Third day in Ko Lanta

We woke up this morning to grey skies and mild temperatures at around the mid twenties, so we spent the day relaxing at our resort. I'm really glad we did, because we got chatting to owners Lek and Malay (not sure on the spelling - but thats how it sounds!). I've learnt more from them about Thai culture than in the rest of my trip. One thing I found particularly interesting was about the King of Thailand. Everyone in Thailand loves him and I wasn't sure if it was because the government 'make' them, but it is genuinely because he has done so much good for people.

Lek was telling us that if you write a letter to the King asking for help, you will get it. For instance, a young boy aged 6 was made to look after his ill father after his mother died and so with help from his neighbours he wrote a letter. The King sent people to help and make their lives easier. The day after the tsunami, the King sent millions of Baht (Thai currency) to help people with rebuilding their lives. In the north of the counrty, locals started growing opium, but instead of punishing them he helped them to grow other legal crops instead to earn money. Aftrer learning about him I can really understand why there are so many shrines and statues celebrating him. The King is 89 years old and very ill in hospital, so it will be a sad day for the people of Thailand when he dies!

Tonight we took a walk on the beach to see if we could see any interesting wildlife, here are a couple of photos of what we saw. I took them using Izzy's point-and-shoot Canon, so I think we'll go back again to try and get some even better photos with my SLR.

Praying Mantis

Massive Hermit Crab