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In April 2018 I traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to get a 60-day Thai visa, the first step towards getting a Retirement Visa to live permanently in Thailand. I chose a mid-range guest house near the Mekong River, arrived on a Thai Airlines flight in the mid-afternoon, then started looking for a travel agent to help me obtain the needed visa. READ MORE…
In early January 2017 I traveled to Koh Phayam again. It was still one of my favorite obscure islands in Thailand, and it hadn’t changed much in the intervening nine months. No cars allowed and I stayed at PP Land once more. It’s quite isolated, even by Koh Phayam standards, and I appreciated it even more after I had a chance to see the more populated beaches. READ MORE…
March 2016 Recently some of my friends in Nepal have been going to a small, little-known island in the Andaman Sea called Koh Phayam. Very little development, no paved roads or cars, just bicycles and scooters allowed. It sounded like my kind of place. READ MORE…
I bought this little Buddha in Vang Vieng, Laos, and it is very puzzling. I’ve never been able to find another example of a seated Buddha holding a naga-handled mirror in front of him while meditating. Never. Ever. From anywhere in the world. This statue probably dates from the 18th-19th century and was most likely made for a household shrine. Originally it seems to have been cast from bronze and covered with… Read More
(1977)
THE ARDENT ENTHUSIAST 