As I mentioned , I have been in Thailand for about 5 months now..and in Pa tong, Phuket for about 3 months.

Shortly after arriving here, about 2 weeks to be exact, I was walking through the streets in my t shirt, shorts and flip flops and got caught up in a tropical thunderstorm. As I ran between the few sheltered areas, attempting to return to my apartment. I was greeted by a pretty young Thai woman. She emerged from a nearby pharmacy, where she works, and held her umbrella over my head to protect me from the rain.

She didn't seem to care that she was getting soaked but purely concerned about this travellers well-being.Her smile lit up the grey day and her kindness melted me. From that day onwards I am proud to say that she has been my companion, lover and friend.

The kindness she showed that day was, I have since learned, just so typical of her. never passing a beggar without leaving enough money for them to eat, before leaving them with her radiant smile and "sawadee ca" as if she were greeting The King himself.

Although she is half my size and age, she has a strength of character I can only wonder at sometimes.

After studying for 5 years at Hat jai University to qualify as a Pharmacist, she is now single handedly responsible for supporting her sister and her elderly and sick parents. Often working 15 hours a day, without a break, to be paid less than Europe's minimum wage.

This evening, whilst she was with me, she received a telephone call to say that her father had died. Her first response was to withdraw every baht of her savings and catch a taxi in the mddle of the night, to take the 2.5 hour journey to her family home in the jungle of Phang nga.

My thoughts are with her and her family. There will be no further blog entry today.