Sunday March 1^st  

Ko Samui Island, Thailand

 

This was the “Back-packer” paradise ten years ago, but now with the addition of, a major highway circling the island and large airport it is a major Asia destination. The population is 47,000 and it lives on a successful tourist industry, as well the export of coconut and rubber. The construction of high speed internet to support tourism has made it practicable for IT-based enterprises, which is beginning to provide a certain degree of economic diversity. We visit the “Golden Buddha Statue” at Wat Phra Yai Temple, Island Safari Elephant Camp, a coconut plantation, where dexterous monkeys plucking ripe coconuts from treetops entertained us and an exclusive beach Chaweng. At Monkey University we learned that the average man can pick 300 coconuts a day, the monkey……………700.