BKK - MEL

I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on July 7. Spent 2 days touring around the city and then made my way to Koh Phangan - one of the islands. Beautiful place! White sand beaches, crystal clear blue water - paradise. However, that is what people see. Unfortunately, there is a dark side. Every month there is a 'Full Moon Party - FMP" Thousands of tourists come to party on the beach until the early hours of the morning, after the sun comes up. With the hoards of tourists come quite a few thieves. I have been told they are Thai people, people from neighboring countries as well as tourists themselves. I ended up being a victim of someones greed. Everything was stolen - camera, ipod, laptop, credit cards, cash. Those all can be replaced. It was the pictures, gifts and sentimental items that I wanted back. Originally, my passport was stolen but was then found lying on the driveway to the hotel I was staying at. So in a sense, I met some 'thoughtful theives' (oxymoron) if there is such a thing. They broke into my room without any damage which makes me believe it was an inside job, cut open my backpack which I had locked on the table and eventually stole my safety deposit box right out of the wall. Ripped the entire thing out! I had EVERYTHING locked away because I heard of the theft during the FMPs. But my Mum made a good point - at least i wasn't in the room when it happened. They obviously had a knife since they cut open my backpack and who knows if they would have done anything if someone was there.
Anyways, I stayed a few more days at the hotel in the penthouse suit which I demanded after the incident but still didn't feel comfortable so I took a bus back to Bangkok and jumped on the next flight to Melbourne, Australia.

I'm in Melbourne at the moment, plan to be here for a few weeks. Want to head north to Brisbane to visit Alicia and Nigel and then make my way south to Sydney to see some more friends. It's nice to have friends around again....starting to miss home. Dont' tell my mother! haha