Position           07:29.59 N 099:04.36 E

Date                1620 (UTC+7) Thursday 31 December2015

                        and Friday 1 January 2016

Distance run    9.6nm over the ground

After our morning ashore shopping at Khlong Dao at the north end of Ko Lanta Island we headed south to Hat Kan Tiang at the south end of the island.  It was in this bay that we received news of the Tsunami of 2004 which explained to us why the shoreline had been devastated.  It looked very different form our last visit.  The Pimilai Resort was restored with its floating jetty and there was no motorboat stuck in the trees.  It is with regret that I did not take photographs of the time for a comparison.

Hat Kan Tiang Bay and the restored Pimilai Resort

We went ashore to see if there were any vacancies at the ‘Same Same But Different’ restaurant and decided that whilst they could fit us in we would get lost in the crowd and the general air of semi-organised chaos suggested that eating on board, listening to the music from shore and watching the midnight fireworks in comfort had a lot to recommend it.  I di play them Auld Lang Syne on the pipes to show that we were there.

The ‘Same Same But Different’ Restaurant to the south of the Pimilai Resort.  We ate there in 2003 when it was a very much simpler affair.  In 2004 it was completely destroyed

The anchorage was full of mainly charter boats here to celebrate the New Year

White dinghy in the sunset – The sun sets on the old year

We stayed for New Year’s Day and ate ashore – the restaurant was very busy with people escaping from the Resort

Outside the restaurant was a decorative “seasonal” snowman

The Mate demonstrating the real thing in 2010 in Coggeshall with the help of a bored Oscar