Hello we must be going

We lasted two nights at Jomtien Beach. Now we're back in Hua Hin on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand. We like it here.

We thought Jomtien would be a pleasant seaside spot for Joe to relax and exercise his arm and for me to get going on a new book. Although the place was a little less racy and chaotic than central Pattaya, just to the north, Jomtien was no place to kick back, it turned out. It combined too many of the worst features---and far too few of the best features---of Las Vegas, Sodom, Phnom Penh and Trenton.

Also, our $50 hotel---big bucks for us---was crummy. On its Web site the Jomtien Thani resembled one of those postcards of Miami Beach in 1948. Close up, the swimming pool water looked like Bald Eagle Creek in 1948, just downstream from the Lock Haven, PA papermill. And our room could have been the Tijuana motel room where Janet Leigh was held captive by a Mexican drug gang in Touch of Evil.

We did, however, have a pleasant visit with Barbara Wheaton's old foodie pal Fritz Blanc and his partner, retired Philadelphia lawyer Len Bucki. They have found more serene Jomtien precincts to live in, and we enjoyed hearing about their life in Thailand and their take on Thai politics---rotten to the core---and their exuberant social lives.

On the other side of the Gulf---and gulf---our friend Poe found us a small, quiet place called the Seahorse Resort, not far from where Simon and Poe live in Hua Hin. Only eight of the hotel's 29 rooms are occupied. December's political turmoil in Bangkok has combined with the world economic crisis to devastate Thai tourism. So we got a bargain rate at this bright blue and white, nicely designed arrangement of terraced rooms all overlooking palm and frangipani trees and a big sparkling turquoise pool. Lovely.

We'll make a quick overnight trip back to Bangkok next Saturday for Joe to have his shoulder checked out by Dr. Somsak. Then we return to limpid Hua Hin until just before we fly to Burma March 9. That's the plan, unless we surprise ourselves again.