Category: Thailand

Here are some sunsets from the same place, Chang Bar on White Sands Beach, Koh Chang, Thailand in December 2020.

And last but not lease a time lapse of a sunset.

Before leaving Japan in January I had explained to some friends in Europe my plans to get rid of everything I own except for a backpack and a small case with electronics and computer equipment. They seemed very excited at my strive for “minimalism“. My goal was to never have to be in countries on visas, except for tourism, never own a motorcycle or a car again, relying strictly on public transportation, and not ever accumulating stuff.

On March 24, when I was in Thailand to dive with my godson Dennis, the second generation of our bubbles dive team, the country shut down and I was “stuck“ in Thailand.  In order to stay I was required to first extend my stay here for another month to the middle of May. But when May rolled around and I found the Thai government shutting me out of provinces on lockdown into a province with open hotels every foreigner here found themselves under a general amnesty for the COVID-19 crisis so we didn’t have to do anything with immigration, just stay in place and wait.

I made my way eventually to an island near Cambodia called Koh Chang. But since I decided going back to Japan was not an option and certainly entering the US would be a very bad decision since I really don’t want to be there and the Covid situation is very bad, my only option was to either escape Thailand to Europe or to stay here.  But then Europe went back into lockdown and they gave me only one option, to try to get a retirement visa (one year) for Thailand, i went with the flow. That was successful.

In order to stave off boredom and to enable moving around my best bet was to rent a motorcycle, A 125 cc scooter.  But since I expected my retirement visa to be approved the 3,000 baht a month rental for the scooter seem to be an expensive option. It was more economical for me to buy a used motorcycle and then sell it when I leave. So I did that, further imploding my “ minimalism“.

Sometimes I like buying food on the street or getting some things in the store, mixing them together and making my own food with my own herbs and spices that are specifically beneficial to my health. So I decided to ask for someone selling a used microwave. I found one for 500 baht.  (30 Baht=US$1). And of course with a microwave, cooking at home, I needed plates, some cooking container, some refrigeration containers and some utensils.  Minimalism Imploding more. 

What to do when the sun is very bright and shining down on your head out of the water and in the water? The best solution outside of sun cream which is only partially effective is to have hats, long sleeve shirts (very cool ones) and long trousers (again cool ones).  All are very bright and colorful, a slap in the face at conventionalism and “anti minimalism”. 

So I am now a resident of Thailand and back to living longer-term, The opposite of my goals I stated at the beginning of this diatribe.  Don’t misunderstand me. I have no problems being happy on the beach and being in generally beautiful, warm weather.  But at least for now my goal of detaching from governments, personal transportation equipment and things has been postponed.

Thailand, as in Japan, allows electoral candidates to use trucks with speakers to support candidates. They are very loud!

This is the rainy season in Thailand so we have had a considerable amount of rain but on the average about one hour a day. The last few days have been very sunny without any rain. The ocean has been alive with a very interesting cycle of life and death which I will describe.

First in the cycle was a kind of plankton. When you have large plankton blooms you can have a very magical experience just by going in at night time and waving your hands around. You will see the phosphorus glow given off by the plankton in the water. There are times we have had night dives when we normally take flashlights but when there is a very active plankton bloom the area we sometimes can swim without any flashlight since the activity of the Divers activates the glowing of the plankton and we can see not only where every diver is within a fairly competent distance but also we see other things in the water light it up by the phosphorus glow. We all look like giant Tinkerbells.

 Then came the very tiny shrimp eating the plankton. You could just swish your hands around in the night waters and you would be touching thousands of very tiny shrimp feeding off the plankton. 

Next on the scene where tiny fish coming to feed off the shrimp. Of course some fisherman came as well and captured millions of little shrimp, useful for making shrimp paste for some delicious Thai food.

Following the small fish we had larger fish coming in to feed off the smaller fish.

The next amazing animal we had were billions of sand dollars. During the day or night time you could just put your hand in the sand at any place and you would be scooping up live sand dollars. They were there for only one day and that was two days ago. There are a few left but a little difficult to find.

Next on the scene were medium sized jellyfish, not to mention the very common very very small jellyfish which are abundant in Thai waters. The photo below was taken today. You can see the size of the jellyfish relative to my hand. The tentacles are very thick and gelatinous. I have touched many of them and not a single sting but there is some orange part of the jellyfish inside I would not touch as a test.

So along with mass murder in the ocean there is also very congenial cohabitation of animals. If you ever have the chance to go through a season even just in a beach area as in Thailand you might be lucky enough to see the change in the prevalent animals.

A few things.

A fellow living in the bungalow next to mine had a monkey pry open the screen door and get his six group of monkeys inside. The screen door shut and couldn’t be open from the inside. The monkeys then opened up everything they could in the room. If it wasn’t food they threw whatever they opened into the air. They even opened a package of contact cement with her teeth. Their teeth are very sharp by the way. After they trashed the room they proceeded to defecate on the bed and on the floor. When this fellow got back the monkeys ran out of the room and he spent a few hours cleaning up. So if you think monkeys are cute, come to Koh Chang, leave your door open and see what happens.

Last night my friend had his 70 something birthday party. He is known as the caterer of Koh Chang so of course there was tons of food prepared for everyone, taking him 10 days in preparation. Even though I had been in Thailand for about 10 years previously I never attended a birthday party for non-Thai people so I didn’t know what the appropriate process was. There were many nationalities last night so who knows what was considered traditional.  My friend has a bistro so the situation was a little different. We purchased our drinks and ate from the buffet and talked to people we knew. It was very quiet and well organized.  I have been to more than 100 Thai birthday parties so I know those traditions. You could bring your own bottle if you wanted but pretty much everything was provided by the birthday boy or a girl.  A money necklace is hung around the birthday person and people take out paper money and staple it to the necklace or the paper money hanging from the necklace. There is often dancing and very loud celebration.  People get very drunk and going home without having an accident.  The last time I attended was last week. They had a video screen, very large, and people dressed up for cabaret dancing.  If you are ever invited to a birthday party in Thailand it’s a good idea to ask what is expected and what you should bring.

Monkeys are harassing us daily looking for food. They are easily chased off.

Entertainment, lots of food, booze,meeting people and enjoying. The party is sponsored by the birthday girl (in this case a girl). She goes around with a stapler and a few money bills hanging like a necklace. We staple our bills as a gift as she passes by.

So here you see the famous 2 legged monkey, as good a thief and mischief maker as the rest. He probably got in a tussle with a dog or maybe hit by a car. Koh Chang monkeys are now quite a nuisance. Keep your food away from them. They can be agressive. And watch your smartphone.

So the amnesty for covid stranded is approaching. No more amnesty. Not sure if the 150,000 stranded “foreigners” include those from Lao and Cambodia. But as for visas, the government seems to be rejecting all applications initially if applicants go to the immigration office and try to get visas or extensions by themselves. I was successful getting a 60 day “extension” for medical recovery reasons and not a 90 day tourist visa. This is from what i saw on my 4 hour visit in the immigration windows area.

What i hear from those in Koh Chang people is paying a “special fee” (most going to immigration people and only some to the agent) of between 24,000 and 30,000 Baht (32 Baht=US$1) gets a tourist or retirement visa which fees are listed as 1,900 and 3,000 Baht respectively. Money seems to be talking.

Instead of paying all the “special fees” i will probably go to Europe on a flight costing less. My last authorized day is November 25. That gives me more time to see how the visa acceptance situation goes after the rush to get things done by this Sunday, the amnesty deadline. The article below explains some details.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/easy/1989023/tourists-face-arrest-jail-for-overstaying