My trip to Thailand

If you continue up the Malay Peninsula from Malaysia, the next country you get to is Thailand. Do you see where Thailand gets very narrow? The land connects the Malay Peninsula with the rest of Southeast Asia. It also separates the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean. A narrow piece of land that connects two larger landmasses is known as an "isthmus." Isthmus is very hard word to pronounce. This particular isthmus is known as the Isthmus of Kra.

Off the west side of the Isthmus of Kra is a little island known as Phuket. Phuket has beautiful beaches, so it has gotten very touristy. Fortunately, I was traveling with Nick, who spent an entire year living on a remote Thai island, so he was able to take me by ferry to a much more rural island nearby. What an adventure!

One thing you need to know is that, while Thailand is a majority Buddhist country, the people in the southern part of the country are mostly Muslims. If you're in the heavily populated areas of the south (like Phuket), then you will see lots of Buddhists; if you go to more remote places in the south, then most of the people you meet will be Muslims.

Nick thinks you also need to know that global culture has to adapt to local realities, which is why Ronald McDonald is greeting customers at the Phuket McDonald's with the traditional Thai Buddhist greeting of a slight bow with the hands pressed together.

Ronald McDonald greets customers in the traditional Thai manner.

Here is a photo of the streets of Phuket. You can see that it is decorated with beautiful red paper lanterns. You might also notice that lots of people are riding motorbikes, which are a common way to get around throughout Southeast Asia.

I observe the streets of Phuket.

Here are some photographs of the boat we took from Phuket to get to our more remote island.

The boat is in the harbor.

I pose in front of the harbor in Phuket.

Here I am aboard the ferry.

The island we visited is called Koh Yao Yai, which mean "Big Long Island" in Thai. Koh Yao Yai is unique because it is one of the few places in the world where you can find mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and coral reefs all within a few hundred meters of each other. Nick is an oceanographer, and he has spent a lot of time living on Koh Yao Yai studying the mangrove swamps and the water around the island. While I was there, I got to help Nick collect some ocean water samples to do some scientific analyses.

Here's a map of where Koh Yao Yai is.

Isn't Koh Yao Yai beautiful at sunset?

Nick is very interested in animals, so he showed me some interesting fauna. I'm not sure I liked seeing all of it.

Here are some shells from the beach.

Here is an eel that Nick has pulled out of the water with a stick.

Here is a scorpion that Nick found in his house.

Here is a baby cobra that came into Nick's kitchen with the monsoon.

In addition to Nick and his wildlife, Koh Yao Yai is inhabited by fishermen and farmers. The main crops are coconuts, rubber, palm, and rice. I like the coconuts best.

I play with some coconuts.

A close-up of me with the coconuts.

You'll be surprised to learn that the fishermen don't catch fish using hooks and lines like in America; rather, their preferred method of fishing is to use large wooden fish traps that they build from branches and nets.

Here is a Thai fishing boat from Koh Yao Yai.

I really enjoyed visiting Thailand. It is so much fun to get to go with a scientist who knows his way around so that I can learn all about the environment in the area!

--Benny