This [Swedish] summer I went half way to Australia and my parents came half way to Sweden. We met in Bangkok and made our way to Koh Samui, a small tropical island.

Technically it was rain season, and when we arrived it was pouring and had been doing so for weeks. But by the end of breakfast the weather was perfect. The sun held out until we got in the taxi to go back to the airport and return home.

On the first day we wanted to look around the town centre. Coming from a small town in Sweden I expect everything to close by 18:00, so we planned to head out after lunch. But the hotel staff caught us and told us to wait – many things are closed until the evening and are open late into the night. We were never out late enough to see things close.

We booked some tours to see Koh Samui and it’s surroundings – a four-wheel drive tour to see the forest and island centre, boat to see the marine national park and uninhabited islands, and snorkeling to see the marine life. I also went scuba diving without my parents. The tours were very reasonably priced, but the descriptions could have been better, at least for the 4WD tour.

Mr Lee’s 4WD tour went through the beautiful and peaceful tropical forest in the centre of Koh Samui, stopping at rocks in the shape of male and female genitalia, a demonstration of how monkeys are used to harvest coconuts, a display of asian elephants and crocodiles, a waterfall and religious sites including a large golden statue of Buddha. But being an adventure tour, the guides spent more time showing the limits of the vehicle than the history and beauty of the landscape. While it was a lot of fun, I would have liked to have learnt more about Thailand. It seemed a travesty to rage through the forrest at high speed in a noisy jeep.

But we found tranquility in the Tamarind Retreat, which Hamish found for us via The Sydney Morning Herald. It is on the most picturesque mountain side, using rocks and plants to create a setting that is both intimate and open. For two hours we moved between rock pools, a herbal steam sauna, light snacks and deck chairs before we were taken for a two hour massage in a style of our choosing. In the four hours we were there we only ever saw at most two other people at any time, with the massages were in secluded huts. Unfortunately it was not possible to take photos as to help you relax you need to leave all electronic equipment behind.

The boat tours were also more relaxed, going around idyllic untouched islands covered in forest and surrounded by golden sands. The fish are well trained, clearly identifying snorklers with food. The crew give you bread to feed to the fish and the fish surround you as you enter the water and swim. I saw my first octopus in the ocean and decided it was much scarier than any of the sharks I have seen.

I was expecting the diving to be like what I experienced in Tahiti, but it was surprisingly more like Sydney in terms of the colours and types of coral. There were obviously many more schools of tropical fish. I think this could have been due to the location of our dive, but unfortunately it was not possible to go to any other locations at the time I was there. It had been a year since I had gone diving, and I was concerned that my lack of practice would mean I would use up my air too quickly. But somehow I had double the amount of air compared with all of the “regular” divers.

One of the things I miss in Sweden is the variety of food options that I had available in Sydney. So it was wonderful to be able to eat different things to what I have been used to in the past year. And as a bonus the food was so very cheap. The same cannot be said of the wine, which was easily on par with alcohol fearing Sweden.

I also miss being in a service oriented culture. But for what Sweden lacks in customer service, Thailand goes too far. In the first hundred metres after leaving the resort you would routinely be offered several massages, taxis, food and other paraphernalia. Why someone will offer you a taxi when they have seen you refuse one five seconds previous eludes me.

But this brings me to the biggest problem I saw in Thailand – underemployment. There are many people working in service related industries, but not enough people using the services. We caught a taxi to a restaurant for lunch and during the journey the taxi driver offered to return us to the hotel for the same price (saving the negotiation time if we caught a different taxi). We tried to tell him to pick us up in three hours, but he preferred not to waste fuel looking for what might turn out to be no business. Instead he sat in the car park for three hours, waiting for what was guaranteed.

I spent one day in Bangkok. It is a very interesting city full of many juxtapositions – rich and poor, old and new, east and west. My time was mainly limited to the Royal Palace, main Buddhist temples and shopping. As a point of comparison, I am sure some of the shopping malls were bigger than the main island that forms the centre of Karlskrona.

I also managed to read something for pleasure! Advance Australia … Where? by Hugh Mackay. It’s a very insightful book into the cultural changes that have occurred in Australia and I agreed with its findings. I also found the methodology used for his research very interesting. I also started The Thirteen and a Half Lives of Captain Bluebear, which has so far been very enjoyable.

Special mention must also be made to Finnair. My flight into Helsinki, where I was to connect to a flight to Bangkok was delayed. I ended up arriving with three minutes to get through passport control. Not only did I make it, but when I arrived in Bangkok my luggage was first on the carousel. On the return journey my flight was so late that I had missed the connection in Helsinki, but they held the plane and again I arrived at my final destination with my luggage being one of the first to arrive.