I hope you enjoy this excerpt from my book. It's about my visit to one of the islands in Thailand called Koh Samet. Enjoy!
Oh— the coast. The shoreline, the seaside, the beach. The sandy landscape of temporary footprints and heart n’ arrow patterns made from the nearest found stick, of searing sun and burns that blister, of sprays and lotions of simulated coconut, of floppy hats and wind-skewed Frisbees, of lifeless jelly fish washed ashore, to the Ministry of Silly Walks where men of muscle tip-toe from towel to shade across searing sand.
Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks
A day at the beach, where the water is permeated with salt and seaweed and other matter; a large, god-sized bowl of agitated shark-fin soup but with the whole shark. The tiki torches lit up the shore, and the moon struggled to appear as the wispy clouds made an easygoing appearance. But never did it rain, as their arrival was soon followed by soft departure. A banana daiquiri rested on a faded grey table in front of me and with a tiny teal umbrella made of paper and toothpick – if it did choose to rain; my $7 drink would have been uninjured.
I sat in an uneven chair positioned on the potholed surface of the beach while listening to the clatter of the waves. Laughs and chinwag enter my ears, too, as people nearby have much to declare. A lady selling cooked crab legs approached, but her delicious temptations were politely declined, as I had just eaten a meal of sea bass, fried morning glory and rice.
Poseidon, the god of the sea and of awful earthquakes lives out there, somewhere. He dwells in that bottomless and bothered expanse of the ocean. An angry god of foul attitude who claimed the lives of thousands of people on the day after Christmas in 2004 with his watery Tsunami wrath.
The Thai people will never forget this disaster, as the destructive memories are rooted miles downward. “How can I sit here in hog heaven, when hundreds of thousands of people’s lives and their livelihood were changed forever? Do I deserve such luxury?” I asked, but only in my mind. The contrast of me, a “rich” American, would only weaken my stomach if I hadn’t expressed thankfulness and gratitude for the blessings that I have. Just recently someone told me about the significance of writing down three things daily that I’m grateful for, and on this fine evening, there are many, as this beach is beautiful, and so are the people surrounding me.
An island that has been given the name of Koh Samet, positioned on the eastern side of Thailand’s southern “leg” in the gulf of Thailand. It’s far and away from Phuket and its surrounding islands, settled on the Indian Ocean – where the awful Tsunami devastated the lives of the masses. Koh Samet and other islands in the gulf of Thailand are believed to be immune from such disasters, as they are nestled and screened inside the top of the protective “horseshoe.”
Indeed, this island is one of breezy day dreams and wakeless evenings and laugher-induced enchantment. A quaint escape from the mainland; Koh Samet is a beach escape without the hordes. Affordable hotels and delightful bungalows pepper the sandscape. The cost to stay on this charming island is only twice that of land-locked Chiang Mai; a bargain considering this is an isle possessing some beautiful beaches that rival many around the world. Koh Samet has really just recently been discovered as a beach destination, and it’s not so burdened with tourists that it loses its appeal. This small and special island represents just a fraction of the many keys and beaches of Thailand, and it’s a fantastically quaint isle worth the exploration.