Mysterious deaths at Thai resort – Manager blames binge drinking

by Annie Scott on


Seattle couple Jill St. Onge and Ryan Kells took a three month romantic vacation in Southeast Asia. Jill St. Onge, 27, agreed to be Ryan Kells’ wife on the trip, and the couple was engaged when they arrived at the Laleena guesthouse on Phi Phi island (above).

Jill kept an online journal where she described her trip as idyllic: “So amazing… just drinking eating and living so cheaply and having a blast. Food, drink, good books, sun and warm waters… What else do ya need?”

That was on April 26. On May 2nd, Kells found St. Onge vomiting in their room, and tried to rush her to the hospital in a shopping cart. Within 12 hours, the healthy 27 year old was dead — and no one knows why.

To make matters worse, another woman, a 22 year old from Norway, also died at the Thai resort the same weekend. According to AC360, “The manager of the Laleena guesthouse has said in published reports that he believes the women’s deaths came from drinking heavily.”

Kells believes something in the room killed his fiancee. He felt ill there, and spent less time in the room than St. Onge did.

Naturally there is an investigation into the deaths, but it is expected to take some time. If there’s anything to be learned here, it’s that when you’re a stranger in a strange land, keep tabs on your health. If you feel sick in the room, get out of the room — and, of course, don’t drink too much, but we think it’s unlikely that two healthy young women coincidentally drank themselves to death at the same random resort on the same weekend.

Visit Jill St. Onge’s blog, which has been updated by Kells since his return to the states with his fiancee’s ashes, to read more.

[via AC360]

Photo of the Day (5.9.09)

by Brenda Yun on


Of all the dance forms, I prefer the kind that is wholly expressive and completely free. Being from Hawaii, I guess it would come as no surprise that fire dancing is one of my favorite spectacles. There’s something both dangerous and totally awe-inspiring when you see illuminated images like the one depicted in this photo, as well as feel the heat exuding from the performance and fire itself.

While fire dancing originated in Polynesia, the dance in this photo took place as a hill tribe performance in Chiang Mai, Thailand and comes to us from Pureboy, who appears to have plenty of other great photos from his trip to Thailand in 2007.

If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

A scent of place

by Catherine Bodry on

Smells have an uncanny way of transporting me back to some far-away place, often without my even realizing what’s happening. For an entire year, every time I jogged past a nearby house I was smacked with memories of Ireland, where I lived for six months. Finally, after nearly making myself crazy trying to figure out what the smell was, I realized that they were burning coal. It was the scent of coal smoke that reminded me so much of Ireland, though I can’t recall ever noticing it when I lived there.

And when I arrived in Bangkok for work last fall, I couldn’t stop smiling because all the smells I had forgotten about were slamming me. The city mixes a chunky scent stew of frying oil, curry, exhaust, urine, incense, and wet cement. I love it – it’s Thailand to me.and I love Thailand. In reverse, when there I’d walk into an air-conditioned Starbucks, with its somewhat sanitized coffee aroma, and feel like I was back in the States.

I usually never noticed these scents when I was constantly surrounded by them. But their sudden appearance out of context (or upon revisiting a place) will jolt my memory completely unexpectedly.

What smells do you associate with a specific place?

Taking Rock Climbing Lessons in Thailand

by Kraig Becker on

Thailand has certainly become a hot tourist destination in recent years. It offers an exotic locale with a little something for everyone. The beautiful beaches along its southern coast are amongst the most popular in the world and Bangkok has many colorful and interesting distractions for those looking to explore Thai culture, while the backpacker crowd can head north to Chang Mai and go trekking in the hills for a completely different experience altogether. And if all of that wasn’t enough, Thailand is also home to some excellent rock climbing, as Steve Backshall discovered in this article for the Times Online.

It seems that Thailand’s west coast, near Krabi, has earned itself a reputation for being one of the best spots in the world to learn to rock climb. The crystal clear waters and white sandy beaches are littered with dozens of limestone karsts, rock towers formed over time by the process of erosion, and these towers offer plenty of great climbing opportunities. The best rock climbers in the world frequent the area, as much for the rock as the sun and sand.

But Backshall, an accomplished climber himself, says that begining climbers will find a lot to love in Thailand as well. There are a plethora of climbing schools in the Railray region of Thailand. In just a few days they can teach anyone the skills needed to take up the sport, and a fraction of what it would cost you elsewhere.

And when you’re done with your daily workouts, you can pamper yourself in the nearby resorts, hanging out on the beach, sipping a fruity drink, and soaking up the sun. Learning to climb has never been so fun, relaxing, or affordable.

Amazing Race 14, recap 8: Bangkok, Thailand has helpful taxi drivers

by Jamie Rhein on

With the million dollars becoming more attainable as the playing field narrows, some teams are becoming more cagey and mistake prone. One team member is tossing aside manners while another temporarily tossed aside shoes. The Amazing Race 14 continues to be a lesson in how to travel wisely and what mistakes not to make.

Thailand continued to be a lovely backdrop for this week’s episode. The teams left Phuket for Bangkok where the first stop was a boat yard where the colorful painted wooden long boats are parked. Who got there first depended upon which taxi driver knew the directions and Bangkok traffic. Bangkok traffic can be the absolute pits. Even going a mile can take more than an hour. I know because I’ve sat in traffic not knowing that I could have walked faster.

At the boat yard, one member from each team were to put together a propeller correctly so the team could then travel to the next destination, Peninsula Pier via one of the long-tail boats. This was one of the times I felt compelled to shout out at the TV, “No, no, no, don’t leave your stuff!” when sisters Kisha & Jen and brothers Mark & Michael headed off without their bags. This is not just a lesson for The Amazing Race, but for any travel experience. Leaving baggage behind in taxis or on docks is not a good idea. Not only did it give them problems later, instead of enjoying the process of traveling, they were worried and distracted wondering how to get their belongings back.

Having the teams use the canal system and rivers to get around was a wonderful way to highlight the life along the water. There were shots of houses and temples as the teams glided by. Only Jaime and Cara commented on the color of the water. Not the stuff you’d want to swim in, but people do. When I was in Bangkok on a long-tail boat ride, there were smiling kids waving and bobbing as we passed. Ferries and long-tail boats are one way people move about the city.

Once the teams arrived at Peninsula Pier there was a choice between two tasks. Margie & Luke, in the lead, chose the one where they had to become dentists at “The Street of Happy Smiles” to outfit five Thai people with dentures. This was a hoot to watch but I hoped that the participants were handsomely compensated for their efforts–not Margie & Luke, but the ones who were fitted with dentures. After watching Margie breeze through this task, I’d say she could get a job in a dentist’s office for sure. She fit dentures like a pro. The shots of this task were fast to follow, but I’m hoping that each person who needed dentures had their own sets of dentures in their own stash so that teeth sets that were put in one person’s mouth didn’t end up in another’s.

All the other teams joined up with a party taxi where they sang a Thai pop culture karaoke song with women who may or may not have been transvestites. Everyone had a blast with this task, although Jen & Kisha didn’t have their stuff, including their passports and money, and Mark & Michael who were way behind because they had their taxi take them back to the dock to retrieve their bags before they continued with the race. Still, all sang away in a manner reminiscent of William Hung. Remember him from American Idol? She Bang. She Bang!

I’ve been to Bangkok several times and have never seen one of these party taxis. I’m curious. Here is a link to one driver who does have passengers sing karaoke to pass the time.

Because of Margie’s ability to kick it through tasks, she and Luke arrived at the Pit Stop at Phya Thai Palace first. For her quick thinking ways, they won a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Jaime & Cara, who I don’t like much, at least I don’t care for Jaime because she’s so rude and catty, came in 2nd. Michael & Mark’s fondness for rule breaking got them in trouble again. Because they paid off taxi drivers with their belongings since they didn’t have any money left after their taxi ride back to the dock, gave them a four hour penalty. Thus, Kisha & Jen who had to go back from the Pit Stop to get their passports before they could check in, were able to beat them.

My respect for Thai taxi drivers went way up. The drivers were seen waiting for long periods of time, giving rides for free and bartering for fare. Bangkok is such a wonderful city and this episode highlighted some of the reasons why.

This was a non-elimination round which gives Mark & Michael a chance to catch up. Kind of. They’re going to be starting three hours behind everyone else and have their own Speed Bump to boot and Margie & Luke, as nice as they are, are devious and can’t be trusted. I’m waiting for Jaime to get hers. Seriously. She’s the type of person you don’t want to travel with if you want to treat people with kindness and patience and be a good guest.