Left my car at Chiang Mai and travelled down about as far south as I could go without entering a war zone, to Phuket on the Andaman Sea. It was either a two day trip by train or a two hour trip by plane, so I opted for the latter. Staying in the main town on Phuket Island which is full of holidaymakers and motor bikes. Over 1000 are injured each year in motorbike accidents, a figure I'm not the least surprised at, given the speed they wiz around the streets. Spent a lot of time pounding the pavements today, took a walk up to the Butterfly Centre and then down to the coast. A lovely bay rather ruined by the horrendous development over the other side. It's like someone has plonked the South Bank Centre down in paradise. Probably the best place to be is in one of its rooms looking out.