Cats

Thus far, Thailand seems to be a haven for (sometimes not so) stray cats. There are cats everywhere, some of them very sickly and emaciated. Others, it seems, are 1/2 adopted, sporting colorful collars and having a dish of dry catfood to come "home" to in front of store fronts.

As we know, populations of species will naturally align themselves to the available energy of their environment. Barring any external influences, such as natural predators (or as we'll see, sterilization programs), if a species' numbers get too high, their population will collapse, only to grow again, and collapse again, ad infinitum.

(Incidentally, Honi Mundi once attended a NPS ranger talk about the subject in Rocky Mountain National Park, where the lack of natural predators forces the park to cull and sterilize the local caribou population)

Luckily, on Ko Phi Phi, the Lanta Animal Welfare organization periodically sets up shop to remove the uteri and testicles of unsuspecting cats.

Garbage Monkeys

Upon arriving  at the main pier at Ko Phi Phi, visitors are immediately herded through a impromptu toll booth where the government extracts 20 baht (~70 cents USD)  per person. The justification for this is to keep Ko Phi Phi clean. Having seen otherwise beautiful beaches and tropical paradises ruined by litter in other areas of the world, we were OK with paying this fee. Nonetheless, knowing how government bureaucracies work, we were a bit skeptical as we passed our crumpled and damp bills to the uniformed official.

The moment we needed to throw something out, we realized that our incredulity was not unfounded.

First few days on Ko Phi Phi Don

Getting to Ko Phi Phi, an archipelago just east of the resort town of Phuket (which Honi Mundi wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole) was quite a journey, consisting of a 12 hour overnight bus ride ...

... during which a tire blew ...

... followed by 3 hours in a Toyota Commuter van packed full with sweaty backpackers and their oversized backpacks ...