Lots more rain , more mudslides & more flooding today. I was supposed to be in Koh Mak now but the boat was cancelled due to the weather.
Lou Gehrig's Disease - Getting serious for a moment. I'd heard of it but never come across anyone suffering from until until the other day. One of the staff at a hotel near us has it. He's a nice guy, mid-30s with two young children. We always used to meet when I was taking the dog for a walk in the morning and he was on his way to work and also often in the evening when he'd come down to the beach with his kids and they'd play with the dog. But I hadn't seen him for quite a long time, so I guessed that he left to work elsewhere. A couple of days ago I saw him again, looking a shadow of his former, healthy self. He was walking stiffly and his speech slurred. He told me about how he was rushed to hospital about 5 months ago and spent a month in a coma. Then he had another 3 months in bed before coming back to work. During this time he was diagnosed as having ALS - an incurable disease commonly known as 'Lou Gehrig's Disease'
The hotel rehired him, and put him in a job where he can spend most of the time sitting down and not over exerting himself outdoors. But doctors have told him that if he's lucky he's only got 5 years left to live, probably only 3. There's no cure, no chance of recovery and he's basically just got a slow death to look forward to. His extended family will look after his kids and make sure that they're taken care of so he isn't worried about that. They'll also take care of him when he can no longer walk - which he thinks will be in the next 6-12 months. He hasn't given up any any means, he's just a realist. He wants to work for as long as he is able and says that he's got to fight to stay alive as long as possible for his kids.
He's been Googling in Thai, so he's knows a lot about the disease and what to expect - but Thailand doesn't have the same support sites for sufferers and their families as in the US or Europe. Although his English is good enough to hold a simple conversation it isn't good enough to read through English language websites I told him I'd see what info I could find to help him and have been doing some searching to find some info about natural medications / supplements that he could findland and take to either slow his regression or improve his quality of life. So, if anyone reading this has any experience of dealing with someone suffering from ALS, please email if you have any ideas about what works. (At present his medication consists only of Vitamin B & E tablets.)
Back to the non-terminal frivolity . . . If you catch the songtaew (pick-up truck taxi) from the mainland ferry pier to Trat bus station be aware that the songtaew will stop outside the offices of one of the bus companies in the centre of Trat. A guy will ask if you're going to Bangkok or the border and if you reply yes, you'll be ushered off and pointed towards the ticket office. The bus company is perfectly legitimate, but there are other better bus companies operating. So, what you may well find is that you buy your ticket and are then taken to Trat bus station where you catch the bus. However, you might find that when you get to the bus station that there are earlier departures but there's nothing you can do about it as you now have a ticket for a different bus.
Just stay on the songtaew and only get off when you reach an obvious bus station just out of town. The ticket office is at one end of the bus station, the times of the next buses clearly displayed. Buy tickets for minivans to the border at the small table set up next to where the minivans are parked. (You can also get a minivan to Chantaburi or Rayong, these will usually leave when they are full and are quicker than regular buses.)
If you arrive at the bus station and are heading to Koh Chang, you can choose to wait until there are enough people to fill a songtaew to the ferry pier, or pay 200 baht (total) to rent the pick-up privately if you don't want to hang around. A ticket costs 50 baht NOT 20 or 30 baht as your outdated Lonely Planet states. It's the same price for Thais & foreigners.
On the way from Trat to the ferry piers look out for the songtaew making a stop at the office of a tour agent near the pier for Koh Mak, again a guy will come to the pick up and ask if you want to go to Koh Chang ( which you probably will do) if you get off here you'll be on the slow wooden passenger boat which doesn't leave very frequently and is often overcrowded in high season. Far better to stay on the songtaew and get off at Centrepoint Ferry pier then cross on the car ferry.
Visiting Cambodia & Koh Chang? Anyone want to share a private minibus transfer from Siem Reap to Koh Chang on 29 November? Amy & friend, from the UK, are looking for other people to share the cost of a private transfer (8,000 baht), if you're interested, please email me & I'll put you in touch with her.
Whitesands Publications who produce a pretty good tourist mag to Koh Chang have revamped their website - http://whitesandsthailand.com It's what you'd expect, you learn that Koh Chang is a nice place, with lots of nice places to stay all of which are on nice beaches, on koh Chang you'll also find nice places to eat and come to realise that the island is populated by nice people. If you're the type of person who still books their holidays based on your travel agent's recommendations then this is the Koh Chang site for you, if not you might fall asleep after the first few pages.
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