Thailand - mind your passport

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  Ko Phangan, Thailand
Sunday, December 2, 2007

So we arrived in Thailand about 3 weeks ago. We got a taxi from Cambodia to the Thai border and then another one from the Thai border to Bangkok. We travelled about 400miles, across two countries for about 50dollars each, the whole thing took about 7 hours. Anywhere else in the world and i would think that getting a taxi across two countries would be a bit mental but out here it seems to be the norm. The Cambodia leg of the trip was beyond a joke. You couldn't call the crater infested dirt track a road. The driver spent 3 hours swerving around massive depressions in the muck. There was nothing but swamp either side of the track which we were lucky to avoid. Never will i complain about Irish roads again. 

When we got to Bangkok, we were dropped off at the Koh San road which is the main street for 'farangs' in the city. When i got to the hotel, i realised fairly lively that my passport was gone

another good round - have a look

. Welcome to Bangkok. I headed off to the copshop down the road and they sent me to the other side of the city to the 'tourist police'. When i got there, everybody was asleep. The place was a joke. They were more like tourist guides than cops, with their happy bright  yellow uniforms. The girl behind the counter asked me exactly when and where i lost the passport. I said i couldn't be exact, if i knew exactly when i lost the thing it wouldn't be lost...'yeah, i left it under the bed at 10.21pm on the dot, can you help me find it? She made me fill out a report which i had to pay for and instructed me to be general on the report, not to say exactly where the passport was, no doubt to save her a bit of work. I said on the report that the passport was either in the taxi or on the Koh San road, i asked her if she could check the taxi for me and she threatend me with a fine and a little stay in the 'hotel Bangkok'...according to her i was now lying to the police...what a pile of shite. I left the place and had to wait two days until Monday morn when the Irish consulate was open. After paying a tasty fee for a temporary passport, getting it witnessed by a bank manager (weird), and trying to get my birth cert faxed over to bangkok by the Guards in Cork, my passport was handed into the consulate by someone who had been in the taxi straight after me. What a stroke of luck. That little red book is now strapped to my groin.

After spending 5 nights in Bangkok we flew south to the islands

Bangkok supper - maggots

. We spent a few nights in Koh Samui, what a fine spot. We stayed in a bungalow, spitting distance from the beach. We went to see some Thai Boxing one night. I'd definately recommend it for anyone heading out this way. After that we went to Koh Tao, a small island about two hours away on a catamarang. The whole island is dedicated to scuba divers, seeing as we had no intention of spending 3 days doing a course and going to dive classes, we felt like lepers on the island. Probably the only people there not diving. We left after 2 days and went down to Koh Phagnan, the place where they have the full moon partys once a month. We managed to squeeze in a black moon party on the beach. Fairly class. The only dissapointment about the island was the cockroach infested shit box of a bungalow that we managed to sleep in for two nights. Now we're back in Koh Samui. Only a few days left before heading to Oz. Time is flying by.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures & Videos

bbq	beach	beach bar	beach front
beach hut	chill out zone in the forest	dinner vid	ed
fight	fight starting	fighters meet	fighters praying before the bust-up
fishermen	Garda on a skewer anyone?	get ready to rumble	huts stuck to side of the cliff
impressive menu	Is it just me or has DJ grown a bit	Koh Samui	Koh Tao
Koh Tao 2	lifeguard on duty	lizard in the bungalow	meself again
Monte Vista spa	more water	new look for the interviews	savage round
side effects from the Malarone tablets	storm brewing	strand	the beach again
the beach in Lamai, Koh Samui	the hog	the island	the island, just off Koh Phagnan
the pier	the uisce	The walk down to our bungalow	U2 bar
view from mountain	view from the boat	water	water front
what's up DJ's nose?

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