh no no no no ... thats way too much. Whats your BEST offer?"

Sales person punches in 750 ($22).

"No thanks, someone up the road offered it to us for 300 ($10)"

Salesperson, looking nervous thinking they might have a sale at hand, hands the calculator to my mother implying to have her put in an offer she is will to start at.

"300 ($10) is what I'm willing to pay".

Sales person types 400 ($13).

"Nope 300 ($10) is all I'm willing to pay".

"Please Madame ... " in a desperate manner.

"Alright, 350 ($11.50) I'll pay" as the sales person accepts the "generous" offer and puts the coasters in a little plastic bag and accepts the cash from my mother.

As some people remember, on Dec 26th 2004, southeast Asia was hit by one of the world's greatest natural disasters .. the tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Phuket was one of the islands that was hit the hardest by these waves and had many of their buildings destroyed and many people killed. Phuket is still trying to rebuild and the citizens are still in great poverty. The reasons I didnt really buy anything, is that I couldnt get the courage up to actually make the poor person who is just trying to make ends meet take such a little profit, thus adding to the problem of poverty in the nation. My mother was able to get the salesperson down from $30 to just over $10. I guess the salesperson was still making money on the coasters at $10 but I just didnt have the time to go through that everytime, and also knowing that I could get the exact same thing 10 feet down the road, at possibly a better price. For a guy, window shopping became impossible, as nothing had prices on it and everone kept on trying to shake my hand and ask me if I wanted a Nike T-Shirt, a tailored Armoni suit, or a Thai-massage? Shopping felt like a chore sometimes there, but the food was always very good.

Here is a picture of our Hotel we stayed in. This is the pool area in the middle of the two complexes. The next picture is taken from the Christmas Eve dinner that was mandatorially put on all the Hotels guests in order to drive up the costs for staying over the peak holidays. There was cold food buffet (thats usuall over in south Asia) and entertainment. This is one of the drag queens that graces our presence during the dinner. It was really awkward. She was like the third act ... people were still eating and little kids were still there ... and then she did something ... she would time to time, pull down here dress and caress her fake breasts. This is really awkward when there is a courtyard of children and parents around and no one is laughing at the apparent humor in the act. Not to mention haveing your parents analyze and re-live the experience with you while you eat roasted duck. Other acts were much much better and included Mui-Thai Kick Boxers, Weapon Martial Arts shows, and a Christian Phillipino Choir that sang us some Christmas carols.

All in all, Thailand is very beautiful and it was fun to go for a trip. But all of the prostitutes, transvestites, and sketchy business going on there, it would wear on me if I stayed there too much. Also, if any of you guys know Dee who was also on the Island, I did not see her. I was really in the resort area and knew she would be elsewhere. I looked for YWAM on the drives to and from the airport, but didnt see anything. So long "Beautiful Thailand, the land of fun" according to the shemales at the Christmas Eve ball.