Thailand (6)

(Continuation of story)

 

From the north of Thailand, where we had a glimpse of many forbidden things, we reversed our travels and headed back to Bangkok by train. Oh the agony of enduring the wooden seats again for hours on end.

 

At this point, the group dwindled down to Jane, Jessica and me. We decided to go south to the beach city of Pattaya, made famous by its lurid clubs and bars selling sex and alcohol. It was the logical first stop on our quest to see the unspoiled and highly rated beaches of Thailand. We would try to avoid the sex scene to keep Jessica from seeing that part of steamy Thailand.

 

We booked a small, shared van and along the way several Kuwaiti men piled in too. They seemed so exotic to me with their disdashas and headdresses on. When they saw three American women, their eyes lit up and there was chatter between them. Soon they pulled a bottle of Mekong whiskey out of a bag and offered it to us, giggling all the while.

 

Ah ha, I thought! They plan to get us drunk during the two-hour drive and take advantage of us. I was the only one who drank in the group and thought that this would be a fun challenge so I shared the bottle as it was passed around. By the end of the trip their eyes were crossed, they were slurring their words and in a fit of laughter, they kept repeating the word “spinney.” They were drunk and I was quite sober. It was great fun to wave them on their way as they staggered away from the van when we reached Pattaya.

 

We found a great guesthouse to stay. Breakfast was served around the bar in the morning where the rescued pet monkey would greet us on his own bar stool. It is here where we met Don, his son and his friends. Don’s son was a diver and worked at one of the dive shops.

 

Don had traveled to Thailand to find his son and to rescue him from the deep abyss of drugs that had engulfed his life. He had become a casualty of the seductive underbelly of Thailand. Don was a businessman from Chicago who was used to the rough and tumble life of Chicago. He was accomplished and strong, but he felt at times that he was not going to win the battle of saving his son from having a wasted life.

 

I thought that it was amazing that people even thought about diving in the waters off of Pattaya. The word was that the water was very polluted. When Don and his son took us out on their boat, I stayed on the boat while they dived into the murky water. From Pattaya, all of us went off to experience several truly pristine beaches and find the original beauty of Thailand. Don eventually returned to his business in Chicago, but I would see him on other occasions when he returned to salvage his son.

 

The women took a bus down to a very secluded beach called Phuket. Yes, it was really very secluded and quiet. Pine trees lined some areas of the white sand beach which was a wonderful surprise to me. There was one tourist hotel, but it was expensive. We rented little cottages on stilts, which were more in our price range and settled in.

 

We stayed longer than expected because it was very quiet, but we also felt trapped. The monsoons had hit and sheets of rain fell every day for almost the entire day. At the beginning of this weather phenomenon I was sitting on the beach admiring the view and the clouds, when the clouds started to move towards me and then opened up. In a minute, I was drenched in rainwater.

 

The picture is of Jessica spending quiet moments on deserted Patong Beach during a brief break from the monsoon rains. Yes, this is really how the beach look thirty years ago. Hard to imagine , isn't it?

 

Done