NW Thailand

Somehow I ended up in Northern Thailand this week. Didn't want to go into the Laos jungles without malaria pills, so at the last minute i split ways with my friends and popped down to northern Thailand b/c the meds were supposedly available. I procured some.

One guy i met in Thailand said your more likely to get hit by a bus than get malaria. More dangerous really that anything else is that anyone can rent a motor bike for $5 a day, and most people ride one cause its not easy to get around otherwise. I've had two minor crashes already. The pic above not only shows off my loose fitting hippie pants, but if you look carefully you can see one gash on my left foot and two on the right.

Originally I didn't know about the motor bikes, or really anything else for that matter. Not like China, where I've pretty much got things worked out. Thailand is really east to get around with just English and transport back and forth is easy arranged even in little towns, but I was definitely disoriented as to what to do with myself when i first arrived.

I've spent most of my time in a little town called Pai, about 4 hrs from Chiang Mai, which is the big city in NW Thailand that I flew into. Pai is one of those places that Lonely Planets highlights on the map as a place to relax with a bunch of other foreigners. Lots of dreadlocks, and a waterfall, and tons of guest houses where you can order fruit juice, burgers, Thai food, nachos, etc, all from a hammock.

It's pretty close to Burma. Some of the villagers outside the town are Burmese immigrants. Some have tattoos on their faces. Apparently many are also drug dealers. In previous years the government has been lax on drugs, which is partly why Pai has become so popular amongst the traveling crowd. But now the government is cracking down hard. One guy told me that the army has even forced impromptu piss tests for the villagers and shot dead anyone that failed. Foreigners are getting full body searches. Such violence is in total contrast to the rest of the vibe in Thailand. There is a gentleness here that you rarely see in China.

Taking a 16 hr bus to Bangkok in a few hours to sort out my China visa and visit with friends for the weekend. Then up to Laos to meet back up with the folks i parted with in China.