Actually, that's harsh. The kayaking was fun, and we did manage to get within yards of some extremely cheeky monkeys. But ultimately, the short trip brought home to us just how savage some of the development going on over here is.
I've already mentioned how depressed we were when we saw how nasty Rai Lee has become (an Aussie bloke we met last night reckoned the carnage there has all taken place in the past 12 months and that it was as hip as Hat Ton Sai the last time he visited). Well, head further along the coast and things are even worse.
The first bay we came to is home to a solitary mega resort, a joyless, sanitised, beast of a place patrolled by security guards in military style uniforms wearing walkie-talkies and carrying lots of attitude.
Horrible, horrible.
Paddle to the next bay though, and you'd be forgiven for reaching for your cyanide pill. Ao Mang beach, twinned with Sodom and Gomorrah, is a living, breathing example of what happens when laziness and greed are the driving factors behind 'improving' somewhere.
The waterfront restaurants and hotels are universally ugly, there's an incongruous concrete promenade running the length of the beach and some local bigwig has even decided traffic wardens are a good idea.
There's hardly any traffic mind, but what the hell, they've probably heard how much Camden council rake in each year from parking tickets and decided to give it a go.
Neither of us are exactly kayaking world champions, but we made it back to Ton Sai in record time.
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