Summing Up Thailand

This and that:
Number one nationality visiting Thailand: Swedish
Number two: Australian
Most popular national sport: Muay Thai Boxing
Top favorite foods: Papaya salad, green curry, grilled bananas, young coconuts
Best beach I found: Koh Tau, Tanote Bay
Number of people from Oregon I met in Thailand: about 6
Best mode of sitting in Thailand: hammock
Best mode of transport: Tuk-tuk on land, long tail boat on sea
Bangkok is great for: street food, people watching, shopping
Koh Tao is great for: outdoor sports, water sports, beaches, hammocking, snorkeling
Ko Phi Phi is great for: parties, beaches, kayaking, camping on the beach, BBQ
Patong is great for: lady boys, showing off your steroided muscles, showing off your tan, showing off your wife/husband/newly acquired girlfriend, showing off your designer clothes, showing off your motorcycle, showing off your yacht, just plain showing off
Biggest boat seen in Thailand: the White Cloud, anchored for a while in Koh Tao harbor. It was the biggest boat I have ever seen, besides a cruise ship. Actually I looked it up and it is in the top 100 biggest yachts in the world. Also, since the owners obviously need more than just a silly old private 221 foot yacht, it has a helicopter and helicopter landing pad on top. For joy rides of course!
Best cabaret show seen: in Koh Tao. One lady boy did an especially great rendition of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."
Most fun adventures: camping out on "The Beach" on Phi Phi Leh. A few friends and I camped out for a night on "The Beach" which is actually called Maya Bay. "The Beach" refers to the beach in the book "The Beach" by Alex Garland which was later made into a movie staring Leo DiCaprio. We set up tents but actually just slept in sleeping bags on the sand, had a seafood and chicken BBQ, and sang songs around the campfire. This was a really great time. I still have yet to read the book and see the movie though.
Worst luck person met: A British man who got too drunk in Bangkok, was robbed of his passport and all money, bank account was looted, and had a "bad and embarassing" incident with lady boys. He thinks he was drugged... very possible. He is still stuck in Thailand.
Number on injury of farangs (foreigners): tail pipe exhaust burns on the inner right calf from motor bikes. (ouch)

Goodbye Thailand...

Goodbye Thailand, hello Singapore (for the third time). Thailand has gone by in a whirl. I thoroughly enjoyed myself in Thailand in a vacation sense, not a backpacking adventure sense. I spent the last week on Ko Phi Phi which is on the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea which is where the 2004 tsunami hit hard. Ko Phi-Phi was nice... lots of time spent lounging on the beaches, people watching (all foreigners, hardly any actual Thais), reading, and eating. Very relaxing. Thailand is a very nice country but is incredibly Westernized, so I would recommend it to people who are looking for a nice vacation, but it was not my favorite place for actual "backpacking." Anyway, after Ko Phi Phi I spent a day and night in Patong which is the beach town adjoining Phuket. If I could describe Patong in one word: debauchery. That about sums it up. Over the top, extravagent, flashing lights, GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!, booze, tight clothing, loud sounds. Patong is a place I would not go back to. As far as I could tell it is a place to see and be seen (for farangs, which means foreigners in Thai). It is also the sex tourism central of southern Thailand. The only place that I think surpasses Patong for sex tourism would be Pattaya, which is just a bit south of Bangkok. Anyway, I flew out of Phuket on the 3rd for Singapore and had to be up early. I went out for a cup of coffee at 6:30 AM and was met with an ample amount of lady boys messing with their hair and smeared make up, drunk men stumbling around with bottles of beer in one hand, and what looked to me like 15 year old Thai girls clutching their other hand. Music still blarring, parties still going. Debauchery would be the word. Anyway, departed Phuket and am back in lovely Singapore where I arrived to be surprised by the rains and actually (relatively) cool weather.