It’s funny how after a week of being down here in Ko Pangan, arguably the most fun island in Thailand, therefore the world, the only thing that really made me happy was booking my bus ticket back to Bangkok. I’ve never wanted to be in Bangkok before, but now I can’t wait to get there.

The past week here has been relaxing at best, lonesome at worst. In other words, it’s been exactly what I’ve wanted it to be. I needed a place I can sit and be bored to pieces at, somewhere I can spend a full day stoned out of my mind, staring at the waves and doing absolutely nothing. I needed to have that just for the purpose of snapping out of it later and wondering what a waste I’ve been. I needed that so that I can look back a few weeks from now and be glad to be back in med school. I needed it and I got it.

I found this bungalow on a deserted corner of the island, where I’m the only guest I’ve seen who stays more than the day it takes to come here and get the hell out. I stayed because I found my own personal, private beach where I can, as I said before, sit and watch the water come and go for hours and hours until I snap out of it and think of something more productive. Unfortunately, in those circumstances “more productive” thoughts tend to be thoughts of loneliness, boredom, and even depression about why the hell I’ve exiled myself from humanity.

The nights haven’t been much better. It’s about a 30 minute drive to the “happening” side of the island, where I’ve spent almost every night since I’ve been here. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen more “hard to meet” people anywhere else in Thailand that at that beach. It doesn’t help that this time I’m here, it’s summer break so all the beaches are flooded with everyone’s favorite stereotypical douchebags. The bright side of this is that I’ve seen some of the most beautiful women I’ve ever encountered. The dark side is that I’ve only met a few of them. Also, it’s a lot harder to distance yourself from every other stereotypical drunken douchebag when there are just SO MANY of them everywhere you go. I’ve never, ever thought traveling in a group would be more fun than traveling alone. At Had Rin beach in Ko Pangan, I finally see the appeal.
The nice thing about my trip to this island is the massive amount of work I’ve been doing, which considering that was my primary purpose, makes the rest of my worries inconsequential. I’ve written a complete report about the survey, which will be used to help write a paper for eventual publication. I’ve also written a pioneer draft of this Ayurveda paper that might seed another paper later down the road. Oh, and I managed to study half a week’s worth of Cardiology (the week I’ll be missing for Burning Man). Not bad for a week’s work.