• CategoriesParadise Abandoned · Photography

    Phayun Beach Condo

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    My Paradise Abandoned project returns, but in an unusual format. A couple of weekends ago, I flew up to the quiet Phayun Beach area of Rayong province, just south of Pattaya, Thailand. It was something of an odd variant of urbex, in so far as it bore a closer resemblance to urban warfare than urban exploring. I was there for an airsoft event.

  • CategoriesExpat Life · Travel

    Remembering Why I Love Thai People – The Hard Way (Part 2)

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    We return to the sorry story of the complete mess I made of a very simple journey, which we started in the last part. Having made the idiotic mistake of leaving my passport at home and not realising until I’d just arrived at the airport, I was now well behind schedule for the rest of my planned journey to Kanchanaburi for an airsoftevent. Last time, we concluded with a slightly bumpy landing at Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport. The story continues…

  • CategoriesExpat Life · Travel

    Remembering Why I Love Thai People – The Hard Way (Part 1)

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    Last weekend, I quite comprehensively proved that even those who have been travelling practically professionally for the better part of a decade are still prone to making the most rookie of mistakes. One rather monumental error led to a sequence of progressively more stressful situations which were each made more bearable by the sheer charm of the Thai people I encountered along the way.

  • CategoriesExpat Life

    Getting a Gun on a Plane

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    Firstly, let me explain to casual readers and people who just googled the title: this is a travel blog, not a guide to hijacking commercial airlines. This is actually the story of getting my new airsoft gun from Bangkok, where I bought it, to Phuket, where I live.

  • CategoriesExpat Life · Travel

    The Battle of Thung Thale Beach

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    Keeping low and moving slow, rifle firmly gripped in both gloved hands, I crept through a patch of dense woodland. I was shielded from the harsh sunlight and the view of most of the enemy invasion force by a wall of leaves, but the web of thin trunks and branches I was creeping through presented challenges of its own, particularly when it came to moving quietly. My squadmate joined me, silently indicating that we should move further to the left. The enemy were reportedly moving up through this area and, if we were careful, we would be able to attack on their exposed flank.

  • CategoriesPhotography

    Week 32: Soft

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    Airsoft is probably the most misnamed sport around. For one thing, most modern guns use electric motors to propel their ammunition, not compressed air. Furthermore, with said ammunition being 6mm plastic ball bearings, their impact is far from “soft”! A lot of people are put off by this fact. Many of my friends, on discovering that I was taking an interest in the sport, said that they had tried it once, but found getting shot too painful to keep it up. Fortunately, I am rather less skinny than most Thais and the force of the impact is significantly dampened by my slightly excessive body fat. The only thing that caused enduring pain was the extensive exercise to muscles unprepared for it, causing my legs in particular to ache for several days after.