Phurther Phuket Phollies

So we've left Thailand behind with many promises to be back and arrived in Vietnam. Some wrap up thoughts of Phuket:

1) The first time I ever heard Phuket even mentioned was in winter 2004 after the tsunami. I remember seeing some of the photographs later recovered from people's cameras. They're in their bathing suits, just standing on the beach, watching the water recede. They were probably confused or excited or scared, maybe calling their friends and family to them to come watch the spectacle, maybe shouting for those friends and family to run. I read an article by Jet Li, who was in the Maldives when the tsunami hit, and he described how it didn't come as one torrential wave like in a cartoon. It was more like he took one step and the water was up to his knees and then another and it was at his waist and another and it was at his shoulders until it went over his head and he struggled to keep his daughter above the angry sea.

So we wanted to stop our mindlessness for a moment to remember those people who, like us, were just on vacation and having fun when the world changed.

We'd heard there were underwater memorials but we wanted to see one on land. When we asked the police officer at Patong if there was a memorial on that stretch of beach, a tourism hub, he said no, shrugging, "Thousands of people died here." Since we had read about a memorial at Kamala beach, we asked a tuk-tuk driver how much it would be to get us there. Amazingly, he wasn't even sure where it was, but gave us a price and agreed to look for it since we had a general idea where it would be.

The main memorial can be seen here: http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2020537860098531603SMCwPh
For those who can't open that link, imagine a spiderweb of metal, roughly shaped like a sphere, with what seems to be waves of the same material inside of it. It's huge, about 20 feet high, on a raised patch of earth.

One of the things that struck me was the wording on it. It was not angry or regretful. In part, it read, "“Natural disaster is caused by a shift of nature to obtain equilibrium of the earth. Motions and forces of nature are inseparable. Its dynamism includes connecting, flowing and changing things ranging from atomic structure, physical chemistry, human behaviour to inner universe as a cycle of life linking everything to one.”

A little further away, on the beach, there was another memorial placed by Japan. It, too, had a subdued tone, something about paying respect to the Andaman Sea so it would respect you -- us -- back. It made me think of the offerings we'd made on our boating trip. I hope to stay forever on the Sea's good side.

2) Back to frivolity: A bunch of Australians we met on our boating outing told us we HAD to go to Bangla Road and oh, wasn't it the bestest and funnest. So that's how we spent our last night, amazed at the skankiness that was Bangla Road. (Note remarkable restraint in not making any "Bang-her Road" jokes. And to the pervs out there who commented on where we're visiting: Phuket is NOT pronounced the way you think it is, so stop it with your little remarks.)

We were saying it was another Bourbon Street, Thailand. But much, much, much worse. The sex tourist quota was way high. The minute a guy entered one of the bars, he had a lady at his side, and he could buy her a drink at a reduced "lady drink" price so indicated on the menu.

Jordo and I camped out at one bar for a bit, drinking Long Island Iced Teas out of glasses shaped like naked ladies (Me: "Watch your hands, sicko! You're married now!" Jordo: "It's a glass!") We watched what was obviously, tragically, a relationship based on nothing more than the exchange of bhat develop near us. We noticed another couple watching, too, and I walked over to ask them if they thought they were seeing what we thought we thought we were seeing. The couple, from Holland, agreed.

We saw other couples find each other in this way. In one bar, the older white man was holding the young Thai girl's arm, as if she couldn't bear to touch his hand. (Well, Julia Roberts's big standard was she didn't kiss her johns on the lips.) (Incidentally, we've been talking about judging people based on superficial factors and how wrong and it and I had to admit it: I look down on people who like "Pretty Woman." I'm trying to be better about this.) (No offense, T.)

We saw another couple walking together and it looked like he was trying to turn into the McDonald's. Like, "Oh, I said I'd get you a meal, too? Have a happy one." The woman resisted and there seemed to be a little argument. Then the woman went down on her knees in front of the man, causing me to gasp. (Especially since we were like Stalker Jack and Jill, right next to them.) She got up and they seemed to make up and they walked on. Jordo mused that maybe she was just trying to show her submission to her manly man who has to pay for companionship.

It was disturbing. And sad. And it could have been funny, too, if Jordo had just heard me out and gone through with my plan to have him enter a bar alone while I stood outside and observed for a little while. He declined, possibly thinking I would evilly observe for way too long or shoot incriminating photos. Such trust issues, we have in this marriage.....

(That said, please note that when Jordo was getting a Thai massage, I pulled back the curtain a few times and took photos that could be seen as incriminating -- i.e., woman sitting on his back, smiling. I plan to keep these on hand in case he ever says he wants to run for public office as I will not be a good pol's wife. I had that reinforced while watching Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC, when I thought, "Michelle, tell these people to bite your tall drink of water self and vote for your husband because he's the best, dammit. That's what I'd do.")

3) Jordo did the "Palin, Palin" thing while we were shopping on Bangla Road and one man actually answered back, questioningly, "Palin?" Later, when we walked by that guy again, he shouted, "Palin! Palin!" You have to be flexible in retail.

More later.