Moonlight Marching

26

Man so exhausted. So I did more interviews today. Met and talked with Bee and Darius some more, (they gave me some good leads about who to go for interviewing / friending in the Urak Lawoi village). Then I went into town with the intention of interviewing the smoothie couple and Pi Pooh, but met this woman named Pi Tasha. We made friends and started talking about ways to improve the island, and the issues I’m studying, and ended up planning a volunteer day to lead by example of –doing something- about the env. on the island and not just talking and talking about it, which she says is all that ever happens. Then she invited me to make dinner with her and made Farang food (which apparently other Thai’s don’t appreciate) absolutely phenomenal salad, chicken and pesto olive pasta. We spoke pretty late into the evening. Then a line of soldiers. Yup soldiers. Walked by (one corner of Lipe is a military base) and they were all wearing leather boots, camo, carrying big guns, and had the most ridiculous hard hats covered with plastic branches and leaves like crazy bobbing green feathers. They were friendly enough from a march and smiled and waved a little when we waved. And Pi Tasha pushed me out into the line so they would walk me part of the way home, so I walked along with them, people saluting and laughing from the side of the road. They walked out of Walking Street and onto the beach in a line and the tide was way out so the beach was wide, and it was a full moon, and the resorts lights were dancing in a haze far away, and it was quite a sight – the soldiers (with guns and cammo and their hats) marching along onto the beach and into the moonlight.

Good quote from the day: the reef is everything for this island. People just coming for the beach? No. there are many many beaches in Thailand and we are pretty remote to come just for the beach…. And if the reefs die, the kind of people will change. The kind who come for the nature and the reef, they are more polite, more respectful, they will care about protecting Lipe’s nature. They aren’t the kind who get drunk in the street. If the people change, Lipe will be more dangerous, especially at night, like Phi Phi or Phuket.