The sun crested the Gunung Raya peak of Langkawi as Diomedea slipped quietly out of the Telaga bay into a nice 10 kt NE breeze for the sail to Thailand. Flat seas and recent antifouling made for good pace until the wind faltered at the halfway point and then it was back to the diesel. The new shaft seal is much better than the old one but still slight water spray coming from it.
Rounding the point into the Ko Lipe harbour, Pattaya beach, we were greeted by an excellent arc of bone white sand, clear water and coral reef in good condition. The beach of course is home to a thriving tourist industry but as it is now shoulder season, the numbers are low.
We anchored in 20m and then dinghied ashore to find the Immigration office. Really just a shed slightly above the high water mark we were able to have our passports stamped and officially enter the country after about 10 min of paper work. Outstanding.
The island has a street called "Walking Street" which is home to all the shopfronts, restaurants, Thai massage venues, bars, dive shops etc etc. The pharmacy had a good range of antibiotics for those in need but more importantly for us it sold Sim cards for the Dtac telco in Thailand. So another 10 minutes and we were back in the world.
Finally it was off to lunch at the Bella Vista restaurant on the beach. The glare of the sand was actually astonishing and we were amazed to see Europeans frying themselves in this, the anvil of the sun. Lunch was very spicy beef salad and papaya salad of course. Washed down with fresh coconut and Chang beer. Tonight the sun has set in a blaze over the low hills of the island. We sleep in the master cabin which we have renamed "The Fan Club" on account of the three fans which point directly at us whilst we are in bed.