Idle banter forum

A fuller enjoyment of travelling can be experienced if you know the derivation of Thai place names.
For instance a Canadian sailor called Daniel Puquette once wrecked his clipper on the northern end of Ko Lanta. Trust those crazy Thais to call the subsequent village Ban Sala Dan. Puquette later moved to another big Andaman coast island, but researchers can’t figure which one*.

During the Vietnam War an American GI called Raymond Lay (rumoured to be the uncle of Enron scandal bad-boy Kenneth Lay) did a runner from a K-ration purchasing scam investigation and holed up in a beautiful bay just north of Krabi town. Gotta be Ton Sai 'cause it rhythms with Lay, right?
But once Ray Lay’s place started to get popular with the beads and bongo set, he got real pissed and settled on the smaller of spectacular twin islands to the south-west where he had a fine recreational cash cropping enterprise going. Which was great until that idiot with the map turned up from KSR.

Candlelight Beach on Ko Samet is so named because there is definitely a good section of sand there.

But some things are a mystery - as far as I know, nobody ever shot roosters on the eastern bank of the lower Chao Phraya. And nobody called Don was an pioneer of the bigger Phi Phi.

*Jeez, how hopeless are those academic researchers? I mean, come on, Puquette went to a “big” Andaman coast island. Big?? Where else but Tarutao?