TUESDAY: Back at the boatshed. Scott decides to get the newly launched longtail out of the pond beside the shed and into the sea. Once across the sandbar, we have to stop it being swamped while the motor is mounted. I get to hold the prow square to the waves. I was hoping the water would be refreshing but it’s hot. There’s lots of broken coral underfoot whenever I’m not treading water. Then there’s a coconut tree stump. Then the bow rope gets wrapped around my leg. The Thai expression for this is mai sanuk (not fun). Then the motor is finally mounted and started and we pile in and head out past the breakers for a while.

The following is a diary I kept about my time as a volunteer in May-June last year.

FRIDAY: On the bus from Phuket Town to Khao Lak, the area in Thailand hit hardest by the tsunami. A quiet trip, until dozens of school kids pile on. A girl sits down next to me and ventures the main Thai conversation starter: “bai nai?” (“going where?”). My answer: “bai Khao Lak” is a conversation stopper. I presume I’ve pronounced it so badly, she can’t understand me. I’m later told she probably couldn’t understand why I would willingly go to a place full of ghosts.