We high-tailed it out of Patong as soon as we woke up. We headed down to Kata Beach, a much more civilized and family friendly destination. We found a cheap hostel, conveniently located next door to our favorite store, 7 Eleven, and headed to the beach for the day. At the beach, the waves were huge and crawling with local surfers, and we had to jump in on the action. As the waves were too advanced for our novice surfing abilities, we rented boogie boards instead. No body seemed to acknowledge the "No Swimming, Strong Riptides" warnings posted throughout the beach. We spent the afternoon getting tossed around mercilessly by the ocean, constantly being eaten and spit out by 10 foot waves coming from all directions. Good thing we are both strong swimmers.
After dinner, we headed to an ATM, as we were getting low on cash. As usual, Ashwin went to get his card out because it's free of international withdrawal fees, but it was not in his passport holder! We traced the last use back to the Phuket airport, and realized Ashwin never got his card back from the ATM there. We weren't too worried about the situation, because Danny still had his debit card, so he stuck in the machine and we pulled out enough cash for the next few days. Luckily there was an exchange office attached to the ATM, so we broke the cash into smaller bills. Even though he felt it was completely unnecessary, Ashwin asked Danny, "You have your card, right?" Danny, with a look of desparation, responded with "Noooooo". The ATM ate his card as well! Within less than 5 minutes of realizing Ashwin had lost his card, Danny's was now lost as well. We tried asking the lady in the exchange office to help us, but she pretended to no longer speak English, and quickly flipped her "Open" sign to "Closed". We couldn't believe what was happening.
After attempting and failing to call all of the emergency Visa numbers we could find, we went to an internet cafe where an amazing nice woman called the main office of the bank we were using, and informed us that when the ATM eats your card, you don't get it back unless you're a bank member. Great, like we would be members of Ayudha Thai Bank. Now you understand the title of this post.
Luckily, Danny's dad was online, made some phone calls for us, and found out we can get cash from Danny's credit card (which he still has) if we go into a bank. And Ashwin's mom is in the process of getting a new card sent to us here in Asia. But, we still wouldn't mind if you want to send us money.
After dinner, we headed to an ATM, as we were getting low on cash. As usual, Ashwin went to get his card out because it's free of international withdrawal fees, but it was not in his passport holder! We traced the last use back to the Phuket airport, and realized Ashwin never got his card back from the ATM there. We weren't too worried about the situation, because Danny still had his debit card, so he stuck in the machine and we pulled out enough cash for the next few days. Luckily there was an exchange office attached to the ATM, so we broke the cash into smaller bills. Even though he felt it was completely unnecessary, Ashwin asked Danny, "You have your card, right?" Danny, with a look of desparation, responded with "Noooooo". The ATM ate his card as well! Within less than 5 minutes of realizing Ashwin had lost his card, Danny's was now lost as well. We tried asking the lady in the exchange office to help us, but she pretended to no longer speak English, and quickly flipped her "Open" sign to "Closed". We couldn't believe what was happening.
After attempting and failing to call all of the emergency Visa numbers we could find, we went to an internet cafe where an amazing nice woman called the main office of the bank we were using, and informed us that when the ATM eats your card, you don't get it back unless you're a bank member. Great, like we would be members of Ayudha Thai Bank. Now you understand the title of this post.
Luckily, Danny's dad was online, made some phone calls for us, and found out we can get cash from Danny's credit card (which he still has) if we go into a bank. And Ashwin's mom is in the process of getting a new card sent to us here in Asia. But, we still wouldn't mind if you want to send us money.
Intrigued to know just what a more "family friendly" destination in Thailand means? Is there a limit of the number of transvestites or hookers at the entrance to a nightclub?
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