We arrived early evening and paid top price by taxi to get to Paul + Sue in the suburbs of this extremely busy city. It was nice to have a rest and see other people and have a bit more space to rest. Consequently, we didn't do an awful lot, but we don't mind. We did go out to see Jim Thompson's house. He was an American who stayed in Thailand after WW2 and revived the Silk industry here, becoming well known and building this large, traditional Thai home, which is now a museum. The guide here was more interested in Beaulea than in the rest of us and dragged her off for a chat, along with Brett who found himself surrounded by giggling Thai girls !

A little known place, this is actually the site of the Bridge over the River Kwai. The Felix River Kwai hotel is good and reasonably priced out of season. It has an excellent pool, but watch the submerged steps near the pool-bar. I managed to gouge my shin to the bone and still have the scars !

Just next to the hotel grounds is the railway and the famous bridge. We took a walk over it on the wooden walkway between the tracks. It's about 40 feet above the water and there isn't a handrail to hold onto! Focuses your attention I can tell you. There is a museum here with lots of artifacts, if a little messily laid out. The trouble is that the generation who remember this place won't be around for a long time and the events here could be forgotten. They shouldn't be, as this is the 'flipside' of what happened in Hiroshima.

One night we decided to do an Elephant Safari and used a local company to take us to the River, where we washed the elephants down in the water ! Nice ! I got aboard one of the biggest, while there was a baby elephant just right for Brett and Beaulea ! There was food laid on and then a ride along the bank of the river on the backs of the animals. Got some great photos.

After one night on a train and a tiring coach journey with a driver in a hurry, we arrived in a place called Kata. Although it has a nice beach, it's a little quiet, as we intended to spend 10 days here chilling out.

So we moved on to Patong, which is brash and busy, but there is plenty to see and do and different places to eat, although we stumbled across a good place on our first night, called Harry's Pub, which we will probably frequent a few more times. Can't complain at 8 quid for the 4 of us!

We had planned to do a boat trip to "James Bond Island" but cancelled it due to bad weather ! It lashed down and I didn't fancy being at sea in a 20ft boat!

We are staying in an apartment in Patong Tower (it's the biggest building in the photo, on the left). Probably the poshest place in town! It's not a hotel as such but is connected to one, so we can use their pool ! We have a separate lounge and bedroom and can cook in if we like. Plus the sea view is superb, although we haven't seen the perfect sunset yet.

We are continuing to keep the kids up to speed with schoolwork, although Brett's French lessons are stretching me un peu !

Thank you for all the Birthday wishes. I did have a good one. It's amazing how a few little things can make your day, compared to the excess we normally indulge in. I hired a 125cc motorbike for $5, bought myself a car magazine and 2 cans of Draught Guinness at 3 quid each. Heaven ! We had our tea at Harry's pub again - expensive this time at about ten quid !

We've rearranged our flights so that we go straight to SIngapore and miss out Vietnam. Looking forward to getting to Oz.

Had a good day out to Pang Nga Bay and "James Bond Island" where they filmed "The Man with The Golden Gun". See Photo Gallery 2 for pics. It cost about 25 pounds for the 4 of us, so was good value for a day trip.

It has rained a lot here, we've got a true taste of monsoon season. Usually it only lasts about an hour and then clears up. but one day it set in for the whole day. Thing is, it's still so warm that it steams up off the streets and fogs up your glasses !

- Go outside Bangkok Airport terminal building for your taxi - the companies inside charge about 650 Baht, whereas the ones outside will charge 300 ish.

- More on taxis. Get the driver to turn the meter on before you close the car door. One of ours refused and I then had to haggle a fixed price, by which time he'd driven off into the traffic and you're stuck. He also tried to sell us every bloody excursion in Bangkok and take us to every bleedin' shop.

- Don't let one bad egg spoil your salad !

- In Phuket, the opposite applies. They don't have meters, so negotiate the fare before you get in, or get a cheap Tuk Tuk (you WILL get sick of these guys at the roadside, I promise) or even cheaper Songthaew (big Tuk Tuk with rows of seats which doesn't go until it's full!