The south shall rise again....

So I've been on the islands of southern Thailand for a week now and I feel its time to give you my impressions.

Ko Tao was a disappointment I have to say. I know I'm here a little before the actual main season starts, but I thought it was a pretty unfriendly place. The dive schools seemed to be a bit cliquey, the bars had very little atmosphere and the restaurants were very businesslike and unhomely. I presume it could be the best place on the planet if you were learning to dive there, but the weather meant that I wasn't really up for that (visibility was poor according to the mental Austrian hippy I met the first night, and the aging Spanish Lothario said I should do it in calmer weather - so maybe in Cambodia)

Koh Samui is a bit better - although this place too has its problems. The beach I'm staying on (Chaweng beach if you want to check it out is SEVERELY overdeveloped. There are barely any ways you can get on and off the beach without walking through a hotel lobby. I started ten minutes outside town and was nearly at the other end of the town (35/40 minutes walk before I found the one lane to get off again).

Chaweng town seems to have no Thai identity at all. You could move it and drop it in the Canaries, or in the Costa Del Sol and its 2 McDonalds, 2 burger king, 2 subways, 3 haagen daaz cafes, and numerous "authentic Irish/British/Australian pub" would not look out of place.

I think that Thailand (and before anyone panics - I am loving it here, this is just a rant against globalisation - always fighting the man I know) will prove my theory that in all except the one obvious example the north of a country is better than the south.

I'm off to get on my bike and look for some real Thailand