MEET YAI

Its long overdue, but its time I introduced everyone to our support vehicle driver Yai. If the Thai movie star we met the other day was Thailand's Ewan McGregor, Yai could well be their Charley Boorman, although he may have to fight Noah for the title. Yai is a local, of course, but he is also certifiably crazy. His opening routine is that he asks you to rap your knuckles on his head, as if you were knocking on a door. Why? Because due to a motorcycle accident, he has a metal plate in there, held in place by 18 screws! It sounds like hitting a water tank. Clang !! He also has a gruesome scar on his foot, due to a different motorcycle accident, where he had a chunk of bone removed then a skin graft which required a 3 month stay in hospital. Has this slowed him down? Hell no.


The girls love him, and rightly so, he is a really affable, gentle but funny guy. But he drives like a total maniac. We might have been really carving it up on the bikes, and I think that'll put some distance between us, but when we get to a rest stop, a minute or two later, he rocks up in the truck. Its impossible, I just don't know how the hell he does it, but it just keeps on happening. You just can't shake the guy! God help anyone who gets in his way, and I'm really glad he's behind us, not heading towards us. But this is Thailand. Lots of people drive like Yai anyway.

 Yai in the pickup truck.

 Yai and Kay sorting out what happens next.