Damn those little buggers!

Kho Lanta, Thailand

There is a certain disadvantage to the back-to-basics charm of beach chalets. The ones I found here were a real bargain, I think. Little huts lined up just off the beach. The choice wasn't massive anyway since many places have already closed for the low season.
The point is this: For days now I've been looking for the little nut-bracelet that I bought in Luang Nam Tha in Laos. I was so sure I just left it on my bed one morning and went out. Then, in the evening it was gone. Or so I believed. But maybe, I thought, I had actually put it somewhere else. I'd look for it later...
I never thought anything or made any associations when, one time, I came into the room and there was a rat squatting on the wooden beam that runs around the room at mid-height holding the walls together. There we were - man and animal - staring at each other. It was hard to tell who was more surprised. Then I shouted and shooed it away and it disappeared into a gap in the ceiling toward the roof. I wish it had gone outside but at least it was out of sight. And at least it was not a sewer rat.
Then, when I prepared to leave Kho Lanta today I searched my bags for the bracelet. No sign of it. I hadn't put it in any of my bags. Then where could it be? In the end, I pulled the bed aside and found it there in a corner. How had it got there? Only when I picked it up I realised it was in pieces. The string that held it together was torn and some of the black and white nuts were strewn around the floor. They had been gnawed on! And the string wasn't torn but had been chewed! Now it clicked. I hadn't thought those nuts were still edible. The damn rodents had found out fast. So they had dragged the bracelet under the bed to eat it. Which also meant they had been all over the bed to get at it. Ugh, nice! Good thing I normally zip up my backpacks. I wouldn't want them crawling around in there.
I'm quite upset. It's Pakse all over again. It's as if I had learnt nothing. But who'd think there are rats frequenting the rooms? Who'd think that those nuts were edible and not painted with some chemical paint? Grrr! I should have thrown something at the beast when I had it in my sight. That's another souvenir I can't replace.

Clean up Lanta

Kho Lanta, Thailand

The Lonely Planet Southeast Asia writes that on Kho Lanta you can "slip into a beachy existence". They fail to mention that what you slip on is almost obscene amounts of rubbish, ranging from plastic bottles and cups and miscellaneous packaging over discarded slippers and tooth brushes and actually dangerous things like broken glass. It's actually quite sad to see picturesque beaches being despoilt in such a way. I do believe that tourists have a hand in this, leaving their water bottles wherever they were lying. But many packaging suggest items that tourists would have no use for, which in turn suggests that some locals still don't appreciate the beauty of their country and use the beach as a rubbish tip. And that's what it looks like in many places. Even though tourism depends on it. Resorts only clean up within their little sphere of influence. Only in the south of the island where few people live the situation gets better. I think, apart from environmental and purely aesthetic implications people need to understand the business ones, as well. Tourists won't like relaxing on a beach full of rubbish. Maybe that would be a good opportunity to volunteer - but I've thought that so many times already, almost from the very start of my trip. I hope, that people will come to their senses in time to save these beautiful places if not for the sake of saving them then at least to ensure tourists will continue to come here to enjoy them. It would be a real shame to see this island get swamped by waste.