Thailand, 2010

Arrived in Koh Samui, after a few days in Bangkok, spent with my parents. We took in the usual sights – a visit to the Grand Palace, a canal boat ride, a tour to the floating markets, a trip into the city to buy dad a new camcorder with digital hard drive, dinner at Cabbages & Condoms and a ride on a tuk-tuk. It was great to see my folks being exposed to a totally different culture and environment.

The most interesting part for me was that our hotel was right in the heart of the red-shirts protest zone. That made it a very noisy 36 hours, with constant sloganeering and speechifying over the loud speakers set up about 250 metres from the hotel (including throughout the night). I didn’t really mind. The protests were all peaceful and I felt somehow privileged to have such a close-up window on a rising social resistance movement that can only be good for democracy and Thailand in the long term (if it remains peaceful and reaches some political resolution).

After arriving at our resort – Mango Village – we caught up with friends. They all seem quite relaxed and happy. I am typing at the swimming pool, where the water is bath temperature and a gentle breeze is blowing. The only thing missing from this picture postcard perfection is the presence of [name].