While I was taking the CELTA, I couldn't wait for it to be over. But now that it's finished, I am bored. It is good to be done, though, and to have a certification that will allow me to work anywhere in the world.

What's the verdict? I thought it was well worth it, and I'm glad I did it. It gave me a place to start, so I will know what to do when I have real students. Most importantly, it gave me a chance to practice teaching real students, and get feedback. This was the heart of the course, and the detailed feedback was worth the price of admission.

But, the CELTA does not make you a teacher, it just gives you a place to start. Also, if you've already been teaching for a long time, you will probably get less out of the course.

The workload was reasonable. There were even days when I had nothing to do. I'd usually spent two hours a night planning lessons, and worked on the written assignments over the weekend.

The efforts to help the guy-who-doesn't get it helped him a little. We told him exactly what to do, and he sort of did it right. But he still doesn't have a clue. He had failed one of his written assignments, and had to resubmit the other three. In addition, three of his nine lessons were "Not to Standard." Not surprisingly, he failed the class. Good, because if someone like him had a CELTA, it would cheapen it for the rest of us.

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Sunday I visited ajarn.com, the hands-down best place to look for a teaching job in Thailand, and sent out a few CV's (not resumes, mind you). Monday I got my first call from a bilingual school. It all sounded good, until I looked at a map. It's across the river in Pinklao. That probably doesn't mean anything to you. The important fact is that the Skytrain doesn't go there. Since traffic is so bad in Bangkok, I would have to live across the river, and I really want to live in central Bangkok.

My taxi driver drove me deep down a soi, said "international school," and kicked me out. I looked around and was immediately disappointed. Dilapidated buildings, dead grass, unruly students, and no air-conditioning in sight. A guy asked me where I was going, and tracked down the only person there who spoke English. It quickly became apparent I was in the wrong place. She directed me further down the soi.

When I arrived at the correct school, which has a name 15 letters long and is unpronounceable, it was a whole different story. Clean, new, buildings, well-tended grass, and air-conditioned rooms. I made my way to the office and waited for my interview. While I was waiting, who should walk by, but Ernest, from Ernest's Whirrled! I knew he was working in a small private bilingual school across the river, but I was surprised that this was the one. You can read a lot about the school at Ernest's website. He's basically happy, despite the fact that some of the kids are rich and spoiled. They know that they will be able to work in their dad's company when they grow up, so why should they bother learning science?

But, the pay is good (yeah, $1,000 a month sounds paltry, but it's enough to live on in Bangkok, about all you can expect to do here), they pay on time, and they provide a visa and work permit. (If you're following in my footsteps, don't get a triple-entry tourist visa like I did. I'll have to get a Non-Immigrant visa before I start working, so two of my $25 entries will be wasted.) And, importantly to me, I would be able to teach math, science, and computers.

So, the tradeoffs are distance, and the fact that I'd be teaching kids. Ernest said you could take a ferry down the river to the Skytrain terminus, so that helps that problem. The kids are older, in grades 5, 6, and 7, but still, kids. I liked teaching young adults, but the only options for doing that is a private language school, where you can only teach English. Ideally, I'd like to work at a university, but I'm not qualified, and the pay is low.

The other problem is that you have to be there all day, from 7:30 to 3:30. The early start sucks, but I'm used to full days like this from my old 9-5 job. The problem is that if you take the salary, 40,000 baht (a good salary), and divide it by the hours, it comes out to 250 baht an hour, which is low. At a private language school, you may be able to get a comparable salary, but not have to be there for eight hours a day. You still have to prepare lessons, but you can do that on your own time.

So, the interview went well, but I didn't get offered a job on the spot. Usually they do that, but the head of the program said he liked to think these things over. He seemed to be being honest. I need time to think too, but there's a good chance I would take this job, if it's offered to me.

A technical note

For myriad reasons, I always try using non-Microsoft products, if a viable alternative exists. In the spirit of this, I've been using Opera for my internet browsing, and am very pleased with it. Unlike the typical Microsoft product, it's fast and doesn't crash. It even supports mouse gestures, a nifty little time-saver. It's free with a banner (that shows non-intrusive Google ads), or $40 if you want to get rid of the banner. I highly encourage you to check it out at opera.com

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I hate looking for a job. I'll spend an hour a day perusing the ads on ajarn.com, sending out a few CV's, and making some calls. Then all I can do is wait for my phone to ring. Unfortunately, it hasn't rung since Monday. It's pretty frustrating. I'd like to do something or go somewhere, but everything is in flux, and I want to stay put (and save money) until I have a job. Once I get a job lined up, I'll go somewhere before the term starts. Perhaps Phuket.

Like any other job, the best way to get a teaching gig is through contacts. I don't have too many, but a couple people who had been teaching here for awhile gave me some numbers to call that weren't advertised on ajarn.com. They were glad to hear from me. One place was another private bilingual school. But this one has a high school, and is in Silom. I would love to live in Silom, my favorite part of Bangkok. Maybe I'll hear back next week about an interview. The other place was a private language school in Silom that places teachers in various bilingual programs. They may need a math teacher. I'll be meeting with the director on Monday, but I don't think it's an interview, since he never saw my CV. Then again, I told him everything on it, so I'll wear a tie, just to be safe.

I found out by talking to these people that tomorrow is secretly a holiday, hence the wait until next week. Unfortunately, it's a dry holiday, so my plans to drink beer have been scuttled.

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How would you like to live in a city were you can be fined $50 for littering, where journalists are fired for criticizing the government, where suspected drug dealers are executed on the spot by the police, and where nobody can drink beer after midnight? I sure wouldn’t, which is why I don’t live in Singapore. Unfortunately, I’m not talking about Singapore, I’m talking about Bangkok.

Bangkok, formerly known as Fun City because of its non-stop nightlife, is being tamed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai party, which holds a monopoly on power. Thai democracy is young and fragile, with the constitution dating only to 1997, but Thaksin is working towards a return to dictatorship. There is a parliament, but it doesn’t do much, and the Prime Minister rules by decree.

A year ago he decreed that Thailand’s methamphetamine problem should be eliminated, and set the police loose, resulting in an estimated 2,000 extra-judicial killings of suspected drug dealers. A recent US State Department Human Rights report criticized Thailand for these killings. The Prime Minister’s response? The United States is a “worthless ally.”

Then APEC came last November, and Thaksin’s vision for Bankok was there for everyone to see: empty streets devoid of vendors, dogs, beggars, and children selling flower garlands. Huge sheets were hung up to cover slum areas, and people were even forbidden to hang laundry out to dry. Bangkok was transformed into a dirty version of Singapore for a week.

Next came the chicken flu. The Prime Minister suppressed the news for months because he didn’t want to damage the economy, resulting in a country-wide epidemic, and mass hysteria. But can anyone criticize him? The Prime Minister warned newspapers that they would lose business if they report bad news about him, so they are afraid to. The most critical paper, the excellent Bangkok Post, which most Thais don’t read anyways, recently “promoted” its senior editor to an inactive position because he was too negative about the government.

On the horizon is a curfew for all teenagers, who will not be allowed to go outside after 10 pm, because a few engaged in violent activities.

And, most unbelievably, a decree that bars and nightclubs outside of three designated zones would not be allowed to stay open past midnight, starting last Monday, in order to preserve teenagers’ virginity. It was unclear up until last Monday what would actually happen, and, as expected, nightlife owners and employees staged massive protests. I think the government has backpedaled, and declared that the decree would only apply to new venues. I plan on doing some research this weekend, and seeing if I am allowed to stay out until the former closing time of 2 am. Incidentally, the 2 am closing time was never even enforced until the Thaksin regime.

So, Thaksin’s “social order crusade” continues, making Bangkok into the new Singapore. Meanwhile, Singapore has allowed its bars to remain open all night. Asia has a new Fun City.

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I did some firsthand investigative reporting, and am happy to report that Bangkok’s bars still remain open until 2 am. The sacrifices I have to make to bring you the news from Thailand. Supposedly, the proposal will be reviewed next month, but it may just disappear, to avoid the Prime Minister losing face for having a bad idea. Still, just the fact that the government would consider doing this is disturbing enough. It’s not so much the closing times themselves that bother me, but the curbing of the citizens’ rights, and the general lack of outcry from the citizens.

But, even the current 2 am closing time is unsatisfactory. Firstly, a government doesn’t have the right to tell its citizens when they have to stop partying. More importantly, is the chaos that ensues every night at 2 am, in full public view. Lower Sukhumvit becomes a circus, with huge crowds loitering around, people drinking beer at unregulated curbside vendors, and ladies (and ladyboys) of the night plying their trade everywhere along busy Sukhumvit Road. Maybe Prime Minister Thaksin should contact the Guinness Book of World Records to have Sukhumvit listed as the world’s largest open-air brothel. If bars would be allowed to open all night, these things could be kept out of the site of those who don’t want to see them, and where the police can monitor them (and extract their tea money). If the government really were concerned about “social order,” it would allow later closing times.

And more surreal news. In the wake of the US State Department report criticizing Thailand for the excessive number of extrajudicial killings during last year’s 90 day war on drugs, the Prime Minister has just announced a new 90 day crackdown.

Meanwhile, I talked to the head of the private language school in Silom yesterday. He is looking for teachers for a nearby Catholic bilingual school. I’ll be talking to them on Thursday. Today I talked to the other bilingual school in Silom. Well, actually, it’s not in Silom. It’s maybe 30 minutes beyond, by bus. The school literature describes its location as “suburban,” but it’s like no suburbs I’ve seen before. Thai suburbs must be endless and intricate networks of sois lined with shophouses. I wasn’t too keen on working for a Catholic school, but the Assistant Director explained it is only “Catholic” because the Thai owner of this for-profit business is, while 95% of the students are Buddhist, 3% Muslim, and maybe 2% Catholic. A fringe-benefit of working for a Catholic school is that I would get the week between Christmas and New Years off. Remember, neither of those days are holidays in Thailand.

The interview went well, and the Assistant Director said there was a good chance I would get an offer next week. I may also get an offer from the school in Pinklao.

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The stats: 8 days, 4 potential interviews, 3 actual interviews, 2 offers, and 1 job. I decided to take a job with the first place I talked to, the private bilingual school across the river in Pinklao. I’m turning down an offer from the “suburban” bilingual school, and I don’t want to work at the boys Christian school, even if it is offered to me.

The interview at the Christian school was hostile and negative. I had to start out defending why I wanted to teach in Thailand, even though I have a degree in Computer Science. Then the guy regaled me with tales of chaos in the classroom: high school boys out of control, students with Tourette’s Syndrome going crazy, and teachers afraid to go into their classrooms. He didn’t sell his school too well (I was interviewing him too, after all), and I decided that the last thing I want to deal with would be a roomful of teenage boys, no matter what the nationality.

The “suburban” school was OK, but the offer was only 35,000, the school was very big (60 foreign teachers!), the classes were big (35 students), and there is no air conditioning. It’s not TOO far away, though. It was worth considering, but the Pinklao school was better, despite the distance.

The school I will work at is very nice. It is fairly big, at 3,000 students, but the bilingual program is small, with only a couple hundred. It’s also very expensive. The facilities are nice, I like my boss, and, I know somebody who already works there. The money is also good: an even 40,000 baht. That seems like a lot of money, until it’s converted into dollars. Then it becomes $1,000 a month. Hopeless poverty in the US, but enough for my expenses in Bangkok. I also will get basic health insurance. And, since I’m working for a “real,” not a language school, I will get all the national holidays off, as well as term breaks. There are a lot of national holidays in Thailand.

I suppose I should talk about “bilingual schools,” because I don’t think I have explained these. There have always been international schools, which hire “real” teachers (and pay “real” money, 60,000+ baht), and teach exclusively in English. However, they are very expensive, so cater mostly to expatriates. In the last few years, many schools have started programs catering to middle class Thais. Poor man’s international schools, if you will. Subjects like Thai grammar and Thai culture are taught in Thai, but everything else is taught in English, by English speakers. At some schools, a Thai teacher will then re-teach the subjects in Thai. The idea is that if kids go through a program like this, they will become fluent in English.

In my job search strategy, I targeted bilingual schools and universities. I never applied to any private language schools, which teach only English. I liked the idea of the bilingual schools, because I could teach other subjects. I liked the idea of universities, because I could teach young adults. This would have been my preference. Unfortunately, I did not hear from any universities. There was a chance that I might have been able to get a job at a university through a friend in June. But I couldn’t wait that long.

So, barring young adults, and not wanting to deal with rowdy high-schoolers, that leaves primary students. I’ll be teaching upper primary, which is my second choice of age-group. I never though I would teach kids, but I hear they are very well behaved. Apparently, instead of rowdiness, the problem is apathy. The kids come from well-off families, so many of them have an attitude that they don’t have to learn, since they know they will get a job with their daddy’s company when they grow up. Still not perfect, but it’s the lesser of two evils.

Tomorrow I’ll go over there to meet with my boss, who will show me some apartments. I still have 30 days in my over-priced, pink place in Victory Monument, so this will be preliminary looking. I should be able to find a place for half of what I pay now. I will start teaching summer school on the 29th. Before then, I will have to go to Malaysia to get a Non-Immigrant visa. Hopefully I can spend a little time in Phuket while I am in the South.

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I think I’m really stressed out. A few things have been bothering me, and giving me really bad headaches.

• I have a new job. This is good news, but I am worried about the uncertainty. Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that I will be teaching math and science to children. I studied teaching English to adults, so I’m technically not qualified for the job.

• I’m taking a holiday, hopefully to Phuket. This is good news too, but I’ll be trying public transportation, and am not sure how it will work out. I think I can just show up at the bus station and go. There’s also the travel uncertainty of finding a place to stay. Phuket is expensive, so I’ll have to look carefully for a 500 baht place.

• Complicating the holiday is the fact that I’m combining it with a visa run to Pengang, Malaysia. More travel headaches, and I’ll have to time it just right to get back here for my first day of work on the 29th.

• The thing that’s bothering me the most is the apartment situation. I stupidly didn’t put in 30 days notice last month, so I have to pay up until the 18th of next month if I want to get my two month deposit back. I found a nice condo close to work for a low price of 7,000 baht, but that would start on the 1st. I would have three weeks of overlap, and my current place is 10,500 baht, so that’s a lot of money. I can’t decide if I should forget about it and keep looking, or bite the bullet and pay.

I actually feel a little better since I’ve written this. Hopefully I’ll even better once I’m on a bus headed south.

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What are the job requirements of a Thai bus stewardess? Potential applicants must:

• be able to collect tickets and pass out a tiny bottle of water to passengers
• have legs that look nice in a miniskirt
• look pissed off all the time
• have an uncanny ability to remain out of sight of passengers for the duration of the trip

Yes, I’m starting out on the epic 15-hour journey to the island paradise of Phuket. Today was a successful day. I accomplished all of my goals as well as can be expected, and feel better.

First, I paid my 14,000 baht ($350) rent/utility/laundry bill at my current apartment. The bastards refuse to give me a discount because I’m leaving early. So I changed my move out day to the 18th, even thought I will actually leave earlier.

Then I went to my school for my first experience with Thai bureaucracy. I had to pick up a package to give to the consulate when I apply for my visa, to prove I will really be working here. The receptionist sent me upstairs, where I had to wait 45 minutes for the lady to come back from lunch (I had an appointment). She then took me downstairs and got my package from the original receptionist.

Next I went back to talk with the people subleasing the condo. Since my current lease finishes on the 18th, I wanted to delay starting my new lease as long as possible. Understandably, they wanted somebody paying rent ASAP. They are really nice, and we compromised on the 7th, So I only have two weeks of overlap. I paid the two month deposit of 14,000 baht (one month were I am now), and signed the Thai contract.

When I said I was going to Phuket, my new landlady offered to drive me to the bus station. I bought a ticket on a VIP bus for 755 baht ($19). If I would have had more time to plan, I could have bought a plane ticket for 2,000 baht ($50), but they were out of seats. So epic bus trip it will be. Next stop, Phuket.

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Patong at night

I arrived in the typically ugly Thai town of Phuket at 5:30 am, only 12 hours, not 15. Still too long, though. I dreaded facing the mob of touts, but to my surprise, they ignored me, the only farang on the bus. I finally got a motorbike driver to take me to Patong for the exhorbiant price of 150 baht. It was pretty far, though - the island is huge.

I actually had bought a Lonely Planet before the trip, but as usual, I never look at it. I used my rudimentary Thai to tell my driver to take me to a cheap hotel. He asked around, and took me to the nice Baan Ton Sai (Late Morning House). More than I wanted to pay at 600 baht, but A/C, and for 20 baht I can take a motorbike to the beach/town.

Patong is really something else. An entire town dedicated to tourism. Like all Thai towns, it’s not much to look at during the day, with street after street of shops, restaurants, hotels, travel agents, massage parlors, and empty beer bars. But the transformation at night was shocking. Everything is lit up, supersized tuk tuks line the sidewalks, and said beer bars are packed with Thai women shouting “hello welcome” at passersby and dancing on tables, and middle-aged European tourists in search of a girlfriend. The place is geared towards an older and more affluent crowd than I am accustomed to, and is hippy free.

Beach guy

The beach is OK, but the bay is full of boats and jet skis, and the beach is packed with jet skis and chairs. If you want to sit, you have to rent a chair for 50 baht ($1.25). Making matters worse is the prevalence of topless overweight middle-aged European tourists. Finally, every time I go to the beach, it rains.

Today I arranged transport to Penang for Tuesday. Fourteen hours. Hopefully I can take the train back to Bangkok.

Now I’m trying to decide if I am going to dive. I’ve become the ultimate cheapskate since I’ve been living in Bangkok without a job.

Oh, and like most transliterations of Thai words, “Phuket” is spelled wrong. It is pronounced poo-get.

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I could have done that

Kikiat is the Thai word for "lazy," which describes my time in Phuket. It's been mostly just laying on the beach all day, and drinking beer all night. But I managed to throw in a Thai massage every day.

Since Patong beach is so unremarkable, one day I made the effort to go to Kata beach (again misspelled - it should be "Gata"). I found a motorbike guy to take me for 100 baht, enough to go halfway across Bangkok in a taxi. The beach itself was still only OK, but there was a slightly younger set of topless Europeans, plus Japanese bikini babes. Ironically, you'll hardly ever see a Thai on a beach, and when you do, they'll be covered from head to toe.

But, the beach was still covered with chairs, and the bastards wanted 100 baht. Extortion. The town of Kata was nice, and not in your face like Patong. There were even budget restaurants. When it came time to return, I couldn't find a motorbike guy, so I had to take a super tuk tuk. 200 baht. Ouch. If transportation weren't prohibitively expensive on Phuket, it would be ideal to stay in Kata, and commute to Patong at night.

Everything is expensive in Patong, especially food. Most restaurants serve seafood, so a meal for less than 100 baht is a challenge. Even McDonald's, KFC, and Chester's Grill (Thai fast food) have special menus, with special prices. And even eating Thai food wasn't an option, because I couldn't find it. The Thais don't eat the stuff they make for tourists, so they must be getting Thai food somewhere. I was finally directed to a tiny ally, easily missed unless you were looking for it, lined with vendors.

Gas station

I did go diving on my last day. I picked a place primarily based on the fact they said they had a -5 mask. Of course they actually didn't. It was still OK, though. I couldn?t see individual fish, but there were so many of them it was like being surrounded by huge moving clouds.

I also did my first wreck dive. It was a little scary because a)my left ear wouldn't equalize, b)there was a very strong current, so we had to hang on to the line tightly, c)the current kept making my mask fill up, and I had forgotten how to clear it, d)visibility was about 1 meter. But when we got to the wreck, there it was, looming all around us. Pretty cool. The problem with these dive trips with people you don't know is that some wanker always sucks down his air in 30 minutes, and you have to go up early. This is still me, but this could eventually be a problem.

The woman who sold me my ticket to Penang said it was 4 hours by minibus to Hat Yai, the 8 hours by big bus to Penang. It was actually 8 hours to Hat Yai, and there was not big bus. So 12 hours by minibus (an overcrowded van). Grueling.

My strategy of doing no research on my destination backfired this time. I told a taxi driver to take me to a cheap hotel, and he took me to the third worst place I've ever seen I said I didn't like it, and he took me to the second worst place I've ever seen. I paid him (too much) and wandered around randomly on foot, and found the absolute worst place I?ve ever stayed at. At least it's only $5.

I was once again impressed how clean and modern Malaysia is compared to Thailand. I don't think Malaysia is a third world country. It's also different because the people are a mix of Malay, Indian, and Chinese, none of who look remotely like Thais. Wherever you go in Thaialnd, everyone is Thai.

Georgetown also looks sort of interesting, because it has a lot of colonial architecture. As bad a colonialism was (and still is), it did leave behind some beautiful buildings in unlikely places like Malaysia, Cambodia, and Burma. But Thailand, never having been colonized, only has ugly concrete shophouses. In fact, whenever I ride through Thailand, I'm always amazed at how ugly the country is. But driving on a Malaysian highway is like driving in the US.

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cannon

I didn’t want to come to Penang, but lots of people do, and there are many tourists here, mostly of the backpacker variety. Excitedly asking each other how long they’ve been traveling, and whether they are going to Viang Vieng. I’m here for a visa, though, so I got up early to look for someone on the backpacker street who could help me. I eventually settled on one of the Indian money changers, who also does visas. As of last August, visa prices quadrupled, and a one-year multiple-entry non-immigrant business visa now costs $125. Insane. Even though I love Thailand, this fleecing of foreigners, along with all the crackdowns, gives me second thoughts about living there.

I should have my visa tomorrow, and be on a minibus to Hat Yai at 3 pm. I’ll look into flying from there.

I didn’t have a map, so I wandered around randomly, and ended up at a huge mall. It’s incredibly hot out, so the mall felt pretty good. I could have happily hung out there all day (I am a master at killing time), but I feel like I am obligated to do some tourist stuff. So I asked the waiter at Pizza Hut where I should go. He said Fort Cornwallis.

So I took a bus to the fort, paid my dollar to get in, and was gravely disappointed. It simultaneously sucked and blew. Then I walked over to the museum, but it was closed. I had heard Penang Hill is nice, but a waitress said the tram to the top is closed. Another waitress said there is an interesting Chinese temple. Maybe I’ll try to find it tomorrow. Or maybe not. I just don’t feel very touristy. So, there probably won’t be any new pictures of Malaysia. Except for the gigantic dead rat on the sidewalk.

So, I’m back in the mall, killing time, drinking an exorbitantly expensive frapacino at Starbuck’s. There’s lots of software stores proudly displaying pirated software for $1. It’s conveniently out in the open, unlike post-APEC Thailand, where you have to deal with dodgy guys in secret back rooms. There’s even a store call the House of Condoms. You wouldn’t expect that in Muslim Malaysia, would you? If somebody opened a store with that name in Thailand, they’d probably be thrown in jail.

Crackdown

In the past, you could pay someone to take your passport on a trip to obtain a Non Immigrant visa. You didn’t even need a letter of employment. Just enough baht. But right before APEC, the government started enforcing the nonsensical and inconvenient rule that you must leave the country to get a visa. Foreigners have actually been put in jail for using visa agents. It seems they should go after the agents, not the foreigners, some of whom are just ignorant.

One of the attractions of Thailand is the mai bpen rai attitude, and the flexible rules this entails. But this anal-retentive enforcement of pointless laws is fun for no one: foreigners and immigrations officials, who lose a source of extra income, alike.

You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Bangkok?

They don’t. They don’t have it. And it has nothing to do with the metric system, because Malaysian McDonalds’ do have Quarter Pounders. So why don’t Thai MacDonalds’ have them? And why do Thai McDonalds’ (and not Malaysian ones) have a sandwich called the “Samurai Pork Burger?” Samurais come form Japan, not Thailand.

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I picked up my passport with a shiny new Non Immigrant B visa attached, and boarded another minibus, this one to Hat Yai, Thailand. These things are the worst way to travel: just big vans, with three row of three seats, and three in the front, so twelve passengers crammed in. There is no legroom, the AC never works, and the curtains don’t stop the sun from heating up the interior. Plus, they’re often full of stinky hippies.

I got to Hat Yai at 7 pm, and asked a travel agent about planes. Not surprisingly, they are full today and tomorrow. So I took a motorbike to the train station, but it was closed. By this time I just wanted to go home as soon as possible, and not have to spent a night in Hat Yai. So I took a motorbike back to the bus station, and bought a ticket for the 8:00 bus to krungthep (Bangkok). It only cost 600 baht ($15). I can read enough Thai to see that on my ticket for “name” they wrote farang.

I was prepared for a 24 hour journey, so I was pleasantly surprised after I was awoken by lights and music at 5:30 am (after the anger wore off) to see Bangkok all around me. I don’t understand how this worked out. Bangkok to Phuket took 12 hours. Phuket to Hat Yai took 8 hours. Granted, Phuket was a bit out of the way, but Hat Yai to Bangkok only took 10. Busses are pretty uncomfortable, but I can handle them for up to 12 hours. Given the savings over flying, they are a good way to get around Thailand. Sure, I would have had a sleeper on the train, but it would have taken twice as long.

My forced holiday has rekindled my interest in travel, and now that I have a Lonely Planet, I hope to see more of meuang thai (Thailand). First up is Songkran, Thai new years next month. It’s a three-day public holiday, but I think I get the week off. What it is is a puble water fight. This may sound like fun, but imagine being repeatedly doused with water every time you went outside for three days. The plan is to leave Bangkok, and go somewhere smaller, where it won’t be as chaotic. Unfortunately, that’s a lot of Thais’ plans too, so that eliminates islands and beaches. I’m guessing the national parks will be a less popular destination, so this may be an opportunity to get back to nature.

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