Today: After the postmodern sleekness of Singapore, the tiny fishing village of Ao Kahe, about half an hour’s bike ride from Ban Phe on Thailand’s Gulf Coast, provides a stunning counterpoint. I’ve spent today working on the verandah of Dan’s rented house, which sits on stilts over the water and looks out over nothing but the sea and a vast blue sky. Fishermen’s boats moor up just by our jetty, little more than a hull and a propeller, and sailors wade out through the only thigh-high water to coax their belching longtail engines into life and roar out towards the horizon for the day’s catch. A dinner of fresh prawns and several other dishes costs £2 for four of us. The toilet is primitive, the floor is rickety, the walls of our rooms have inch wide gaps between the planks – and no one gives a shit.
