Tag: #folksytravel

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

Sitting here now watching the ocean below my bungalow in Koh Chang, Thailand, near the Cambodian border, it was not just a few minutes ago a monkey crawled between the layers of roofing about 5 feet away from me and curiously stared down to see if there was something for him of interest.

When you go to the zoo and you see all the cute monkeys, they are cute. But remember they are behind bars. Here in Koh Chang monkeys are known for their true reputation in the wild. They are looking for food and they are looking for fun. But you have to remember that the food they are looking for is your food. If you feed the monkeys they will continue to look for your food and become more aggressive as you try to hide your food from the monkeys. If you are sharing with them they will increasingly think what is yours is also theirs. And that is why, wherever there are monkeys in open areas, there are generally signs near monkey visiting areas saying not to feed the monkeys. They can get aggressive when they increasingly assume what is yours belongs to them as well.

I am now the only customer in this bungalow and the owner is away in another city visiting family so I am kind of a semi caretaker of the place as well. My room is right over the water and it’s difficult getting in on the evening high tide because the water and the waves are about chest level. But we rebuilt London bridge across to the other bungalow building where the bar is so I can get in and out during high tide.

But the last few days the monkeys see fewer people around and they decide to come and investigate. They will take anything that’s easy for them to grab onto, to move and throw around or steal. When I saw that little visiting monkeys staring down at me I dared not go downstairs to get another cup of coffee and leave my iPad on the table. It would probably end up using the monkey jungle Internet. In this video you can see how the younger ones tried to distract me while the older one plotted to come up to my table from underneath and steal the bag with trash and a 5 day old piece of bread.

Quite a few of my friends visiting Sri Lanka told me about all the different places with monkeys around. One fellow here who frequents the bar next-door says some monkeys carry rabies. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I certainly don’t want to find out. I’ve been through rabies treatment before. It’s not unpleasant as it was back in the 50s. It’s just a series of shots (either the German or French series).  But everyone here warns monkeys will bite when they feel they need to or want to (I don’t know much about monkeys). After hearing the stories of what mayhem the monkeys can cause, especially if you leave your room open, I have become a great fan of shooing them away. 

Anyway, just be careful around monkeys. The ones in the wild are wild. They are looking after their own interests and are certainly not looking to become pets.  

So the other day at the east side of Koh Chang, near the Cambodian border, there was a park, a waterfall. Why not stop by to take a look?  Uggh. Dual pricing. For Thai (written only in Thai) it was 40 Baht (32 Baht=US$1)  but in English it was 200 baht for “Foreigners”. If this was my first time in Thailand i might have gone in to see a Thailand waterfall and probably wouldn’t have known about the dual pricing. Even if i did i might have gone in anyway. 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1979687/tat-vows-to-eliminate-dual-pricing-mulls-expat-id-card

However (comma) i started boycotting the dual pricing places over 25 years ago. On top of that i have seen many Thailand waterfalls. So I didn’t go in. Now the Thai government is going to try to find ways to have a single price and still maintain the places of interest in a way foreigners will still find “in good shape”. It will be a challenge but a welcome one for many people who who object to the dual pricing system. 

I personally don’t see the dual system as a form of “personal” discrimination as many foreigners feel. Foreigners tend to have more money to spend, if they are tourists, and are willing to spend it. And Thai people make much less money so my impression was more of “ability to pay” discrimination which I don’t really find objectionable. And i would not boycott places with dual pricing if I hadn’t seen “this wonderful thing I want to see”.  So, you can see my duality as well. Anyway the change is welcome. I just hope the government has the money to maintain the places. 

If you think a bungalow “on the beach” is nice, try Ban Na on White Sands beach on Koh Chang (elephant island). 

After booking I read I had to get off the song taeo (passenger pickup truck) from the dock at the first 7-11 (2 on the beach) and walk along the beach for 300 m (300 yards). Well, after almost walking 300 m the beach disappears in the ocean. “Is this a Mont Saint-Michel situation?”  Yes, it was. It was getting close to high tide and either known or unknown when the place was built a stroll through the water was necessary twice daily at high tides.  

My arrival is the topic of another blog. But when I was finally guided to the room I found what I expected, a rock hard Thai mattress, a fan, an open blue pvc piped bathroom with an electric flash water heater; everything I needed to survive a good life. For 600 baht (32 Baht=US$1) it was an expected price for an island. 

The waves are right below my elevated semi-treehouse room and are gradually fading when I sleep the more days I stay. Think of this place as “over the beach”. As the only customer I have my own private balcony with chair and table to enjoy my Toscanellos, coffee and electrolyte water (I make myself). 

I thought about moving to a more luxurious hotel yesterday but after finding the food down beach more expensive, being guided to a water heating thermos and my other choice place (newly constructed) with an elevator that seemed to just stop randomly, I decided to stay longer. How long?  Hey, this is COVID days, life is one day at a time. 

The bed is an issue but after my booked 2 nights, why not another night?  After all at nighttime local people gather next door for drinks (more “drunk” than “drinks”) at nighttime and everyone has fun. What more could a vagabond need!?