Merry Christmas everyone. Although the Thais are all Buddhists and they don't have Christmas, they really put on a show here with fake Christmas trees, Santa hats, and everyone wearing red. Anything to please the tourist I suppose. Which brings me to my next point; I am not in the real Thailand. Although it's fun here and cheap for me while staying for nothing in Carlos' house, this place is tourist central and peak season is hitting hard. I need to see what rea...

Today I went on a cool day trip to James Bond Island, a location where they did some filming on the 007 film Man with the Golden Gun with Roger Moore. Several other islands were included which were actually better to visit but I think the tour sells more tickets with the James Bond name. The first island visit was amazing as we kayaked through a bat cave and then came out in an amazing lagoon where monkeys were playing in the trees and at the water's edge. From t...

In probably the fastest country visit ever, I crossed over to an island of Myanmar(Burma) for an hour and a half before returning to Thailand. I now have another 30 days stay stamped into my passport for Thailand which I need to stay here through New Year. The officials on both sides know why people come here and they have the easy come-and-go process worked out so it's fast and smooth. So I can now say I was in Myanmar and have the stamps to prove it....but I ca...

I am in southern Thailand on the island of Phuket...pronounced Poo-Get, not F*#* It. I'm visiting my Mexican buddy Carlos, who I got to know well over a bottle of good tequila while I was working in a hostel in Uruguay. He moved here about seven months ago and is opening a Mexican restaurant and guesthouse so I thought I would drop in and see what's going on. Quite simply the place is crazy...full of bars, restaurants and night clubs. It's a little too glitzy and...

Welcome to Thailand...."The Land of Smiles". So named for the people's laid back and happy attitude toward just about everything. It's also the land of lady boys, adams apple reduction and sex reassignment surgery! Gee, the fun we could have here....Not! See that cute Thai girl looking at you over there... that's no girl! Yuk! I am not a "gringo" anymore but a "farang" and I left the chilly days of Europe behind only to find that I arrived in Thailand's cold sea...