So my title is intentionally incorrect. I’m aware that the actual statement is The Sword of Damocles. I just thought I’d integrate my name to indicate my paranoia. Of the 6 guys who came here, over the days 5 have gone down with stomach upset and general unpleasantness to varying extents. There can be only one survivor. As much as I’d love to hope that I can avoid whatever bug has struck but I’m not sure of my chances.
As a result the past two days have been fairly muted. Mostly just going to a couple of different beaches, doing shopping at different markets and bartering, using the hotel pool and bar and going out a bit where we can.
We’ve made changes to our itinerary, leaving out activities we were going to do such as attending some Muay Thai fights and using some ATVs. Still has been a decent trip but it has been tainted by the illness.
This post can be used to reflect on the first key issue. Safety. As I mentioned previously, OHS is not exactly a number one priority. See the picture below for evidence of the top notch wiring. The buzzing emitted it truly mind boggling.
The second issue is an offshoot of the first. Road Safety. I actually think that Thailand has been on par with, if not slightly better, than places such as Italy. The drivers fly along and zoom and weave through traffic as in Italy and it’s definitely not as bad as places such as Naples. The difference is that the vehicles here such as the tuk-tuks are open air and generally have dashboards that don’t function or clearly have more than 500,000 km on them. Some of them are pretty banging and fun though.
I actually don’t have too many more issues other than the hygiene and the smell with it. Anywhere along a road an open drain can provide a pretty unique scent. It’s not the greatest.
I’m making Thailand sound terrible, and I think I’m doing it an injustice. I just want to give an honest and open account of the trip. I think it’s also in large part due to this being my first visit to a non first world country. The contrast is really stark from having been in Japan three weeks ago. Thailand has been a lot of fun. Wandering around the markets and bartering and joining in with mates bartering has been pretty fun. Whether or not good deals have been made is largely unknown. An Aussie tourist let us in on a hint today that if a shop puts your purchase in a Black bag you’ve done well, A blue bag you’ve done okay and a Red bag means you’ve been taken. It seems like they use it as a signal to other shop keepers and markets to identify what to expect in a buyer. I don’t know exactly how accurate this is but it seemed to show through the more we shopped.
The beaches, depending on which you go to, can also be quite nice. Patong Beach itself is pretty dirty, but ones further down such as Kata and Karon were decent and the water is the perfect temperature. In better physical conditions I could see us spending some time at the beach relaxing and getting some food and drinks from nearby carts.
It is also blindly apparent that with Australians being the number one tourists to Thailand that the market has shifted that way. From Thai and Indian touts using Aussie slang in Aussie accents (some pretty well done too) to the huge number of Aussie themed bars, it’s clear that Aussie tourism is a massive contributor to the local economy. “G’day mate – have a gander, come on cobber, cheap cheap, Eddie Macguire (that’s my favourite one)”. Some touts use slightly less savoury language when you walk past. I’ve found that using “Mai Aow Kup/Kah” (male/female) has worked at getting rid of most touts I don’t want to deal with. It’s not always effective but a decent way to let them know politely that you’re not interested. The worst are the creepers who keep following you even once you’ve passed and told them no.
I’ll reserve my final judgement on Phuket tomorrow or the day after depending on how I go. I do think it is a good, inexpensive place depending on what you’re looking for and there are seemingly some good variety in the types of accommodation you can go for, from backpackers to upmarket resorts. It’s not really my type of place and I don’t know that I’d come back, it’s something I might reassess down the track. I’ve had a pretty good time (despite my seeming negativity) but it’s been impacted by the illness that’s struck the group. Bring on tomorrow and the trip home.
Moshi Moshi! Daniel Desu. 