So as it were after some long debate and a conversation we didn’t want to have, I found out that our port visit to Thailand was going to be cancelled due to operational reasons. What a bummer! We were all looking forward to our time there but alas it wasn’t meant to be. Fear not Thailand, I will explore you before I leave Asia and that’s a fact.

Luckily I was still able to go ashore for some fun so don’t worry, this post is still interesting.

There she is, Thailand from sea. This is mostly all that most of the ship saw of her.

This little moped. So the short story about this is that I was chosen to go into shore to attend an “Ice Breaker” party in which you just get to mingle with other U.S. / Thai Naval Officers and eat great food and drink good drinks while you do it.

Some of the personnel attending the party were delayed slightly so we headed into shore by small boat and were waiting for them to arrive when I decided to go get some money. At this time I still thought we would be pulling in so I asked the locals where the ATM was and I headed outside the gate to find it. We had a poor communication because they didn’t speak English very well and what I thought they meant was that the ATM was directly outside the gate. What they really meant was that it was a 10 minute walk down the road.

I was out wondering around trying to ask a man for help when a girl rides up to me on the moped pictured above. She points to the back seat and hands me a helmet. I didn’t recognize her but I had a feeling she knew where I wanted to go so I hopped on the back. Sure enough without words she took me to the ATM where I was able to withdraw Thai Baht.

I thought she would drop me off back at the gate but instead she roared past with just a slight head nod from the guard and she drove me straight up to the table the rest of my group was sitting at. They were shocked! They didn’t know where

The marines who witnessed me riding in on the moped. They were pretty impressed.

 Squid fishing in Thailand. The fishing boats have bright neon lights on them that attract squid to the surface where they scoop them up in nets.

A few of the Thai Officers that had been on our ship for a couple of weeks.

Thai Dancers

The reception. It was right on the beach. If only we could have gone swimming!

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