Trapped on Koh Tao!

When Caitlin's friend, Jake, arrived to visit on Thursday we thought that it would be brilliant to head south and see some of the islands. This plan would have been flawless if Thailand hadn't decided that it would bring freak monsoons! We arrived on Koh Tao on Saturday I think, and planned to spend a few days here snorkelling. It started to rain as soon as we arrived, and literally has not stopped since. After about 48 hours of constant rain, all boats to and from the island were cancelled, and floods were causing havoc all over the south. Soon, almost every road on the island was a river and every building we passed had some sort of damage - knee deep water on the floor, roofs caved in, tables and chairs broken and floating... it really was crazy. It was so bad in the south of the island that an entire resort literally floated away - building and all! Some parts look like a tsunami has hit with trees uprooted and roads and rivers blocked with sand washed in from the sea level rising. It continued to rain until yesterday when it held off for just enough time for people to start getting things back in order, but then today more rain came and the forecast is for even more. When it became clear that boats would be cancelled for a good few days, a navy ship was sent to take tourists off the island. However, due to Thai disorganisation, this didn't go to plan and most tourists were left here, including two friends of ours who have now missed flights! So Caitlin, Jake and I are still stuck here. We are booked on a boat that leaves tomorrow morning, and hopefully that should leave, but if it continues raining I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. I must give credit to the Thai people on the island and everywhere in the south - this sort of situation should that Thais are survivors. Everyone is just getting on with it - their house is flooded, so they do whatever they need to do to sort it and deal with it as fast as possible to get back to normal. When floods happened in the UK the chaos was incredible and it went on for weeks, but people here who have literally had enire streets washed away in places like Surathani, are just getting on with doing whatever they have to do. I can't explain how crazy the weather is - I can understand that from the UK it might just seem like a lot of rain, but even in the wet season it never, ever rains like this. In the wet season there is maybe an hour or so a day of torrential rain, then it disappears. This is constant torrential rain, in the hot season! We spoke to a teacher in Na Kae earlier today who said that the temperature there has been between 7 and 11 celcius - it should be nearing 40 by now! Hopefully things will get back to normal soon, but for now the south of Thailand has to just keep surviving.