Crabby in Krabi

Yesterday we arrived in Krabi, a touristy beach town in the south of Thailand. Our flight here from Bangkok was uneventful. Interestingly enough, even though we were on AirAsia, which is a low-cost 100% economy-class airline, and even though the flight was only an hour long, there was a meal service. Compare that to Southwest Airlines, who think that a packet of pretzels and a cup of soda are enough to get you through any flight.

It's nice and warm here. About eighty degrees fahrenheit with sixty percent humidity, and this is the cool season. I can't even begin to imagine what the weather must be like here during the summer.

As the day started off, Jenny had the misfortune of getting her hairbrish tangled up in her hair. We attempted to remove it, but eventually had to resort to using scissors to cut the tangled bit of hair (and the hairbrush) from her head. She was rather crabby and upset about this. This is why you don't buy hair care tools at the dollar store.

We spent most of the day walking around the town, having lunch, and poking around various shops, buying little things here and there. It's a nice enough town, but so very focused on tourists that I don't feel like I'm getting a true taste of Thai culture while I'm here. I did, however, discover that not only has Thailand been infiltrated by McDonald's, but that Ronald McDonald is depicted doing the Wai, the traditional Thai greeting which consists of palms pressed together, fingers upright, and the head bowed slightly.

Thailand seems to have a very relaxed attitude to safety. In addition to the way road traffic operates here, I discovered that the outdoor electrical mains wiring is to a rather, uh, lower standard than would ever be considered acceptable in the States. I've been in poorly maintained telephone wiring closets before, but the electrical wiring here takes the cake.

I also found an emergency call box that seems to have long since corroded away past the point of usability. Presumably this was installed sometime in the late 20th century and everyone merely assumes it will continue to work. Either that, or they know it doesn't work and they don't care. Obviously it doesn't matter any more since everyone has mobile phones now, but I was still somewhat horrified to discover that this was still sitting there on the beach.

Walking around on the beachfront, we were accosted by countless salespeople trying to get us to buy all sorts of things we obviously didn't need, including custom-tailored suits and taxi rides. Luckily, the "no thank you" gesture is universal.

Tomrrow we are supposed to take a boat ride to a secluded beach away from the main town. Hopefully there's a town there to explore, because I feel like relaxing on the beach is a waste when there's an entire culture to discover and experience and learn about.