Post-Tsunami Phuket, Thailand

I didn't know who would still be in Phuket after being four years away, but I've been pleasantly surprised that just about everyone that I knew is still here.... From the Phuket airport I took a tax to my friend Steve Anderson's place of business in Chalong on Phuket...near my old stomping grounds. I'm staying in a room above his shop with air-con and a shower. Also I rented a motorbike for $3/day. The traffic has increased dramatically in four years as has the number of buildings, shophouses, restaurants, and resorts. Soon it will be like Miami or Honolulu and that's a shame. The Fishing Lodge where I used to live is unfortunately a disaster being torn down bit by bit, not by the tsunami but through neglect. We've gone out for some fantastic seafood dinnersw at prices still as cheap as they were four years ago. (A dinner for 4 with drinks was $20) I also found a little breakfast place where I can get sausage, toast and scrambled eggs and a mixed fruit drink for $1.50. It's so good to see my old friends again. Got together for a few laughs with my old band mates as well. Everyone's still here but me. I went to the Phuket Gazette (English newspaper) where I visited my favorite Thai lady, Oy, still as beautiful as ever...and still single. Then I went north 50 miles to Phnag Nga (pang-ah) where I used to live. There was my cottage and motorbike as if had never left. But my friend Bert was not doing well at all. At 80, he losing his memory quickly and he has a very weak heart. Still it was good to see him. It was a fortunate time to be there as he was selling his sailboat to a Thai man and I helped arbitrate the sale. Spent a couple of days there with Bert ande Noi at my 1st home in the jungle, then back to Phuket to get some much-needed dental work done. Dentistry is one of Thailand's best kept secrets. Traveling around the island, it is hard to believe that just 2 months ago the tsunami killed thousands of peole here. The Thais have done a remarkable job in cleaning up the place. The main street in Patong is all boarded up and all the grass near the beach is brown, but that's about all I could see of the wave's wrath... Everyone here was/is affected by the tsunami. I heard some unbelieveable stories. The hospitals still have hundreds of pictures of people still missing. Very sobering. I'll be here on Phuket another day or so and then I'm heading to Krabbi to see my American friend Gus who I've known for years. He has a rockin' nightclub and a small resort there. I'm certainly confortable here. Everyone thinks I should move back. Still more traveling to do before I decide to do anything, but whatever that will be, it's at least a year away.