Just Back Report - Maenam/Bophut/Chaweng/Bangkok

';But I%26#39;m leaving on a jet plane, I don%26#39;t know when I%26#39;ll be back again'; - Aerosmith

1

I visited Koh Samui last February and encountered lots of freak rain, but since Feb is supposed to be the best time to go I gave it a another chance this year. However it was a journey of firsts, first time using Thai Air, I normally fly Singapore Air, and first time visiting Bangkok which I%26#39;ll come to later.

Sat in the Departure Lounge of Heathrow Airport in London, I did my usual quick scan of how many potential screaming toddlers would be on the flight, and discovered none at all, just an eclectic mix young couples and a few incredibly old western men with much younger Thai women accompanying them. As I gazed through the glass windows at the runway, wondering what to expect from Thai Air, I glimpsed a Singapore Air A380 taking off and stared at it wistfully, wishing I was on board. The Thai Air flight was about £300 cheaper though and because they%26#39;re in Star Alliance I still get my frequent flyer miles. I%26#39;d done my research beforehand and the only downside I could see was the plane, a 747-400, with no entertainment on demand. So armed with books, magazines, an MP3, a Sony PSP (with games and movies), a pack of playing cards and a colouring book I boarded the flight prepared to entertain myself.

When I got on board, and noticed the 2-4-2 seat configuration and seat back TVs, I realised that we were instead onboard an A340-600, one of the new aircraft. Large touch screen TVs, entertainment on demand, woo hoo! Settled down for the inflight service, no amenity pack but some ear bud headphones to keep, then an excellent Thai green curry was served to get you in the holiday mood. Noticed a steward wandering down towards first class with a bottle of cognac and a tray of glasses and thought to myself ';How the other half live';, then he started walking up the aisle of economy dishing out some rather generous measures of the stuff to us cattle-class plebs. Service was pretty much on par with Singapore Air I thought, very impressed and particularly liked the leg room and seat configuration.

The flight was rather smooth until descending into Bangkok, the sky went black and there was a spectacular electrical storm. I looked out of the window and there was a flash of lightning, and I momentarily spied a disgusting wide-eyed hairy gremlin ripping out the wiring from the fuselage. Then I realised it was just my reflection in the window as I tried to untangle the wires of my noise-reduction headphones. Incidentally, if you%26#39;re a long haul flyer, these are a worthwhile investment; they don%26#39;t block out all the sound but just reduce that annoying background droning. Must remember to take these to my next visit to the in-laws.

Landed with no problems in Bangkok and quickly transferred to my onward flight to Koh Samui which took about 45 mins. Despite being fed twice on the long haul flight, I was presented with a rather excellent chicken pie on this short flight. If it had mash and gravy it would have been perfect.

Arrived at Samui airport to clear blue skies and disembarked to the sweet little Samui airport, probably the cutest airport in the world with it%26#39;s low-rise series of open air pavillions with thatched roofs. After collecting luggage, we were intercepted by a kindly Thai woman asking if we wanted transport and pointed us to the airport limo counter. As we%26#39;d not prearranged any transport, this sounded like a good idea; cost to Mae Nam via airport limo was 600THB, or 150THB using the airport shuttle service. Opted for the latter and didn%26#39;t regret it, 20 mins later we were in the grounds of the Hutcha Beach Resort in Mae Nam.

Mae Nam is a reasonably quiet resort, about 7km of beach, with a calm albeit slightly murky sea. A few hotels on the beach, and beachfront restaurants, and then shops, massage shops, restaurants, and tour offices on the back streets. Everything is very spread out, although there was plenty around the hotel. Hutcha Resort consists of a number of little concrete huts with outdoor bathrooms, nicely manicured gardens, large pool, and restaurant. It%26#39;s not beachfront, but about 20 metres from the beach, and you can see the sea from parts of the restaurant. After the long haul flight, crashed out at the pool, listening to the birds tweeting, the sun beating down after a long cold winter in the UK, the muscles started to relax, a smile creeping onto my face. This was then all shattered by a party of 4 French guests at the hotel, who entered the pool area talking very loudly. Unfortunately, I think one of them, a big burly middle-aged fellow, had Tourettes syndrome, as every few minutes he just randomly shouted what I recognised as some particularly colourful French swear words. He also insisted on spitting and blowing bubbles in the pool, which made him sound like Daffy Duck. Didn%26#39;t cause any trouble though. It was so hot I had to take a dip in the pool and when I came out and rubbed all the French saliva off me with my pool towel, a middle aged English lady approached us and introduced herself and we started talking about restaurants in Mae Nam. Very pleasant, although she weighed about 300lbs and insisted on wearing a micro-bikini and g-string which was somewhat distracting - I kept thinking of a strung joint of pork I%26#39;d bought from the butchers the week before. Anyway I digress, upon this lady%26#39;s gushing recommendation I decided to try a Thai massage at the little massage hut at the side of the pool. Although I%26#39;ve had Thai foot massage before which I%26#39;ve generally enjoyed, I%26#39;ve never had a full Thai massage, so decided to give it a go. Well, I wasn%26#39;t too impressed really, it just seemed to be an hour of prodding and stretching, I do better stretching exercises at the gym before a workout. She seemed somewhat disappointed that she couldn%26#39;t crack any of my toes, and also perturbed that the extreme stretching didn%26#39;t bother me at all (I am double-jointed, wonder if this affected it?). Anyway, that%26#39;s probably the first and last full Thai massage I%26#39;ll have, I%26#39;ll stick with the Balinese massages. Breakfast in the hotel was pleasant, there was a Japanese couple who arrived and always took photos of their food before eating. Then you could hear the French guests arriving with the shouts of ';Merde!'; echoing around the restaurant. They fed the hotel dog some croissant every morning; I had visions of the dog turning up wearing a beret and riding a bike one morning, but they didn%26#39;t manage to convert it. There were some nice bars and restaurants in Mae Nam, I particularly liked the Soul Sound bar, which was just like a converted garage in a back street. Some nice music, great cocktails and a nice vibe in there, not particularly busy though. I was in there one night, and noticed a man walking past the bar. The reason I noticed him is he wore one red converse high-top on one foot, and a green one on the other foot. He peered into the darkness of the bar as if looking for something....or someone. Five mins later, he walked past again, peering in. Then again. Then again. This happened every 5 mins over the course of an hour and was very odd indeed; we mused that he was a vampire, waiting to be invited in. Eventually he stopped at the entrance to the bar, and asked the bartender if Grandmother and Grandfather rocks were near (these being genital shaped rocks). These rocks are on the east coast and Mae Nam is on the north coast so he was way off. I saw this as just an excuse for him to check out his prey in the bar, so we high-tailed it out of there, clutching our crucifixes. We always seem to find an expat bar without really looking, so stumbled into the Lazy Coconut which was very nice, great service, and a selection of Fish n Chips and pies if you%26#39;re missing a taste of home. There were a couple of bars where there was one pretty Thai waitress for each western man, one of these bars also offering a massage service which seemed like a strange mix to me. I actually got shouted at as I walked past this place, I didn%26#39;t catch it all other than the words ';sexy a*s';. I should have really stopped and gone back to ask her to repeat her compliment. For restaurants, I liked Cupid, where I had an incredibly spicy fish in chilli sauce. Having spend weeks of preparation eating spicier and spicier foods to increase my chilli tolerance, when the waiter asked, ';Do you want it medium or spicy?';, I enthusiastically grinned and nodded like an idiot and said ';Spicy';. A look of sympathy crossed the waiter%26#39;s face and he disappeared muttering to himself. Shortly after his wife proudly presented a nice bit of fish drenched in a red chilli sauce. The first few mouthfuls were fine and delicious then the heat hit. At the end of the meal, I was eating with my mouth open to let the fresh air in, and couldn%26#39;t speak, only writing the words ';Help me'; in the frosting on the side of my glass of Singha. The following morning, my stomach was churning and I had the chilli sweats, I can now understand why outdoor bathrooms in Asia are so popular. Also ate in the Food Stop restaurant, which was excellent, and the You and Me restaurant which was outstanding, even at 9:30pm when everywhere else was shut, this place was still busy. I observed the Japanese couple from my hotel in there, taking photos of their meal before tucking in. I wondered if they just had a photo album full of pictures of food, should have asked them really. No different to my photo album full of photos of various beaches around the world I guess. During the day, the Seaview restaurant was nice, beachfront and with excellent coconut milkshakes. It was here I decide to try out my Thai language skills - I%26#39;d spent the previous couple of months practicing some basic phrases to try to get the tones right. I%26#39;d read that to try to speak the language brings you a little respect and shows that you%26#39;re willing to make an effort, so I confidently asked for a glass of red wine in what I thought was perfect Thai. For some reason this brought about much hilarity from the waitress, who couldn%26#39;t stop laughing at me. I wondered if I%26#39;d got the tone wrong and instead asked her if I could have a bottle of donkeys or something. Got my glass of wine without any problem, but I%26#39;m still curious as to the hilarity.

2

After a few days chilling out in Maenam, got a taxi for 200THB to Bophut. A word about taxis. They all have meters, they all say ';Meter Taxi'; on the roof of the car, but trying to get them to turn the meter on is like trying to lick your elbow (I bet some of you are now trying this). So you have to haggle a price before the start of every taxi journey - very tiresome. I know why lots of foreigners now hire scooters. Only a 10 minute journey to Bophut, during which the taxi driver cheerfully told us that David and Victoria Beckham had purchased a house on Samui the previous year. Why is it that when you tell someone you%26#39;re from England, they started to talk about football and Manchester United and the Beckhams? We were staying at the Lodge in Bophut but the taxi driver didn%26#39;t know where it was so we had to direct him, fortunately we knew where it was from last year%26#39;s visit.

Bophut is a traditional little village on the north coast, still retaining Thai/Chinese shop houses that have been converted into restaurants, bars, hotels and shops. Bophut is quite compact, you can walk around the whole place in about 10 minutes,unlike Mae Nam which was a bit more sprawling. It%26#39;s a little more classy than Mae Nam, more western owned bars and restaurants with higher prices to reflect this. More shops too, including some funky little boutiques. The Lodge is a charming little property on the beachfront, only about 10 rooms all sea-facing with balconies. Upon entering the Lodge, there was no-one around, but there was a little bell on the counter,so I rang it loudly and waited for the sound of footsteps, but nothing. Then a mysterious figure in black silently glided down the stairs, and said ';Welcome';. This was Koi, the charming manager who despite my protestations, immediately picked up our heavy bags with almost superhuman strength and scurried upstairs with them to our room. The beach in Bophut isn%26#39;t great, the sand is very chunky, it%26#39;s like walking on lumps of raw cane sugar, and the sea is a little murky. However, the clouds then decided to rumble in, and the tropical showers hit with a vengeance. So, decided to get a taxi to Chaweng to have a wander around the shops there, taxi was 300THB. Arrived in Chaweng around 11am and practically everywhere was closed, apart from Starbucks and various chemist shops, so just planted ourselves in Starbucks and watched the street outside steadily turn into a shallow river. About midday places started to open, so just had a wander around, looking at the various fake t-shirts and shorts on display, which seemed nearly identical whichever shop you visited. A quick lunch at Tropical Murphys (an Irish pub), then a taxi back to Bophut. ';Where are you from?'; the taxi driver asked and I replied ';England';. He nodded and said ';Ah, you from Manchester? You like Manchester United? David Beckham?';. I sighed and nodded wearily.

While we had cloudy and rainy weather, decided to head to Big Buddha beach to see the Big Buddha. Yep, there%26#39;s a Buddha there, and it%26#39;s quite big, about 12 metres tall and built in 1972. There%26#39;s a whole host of other statues in the temple grounds which are quite interesting, and an array of stalls and restaurants to cater for needs of the tourist who doesn%26#39;t have enough little Buddha statues or enough beady necklaces.

Bophut is quite a nice place if you%26#39;re a bit of a foodie, there are some nice restaurants there. I particularly liked Fifty Six, which did a 2 course meal for 430THB with a free Thai dance show. Happy Elephant was nice as usual. Tried Starfish and Coffee which has a good reputation apparently, and was always busy. But I found the service to be extremely quick, and the food wasn%26#39;t spectacular. I had a particularly memorable roast duck curry which contained 4 very small slices of duck, should have been called a duckling curry. The balcony area overlooking the beach was always popular, and I observed a group of American tourists refuse to sit anywhere else, instead choosing to come back in 30 mins to see if there was a balcony table free then. But you can%26#39;t really see the beach or sea when it%26#39;s night time......

Had an Indian curry from the Kohinoor, nice samosas, very average curry.

I was looking forward to visiting Coffee Junction, which I remember did some excellent breakfasts, like freshly made granola and yoghurt, smoked salmon, mexican omelettes etc, but sadly it had closed to be replaced by a shop selling sarongs, t-shirts and shorts. However a little cafe bar had opened opposite called Karma Sutra, and they had the same cutlery as Coffee Junction used to have, I wonder if they%26#39;re owned by the same person. This was a nice place for breakfast, or indeed for pre-dinner cocktails, they did a particularly nice mojito. Plenty of places to get a drink in Bophut, the Mosquito is a British run bar which has a decent happy hour until 8pm, cocktails at 120THB. The Emerald Irish Bar serves Guinness if you%26#39;re craving a pint of the black stuff. I witnessed a French man with hair like an American wrestler and his wife order a half of Kilkenny in here, then complained very loudly about it being too warm. Sounds perfect to me. Frog and Gecko served incredibly icy Singha. A new bar called Flair had opened, with a Thai women trio belting out western songs (';Like a virgin, touched for the 59th time';), so decided to wander in and check it out. The door staff entice you with a free shot of booze. Looked at the menu and nearly fell off my chair, 300THB for a cocktail, they%26#39;re cheaper in the UK! Had one drink then left, never to return. Bought a couple of pairs of good quality embroidered and lined board shorts in Bophut for 800THB, probably ripped off but was happy to pay it. The only downside to Bophut was the incredibly persistent Indian tailors who lurked outside their shop trying to entice you in. If they offer their hand and you shake it, you%26#39;re there for the rest of the day. I tried various tricks to elude them, when they asked ';Where are you from?'; I would reply ';I%26#39;m from Endor';, but this didn%26#39;t phase them and they would ask if I wanted to buy a suit. If they shouted ';Want to buy a nice shirt sir?'; I would look offended, point to my shirt and say ';I have a nice shirt';, then they would ask if I wanted to buy a suit. If anyone has a good method of dealing with these tailors, I%26#39;d be interested.

3

Next stop, Chaweng, so got a taxi and paid the usual 300THB. This time, no Manchester United talk, indeed the most miserable and sullen taxi driver I%26#39;ve ever come across. Didn%26#39;t even get out of the taxi to help get luggage out of the boot. Stayed in the Tango Beach Resort in north Chaweng. Chaweng is perhaps the most popular resort in Samui, a 7km stretch of powder white sand and clear emerald sea. It%26#39;s divided into North Chaweng, Central Chaweng and Chaweng Noi. The Tango is a small hotel on a narrow strip of land which stretches down to the beach. As we were shown to the room, I noticed that my next door neighbour was in fact the French guy with the unfortunate haircut from the Emerald Bar in Bophut - it%26#39;s a small world after all! A very pleasant 20 min walk along the beach, or a very hot and traffic filled 20 min walk down the road in you%26#39;re into the heart of Chaweng. North Chaweng is reasonably quiet, a few bars and restaurants on the beach, very chilled out, no thumping music. Then when you get to central Chaweng there%26#39;s a strip of beach bars with thumping music that are very nice, some great happy hours, cocktails for 100THB before 9pm, I particularly liked the Liquid Lounge. There doesn%26#39;t appear to be any direct beach access, so you need to cut through hotels, but when you%26#39;re on the mainstrip, that%26#39;s when it gets really busy, with a main road lined with shops, more shops, restaurants and the occasional bar. Then there are the side streets off the main road which are full of bars containing numerous Thai bar girls. Didn%26#39;t notice any Bar AND Massage places though. What struck me about Chaweng compared to the other places was the beach, beautiful powder white sand which clings to everything it touches, and a crystal clear emerald sea. In north Chaweng, there is a big sandbar so you can just walk about about 300 metres and the water is still incredibly warm and shallow. You can see why it%26#39;s so popular and built up.

Was walking along the beach one night on the way to Central Chaweng, and noticed in the distance a little row of flickering lights coming towards me. Then closer and closer still. Have you ever seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind, where the alien spaceships are just little rows of lights which suggest a shape? It was like that. I was all ready to start building models of tabletop mountain in the sand as the lights got brighter, then a couple of beach sellers selling laser pens and flashing deely-boppers walked past. I checked my watch and hadn%26#39;t lost any time.

Having become a bit ';riced out'; from all the Thai food, in Chaweng I indulged in a bit of western fare. Gringos Mexican Restaurant did an excellent (if large) chicken burrito all washed down with some frozen margarita. The Three Monkeys had a monkey-based menu, such as Monkey Under Blankets, which was chicken wrapped in bacon, very nice and again large portions. My favourite was an Italian restaurant called Firenze, which did the most delicious thin crust seafood pizza. The owner was a friendly Italian chap and the clientele also seemed to consist of Italians which was quite good. Bit strange to hear him talk to his guests in Italian and English, then shout orders in Thai to the staff there. Had the least favourite meal of my holiday in a beach restaurant called Relax Resort. The place was very busy, normally a good sign, so ordered some fish in a plum sauce. And waited. And waited. Fifty minutes later it turned up, a tiny bit of fish in a very watery plum sauce that didn%26#39;t taste like plum sauce. The toilets were also incredibly disgusting, lots of things overflowing. We just ate it, got the bill then went elsewhere for some dessert to make up for the poor meal. Walked back down the street towards the hotel and got hassled by yet more Indian tailors. I didn%26#39;t need a new shirt or suit.

4

Next stop, Bangkok. Got a taxi from the Tango to the airport at a cost of 200THB. The taxi driver cheerfully asked ';Where are you going?'; and I replied ';Bangkok, then back to England';. He thought for a while then said ';England, you like football? Manchester United? David Beckham?';. Five minutes later we were at the cute little airport, with it%26#39;s complimentary food and drink which I%26#39;ve never seen before at an airport - tea, coffee, juice, little cakes, just great. Fifty minutes and a cream cake later we arrived in Bangkok. Upon getting the luggage we were approached by various Thai women in business suits asking if we wanted a transfer into the city via the limo service. Instead we headed to the public taxi counter, told them where we were going, got a voucher, then into the taxi that boasted ';Meter Taxi'; on the roof and window. The taxi driver took the voucher and quickly wrote something on it. So we set off down the expressway towards the city. I looked to the drivers console to see how much the meter was so far, and couldn%26#39;t see a meter. There was a radio, CD player, and then a small pile of dirty flannels. Eventually, the taxi driver pulled out the voucher he%26#39;d written on, pushed it towards us and it said ';800THB';, he said ';You pay this';. I shook my head and said ';Meter';. He gestured around his car and shook his head saying ';No meter';. I insisted ';Meter'; and he looked confused saying ';No meter';. So I pointed to the voucher which had ';Meter taxi'; printed on the top, pointed to the large words saying ';Meter taxi'; on his back window, and said ';Meter';. He then removed the pile of dirty flannels and I%26#39;ll give you three guesses what was under there. He tried to laugh this off, but he%26#39;d completely screwed any chance of a tip. He then tried to get me to pay the 25THB toll for using the expressway and a 50THB surcharge as the car pulled up to the hotel. I just paid what was on the meter (400THB) and got out, by that stage the bell boy had taken my bags out of the taxi anyway. Not a very encouraging start to Bangkok. The hotel was the Pullman King Power, a large modern hotel next to the King Power Duty Free Mall. Don%26#39;t know who King Power is but he%26#39;s obviously rich. The nearest Sky Train to the hotel was Victory Monument, a 5 minute walk away, so headed there, quickly figured out how to buy tickets which usually involved getting lots of change from the ticket office, then headed on the beautifully air-conditioned trains down to Siam Square. First stop, MBK centre, a massive 7 storey mall containing thousands of shops and stalls, mostly fixed price but it was easy enough to get a discount. Then over the next couple of days, the Paragon Mall, Siam Discovery and Central World mall which had an excellent food court. Although Siam Square was a good location for shopping, for eating and drinking I found it less so and preferred the Sukhumvit area. As per usual, found about 3 ex-pat pubs within 2 mins of arriving in Sukhumvit, then decided to wander down a little side street to be confronted by lots of neon lights. ';Hello'; I thought ';Might get a nice drink or two down here';. So wandered down the neon street to notice lots of bars with very scantily dressed Thai women in cowboy hats, serving lots of western men. Interesting but not what we were looking for, headed elsewhere and discovered a little bar called Charlie%26#39;s Bar, next to which was an excellent Indian Restaurant called the Moghul Room.

After pounding the hard streets of Bangkok and every single shopping mall, it was time for a Thai foot massage, only 200THB for a 1 hour massage. Well, it was only 45 mins of foot massaging, followed by 15 minutes head and shoulder massage which was like having a Vulcan neck pinch done repeatedly. The masseur seemed disappointed she couldn%26#39;t pop my toe joints despite 2 attempts. I again tried my fledgling Thai language, asking how much I owed, and she looked surprised saying ';Oh, you speak Thai!'; then started gabbling away at me, which I didn%26#39;t understand a word of.

Fed up of shopping, decided to do something more cultural so headed down to the river for a boat up to Wat Pho. A river boat pass for the whole day was 120THB with unlimited travel until 7pm. Wat Pho is one of the biggest and oldest Wats in Bangkok and home of the famous reclining Buddha, 15 metres tall and 46 metres long with some lovely mother of pearl inlay on the feet. As I was stood marvelling at this inlay, I was asked to take a photo of a couple infront of the statue, so I kindly obliged and went back to foot gazing. Then another couple asked me for a photo, then another. I thought about charging 50THB for my services, there%26#39;s definately a niche in the market there for the enterpreneur. I found Bangkok to be very big and sprawling, and I seemed to spend most of my time travelling. I felt like I%26#39;d only scratched the surface and found it difficult to orientate myself. Don%26#39;t know if this was normal, or if it was the rubbish guidebook I had (Globetrotter Bangkok) which didn%26#39;t seem to represent the city at all. I left Bangkok feeling that I%26#39;d missed out on so much, but I%26#39;m not in a hurry to revisit.

The flight back was again on an A340-600 plane, which was unfortunately delayed by an hour due to a mechanical fault. Everyone at the departure gate was moaning, but I couldn%26#39;t understand why, surely it was better to fix the aircraft rather than attempt to fly in a faulty plane?

After 13 hours, the plane descended into the clouds of England and the whole world turned grey again. Waiting for the luggage at the luggage belt everyone was in a bad mood, pushing and shoving, losing all manners, the customs officials very rude and abrupt with people. I miss the Thai smile.

Just Back Report - Maenam/Bophut/Chaweng/Bangkok

Hi, A great trip report,really enjoyed reading it, can%26#39;t wait till december when we are off back to Thailand again.Visiting Chiang mai, koh mak, koh chang and Bangkok.We went to Koh samui about 4 years ago, loved it, we stayed at cheweng noi, a lovely beach separated from the main cheweng beach by a headland.

Suzi

Just Back Report - Maenam/Bophut/Chaweng/Bangkok

Thank you noodle, made me laugh. I recognised so many places...Not the people though...The French Tourette and Pork joint lady! B

Fantastic report noodleboy !

55 days and counting .

If we have half the the great time you had we will be very happy .

akmlg

Thankyou for your report HappyNoodleBoy, most enjoyable read. Yes you are right in saying that the Koh Samui airport is cute. The free drinks %26amp; food are also a nice touch. CJ

Great report, enjoyed reading.

There is so much to Thailand and after a first visit it is well worth exploring more of the great places. Beaches, islands and inland areas.

Great report,amusing and accurate.

One small point.What you describe as Bophut is Fisherman%26#39;s Village.

That was the BEST trip report I%26#39;ve read in a loooong time....very humorous. Thanks for the laugh.

Cheers

Jen

after reading your report i think Anthony Bourdain better watch out. totally agree with koh samui airport. and you help me to understand why the waitress offer to take a photo of me with pizza yes pizza at old papa in bali people always mistook me for japanes i am of thai descent.

Hi There Noodleboy - I LOVED your story - it was an amazing read. We also experienced the unseasonal weather last February when we were in Koh Samui - but even after 2 trips there, we still want to go back for more - we stayed at the southern end of Chaweng beach (Samui Paradise) and used to walk all the way up to the beach restaurants most nights - surprisingly, it did not seem to rain in the evening.

It sounds like you had a fantastic time. Thank you for taking so much of your time to write your fantastic report.

Cheers,

Sandy

What a great read.

This may sound boring in comparison but the first time we went to Samui and because I arrange our holidays my hubby had no idea where he was going.

During our flight from Bangkok to Samui there was a huge storm which had us circling for over an hour. The plane felt like an elevator and people were being sick. My husband was green and sweaty, they almost diverted the plane to Phuket. When we finally landed it was a relief. Driving through the middle of Chaweng was a flood and we should have been in a boat.

But, after all that we landed in paradise and have been back numerous times since.

Thanks for your story.

Glenys