Today I am writing about an incident that occurred to me in Thailand.

Lately, with so much publicity with the press, magazines and tv appearances, I have been asked many times what has been my most scary moment travelling solo. To which I have often answered “that nothing of great importance.” it was only last night that I suddenly remembered one particular incident that occurred several years ago in Thailand

at the time I was staying at a small hotel in the centre of Phuket in Thailand. one evening the staff suggested that I go and visit the big fair that was on the outskirts of the city.

They kindly arranged for one of their drivers to take me to my destination. Of course, I was so excited; it didn’t occur to me to ask him to pick me up later that night to return home.

The fair was fantastic. Everywhere I looked, the Thais were preparing all sorts of delicious morsels, which I couldn’t resist sampling. I spent several hours wandering around chatting with the locals, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

It was almost eleven-thirty before I knew it, and I decided to make my way back to the hotel. As I reached the main road, I saw many residents returning home. So I found that I had to wait quite a bit before I could see an empty Tuk-Tuk.

Note! for those who haven’t met these crazy vehicles yet! Tuk-Tuks or auto-rickshaws are the traditional form of transport found in Thailand and several Asian countries. They are a more modern form of a rickshaw with a motorbike at the front.

Then I spied one coming towards me. Strangely enough, it had all these gaudy coloured lights flashing like crazy—something I had never seen before. Anyway,

I hailed the guy down and asked how much he would charge to take me to my

hotel. Well, jeepers creepers! I don’t know if he thought I was related to the Rothschild family, but the price was ridiculous. Naturally, I immediately told him, “no way and sent him on his way” however he hadn’t gone very far when he

stopped and signalled that he would charge me the correct price. Let me add at this point that the guy was not that. Now I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression. There is one thing that I have, and that is an excellent sense of

direction. I am rather like a human “sat nav” I CAN ALWAYS FIND MY WAY BACK!!!

I knew that we had to head straight along the main road to get back to my abode. When the driver suddenly veered off to the right onto a narrow lane. I was astonished. Looking around, I could see a smattering of small local shops and

ahead was a very dark road leading up into the hills. I immediately asked him

where we were going. He replied, “taking a shortcut,” my eyes and my instinct

told me that it was impossible to be going a quick way back when he was heading towards a lonely desolate hilltop. Without a second thought, I jumped off that

moving tuk-tuk while I was still near the little stalls. Fortunately, I was very soon back on the main road. Consequently, I found a local Thai driver who took me

safely home.

Many times I have reflected on that evening and what could have gone wrong. No, nothing happened to me, but I do not doubt in my mind that it could have been a

completely different ending to this story. From my experience, Thailand is a very

safe country, but like all places in the world. Sometimes something nasty can happen.