Arrived at the beach a few days ago folks! I don't need to tell you all how fantasically beautiful and relaxing the beach here in Karon is, do I?! (Karon is a small village in the Phuket region.) Staying at the Princess Karon Hotel which is a really nice place that has a spa like feel to it and is just across the road from the beach. The food in the hotel is crap though and the price for the use of the internet is a complete rip off when compared to the prices in the village. The locals here are really nice and it's a nice change from Bangkok. People still try to sell you stuff but it's not so agressive. Been drinking in the Moon Bar in Karon with some local Thai girls every night. They are such good fun. We get up and dance on the bar and sing songs at closing. Have met up with a friendly British couple and a group of 5 people about our age from Hong Kong. Have been partying hard! Went to Patong for a night out and drank in the Molly Malone - great live music here. The rest of Patong is mainly dance bars and is very commercialised. There are alot of newbuilds after the tsunami devestation here in December 2004. Haven't heard much about the Coup! They turned off all media the night we heard of it and put on videos of the King attending royal functions etc. It was really weird! We now know that we are safe (I hope!) though as most of the public support getting rid of the PM. There have been protests on the streets in Bangkok but they all passed off peacefully - even the soldiers were apparently told to smile at people!! Going back to Bangkok on Sunday for our flights to China. Can't wait! Just hope there are no problems getting there. That's all for now x