Thailand: Andaman Seafood

We barely made any plans in Phuket beyond our hotel before we arrived.  We thought we wanted to go snorkeling (I even bought an underwater camera case just for that purpose), but a quick call to a couple of tour groups quickly killed that idea.  Apparently people book their tours well in advance.  Well, boo on them.  Is there no spontaneity left in the world?  No whimsy? 

We did manage to book a Phang Nga Bay tour with Phuket Easy Tour (formerly Woody Travel & Tour) for our second day.  No snorkeling, but fantastic scenery.  The highlight is supposedly James Bond Island, but as I'm not a huge fan, it wasn't that big of a deal to me.  Thank goodness the view was so breathtaking because the food wasn't that great.  

For lunch, our trusty speedboat and Polish tour guide brought us to the floating village of Koh Panyi:

From the dock we walked up the gangplank to Andaman Seafood:

A set meal was all prepared for us:

The good news was that everything was refillable.  The bad news was that everything was kind of flavorless and catered to foreigners.

If you don't believe me, get this.  When we finished picking at the food (we being our group of three, a British couple, and a French couple), someone brought us a plate of...wait for it...fries.

That's right.  Fries.  Cold, soggy fries.

Then came the final blow.  The tables next to us were reserved for a tour group from China.  Guess what was on their tables.  Crabs.  Clams.  Giant shrimp.

What.  The.  Hell.