Today is the last day!

[Somtamnication]

Took wife and son to the library ship in Makham Bay.

Pro: Lovely people to interact with. 60 nationalities, all volunteers, and had a chance to practice my Portuguese and Spanish language! Tons of books for all ages, and reasonably priced. Books cost about half of what you would find at B2S and other places. Entrance fee is 20 baht for all. Students are free. Manned by the crew, so no farang tax.

Pricing is by units, not currency. So a book labeled 100 units is 80 baht. No need to label price every time it docks at a new port.

Con: Heavily Christian themed. Tons of religious stuff, cds, bracelets and other stuff. Not my thing, but for some of you, perhaps. About 30% of the stuff is related to Christianity.

[DonaldBattles]

The library ship sounds great. Were you able to find a great book called, "Merchant Of The Orient, An Entrepreneur"s Journey In Life"?

[NamKangMan]

I have not been onboard.

It states it's a library, but obviously it's a book store.

Your heading states, "Today is the last day." Is the ship moving on, and may be back, or closing up?

[LivinginKata]

Last day in Phuket port for this visit. Expect it will be back in a couple of years.

[steelepulse]

What are the hours for this today if anyone happens to know?

[LivinginKata]

From PG ...

"The ship, to be moored at the Deep Sea Port in Ao Makham, will be open to the public from 10am to 9:30pm, Thursday through Saturday, and from 1pm to 9:30pm on Sunday, August 18 (click here for map).

The ship will be closed to visitors on Monday, August 19 and Tuesday, August 20 – but will reopen from 10am to 9:30pm on Wednesday, August 21 and Thursday, August 22.

Tickets to board the vessel will cost 20 baht. Children under 12 may board free of charge, but must be accompanied by an adult."

[steelepulse]

Thanks LIK.

[hansgruber]

Not bad. Got some books for the boy.

Quite boring actually.

[KarenBravo]

.....and I bet you didn't see a single Thai under the age of thirty.

[patongphil]

.....and I bet you didn't see a single Thai under the age of thirty.

Whoo boy are you wrong there. I went today as well and there were at least 2 school groups there at the same time - about 100 odd little noise machines running around.

[Somtamnication]

Yes, kids everywhere. And many hi-so Thais buying up stuff. I bought some books that my son will read eventually. The last time they came was 4 or 5 years ago. It is not every year or every two years.

Even the staff, who do a 6 month, 12 or 24 month stint, do not know from where they will fly home from. Interesting how this all works. 2 computers for 400 crew. Only intranet and emails. Youtube is banned. Some countries do not allow them to use internet at port. Interesting stories... and not one complaint.

[KarenBravo]

.....and I bet you didn't see a single Thai under the age of thirty.

Whoo boy are you wrong there. I went today as well and there were at least 2 school groups there at the same time - about 100 odd little noise machines running around.

In other words, Thai kids that didn't actually have a choice. How many Thai kids did you see that were there because they wanted to be there?

[LivinginKata]

Inflammatory post removed. Let's have civil posts, thank you.

[Peterocket]

.....and I bet you didn't see a single Thai under the age of thirty.

Whoo boy are you wrong there. I went today as well and there were at least 2 school groups there at the same time - about 100 odd little noise machines running around.

In other words, Thai kids that didn't actually have a choice. How many Thai kids did you see that were there because they wanted to be there?

They wouldn't bother because they all have kindles and ipads