Goodbye Koh Chang, Hello Bangkok

(Written Sunday, June 3)

Checkout today was at noon. We were all sad to leave our beautiful beach retreat. But we weren’t sad to leave the teeny tiny ants that climbed all over our luggage, including INSIDE my laptop’s keyboard (they started crawling out when I started typing). Seriously gross.

From the hotel, we took a truck taxi back to the ferry, took the ferry to the mainland, had some confusion about where and when to catch the bus, figured out what was going on, and finally got onto the bus. I got a seat in the last row of the bus next to a young Australian guy. We didn’t talk much until the second half of the trip. For the first few hours, I watched a bit of Moonstruck on my laptop (because Moonstruck is still the best movie in any country), then listened to my iPod and fell asleep. When I woke up, we chatted a bit about my job, his job, travel, etc. He has his own brand of clothing in Bangkok that he exports to various countries, but is getting restless of being in one place, and wants to travel again, even though he has worked in and visited countries all over the world. I understand the feeling!

After arriving in Bangkok, I took the BTS and a motorcycle taxi back to my place, and crashed for the evening, tired, and still just a little bit sandy.

Beach Lounging, Mopeds, and Karaoke!

(Written Saturday, June 2)

Ugh. I think I have a case of mild food poisoning. Both I and another intern have not felt well all day. I probably was careless and drank tap water or ate shrimp—two things people tell you not to do on the streets in Thailand. Anyway, it’s not terrible and I’ll survive, I just won’t get to enjoy the tasty Thai food for a day or two.

I am very happy that I feel bad on a day with no plans rather than an activity-filled day like yesterday. Most of the day I spent just lounging. I read magazines for a few hours this morning in our room, then ordered some fresh fruit juice at our resort’s slightly overpriced beachside restaurant, then read for a few more hours on the sand. I’m starting to get an odd tan that ends in an abrupt line at the top of my shoulders, since I’ve been wearing a short sleeve shirt with the sleeves tucked under to keep cool.

Around mid-afternoon, one of the interns came back to the resort with the moped she had rented for the day in tow. And yes, she let me take a ride with her! I was a bit wobbly at first, but got the hang of it when I realized how similar it was to riding a bike, albeit a heavy bike that has the capacity to go FAST. We decided to head up the street to find dinner (I was in search of some plain rice or soup), but we wanted to get the most use out of the moped that we could before having to return it, so I rode the bike up (just me), and it is so much fun! Everyone on the island rides them: tourists, locals, and even little kids. There don’t seem to be any laws regarding their use here.

The restaurant where we ended up eating was beautiful. The main eating room was a sort of large covered patio, and several tables and chairs were also located outside on the sand. Our table was about 15 feet from the ocean, and lit only by candles. I had yummy soup, and we listened with much amusement to the girls singing karaoke in the room behind us.

Later that evening, we returned to the restaurant to see some sort of fire show, but found out it had been held early, and we arrived five minutes after it ended. Disappointed, we ordered a drink from the bar, then did some karaoke of our own! This was my first real karaoke experience, and it was hilarious. We sang a song from “Grease,” then a requisite Britney Spears song. The Grease song was by far the bigger success—I’m not a fan of Britney and didn’t know the song that well, so it was a bit of a flop. But we didn’t really care. The Thai people there still cheered for us.

After drinks and karaoke, all three of us rode the moped together back to the resort without anyone falling off once! Even Thai people will be impressed when we tell them that.

Thailand Elephants and Fishing

(Written Friday, June 1)

I slept pretty well in our room last night except for one thing: a mosquito got in (not surprising since the door is warped and doesn’t quite shut at the top and we have no mosquito netting) and bit me all up and down my right arm about 9 or 10 times. So I have big red itchy welts all the way from my wrist to my shoulder—ouch. I thought of posting a photo, but decided against inflicting such trauma on you. To stop itching, I’m pretending that I have some kind of cool tropical disease instead of plain mosquito bites. It doesn’t really help.

After discovering the state of my arm, I covered myself with bug spray before going out for breakfast (which is included in the price of our room). Breakfast here is buffet-style with both American breakfast foods (eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes) and Thai breakfast foods (rice, meat, vegetables, soup). I tried a tiny bit of everything Thai—pretty tasty.

Following breakfast, the five of us went our separate ways. One other intern and I decided to go for an elephant ride! We booked the ride, and a person came and picked us up and drove us to the elephant camp. There were a total of 5 or 6 elephants standing around under little wooden roofs. The elephants looked healthy and were enjoying their breakfast, but I felt a little sad that they couldn’t be running around free in the jungle, even if they are well taken care of here.

To get onto the elephant, we had to climb a staircase to a one-story high platform, then slide onto a 2-person seat on the elephant’s back. A Thai boy was sitting on the elephant’s neck in front of us, and directed her by pushing on the back of her ears, sort of like pulling on a horse’s reins. I found the motion of the elephant a little bit like that of the camel I rode in Israel—a circular rocking motion, that is a little hypnotic. I felt quite relaxed, especially when I took my sandals off and rested my bare feet on the elephant’s leathery, slightly bristly back. However, toward the end of the trip, I realized I had been unconsciously tensing my shoulders and back in an attempt to stay straight upright instead of swaying with the elephant, so I may be a bit sore tomorrow.

Our ride lasted one hour, and took us through the jungle, into a small lake where the elephant could get a drink, then through a pomelo orchard. In the orchard, another Thai man, who accompanied us on foot, used a machete to peel a pomelo and passed it up to us. Very yummy. On the road back, the man picked some small red fruits, made a bowl out of a large leaf, and passed them up to the boy on the elephant’s neck to feed to the elephant. I loved watching the nimble trunk snake back over the elephant’s head in search of more fruit!

Back at the camp, we stuck around for a while so I could say hi to the second elephant there (the others must have gone out on rides since we left). He was huge—much bigger than the lady elephant who gave us a ride. I patted his trunk, fed him some palm fronds, and rubbed his tusks, which were huge and smooth as marble. I’m not sure if elephants are at all temperamental, so I didn’t get too close or bother him for too long in case he got fed up, and whacked me with his trunk or stepped on me (two actions that would probably have set me soaring through the air or shoved me two feet into the ground, respectively).

When we got back to our resort, the day was still young, so we decided to set back out for more adventures. We grabbed a third intern, and flagged down a truck taxi to take us to the fishing village on the southern-most point of the island. The ride was similar to the one we experienced on our way here, only a little more curvy, with even more switchbacks. We were the only three people aboard this time, so we felt free to shriek on the really scary parts of the road.

The fishing village consists of shops, restaurants, and a few houses and hotels, all built on stilts over the water. Most of the restaurants have big tanks and barrels full of seawater containing all kinds of live fish that are chosen and cooked on the spot. We weren’t hungry, but we had fun browsing in the shops down the main path. At the end of the “village,” there are boats on either side of a long pier offering scuba and snorkeling excursions. I considered signing up for snorkeling tomorrow, but the only trip offered was an all-day event from 8 to 5, and this sounded too busy and involved for the kind of relaxed paddling about I was looking for.

At the end of the pier past the shops and boats is a small picturesque lighthouse. The lighthouse doesn’t appear to be in use and was open to visitors, so we climbed up and admired the view of the coast. We then walked back through the village, buying a few souvenirs along the way, and hailed another taxi back to our place, where we went swimming again in the ocean.

Monks

I haven't posted a photo in a bit, so while everyone waits breathlessly for the rest of my beach entries, here is the monk I made friends with last week (same day I saw the rainbow).

Notice how the first thing you see is a baby monk, but if you look closely, there's an even tinier monk trying to hide in front of him. He is displaying typical chameleon-monk training. Monk Code of Conduct Rule 492: if you're not wearing your orange robes, try to wear something that is at least mostly orange.

Since I knew his secret, this little guy couldn't hide from me long, and I hope to bring him back to the US in my suitcase for someone's 18th birthday present.

Koh Chang Arrival

(Written Thursday, May 31)

I’m at the beach!

Our bus left Bangkok around 8 am this morning. We took a 1^st class bus (there are VIP, 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd class buses), so it was new and clean with AC. However, once again I noticed that things are built for shorter people in Asia: my knees hit the back of the seat in front of me. The ride took about 5 hours, and we only stopped once at an outdoor restaurant/convenience store about an hour and a half into our trip. I was very glad I bought an iPod before coming to Thailand, as I listened to it almost non-stop while I attempted (but mostly failed) to doze.

We arrived at the ferry dock around 1 pm. Koh Chang was clearly visible from the mainland, but it took the ferry about 30-45 minutes to cross. My ability to judge distances over water is nonexistent—I had guessed it would take about 10 minutes. This is what comes of growing up in a land-locked state!

After arriving on the island (where I did a little arrival dance), a bunch of people from the ferry and the five of us interns hailed a truck taxi to drive us to our hotel. We had no idea where or how far the place was, but we gave the driver the hotel name and he nodded and took off. These taxis have 2 long parallel boards for seats (no seat belts) in the back and a metal roof to toss luggage onto. The truck is open on the sides and on the back. After squeezing 12 people onto the seats, there was still one passenger who needed a ride: he ended up standing on the back of the truck holding onto the roof! This was slightly terrifying because the truck went fast, the ride was long (~20-30 minutes), and the roads were steep and windy. The only thing keeping me from feeling sick from all the switchbacks (taken at high speeds that threatened to tip the entire truckload of people over) was the excitement of being on an island! in Thailand! surrounded by ocean!

After a harrowing ride, the truck dropped us off near our hotel. “Near” wasn’t quite near enough for me—we ended up having to walk for 10 or 15 minutes with our luggage and despite being on an island, the weather is still rather beastly. But when we arrived at our resort, we were thrilled to discover that it is beautiful! The buildings are all located in the center of a lagoon. Palm trees surround the water, with dramatic mountainous peaks in the background, and glimpses of the ocean that lies directly next to the resort between the trees and buildings.

Unfortunately, our experience getting settled in a hotel room didn’t quite compare to the beauty outside. First, the staff tried to put 3 of us in a 2-person room (with only 2 twin beds!). It took a lot of exclaiming and gesturing before they agreed to show us a different room. This room was better: a double and a twin. We moved our stuff in, but hours later when we were on the verge of going to sleep, the air conditioner started leaking water all over my bed (the twin)! We called the front desk and a workman came and made the mess even worse in his attempt to fix whatever was broken, so they moved us to a third room. This was the mirror image of the second, but with an AC that didn’t drip water. At least, it hasn’t yet.

But before going to bed, and experiencing room change number 2, we went and walked on the beach! To get to the beach from our room, we cross a short bridge across the lagoon, walk past the reception desk, and we’re on the sand. The ocean here is perfect. The sand is white and powdery, the water is blue-green and warm, there are pretty shells dotting the beach, palm trees divide the sand from the grass, and there are no condos or tall buildings to obscure the view (the resort buildings are all small and placed slightly back from the sand, often behind a row of palm trees). Our stretch of beach is in the center of a U-shaped piece of coast. The view to the left: the mountainous peaks we saw when we first arrived. The view straight ahead: the big, wide ocean, with 3 or 4 tiny islands on the horizon. The view to the right: a long expanse of beach ending in a rocky point at the top of the U.

On the street right outside our resort are a few shops: a place to rent motorcycles, two open-air restaurants, a place for laundry, and a massage store. There are little clusters of shops located all along this main road, but they are separated by expanses of wilderness. It’s a short walk to the cluster of stores down the road from us, but the others are far enough away that we would have to flag down transportation to get there. We ate dinner at one of the restaurants by the resort, and it was cheap and tasty. We then put on swimming suits and took a dip in the ocean…the temperature is perfect! Cooler than the air, which is still hot and sticky here, but warm enough to stay in the ocean for any length of time without feeling chilly. There are waves, but they are mostly swells, with a few baby waves that crash just enough to make them fun to jump through.

P.S. There are geckos on the ceiling of our room. I think their little sticky-toed feet are creepy.

MBK Mall

(Written Wednesday, May 30)

I went to the famous MBK mall after work today for the first time. There is a pedestrian overpass connecting the second floor of the mall directly to the BTS station, so it’s an easy place to get to. Unlike the other two malls I’ve been to in Bangkok, MBK has a mix of set prices and bargaining opportunities. The big department store there is just like a department store in the US (including the high prices). Then there are about 6 floors of everything under the sun: jewelry, shoes, hats, purses, electronics, food, clothing, souvenirs, etc. The third floor seems like the best place for cheap bargains. The entire back section of the floor contains booths, much like the stalls seen on the street, selling souvenirs, fake brand name clothing, and novelty t-shirts, most with offensive parodies of famous slogans, brands, or symbols. Not surprisingly, I bought nothing, but I had fun looking.

After wandering around the mall for a bit longer window-shopping and killing time, I met some of the other interns at their apartment. From their place, we walked to a restaurant nearby that offered a “Ladies’ Night” with alleged free margaritas. Sadly, it turned out the offer was only for 6-8 pm, and we arrived around 8:30 or 9. We stuck around for a pitcher anyway, and tried some kind of berry margarita. It was delicious—more like a smoothie than a margarita, but with a little kick. We plan to go back next Wednesday!

Thailand Warnings

(Written Tuesday, May 29)

So there are two things I have found that I don’t like about Thailand.

One is that taxi drivers, tuktuks, and motorcycle taxis will honk at pedestrians to let them know they aren’t carrying passengers. Sure, this is a convenient way to flag down a ride, but whenever I’m walking somewhere and wish to continue walking, each beep I hear sounds like a little voice saying, “Why are you walking? You could be enjoying the AC of a taxi. Or the wind in your hair on a motorcyle. It’s just a few Baht…don’t tire yourself out in this awful heat….” These little voices are very persuasive! But I am a fan of walking in Bangkok, especially when exploring new areas. There is so much to see that any other form of transportation goes too fast to catch the details.

The second thing I don’t like is the clothes washing situation. I don’t have a washer or dryer in my apartment, so I spent a long time the last few days looking for a Laundromat. But there aren’t any! The rows of machines fed by coins and colorful swirls of clothing (as seen in Corduroy) seem to be nonexistent here. The closest thing I’ve found is ONE washing machine ON the sidewalk. Just sitting there.

Dry cleaners here usually do laundry as well as dry cleaning, but they charge per piece. So shirts cost something like 30 Baht, blouses cost 40, socks cost 20, etc. This adds up when you consider the numerous changes of clothes necessary in a hot, dirty city! I have found that the deal at my own apartment is the best: they charge 20 Baht per piece (regardless of type), dry the clothes, and even hang them up for me in my closet. This is still expensive, but it’s a very convenient solution (and it seems like the only solution) to my ever-growing pile of dirty laundry.

Embassies and Coconuts

(Written Tuesday, May 29)

After a morning at work, I went for a visit to the Australian Embassy in the afternoon with our IP partner. Security at the Embassy is tight—bag check, metal detectors (both doorways and wands), no cell phones, and an exchange of IDs for passcards. The building obviously dates from the 70s: the architecture is efficient, bulky, and composed of different shades of tan and brown concrete. There is also a moat surrounding the building, which seems very out of place, but supposedly acts to cool down the building. I suspect that this moat is really a cover for some kind of crazy underwater high tech weapons system, but I decided not to ask about this. You know those Australians.

Anyway, the meeting was interesting. I learned a bit about the healthcare situation in Thailand as a side problem to the big IP issue of protection for pharmaceutical patents in this country. The healthcare problem: healthcare is very cheap for individuals in Thailand, but the hospitals receive little money from the government, so hospitals can’t afford to treat patients. The IP problem: Thailand says its people are too poor to afford brand-name pharmaceuticals, so Thailand should be allowed to break patents and make their own generic versions of drugs. Both are interesting conundrums.

The meeting lasted a few hours, so work had already ended when we left the Embassy. Back at home, I explored a few streets I hadn’t seen before. Hot and sweaty, I bought my first coconut drink. First, the guy takes a whole coconut from its bed of shaved ice, then he uses a machete to chop off the top, and finally he sticks a straw in. I thought that that much pure coconut milk might be too thick and sweet to drink by itself, but it was perfect for the weather and my state of exhaustion. Unfortunately, these coconuts seem to be bred just for their milk—I tried the coconut itself and it was tasteless and soggy. The coconut only cost me 15 or 20 Baht, or around 50 cents. I’ll take this over a soda any day in Bangkok!

IP Conference

(Written Monday May 28)

No work for me today—at least no work at the office. Instead, our partner sent me to a conference at a nearby university on how bettering IP education in developing countries like Thailand can result in improved IP protection and enforcement. It was quite interesting to hear about improving IP by acting proactively, instead of reacting after violations, which is frequently the point when an IP lawyer will step in.

There were people at the conference from all over the world. I met two professors from Australia, a girl from Germany, a few people from France, and several lawyers from Indonesia, as well as quite a few Thais. I was the only participant from the US, so everyone was very interested in chatting with me during our coffee breaks about the US, California, law school, my internship, IP, and why I decided to come to Bangkok.

After the conference ended for the day, there was a welcoming dinner a short walk from the campus at the faculty center, which is a pretty, traditional wood building. Unfortunately, the building is also open to the elements, which meant it was hot and sticky, despite the 5 or 6 fans going full speed. Our timing was perfect: as soon as we were safely under the roof, it began to pour! Luckily, there was no wind, so the rain stayed outside, except for a small leak in the ceiling that resulted in many wet socks (we all left our shoes outside). Dinner was a tasty assortment of finger foods, including tiny hamburgers, which were adorable and delicious. After eating and listening to a group play some traditional Thai music, I braved the last of the rain and headed back to my apartment.

Back at home, I found that my receptionist Poi actually bought clothes hangers for me because she knew I needed them! She is very sweet.

Thailand Beach

I just got back from the beach! I'm exhausted, so will post all about it later. Meanwhile, here's a picture of the beautiful place we stayed on the island of Koh Chang!