We celebrated Thai New Year (it's 2511 rather than 2007) at a great fish restaurant owned by a very camp Thai guy. He and his staff were running around the restaurant smothering us with white powder. They also like to splash water on you which is quite refreshing in this 1000 degree heat.
Hiring vespas to explore some of the coast proved an interesting adventure. Heading off to see the Tsunami Memorial the heavens opened, leaving us stranded in a gas station for an hour playing card games with minature cards. Importantly, the hiring of vespas gave me the opportunity to rid myself of the demons from our honeymoon. Unfortunately however, I am still particularly slow on the vespa and not very good at taking corners. I became the co driver as Shannon took the stering wheel......
Koh Lak was one of the most affected areas of the coastline in Thailand. Over 8000 people died as a result of the Tsunami in Thailand- circa 3000 were tourists. Arriving in the town it is striking to see the areas that were hit. There are literally no houses pre dating the tsunami. All the new developments have taken a relatively standard design with subtle tweaks. In one way it is a shame as the Thai / local identity seems to have been lost in the redevelopment.
The shear force of the tsunami is made apparent as a Police boat (cira 60 foot) has been left beached almost 2 km in land in the middle of a field. It remains as a monument to those that died. Unfortunately the official memorial is less impressive- there seems to be no explanation of why the memorial is located there, or any tributes to those affected and the subsequent work done to recover from the event. Having said that, you can not visit an area so devestated by one single event without visiting the memorial.
Hiring vespas to explore some of the coast proved an interesting adventure. Heading off to see the Tsunami Memorial the heavens opened, leaving us stranded in a gas station for an hour playing card games with minature cards. Importantly, the hiring of vespas gave me the opportunity to rid myself of the demons from our honeymoon. Unfortunately however, I am still particularly slow on the vespa and not very good at taking corners. I became the co driver as Shannon took the stering wheel......Koh Lak was one of the most affected areas of the coastline in Thailand. Over 8000 people died as a result of the Tsunami in Thailand- circa 3000 were tourists. Arriving in the town it is striking to see the areas that were hit. There are literally no houses pre dating the tsunami. All the new developments have taken a relatively standard design with subtle tweaks. In one way it is a shame as the Thai / local identity seems to have been lost in the redevelopment.
The shear force of the tsunami is made apparent as a Police boat (cira 60 foot) has been left beached almost 2 km in land in the middle of a field. It remains as a monument to those that died. Unfortunately the official memorial is less impressive- there seems to be no explanation of why the memorial is located there, or any tributes to those affected and the subsequent work done to recover from the event. Having said that, you can not visit an area so devestated by one single event without visiting the memorial.
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