Thailand 18 Feb

Well my visit to Thailand is almost over and I have mixed feelings.
It is not the place it was not so many years ago, an opinion shared by so many of the people I speak to. It is more commercial, less friendly, fewer happy people, in fact it has been a big disappointment. Even the food has lost its fascination, or seems so.
I left Bangkok and rode south to Hua Hin on the inland coast. What a shock. Europeans mainly German, all obese, many couples but also many of the sort I saw at Pattaya a few years ago. Blokes my age with Thai girls under 25. It is very unattractive.
So on I rode down some magnificent roadways. It was a pleasure to ride on such a good surface, polite drivers and they even obeyed the rules of the road, wow ! However it was a flat boring ride. Its about 700k from Bangkok to the port where the ferry leaves for Ko Simui. And that was where I went for a couple of days rest for the leg. Its a lot more of a worry now that its oficially broken.
However a few days on a beach never did anyone any harm. Beer swiming sunburn mossies, the usual complaints.
So today it was a ride south, 300k to what turned out to be a suprising city on the sea, Songkhla. Old and interesting (a bit like me really) plus a Tourist Resort on the seafront with special rates. And I soon found out why having asked about facilities, pool, sauna, gym.......wow I was hooked. But the pool was closed, as was the sauna, and the gym was well........
In the spirit of the last night in Thailand I wanted to leave on a happy note despite no swim no sauna. The dining room had a singer, and I was one of three occupantsin a room that would seat 200. The Thai green curry prawns was great, as the singer burst into the Everly Brothers, now that will date a few of you and yes they were popular back in ..., however his rendition of "Ever Rusting Ruv" was cerainly not true to the original. The intentions were good.
I see on the news that President Obama has mortgaged the future of all of the USA to pay for 5 years of consumption that they couldn't afford then and can't afford to pay for now. It is a staggering turn of events. The US is broke, so they will print some money to pay off a dead horse, which will fuel inflation and that will make it all OK. Can't actually see how myself.
However whats this got to do with Thailand, a lot. Tourism must and will be affected. Who if they got a windfall tax refund would spend it on a holiday overseas ? So many of these "tourist destinations" will be very badly impacted. The unrest that is apparent already ( a Policeman was blown up in his car a few miles down the road from here). It will get worse. Trade will suffer. The world will be a very uneasy place for quite a while I fear. The fallout from this "bankers cock up" will be with us for a lot longer than the politicians expect. For my two bobs worth I would put the Banks into Liquidation. Sue the employees for the Bonus payments that any fool could see were unsustainable and let them feel the pain as well. However in a real world things are different. Just as morality has flown out the window so has accountability.
Pics to follow ( sorry)
nzl04