Long live the king

Cave near Tom Sawyer temple.
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Tonight is our last night in Thailand.  For now.  (We'll be back for one night in Bangkok after we go to our other stops.)  We've been here for over a week and a half now, and I have some questions:

The Thais seem to really love their king.  There are big posters decorated with golden frames all over the place, on Mondays, everyone wears yellow for the king's birthday - every week.  And on Fridays, everyone wears blue for the queen's birthday.  And many people wear these yellow shirts with a royal logo all week long.  And you know those rubber "Live Strong" bracelets?  They have "Long live the king bracelets."  I don't feel like I can ask anyone here whether they really love their king or if the king is behind all this because I don't want to offend anyone.  Maybe I shouldn't even be typing it.

Night market across the street from our Krabi hotel.
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The other question I have is regarding these chapstick things that many people sniff all the time.  I don't know what they're sniffing, but I see it all the time, being done by many different types of people.  Men, women, young, old.  I can't really tell how rich or poor certain people are, but I'd guess that this is done by both the rich and the poor.  I could buy one and try it out myself, but that could be a pretty bad idea.  I could also ask, but again, the offending people thing comes up.

Pancakey peanutty treat.
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Plus, there's still the "same same, but different" thing.

I'm still working on getting Mark to write an entry.  But he hit his head on one of the many low bathroom doorways, so his brain may not be quite ready for this high level of wisdom and wit!

Today, we took a speedboat to Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Leh.  I'm still feeling the movement of the ocean now as I'm writing this, so please pardon any spelling mistakes.  The ride was pretty rough and several people made "rice porridge with chicken," as our guide put it.  I will give credit to Bonine for keeping me from this same fate.  We were in search of bright aquamarine ocean for Mark.  I was impressed with the beaches and oceans, but apparently, what we saw wasn't good enough for Mark.  He has very high standards.  There's no USB connection (at least that's easily accessible) on this machine, so I'll upload photos later.  Maybe.  We also snorkeled.  Very sad.  Much of the coral looks dead.  It was fun to swim around in the ocean with the fish, but diving is definitely much better than snorkeling.

Us in front of a beach that isn't aquamarine enough, according to Mark.
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We also got our fill of caves, this was yesterday.  We went to Tiger Cave Temple where there's a temple built so that it extends from this cave.  It's actually not as cool as this network of caves that's behind the temple.  Maybe photos of this will be uploaded eventually.  Maybe not.  Same same but different?  The Thai name for this temple sounds like Wat Tom Sawyer and I find that amusing.

There's a market across the street from us - more locally and less touristy.  Easy access to fruit and other treats.  I had more roti.  And more of those coconut custard things.  And I also tried these pancakes that had texture like the chinese rice desserts that look like white jello with holes.  With chopped peanuts inside.

Bamboo Island beach, still not aquamarine enough? Maybe Mark was looking at the sand instead of the water?
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We leave tomorrow for Hanoi!  I hope Vietnam is just as yummy!