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!

Just the other day, I walked into a tea shoppe in downtown Guilin, a very pleasant city in southern China. After making my purchase and making some chitchat with the owner (I know only 10 phrases in Mandarin), two Chinese men came into the store. I gathered these gentlemen were locals. After a brief conversation with the owner, one of the guys pulled out a cigarette and started smoking and also offered the owner a smoke, which he gladly accepted.

Then he turned around, and offered me a smoke. I politely refused, making a waving motion with my hand to signal to him that I didn’t smoke. It turned out this Chinese guy spoke fairly good English and being the inquisitive type, I asked him why do so many Chinese men smoke - most of these guys are heavy smokers, and always coughing and spitting up phlegm. He replied without hesitation, Smoking cigarettes is a good way to make friends and meet people. I just nodded my head and said, well OK!

Personally, I detest cigarette smoke - smoking is a filthy and very unhealthy habit. In China, over 50% of the men smoke. Oh well….

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.