Hong Kong was all hustle and bustle. Commercialism and capitalism abound with little time for the regards for others. By comparison Thailand is the land of "respect". We have learned a lot about the Buddhist attitude to life and the need for merits on earth to provide the ticket to heaven. The most common show of respect, man to man is the hands palmed together (as if in prayer) and then head bowed after saying the word "Sawadeekaa" (woman) or "Sawadeekrap" (man). This means something like "blessings on you" and also "Hello". Then smile from ear to ear. They love it and now we do too! Oh yes - and the word for "pork" here? "Moo"! Yes it is, really! Check-in to Thai Airlines Flt TG213 was a doddle after taking an ordinary taxi to the airport. It cost 300 Baht (or £4.50!!). The limo the other way had cost twice that!! The Airbus 300-600 took 65 minutes to get us down to Phuket (the locals say "Pooket") and as with everything else organised by Thomas Cook/Qantas we were met as planned and taken by minibus to the Laguna Beach resort. The photos tell how nice the resort is (one of five on this massive complex which replaces the scars of a large tin mine from many years ago). We met our resident gecko which Jill does NOT like the idea of sleeping with! After a meal in "The Grange Steak & Seafood Restaurant" (the upmarket of FIVE eateries in this resort hotel) we came back to find "Jing Jok" (the local's name for the lizard) guarding our apartment and, since his diet is mosquitoes, Jill had agreed to allow him to stay the night - by morning he'd disappeared but we know he's in our room with us SOMEWHERE! This morning, at breakfast, we met Anna the hotel's resident 4-year old baby elephant (photos later!). As we send this, with our love, it's 16.00 on 14th March (09.00 your time) and, as Richard recollects, the first day of Cheltenham - We suspect that a temperature of 36C will be out of the question!! Not so here - we're melting already!