Scramble time!

Southern Thai Day 7
We started from 8 o'clock in the morning and rushed to a primary school in Phuket to cover a story about disaster prevention education.

going to a quiet resort beach for lunch... no one was around!
wow... a good place not many people know about!


there was a dog who knows well!
sleeping in peace... good to know there's peace here now!

TURN OF EVENTS!!
The day was supposed to end in peace, as we returned to our hotel and seeing many Chinese tourists checking in and I was falling into a doze at around 8 o'clock at night.

I received a call from Tokyo that they received breaking news of Benazir Bhutto being killed in Pakistan. I was told that I had to cut short my trip in Phuket and we had to scramble to Islamabad by tomorrow. In turmoil, I was able to get the tickets and I had to give up continuing my coverage in Phuket... Oh... we were saying we might be able to enjoy a little tomorrow afternoon after filming in the same school in the first half of the day... but in vain...

hooking on to BBC and CNN all night to gather information... what a wild night!!

I'm still smiling...

Southern Thai Day 6
I had no idea where I would be standing in the end of the day, when a squall attacked us minutes before my live broadcast. I thought I would get a big bull's-eye for the first time in my career, not making a live coverage. We were saved my many coincidences and luck, but here I am still smiling...

It was the third anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster and I went to cover the memorial ceremony at Paton Beach. Many white people were among the participants. Still I was rather overwhelmed by how the revival of the area has brought back a tourist resort back to normality, as it was hard to find any trace of the tsunami, except warning towers and evacuation signs.

no one at Paton Beach at 7AM... a beautiful beach...


the ceremony at Paton Beach... many participants...

I surely would like to be here on vacation... but that will perhaps be so many years from now!

so many people in the afternoon... oh, I'd like to lie down too... but I can't!!

Merry Christmas in Phuket!

Southern Thai Day 5
It was Christmas... HOT CHRISTMAS!

my Christmas gift! Red Bull energy drink!

After running around the Phang-nga Province again, we finally headed to Phuket in the evening. The internationally famous resort seemed to me a much sophisticated area than I thought, but it still looked like a Southeast Asian town.

our hotel... big but cheap... with many Chinese and Koreans!

Since it will be a very important day tomorrow, we had to stay all night to trim the footage and get ready!
So much for Christmas!

my Christmas dinner... hot and chilly!

Christmas Eve in summer?

Southern Thai Day 4
It's about 11:30PM and at my hotel there's loud music and fireworks celebrating Christmas Eve. I think it would be too loud to sleep if you're a child, but I don't care because I still have tons of work to do. My target will probably be at 3 o'clock in the morning, but let's see... If I don't finish writing my rough draft of my report till tomorrow morning in Tokyo, my boss will kill me... Well it might be easier if he really killed me!

What a depressing Christmas Eve it is in years. And it's my first ever Christmas I'll spend in a "hot" place!

the hotel gave me a Christmas present... ho-ho!
a Hershey's chocolate!

We were at Moken villages today.
Yes there's still many problems lying at disaster-stricken areas. Three years ain't enough for any relief to be finalized!

Tap Dawan village... resided by Mokens!


a peaceful village living by fishing...

even pigs can walk freely!

Election Day!

Southern Thai Day 3
It's really an important day for the Thais, but for me, it was just another day to run around to get things on film.

a kitten in Khao Lak... Sawadee Kap kitty!

Today, we rode to Ranone Province which was a fairly long two and a half hours from Khao Lak.

there were great resorts here too... but no customers...


at least the local kids were having fun!

I had no idea if I had enough footage, but that's that... I have no other way to get a story out but to film what I can get.
My trip is getting very tough, as tention mounts on my side on Tokyo and I really would like to run away and lie on the beach for a sun tan. I know I can't do that, so again... I must go on...

At night, some of the channels were covering the election results, but I had no idea who won!

Got a story?

Southern Thai Day 2
Running around the Khao Lak area, I think I may have found a story I can cover...

This is where many have lost their lives...

Leam Pakarang area where rocks rolled on to the beachside...

I'm really tired, but I must go on with what I have. I think I can make it... I think...

eating yellow curry and Thai food... it's reeeeeeeally spicy, but good!

To the next destination!

Jakarta Day 6 / Southern Thai Day 1
In the morning, I did some last minute work, and hurried to the airport to get on a plane to Bangkok saying good-bye to Indonesia.

At Bangkok...

tons of tourists were lined up for the passport check! I found out the queues on the left were comparatively short and got out in about thirty minutes. The others could be lined up for more than an hour!

I switched to a domestic flight together with a colleague. Our destination was Khao Lak of Phang-nga Province in southern Thailand. We made it to Krabi at around 8PM and to the hotel at around 10PM.

a cheap but fair enough resort hotel!

So here, I must get on with another story... but I still have no idea how it's gonna go!

my next field of work... Phang-nga and its vicinity!

In Thailand!

Bangkok
I made it to Thailand and I'm staying at a hotel right next to the international airport.

a beautiful lobby... but no time to enjoy...