Jeff's Log ~ Saturday December 15th, 2007

7 46.518N 98 18.156E Naihan Beach, Thailand

Well, I finally have my new visa, and won’t have to go through this bond affair again. Yesterday I made my visa run to Burma. There were thirty five of us on the bus for the ride to Ranong. On Thursday, I went to immigration in Phuket Town, and had to give them 22,500baht, around 700US, and they gave me my clearance to leave. Next week, I will get 20,000baht returned to me. The visa run costs 1500baht, around 50US, and it is an all day affair.

I got up at 5:00AM and met the driver at 6. It was dead low tide, which meant that I really got a good workout dragging the dink up to the dry sand line. The tides change by 3 meters here which means a 10 foot change in elevation. I had to drag the dingy about 15 yards through the sand, and there was absolutely no one around to ask for help. I really hope that the boat’s dingy gets back soon with the new fold down wheels on it. I took a large bottle of water with me to have after my workout, and by the time the driver got there, I was cooling down a bit. He cranked the ac. down for me, and we drove all around and into Phuket town picking up people in his minibus. He then rendezvoused with a big tour bus and we all got on that.

We left on the big bus at 7. At 9, we stopped at a Lion’s Club for breakfast. It was a buffet with western and Thai selections. The Thai food looked and smelled wonderful, so that’s what I had. I’m not sure of everything’s name, but I do know that one of my favorites, pad thai, was part of it. Then it was back on the bus and we didn’t stop again until Ranong where we cleared out at immigration. They then took us to the boat. The walk from the bus to the boat was through a rather foul smelling alley and warehouse. Inside the warehouse, there were people living in crudely constructed lofts, with five or six people in each family, including many small children. That has something to do with the foul smelling alley, I’m sure.

We all boarded a wooden boat, about forty feet long. There were a few young strong Thai guys to help everyone get on board. After a short trip through a very muddy bay, we came to the dock in Burma in a town called Kawthaung. There, everyone got off the boat, and we all walked across a bridge to the immigration office, got our passports stamped, and got back on the boat. In the short time that we were there, the local natives swarmed on us and were selling everything from local fresh fruit to hard liquor, and trying every tactic in the book to try to get you to buy from them. One pregnant lady had some fine looking fish and chips, so I got some of that for 10baht, about thirty cents. It was really good too!

The lady sitting in front of me was a missionary, and she started handing out 100baht notes to all of the gang. She just about started a riot because the natives became like a flock of sea gulls. She was all smiling though and said she was glad she could bring blessings to such poor people. All I can say is that if it feels good, do it. We chatted all the way back. She was from Kansas, and has been here teaching for three years.

When we got back to the dock, we boarded the bus for the short ride to Ranong immigration and checked back in. I now have a regular tourist visa, so I won’t have to go through the yacht crew bond situation again. There are visa runs that must be made every thirty days though. After check in, another short bus ride to stop at a small lunch buffet. This time, it was rice with a veggie stir fry, or veggie and chicken stir fry, with a fried egg and some watermelon slices. It was really pretty tasty.

The bus ride home was just like the one on the way up. The elevation changes make the road very steep and windy, and thusly slow for a big, high tour bus. I was a little disappointed in the scenery. The road has been there so long that nature has grown right to the road and you can’t see much except a wall of trees and very tall bamboo in the undeveloped sections. There are very few roads, so it seems like you just go from town to town because everything has to be accessible by road. The towns all pretty much look alike. Up north, there does seem to be a little more space, and some wealthier people judging by the look of some of the places we went by. For the most part though, I would call the landscaping zeros cape. What grows grows, what dies dies, and if it’s in the way, it gets burned.

I finally returned to the boat at about 9:30. It was low tide again. So I had to drag the dink all the way down to the water. A young German lad and his girlfriend were nice enough to give me a hand.
I slept very well after my long day of visa run. Next time, I’ll take a book to read.