On the evening of Christmas Day we landed on Koh Chang ("Elephant Island"), the second largest island in Thailand. The tropical foliage, laid back atmosphere and warm water made for the most relaxing days I've experienced since leaving for Japan, yet, somehow something didn't feel right. As I gazed through the palm trees into the emerald horizon the very first thought to enter my mind was,"Kumquat. Was kumquat, perhaps, my favorite bubble tea flavor back at the Great Wall in Bloomington? What on earth am I doing in Thailand right now?"
Yes, beautiful tropical island. blah blah blah. Perhaps ten years ago it was a virgin rain forest paradise escape, but today Koh Chang (& the rest of Thailand for that matter) has many of the same problems as the United States.
And they're all fat white men.
As you can see here, Koh Chang is a true escape from modernity. The island also now features more than a dozen golf courses. Who needs a rain forest when you could have thousands of pudgy European men bringing piles and piles of fresh Euros and Pounds to spend on a relaxing weekend with their new Thai girlfriends?
Tourist catered destruction aside, the scenery is lovely. German Speaker and Infectious Laughter both seemed really touched by the sunset. I've seen my share of sunsets and, although less vocal about it all, still ended up spending most of the night this picture was taken sitting on a rock watching the form of the star change slightly at the point it met with the water's edge.In Le Petit Prince at some point it says that people really enjoy sunsets when they're sad. Maybe we were sad for the island that night. As for me, I think I was lonely for bubble tea.
Another example of the island's authentic spirit. A North American First Nations themed Swedish restaurant!
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