The following is the last blog of my time in Thailand so i hope it interestes/entertaines or catches your eye.

Sadly from the last six blogs it has become apparent that even under time constraints in an internet cafe charged by the minute to write and the numerous flaws that I shall not join the ranks of Will Shakespeare, Dr Samuel Johnson, JK Rowling, or even George R R Martin as a skilled and excessive writer. Although the debut of my novel remains to be seen to make that call.

My time on Koh Tao came to an end a few days ago. I am currently across borders in Siem Reap in Cambodia. this blog will detail my last week in Koh Tao followed by my time in Bangkok and details of Cambodia will materialize in the next and possible last blog for a while, due to the understood censorship of China my china blogs may have to be published back to back following the end of my asia adventure once I leave maniland china(the given trip itinerary, organised by a company limits internet acess in china)

My last week on Koh Tao started out on the 18th with five short underwater films completed and two burnt to discs and Andy choosing one to be used to advertise one of the dive shops(Big Blue Diving) at a later point. At this time Andy had returned from his ''extended visa run'' to malaysia and i was given two days off while he got his working life back together and trained the south african interns to have their first underwater films focusing on divers shown and to have them settled to begin proper work. in these two days the ball had started rolling so as much time as possible by the pool in the humid weather and sun was required as it would be the last length of time avaliable. the two days also consisted of polishing the shot list for the long in developtment underwater film and time to make travel arrangements in bangkok with research was taken.

On the 20th i found myself suppporting and watching my fellow south african intern present his first underwater film to a couple of divers he filmed in the morning. it was presented at the diving resort bar of big Blue and as happy as i was for him as a friend along with the other the penny had dropped. i was at the same time envious and as jealous as anyone not on the internship as thing hadn't panned out due to delays, hospital and training and it became apparent i was going to walk away with not cash but plenty of underwater photos and films made in the space of a week and a half-the was a comforting thought of solace for me.

It was in that moment I shed tears over how I would leave without the experience of having my work edited in one day after filming and shown to an audience on a screen and to hear their feedback and be able to sell my work to them. strong words with a full time videographer and a few drinks helped me make sense of how the whole internship for me was more relevant then the other south afircan interns in terms of a learning experience and to this day that is the truth which i am happy to have understood as a film maker. I had spent many nights watching and supporting my fellow videographers present their films and to see other interns who came after I did graduate to the same level was a very hard moment to watch when they hadn't been around for as long as i had but everyone is different in terms of pace skill and the conditions set against you.

I can say despite this unspoken truth that i didnt get the ''paid'' part of the internship but I'm very very pleased and happy to say i got plenty of memories, experiences and footage to remidn me of a valuable skillset that i will always cherish now after logging 58 dives to date. Under Water Videography.

I owe a great thanks to two very hard down to earth and multi-flexible SDI(Scuba Diving International) diving instryctors, who run the rising ''Posiedon Dive Company'' in Kuwait)who months ago brought me up from october to 18 dives and trainined me to becoem a diver and encouraged my passion and pushed me to embrace a new sport, the time they put it for me is a fact i apreciate still as of today due to my sucess and experience in diving for so many times on Koh Tao. Although i had to do further training on Koh Tao, there were many things that weren't told to me until i acutally made it to the island.

Moving swiftly away from the digression that sabotaged a linear structure of writing, the next day on the 21st Andy and myself went through the script and started writeing down ques fot bit of dialogue in the script(all naration) to be recorded (as for one to record an 8 page script word for word would take forveer if in one take there was noise or a technical issue) and the houseing for a sony FX camera was looked at and a plan was made to do onland shooting tomorrow(SPOILER ALERT!the onland scenes are 40-50 percent of the short film). the day after in the afternoon we shot all the onland shots and then the next day on the 23r was a very full on day where the morning(after packing th night before) was spent prepping the camera and the housing for it and the shot list was looked at for the underwater sequences. it became apparent that we would shoot all the scenes on the Sairee Reef at 10 metres maximum to allow over an hour of shooting on over 200 bar for air.

This shoot was my last dive on Koh Tao and my last underwater filming session of the internship. As emotional as it sounds on paper I had to storyboard the script and write out the editing notes due to the fact that the film and the final cut would have to be overseen by Ace Marine Images in my absence due to a series of unfortunate events pushing the shooting days to the last two of my internship. Waat followed was a farewell present in the form of a farewell drinks session(some fellow videographers were busy selling their films at the time but expressed sorry at not showing) this was a time to reflect on the draw backs and sucesses of the internship and learn as much as possible from the full time videographers about work and say good byes after great times spent together. these were moments where i realised that not only was their unfinished buisness on koh tao but a sense of leaving behind a surrogate family of videographers and a possible future one day with my skillset.

Alas this inspireing tale came to an emotional end for me ut there was solace at the thought of a return one day and to carry on traveling after being primarily based in one area for nearly 3 months. I owe so much thanks to Ace Marine images for all the training, the films, the experiences, the work and the skillset itself. I can say now that the underwater vidoegraphy internship was by far the best(and first) ever internship i pulled off.

As the short film about coral reefs remained in editing i am told it will take a month as the films shot on the day will have to be the priority of time for the customers but there is hope, as june is a quiet season, the film will be finished very soon after editing and close communication from myself as the director and writer of the project.

One thing i havn't mentioned is that three times in the alst week i ran into fell old school pupils from my secondary/sxith form school who happened to be traveling around thailand, i had no prior knowledge of their prescense in thailand and can say the work is a lot smaller then it seems as an island of 21km. my trip to Bangkok began with a 2 hour ferry in the early morning and a 8-9 hour bus ride from Chumpon in south of thailand to reach Bangkok at 8-9pm.

My short lived stay was at the Veingtai hotel on the Koh San Road(an excellent situated area in the city for backpackers) as I hadd used before my trip to koh tao, ironically bringing the journey in full circle. wWth one day following to sepnd on the 25th, there was no full moon party for me but a day of traveling along the Chao Prayaya River to Chinatown and the nearby markets( used in a number of scenes in the hangover 2)and time at the Siam Paragon9 a shopping mall) to return to my withdrawn addition to the cinema with a proper IMAX film and a digital film back to back. and using the BTS skytrain to reach the Lebua Hotel(used also in select scnes of the hangover part 2 in the climax) which 64 floors later had a skybar that opens at 6pm and has the most amazing views of Bangkok at sunset and night. although the drinks weren't cheap.

it was worth it and a definete highlight of bangkok that i recomend to anyone willing to pay between 300-400 baht for a drink and watch the suntset over bangkok and see the night life and take photos. Following this long and worthy day I took the ferry back up to the kho san road and spent the night on the market eating out and enjoying the wonders and sights and the pleasure of an aircon hotel room after being primarily reliant on humidity and one fan on an island for a little over 2 months.

A note of trivia worth mentioning was that the 24th-25th was a religious holiday in Thailand celebrating the birth and enlighment of the Budda.

on the morning of the 26th i set off earlier with a 90 litre bag, a day sack and a tuk uk driver and his transport to the nearest skytrain station to get to one of the two airports in Bangkok to met up with an old and very good family friend called Eric who had recently left Kuwait for good to move to Cambodia, who runs the recently formed company of Cambodia Images(google, facebook or google plus to learn more). My orginal plan had been to cross the border to cambodia to meet him alne with a bus ride to get me there. But Eric just so happned to be flying into bangkok from a few days of time in Vietnam and thus instead we shared a taxi together from the airport to get to cambodia.

THE FOLLOWING IS CRUCIAL FOR ANY BACKPACKERS. AS WE REACHED pOPIET(the location of the border) on the thai side various visa scams were bring done to drag tourists to riped off prices for a visa or other scams. YOU CAN AND WILL get a Cambodia visa on the cambdian side of the border at the official cosule(ignore the thai side), the visa costs 20 USD(the accepted currency dwidely in cambodia) and a recently added 100 baht for reasons justifiable to speculate on the basis of changes being made in the system as this had only been a recent addition acording to the authorities at the border crossing.

Following that episode of visa costs corssing borders,myself and Eric(singaporeans are immune to visas if needed, but he has a residence one) made it into Cambodia an piad for a taxi to tke us to his house in Siem Reap(where he has very kindly given residence to me for a week) for those of you who know Eric, words cannot express the versitaility in his work in photography and streetwise personality and well admired charcteristics, for thos who don't but know of him by name, watch out because Siem Reap has earned itself a national treasure in the making.

Admitedly Koh Tao i once again state is one experience that i will keep and remember for the exotic location, temperatures, the memories, the diving and mostly the whole time to learn a new skillset, put it into effect, meet new and exciting people, backpackers, locals, divers and videographers. I strongly recomend Koh Tao for Divers and people potentially wanting to become divers for the best and cheap deals ever. a long period of time can make you want to extend you time for it's qaulities, loose loads of weight, learn Thai, change skin colour and leave a different person from the one you were when you first came :p

As i end this final blog of Thailand with withdrawl symptoms and very mild post traumatic stree over leaving behing Koh Tao and having begun the penultamate phase of my asia adventure. I have decided as a follow up to these blogs to upload further blogs each around what to do in Thailand, Koh Tao, Cambodia and China. as blogging has provided an excellent substitute experince from writing my book and feeling the free will to pass down adive and my experiences to any potential traveler of individuals looking for an adventure.

I am currently two days into Cambodia, still in touch with Ace Marine images over the editing of the underwtaer film, slowly planning and having a refreasher on the china trip next, and enjoying a new country with Eric. The next blog will detail all of my time in Cambodia(which is proving to be amazing atm) and as i said be proably the last one for three weeks.

Thank you to all the loyal readers of my blogs and i hope the next few blogs prove to be to your taste and i am open to discussions in more detail about my travels and i can strongly recomend that Kho Tao and Bangkok are worth it and very soon i will have an underwater film online to show you what kind of skillset underwater film making is like. find on facebook, their website or youtube, ACE MARINE IMAGES FOR MORE.

Any questions about my travels, leave a comment and keep up to date. watch this space for the next one in a few days!