I took the photo above from the front page of the Bangkok Post. Seems pretty intense! Two were killed in police/protestor riots earlier this month, one from a car bomb he set off himself, and one girl killed by impact of a police shotgun fired canister of tear gas. Her Majesty the Queen attended the girl’s public funeral. 
I spent the past 7 days in Koh Tao, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. This island is directly north of the island I previously visited in June, Koh Phangan. The week was very eventful because I took full advantage of my Open Water Diving certification for the first time since I received it in May in the Florida Keys. I went on a total of 6 dives which was about all I could afford, but I went to the following dive sites around the island: Aow Leuk North, Aow Leuk South, Chompon Pinnacle, Twin Peaks, Shark Island, and Southwest Pinnacle. Underwater visibility was variable and the currents weren’t bad except at Twin. My favorite dive was at Southwest Pinnacle though, a series of underwater rock formations that look like mountains but don’t even break the water’s surface.
To list a few of the species I was able to identify: Queenfish, Blue-ringed Angelfish, Black-and-white Clownfish, Scorpionfish, Jan’s Pipefish, Elegant Sea Slug, Scribbled Filefish, and Remora. Let me tell you a little story about a Remora that I came to hate with a dreadful passion. The Remora fish are known as “suckerfish” because they find something interesting and nibbled on it. Yes, it’s true, apparently I’m interesting. There was one Remora that wouldn’t leave me alone and even when I would bat it away underwater it would come back from more tastes of my thigh. Eventually I moved along and he stayed back, but lord knows I’ve had enough of that little guy.
My dive master Mel from Big Bubble Divers was a load of fun and we hope to keep in touch through email. Our whole trip, with Kevin, Angela, Elizabeth, and myself: our accommodation was a little bungalow 10 feet from the water for 6 nights for a total of about $35 per person. Mind you, that’s the total for all 6 nights and we got to go snorkeling with the Big Bubble boat for free if we didn’t want to dive. Controlling my buoyancy underwater was a lot of fun and we even watched Mel cut some fish net off of the reef and save a trapped crab.
We took one day off during the week from diving when Angela finished her certification dives and we rented 2 motorcycles to check out the rest of the island. Elizabeth hastily jumped off the back of Angela’s at one point and burned her leg on the spinning tire, but aside from that, it was easy going. I absolutely love driving the motorcycle. This was probably my last time though, don’t worry momma. We closed our trip with some healthy drinking at Bubbalo Bar on the beach with some friends we made from Austria. We smoked some shisha (we call it hookah in the US), and ate many an American-style breakfast for sure.
I will not update my blog for the next 2 weeks because: Nicholas Family Fun Tour 2551! My parents, brother, and his girlfriend are arriving in Thailand this very evening. My parents will be here 2 full weeks and my brother and his girlfriend just the first week, but I’ve got a lot of fun trips and adventures planned. I’ve done some vigorous planning so I’m very excited about going to places I’ve never been yet! This is the longer time frame in my entire life that I’ve gone without seeing my parents! I can’t wait to see their shining faces and get some jetlagged hugs and kisses. I can’t help but wish Philly Cream Cheese was hopping off the plane too…Enjoy the rest of the pictures from Koh Tao! Once my family leaves I will be off break and back into hardcore research. I have just under 2 months left in the Land of Smiles and I hope it doesn’t go by too quickly!
