There was a rumor about a paradise called Ko Samet. Four hours from Bangkok, they said. And the paradise turned out to be real. It’s almost impossible to imagine now, but it truly existed. A handful of bungalows around a small bay, palm trees swaying lazily in the breeze, and a restaurant where a beautiful woman cooked as if she wanted you never to leave. Every week I told myself I would move on. Every week I stayed. Three months later, I figured it was time to see the rest of Thailand. But by then it was already too late. I was hooked. Now, forty-five years later, I’m going back. Perhaps to say goodbye, though you never really know with places like that. I won’t say how many times I’ve been there since. There are still a few places I’ve never seen, or not seen enough. This time I’ll skip Ko Samet. Somporn now lives on the mainland, and all the palm trees are gone. Some paradises exist only in your memory and maybe that’s how it should be. It will be a short visit to Thailand. After that, there are still a few blank spots waiting for me in Malaysia.
