One of the more popular activities for visitors to Koh Libong, a relatively obscure island destination in southern Thailand, is a Dugong spotting tour. There are a reported 70-80 dugongs that live in the shallow waters and mangroves off the southeastern coast of this small island.

Commonly refered to as a sea cow because it’s diet consists primarily of sea grass, the dugong is a relatively large sea mammal and is related to the manatee. Since the early 20th century, the dugong populations in the wild have been in severe decline and they are now considered a rare or endangered species.

The Dugong spotting tour consists of going out to sea early in the morning by motorized longtail boat to a location where the dugongs have been observed before, and sitting there quietly in the hope that one will show up. If there is a dugong in the area, the creature will periodically come up for air - albeit for less than a second - before it submerges in the water. When the Dugong appears, the boatman will point and say Dugong – then before you can say boo, the creature is gone.

While I was in Koh Libong, I went on the Dugong tour with a Canadian couple - Bret and Annabell - apparently there were four individual sightings, however I was only able to observe only two as I was busy shooting the breeze with Bret. I distinctly remember the last sighting - one large dugong came up for air, then rolled over displaying a cream colored belly. That was quite impressive – but it lasted for no more than two seconds at the most.

It’s too bad these guides do not know more than just a few words of English so they could share their knowledge about the natural history of these unique creatures. Because of the lack of commentary, the tour is sort of a waste of time (and money) unless you’re your sole purpose was to have an opportunity to get a brief glimpse of this rare sea mammal. Remember there is no guarantee that you will even see this elusive creature.

For the 3rd consecutive year, I traveled to the city of Nan in Northern Thailand. Perhaps the biggest change in this very pleasant city has been the proliferation of coffee shops.

When I first visited Nan in November 2008 and there were only 3-4 coffee shops in the city center - now there are at least 15. This is an indicator of the increasing number of tourists visiting Nan - mostly Thais from Bangkok.

One of the newer (and best) coffee shops to open up in the last two years is Khao Tha Lu Chumporn Coffee with two outlets - one in the heart of the city and another one on the road leading out of town. I had the opportunity to get to know Paula (Walaiporn Suriyos) the owner of the downtown shop.

Originally Paula is from Surat Thani Province in Southern Thailand. Her family moved to Bangkok in 1972, where Paula received a degree in liberal arts and masters in Education Administration from a major University. Shortly after graduation, she worked as a volunteer in Nan in 1983, where she taught Mien hilltribe students and developed some fluency with their language as well.

After meeting her husband in Nan, Paula started a family and began her teaching full time at the nearby Baan Numkrokmai Middle School - her students are 12-15 years old. A very congenial lady who enjoys dealing with the public and a self-professed coffee lover, she opened up the coffee shop only two years ago after her friend from Chumpon indoctrinated her into the coffee business.

Her friend has connections with a big lowland coffee plantation in Chumpon Province and orders the premium Robusta coffee beans for her - the process of making the ground coffee is in Bangkok. Robusta coffee is different than the highland Arabica coffee from Northern Thailand - both brews are featured at her shop. A family business, her daughter-in-law works at the shop almost every day while Paula is teaching at school.
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In my opinion, the coffee from Thailand - both the Robusta and Arabica grades - are far better than the coffee offered at Starbucks and Black Canyon, the two largest coffee retailers in Thailand. A cup of coffee at any of the coffee shops in NAN is about ½ the price of cup at a Starbucks store.

The following tale is about special chickens in Thailand which lay yolkless eggs. Strange but true!

It was my first full day on Koh Libong, a relatively remote island in Southern Thailand. As I had signed up for a sightseeing tour which was scheduled for 8:30AM, I decided to have an early morning breakfast in the hotel’s outdoor restaurant.

It was 7:40AM, when I walked up to the young man by the hotel kitchen to order my breakfast. I knew the young man’s understanding of English was minimal, so using the menu which had the entrees in both Thai and English, I pointed to the items which I wanted – toast and jam and scrambled eggs. There was one small wrinkle to my order - I wanted scrambled eggs without the egg yolk (in other words, an egg white scramble).

With the aid of Thai-English dictionary and by drawing a picture, I believe that I was finally able to get the message across – it took about 5-6 minutes.

While sipping on some hot tea at my table, I waited for my breakfast as other hotel guests gradually filtered in; the regular waitress took their orders. About 30 minutes elapsed and still no food; in the meantime, other hotel guests were getting their breakfast - some with scrambled eggs. I remarked to a fellow guest who had just been served, “I guess they’re still waiting for my chicken to lay her eggs.”

Finally 8:30AM rolled around and still no breakfast; I had run out of patience and confronted the young man who took my order – In broken English, he said “We are still trying to find a chicken that lays eggs without the yellow (egg yolk).” Just kidding… Actually with a look of complete shock in his face, he said “I forgot. I’m sorry, sir.”

Because I was so upset, I decided not to go on the tour. Finally my breakfast with the egg white scramble arrived about 10 minutes later. Another hour later, my bad feelings dissipated and it turned out to be another sabai sabai day in paradise.

I had just boarded a songthaew in the city of Loei to Chiang Khan, a hip tourist town located along the Mekong River in Northeastern Thailand. Especially popular with the younger professional crowd from Bangkok, Chiang Khan has often been called the Thai version of Pai, a popular retreat and hangout with western tourists in Northern Thailand.

Just as the songthaew was about to take off, an elderly couple – backpacker types - walked briskly to the retrofitted truck and hopped on board. Like your typical backpacker, this pair was outfitted with a huge backpack on their back and a smaller daypack on their chest.

As I traded stories with this rather feisty couple (Joe and Judy), I discovered that they were from Western Canada and were in the middle of a 6-month journey that would take them to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Seasoned travelers, they had traveled numerous times to Southeast Asia, South America and around the world.

Typical of backpackers, they had only a generalized travel plan but not a concrete itinerary nor did they ever book a guesthouse or hotel in advance. They did things strictly on the fly - only upon arriving at their next destination, would they look for lodging. In addition, they had a very strict budget which they adhered to. In Thailand, the maximum expense for accommodation was 500 baht per night ($17USD). According to Joe, they always traveled like this and never had a problem finding a decent place to stay.

As it was the King’s Birthday Holiday weekend (Dec. 3-5), perhaps the busiest holiday weekend for Thai people, it would be extremely difficult finding a place to stay in this small tourist town. Shortly before I arriving in Chiang Khan, I cautioned the couple about the shortage of guestrooms. I had called at least 10 places in advance without any luck - I was fortunate to have reserved “a room” a couple of blocks from the river, albeit for only one night for 400 baht. Alas, I was a prepared for a very brief visit in Chiang Khan.

Undaunted about the prospects of finding a place to stay, the backpacker couple were last seen knocking on the doors of all the guesthouses and homestays located along the river. One thing I forget to mention - these backpackers were 80 years old!

Funny Thing – When I told a good friend of mine in Bangkok that I had decided to spend Christmas week in Koh Libong - a small island resort in Southern Thailand - she warned me that I might want to reconsider my plans.

According to my friend, a prominent Thai psychic predicted that a catastrophic tsunami would obliterate the Andaman Seaboard, sometime late December, wreaking havoc on the many islands and popular tourist resorts in the area. Undoubtedly a tsunami of this magnitude would cause complete destruction of all buildings and structures, as well as drowning virtually all residents and vacationing tourists.

You may recall that a very powerful tsunami happened in this region on December 26, 2004. Coincidentally I was vacationing in Kamala Beach on Phuket Island up until December 21 before returning to the USA from Bangkok on December 23 – the Kamala Beach resort area was probably the most severely impacted area in Thailand. I just missed the Tsunami by a couple of days - I guess I was lucky!

Now I am not the sort of person who is going to jump onto the railroad tracks while a train is coming; at the same time, I am not going to be scared by the dire predictions of a Thai Psychic. In fact, these sort of predictions are made all the time in Thailand.

Well in the unlikely event that the Tsunami prediction comes true and claims my life, I shall consider it as my destiny. I will have absolutely no regrets about spending the last hours of my life in paradise before I meet my maker. Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see, Que Sera, sera.

Believe it or not, I made a little wager with my friend in Bangkok. If the Tsunami prediction does not come true, she will have to take me out to dinner to the restaurant of my choice in Bangkok on December 31. And if I lose the wager, I have left instructions with my sister in America, to wire $40,000 to my friend’s bank account in Thailand. I think I like my odds……HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

In Thailand (and in all Buddhist countries) it is customary to take off your shoes before you enter someone’s house. I can understand the rationale with this custom, as shoes can bring in dirt, mud and lots of muck into the house.

At many Thai guesthouses, this particular custom can create a lot of havoc. Most people – both Thaïs and western tourists – more commonly known as farangs - will often haphazardly drop their shoes right in front of the entrance. It can be somewhat treacherous to navigate through the sea of shoes when entering the guesthouse especially at night. Someone could easily trip and have an accident.

Wouldn’t it be a lot better, if the management of the guesthouse had a sign at the entrance, urging guests to place their shoes in am orderly fashion to the sides of the entrance? I have even seen some establishments, notably some upscale Thai restaurants like Whole Earth in Chiang Mai that have shoe racks. I wish all guesthouses would adopt this system.

Funny thing, at the guesthouse that I am staying at in Nan – Nan Guesthouse - the collection of shoes got way out of control. In the morning when I woke up, I observed that one of the ladies who works here used her head and carefully placed all shoes to the side of the doorway – she even took the initiative to match all shoes up, bless her heart! When I check out, I will have to give her a nice tip!

I saw something quite unusual in Bangkok the other day. I was visiting K-Village, the new upscale boutique shopping center located on Sukhumvit Soi 26. Walking across the street, I came across a group of Thai people sitting on a large bamboo mat at the busy street corner - just in from of the pedestrian Carrefour Superstore - eating their dinner. They had just purchased their food from a nearby mobile food vendor.

Actually, sitting down and eating on a bamboo mat is the traditional way of eating a meal in Thai Culture - it is just that I had never seen Thai people in Bangkok doing it outside on the street before. I guess you learn or observe something new every day about the customs and culture of a country when you are a traveler.

I had a very interesting experience while staying in Pak Chom, a small relatively obscure town located along the Mekong River in Northeastern Thailand. Definitely off the beaten track, this small town receives a handful of Thai travelers who typically stay one night before moving on to their next destination. The town has a number of “small resorts” with little or no amenities, and as far as I can tell I was the only farang (western tourist) in town.

On my first day in town, one of the hotel employees took me to a local restaurant, which could prepare a vegetarian dinner for me. A rather pleasant open-air affair located not far from the river, I returned there later that night by bicycle for dinner

I ordered two vegetarian dishes – plates of spicy morning glory and stir-fried vegetables accompanied by rice and a large beer. A rather amiable Thai gentleman by the name of Karn joined me at the table and tried to engage me in a conversation but the communications were difficult as my facility with Thai is almost nonexistent and his English was very limited. Over a beer, Karn explained to me that he was the postmaster of Pak Chom; I later deduced that he was also the owner of the restaurant as well.

Upon requesting the bill (the total was 200 baht), I noticed that I was being charged 50 baht for the mixed vegetables, 70 baht for the morning glory and 10 baht for the rice. Returning there the 2nd night, I was charged 70 baht apiece for the fried mixed vegetables and morning glory. In both instances, the owner figured out the bill.

On the 3rd (and final) night, I returned there for dinner and had the exact same dishes and was charged 30 baht per plate. This time around, one of the young employees figured out the bill.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I was victim of special pricing the first two nights by virtue of being an outsider and a tourist. The owner definitely tried to take advantage of me by jacking up the bill.

During the course of my travels around the world, I have met my share of rude, boorish tourists. Smokers in particular really irk me; when I dine at a nice café or restaurant, I don’t particularly care to be gulping down cigarette smoke while I eat my food. It seems some of these young European tourists – in particular the French, German, Dutch and Israelis - don’t show any hesitation at all upon entering a restaurant before they light up a cigarette.

Unlike the USA, there are no laws prohibiting smoking in restaurants and cafes in most countries, so I guess I have to grin and bear it as far as smokers are concerned.

I remember one particular instance that left a really bad taste in my mouth. I was a passenger on an old slow boat along the Mekong River from the Thailand Border to Luang Prabang in Laos. The guy sitting directly in front of me – he was from Belgium - kept on smoking his fags and the smoke would waft backwards toward me. As I really abhor cigarette smoke, I politely asked him to refrain from smoking. Well, the guy stopped for about 5 minutes before he started smoking again - one cigarette after another. Talk about being an inconsiderate lout.

What irks me even more are a special breed of travelers who hijack their hostel – usually young backpacker types - and party late night (and into the wee hours of the morning), while other guests of the hostel are trying to sleep. These people can get very rowdy and raucous (loud) especially when there is alcohol and drugs involved. Unfortunately this is a notorious aspect of backpacker culture. I find their behavior to be very rude and inconsiderate. See the story of Nate the Great Lout!

On my most recent trip to Bolivia, I had a very bad experience with some very inconsiderate and vulgar tourists at my hostel.

I was staying in Samaipata, a small mountain town located on the backpacker tourist trail in southern Bolivia. The town becomes very quiet after 9:00PM as there are very few bars or nightspots for tourists to congregate. With nowhere else to get together, parties among backpackers often happen spontaneously at their hostel. Sometimes these parties last until the wee hours of the morning.

I had returned to my hostel about 11:00PM. Walking to my room, I passed by a group of young backpackers – both males and females - who were having a little party outside on the patio. Quite rowdy and loud - as evidenced by the number of empty beer bottles on the table, they were obviously somewhat inebriated. I greeted them goodnight, sort of an indirect way of telling them to keep the noise down.

Obviously they didn’t get the message as they continued on with their loud chatter and laughter. As I was trying to sleep as were some other hotel guests, I really thought these people were out of line. As the noise escalated, I bolted out of bed, went outside and told them very politely to keep their voices down.

I guess that was like adding fuel to the fire – as they got even louder and more raucous. Another 30 minutes elapsed (it was now close to midnight) before I bolted out my bed again, ran outside and told the young merrymakers to shut up already.

One of the young men - I recognized his voice as being Nate, the American guy from San Jose, California - retorted “Hey Old Man, Why don’t you go back to bed and put in your earplugs”. As he made his snide remark, the young British gals laughed hysterically like hyenas. Funny, huh? I wanted to shove my fist up his mouth but common sense prevailed as I returned to my room.

Well, the group did not break up their party until shortly before 1:00AM but not before singing in unison, Johnny Cash’s classic song “Ring of Fire”. Oh well, at least they sang it in tune!