Mon, 19 Jun 2000 04:44:13 GMT
Hello family and friends, 

Thailand is country full of wonder and suprises for the western traveller.  We found Thai people warm and friendly, especially towards the kids. Lots of people now have photos of our children as many asked if they could take their picture with them. We found it easy and inexpensive to move around.  Thailand was incredibly photogenic, with strong colors, intense scenery, amazing nature. 

Our travels were limited to about a month, split nearly equally between 
Bangkok - big city, hubub of activity, amazingly bad traffic, wonderful shopping (want to go back when we're not travelling light! 
Koh Samui - island in Gulf of Thailand, catering to travellers. 
Krabi - west coast beaches on Andaman Sea with some of the best rock  climbing cliffs in the world. 

Some of the images that remain are: 
Spicy, intense, wonderful food.  Very unusal and delicious exotic fruits. 

Wonderfully varied and entertaining modes of transportation: airplanes, walking, tuk-tuks (souped up three wheeled golf carts that belch and sputter but which the kids adore), the efficient skytrain in Bangkok, long boats nosily plying the canals around the city, ferries (which have seen much better days probably about 50 years ago), taxis (whose drivers are fearless, and reliable), full size busses, and mini busses. 

Cool hearts - the ability to remain cool and calm in nearly all situations permeates throughout the country.  Even the children are taught this concept from a very early age and seem so subdued, which led us to be more aware of the especially improved tantrums Nathan has been having now at three. 

Buddhism - everywhere.  Ornate, colorful temples, monks all clad in saffron colored robes, shrines galore and spirit houses for every building (must have a place for the spirits to live and if you improve your house or building you must also improve the spirit house). Nearly every Thai male becomes a monk at some point in his life for at least a short period of time. 

Loyalty to the monarchy.  There are pictures of the king everywhere and criticism of the royal family is not allowed.  From all that we heard and read the current king deserves the respect, but guess that's really all you can expect to read or hear considering the consequences.  The former royal residence is a wonderful display of Asian opulance. 

Overriding feeling of live and let live, let people enjoy themselves, especially in Koh Samui.  Wonderful memory of the kids expressions while riding elephants and watching monkeys that have been specially trained to retrieve coconuts from trees.  Ko Samui exports over one million coconuts to Bangkok each month so they are busy little gibbons. 

Bonnie thought she would die from a bad case of Thailand tummy, and the kids both had minor bouts of GI problems, which they all got over without lasting problems. 

Overall, highly recommended as an economical, easy place to visit that will expose one to an interesting Asian culture. 

It is definitely on our must see again list. 

Please let us know how you've been and what you've been up to lately. 

Love, Ky and Bonnie