Word: samui
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...began in 1989, when Bangkok Airways owned just two planes and had nowhere to land them. At the time, national carrier Thai was opening up the skies to competition?provided the competition didn't fly on Thai's routes. Prasarttong-Osoth honed in on the bucolic island of Koh Samui, a 20-hour train and ferry ride away from Bangkok. The lack of an airport wasn't a problem: the former surgeon, who comes from a family construction empire, decided to build his own. He couldn't get financing so he sold one of his family's buildings in downtown...
...While the Cape Town section is by far the best written and most gripping, Asian readers will likely fixate on the nearly 40 pages tracking the E seekers' journey to Bangkok, Ko Samui and Ko Phangnga. The Thai speed pills known as yaba, full moon raves and the Oriental Hotel are all referenced, but more insightful are Aitkenhead's observations about sex tourism and the psychology of farangs who consort with Thai hookers. Indeed, one of the most humorous exchanges occurs when Decca's husband and another Englishman argue over whether the ladies should be called "bar girls" or "prostitutes...
...among the first establishments of its kind in Vang Viang?a casually vibed hangout where foreigners can smoke ganja, drink beer and listen to early '90s house music. It's the sort of place you might expect to find on Khao San Road in Bangkok or in Ko Samui?and its appearance along with a few Internet caf?s means Vang Viang is in the initial throes of a tourism boom. Indeed, the first video bar has opened down the street. Martin Dillon hasn't even named his joint yet. But as the twentysomething Englishman sits on a brown sofa, smoking...
...Samui's least-developed beach, Ao Thong, the Samui Dharma Healing Center offers a personalized, no-frills holistic fast. For $300 a week, American owner Hillary Hitt and husband Greg give one-on-one and group counseling sessions as well as classes on nutrition, meditation and yoga to a maximum of 18 participants. "Cleansing is a journey, a deep spiritual experience. You need a teacher and you need support," says Hitt. A lot of it, in fact. In the first few days of fasting, guests can expect "nausea, dizziness, headaches, exhaustion, heaviness, bloating and moods of anger, depression, fear, sadness...
...Suan Mokkh runs monthly 10-day meditation courses led by resident monks and visiting teachers. The $28 fee covers food and lodging. Meditators sit for a series of 30-minute sessions, listen to talks, chant and relax in nearby hot springs. Find more details at suanmokkh.org. An hour from Samui by boat is Koh Phangan, home of legendary Full Moon parties and the austere Wat Kow Tahm meditation center. Rosemary and Steve Weissman's retreats, which last for anywhere from 10 days to three months ($83 for 10 days), are not for the daydreamer. Talking, reading, writing and even sign...