East of Suez – Part 14 – The Last of Thailand

13th to 16th February, 2024

Well, this will be the last post from Thailand (cue the trumpet – or is it played on a cornet?) and it has been a thoroughly enjoyable and successful 3 weeks. We are feeling really well, we are relaxed and we have seen off at least some of the cold weather back home.

As ever here, there is not much to report. We shall miss some of our regular haunts such as Oi and Win with their laundry/taxi service/small but lively bar. And Tui and her co-masseuse who have so wonderfully kneaded and ironed us and our various knots and aches and pains. We shall miss Pi Nan and her daughter who run Sabai Sabai restaurant, who have not only fed us, but also supplied us with the best coconuts we have ever tasted. There is Sam at Cali’s restaurant who has kept Val supplied with Tiramisu, Alan the Italian at Do Bar Do who cooks fabulous (and large) pizzas and Mama (that is how she is addressed) at Yoi’s. And not forgetting Khun Anna restaurant.

We have had a very successful trip to the dentist and Val’s new denture is doing well after a few minor adjustments. We have even ventured a bit further afield for our dinners and tried a fabulous restaurant called Cafe 69 with some of the most tantalising and delicious dishes you can imagine – way too tempting, which resulted in us ordering far too much on our first visit. A few pics to gather you salivating…

OK, that is enough (though I do have other delights to show you on demand).

Tomorrow we fly to Bangkok and then on to Muscat, but today we had a body scrub and massage with Vitamin E. I am glowing! A photo of the crew at Tui’s with the happy customers.

And here are Val and Sam from Cali’s restaurant…

A few thoughts about Thailand and Koh Samui. Thailand has a population of about 70 million and in 2019, pre-pandemic, had about 40 million tourists each year. Like so many countries, Covid did them no favours and numbers are still low in relative terms, with an estimated 11 million in 2022 and 25 million last year.

We have, over the years visited Koh Phangan, Koh Lanta, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui as well as Bangkok and it has always been a pleasure. The people are very welcoming, eternally enterprising and hard-working and always greet you with a smile. Needless to say, the weather is lovely, especially on the coast, the service is tiptop, the food is great and all at a very reasonable price.

Apparently Thailand is one of the most divided countries economically, coming in at 3 behind Russia and India. One estimate is that the richest 5% own 78% of the assets and the top 1% own 54%. Whatever, there does seem to be a wide divide between the haves and the have-nots. There does not seem to be much of a middle class, in contrast to Malaysia.

Driving is OK, though you do have to have your wits about you, but I doubt I have been over 50 KMH this trip and everyone is pretty sensible, though some expatriates and tourists are a bit scary, often sporting a Thailand Tattoo, ie a scrape from a slide off the myriad motorcycles that are whizzing about.

It is a decidedly scruffy country with litter pretty widespread, though I do appreciate the A12 is almost as bad! There are the usual electric cables lining the streets that everyone seems to tap in to, health and safety does not seem to be much of a concern (4 on a motorbike, including very small children, is a common sight) and there seems to be little concern regarding the overuse of plastic.

Tourism, according to Wikipedia, only accounts for about 6% of GDP, though it does feel like a lot more when you are in the holiday spots. There are, as you might expect at this time of year, a lot of Europeans here, particularly Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians and Brits. There are also a lot of Russians, most staying long-term to avoid the deprivations at home as well as a possible draft to fight the war against Ukraine. One estimate said that 500,000 arrived in Phuket alone!

Well, we are off to Oman tomorrow. We have been in touch with Khalid, a very well-informed taxi service and have lined up some trips, so I hope all will go well. Can’t believe we will be home soon – I am both sad to end such a wonderful holiday and also looking forward to catching up with everyone and everything (the garden!).