A little while ago, I met a lady named Kayti who I later found out is the ex-wife of a friend of mine. I’ve mentioned this here before. Anyway, Kayti is a teacher and writer. She introduced me to a website called Gaia Discovery, which I have since contributed a couple of articles to.

Gaia Discovery is a website that covers issues related to eco-living and sustainable tourism. There are a lot of projects in Thailand and Southeast Asia that fall under this bracket. I’m interested in responsible tourism because it’s something that is catching on all over the world. It could be the future of tourism – and if it isn’t then it should be. This whole notion of tourists with a conscience is intriguing.

Gaia has stories of travel from around the world with a focus on places and culture you might not normally pick for a holiday. The website is worth checking out if you have a few moments.

It was about 2 am last night and I was in my living room watching Stranger Than Fiction starring Will Ferrell. It’s really not a very funny movie so I wouldn’t recommend anyone else watch it. While I was watching it, I heard a noise and assumed it was my laptop. My friend woke up and come into the living room to find out what the noise was. The fan, perhaps? It turned out to be the large boats in the sea. They were honking their horns like it was nobody’s business.

We live about 100 meters from the sea. I decided to go outside and walk to the end of the road to the coastline. I had visions of some kind of tanker pileup. I walked out of the gate and within about 30 seconds there was a Timorese man following me. I kept a good distance between us and made a point of looking back at him every few steps.

I made it to the end of the road and sat on a wall to watch the boats. There was no pileup. The man who had been following me stopped about 20 meters from where I was sat. There was nobody else around and it was dark. I looked at the man a few times and he shuffled around a bit. He must have been in his late twenties. He was well built and looked a bit mad.

If I go out on a random walks at night, I make a point to only have a couple of dollars in my pocket and nothing else. If I get mugged, I can empty my pockets and not lose too much. This is my logic, anyway.

I was curious why the man had followed me up the road. I watched the boats for a few minutes and then decided to go home. I approached the man and asked him for a cigarette. He said he didn’t have any, so I walked back down the road. The man followed me again, but I made it back without being ambushed.

It was a weird thing to happen. It wasn’t particularly scary, but I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through that guy’s head. Perhaps he was just bored and wanted to watch a foreigner sit on a wall.

A British man was killed in Chiang Mai this week. Police found the body of former teacher David Crisp, 56, in his home on Thursday.

Scotsman yesterday reported that detectives in Chiang Mai believe Mr Crisp’s death was the result of some kind of tribal killing.

Mr Crisp’s throat had been cut, his face had been smothered with a cloth and his head had been beaten several times.

From Scotsman:

Detectives said the ceiling light in his home office had been smashed – a sign which they said suggested the murderer was a member of the Shan, a hill tribe from the Burma-Thai border.

Police colonel Pattipol Serichaichana said: "Shan believe if they destroy the light the spirits will not see them and they will be harder to catch. The superstition has remained since electricity generators were introduced with difficulty into some hill tribe villages."

Sad news.

If you have a blog about Thailand that you no longer want, then you may as well sell it to me. I can pay money and such things. I'm not expecting a flood of emails about this. I also don't have a huge budget. But if you don't want your Thailand blog any more, I can find a use for it, so contact me.

I lived in Phuket for about a year and I think I have a good feel for the place. I took the island for what it is and never felt too depressed about the state of development because I had never seen the island before the hotels went up. People often complain about what has happened to Phuket, but I honestly believe that it’s still a great island and I’d recommend any of my friends to visit. One thing I’m often asked about is the state of Phuket hotels and how much they cost.

While I haven’t stayed in many Phuket hotels, I did write some articles and update some guides with regards to the cost of a hotel room in Phuket. The scene is much the same as Bangkok. There are Phuket hotel rooms to cover a wide range of budgets. There are spots for backpackers, digs for people with a little more to spend and luxurious pads for the rich and famous.

Phuket is a large island. If I only had a week to stay there, I’d choose the location of my hotel carefully. Let’s say I was after a wild weekend of drinking and late-night partying. For that, I may as well stay in Patong where the majority of the bars and clubs are. Patong is a lively area that you will either love or hate. I never had a problem with it, although I wouldn’t want to live there.

I once rented a Phuket hotel room in Phuket Town. It was a simple place, the name of which escapes me, but it was much the same as the majority of the cheap Phuket hotels in Phuket Town. It was pleasant, the room was comfortable and there was hot water. I couldn’t complain.

If I had the money, there are a few Phuket hotels that I would go for every time. One of those is the Indigo Pearl resort in Nai Yang. When you stay somewhere such as Nai Yang, Mai Khao or Cape Panwa, you know that you’re going to be away from the masses of tourists who flock to Patong, Kata and Karon. I stayed at Indigo Pearl a few times and I loved it.

Another place that springs to mind when thinking of quality Phuket resorts is Sri Panwa at Cape Panwa. It’s more of a small community of villas than a resort. It epitomizes luxury and has the price tag to match. But still, some day I may have the money for such a splurge.

Travel around Phuket isn’t especially easy, so if I were traveling to the island I’d make it a point not to stay anywhere too remote. The first thing to do when you arrive is to get some transport, either in the form of a motorbike or car.

I’ve never booked Phuket hotels online, although I have used Agoda and Hotel Travel to book Bangkok hotels. The number of booking agents available makes it easy enough to compare prices.

Overall, I think Phuket has about as diverse a range of hotels as you are likely to find outside of Bangkok. If you’re into spas then, wow, Phuket will be like heaven. There’s definitely something for every when it comes to Phuket hotels.