Chakri day, elections, no alcohol

6th April is a public holiday called Chakri day. Its a celebration of the 'house of Chakri' from which the current Royal Family originates. The first Chakri king was Rama 1, who was King of Siam in 1782. The current King is Rama IX and he has ruled from 1946. The people of Thailand express their thanks to the Kings by laying flowers at the statues of Rama 1.

There is a ban on the sale of alcohol this weekend as its an election day on Sunday. Its law here that no alcohol can be sold from 24 hours before and on election day. Thailand is a constitutional democratic monarchy, they have a lady prime minister and the very much loved King.

The bars also will be closed on Monday, 9th, as the Royal Princess will be cremated. She was the only child of Rama VI and died at the age of 85.
This will be a tough 4 days for the alcohol industry!

Great Iced Coffee

I have mastered how to make iced coffee, Thai style.
Put a teaspoon of instant coffee in a mug.
Add a little boiling water, to make the mug 1 third full.
Add two teaspoons of Condensed Milk, add more if you want it sweet.
Stir till the coffee and condensed milk are mixed.
Fill the mug with ice blocks.
Add whipped cream on top, this is optional.

Drink. You need to stir it occasionally as the ice melts.

ENJOY  on a hot day!

Phi Phi island group

Phi Phi Lee is the smaller island and is where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed. Its a pretty bay and beach for day visitors.

A small outcrop to the south is called Koh Bida Nok. A popular spot for diving.

Joe and Mercia went down first and then Joe took Robert down. The dive is at about 12 meters and there is lots to see. The book talks of Leopard Sharks and they were seen on both dives. Rob said it was about 1,5m long and graceful to watch swimming past him. 

They saw lots of big schools of fish and a huge Lion fish. 

At one point Rob decided to do a breast stroke movement and as his hand came back it touched a

 sea-urchin, the spines went into his hand! Thankfully only a few mm deep and its not painful. He has to just wait for them to fall out, they cannot be pulled out.

Rob taking Joe and Mercia for their dive on Koh Bida Nok. They are experienced divers and were very pleased with this spot as an easy dive with lots to see. (Not much coral)  Water temp is 31.5C, they are wearing thin 'stinger' suits. These keep you warm, even though the water temp is so high, you can get cold after a few dives. The suit also protects you against the jelly fish bites.

Watching a fishing boat

We decided to take our friends to Phi Phi island for the night. On the way we came across a fishing boat pulling in his net.  Rob kept our boat close to him and we watched the whole process which turned out to be more than expected. The fishermen got used to being watched and were smiling and waving at the end. The process was very efficient, with each man having a duty.
Below is the story in photos.

Here you can see the net out in a circle. The white bouys float the one side, the other side (bottom) has been pulled in, to close it into a bag shape. The fish are all trapped in this.

The net is nearly all pulled in, close to the boat.

They now put a smaller net into the big net. It has large holes that the small fish can fall through. What it did catch was about 5 huge pink jelly fish. These are thrown away.

The net is then pulled towards the back of the boat. We could now see the small fish in the net. The chap on the right has a long stick with a net which scoops up some fish. They are thrown into a shallow tray, you can see them stacked on the left. The fish are small, about 6 cm long.

The trays are passed to the other side of the boat where the fish are cooked. This was amazing to see. I expected them to be stored on ice!

The trays are dipped into boiling water for short time then passed left and stored on the roof of the boat under covers.

I have seen little packets of dried fish for sale and assume its these.

It was so interesting watching this process. The sea was very calm...do they still having boiling water in rough seas, or maybe they just dont fish?

Captain Hook

On Monday we all went to eat at 'Captain Hook' in Chalong. Every Monday they serve half duck with mash, gravy and rot kraut for 350 Baht! Its fabulous! A feast for all.
Then we went to Swensens and had pudding....icecream.
So I need to swim around the boat for about an hour now!

Sight seeing

Big Buddha is a must for tourists and we took our friends up there. The views are wonderful and the construction of this 45 meter Buddha is amazing to see. The construction started a few years ago and we have watched it develop of the years. Its sits on top of the mountain with 360deg views of Phuket. The whole construction has been done on donations.

Rob tried his hand at the big 'gong', if you rub the curved metal it starts to vibrate and hum. Rob got a good drone out of it.

While looking at Big Buddha from the side I noticed a man in its ear! I have zoomed in and lightened the photo so you can see the 'bug' in Buddha ear!

The workman are busy inside the statue so I gather thats why he was up there.

  

The view to the South of the island.

My Birthday 30 March

I got to celebrate my birthday with 3 other South African couples (2 lots of friends here on holiday and a couple that live here) and an Aussie couple from a neighboring boat in the marina.

We went to 'Ceramic Kitchen' which is a restaurant with a pottery factory in the back. Its set under a thatch roof with water and flowers everywhere. Very pretty. We had a great time and even got to dance to the music of a two piece band.