Yaowawit to Phuket - the market and site inspections

Our last day together and it started early.We joined the children on the bright yellow school bus at 7.30am to go to the local market.Anticipating a few stalls I was astounded by the range of products available for sale here.Not only was there a good range of foods - meats, fish and vegetables all sourced locally, but there was pretty much everything else you could want too - homewares, clothes, shoes, even toiletries.It was fascinating to wander around and see.The children scattered to the four corners of the market, without any instruction to stay together, be back at a certain time or avoid strangers.How they knew to be back on time we have no idea!We split up and scouted around ourselves too - I bought tiger balm, a coconut crepe and a pandan drink (green with jelly bits in the bottom).

Back at the school we had breakfast then headed back to the lounge to talk more about how to keep the experiences we had had over the past week alive, and how to communicate them to the rest of the STA world.It was a constructive conversation, and something that we are all conscious we'll need to do to keep the momentum going.With only a few minutes to pack I chucked everything back in my suitcase then headed for lunch in the main building.

After lunch we boarded the school bus and headed to Phuket via Khao Lak.We stopped at Le Meridien Khao Lak for a site inspection - beautiful and all you would expect from such a 5* resort; and the Khao Lak Sunset Resort - less impressive but fine for a 2* property.In Phuket we said goodbye to Liz, Michael, Olivia, Becky and Krysta at the airport who were all heading home or on to their next destination that evening.Mel, Kate and I stayed in the big yellow school bus and went to Patong for an overnight stay before our onward flights the next day.Arriving in Patong in a big yellow school bus earned us a few funny looks from passers-by who were not expecting it at all!We stayed at the Patong Beach Hotel which was lovely - an oasis from the mayhem outside.Kate retired to her room for room service and an early night, whilst Mel and I ventured out through the bars to find dinner and a few drinks as well as to pick up a few souvenirs from the street stalls.All I can say is that I was not impressed with Patong.The number of older, predatory western men and the high levels of prostitution, were incongruous with the community and family values that I'd witnessed over the course of the preceding week, and I couldn't help wonder what had driven these women (or were they?) away from smaller communities such as those we had seen, and into a life like this?