Thailand (used to be Siam)
We made two stops in Thailand, Laem Chabang, the port city for Bangkok, and an island off the mainland called Koh Samui, both very different places.
Laem Chabang a modern port of container handling and a cruise ship terminal and shopping facilities equivalent to any modern port stop. As the Japanese never attacked Thailand (as it had not been colonized by Europeans and it had a king?) the country had a settled look of planned growth and development. None of the frantic look of development and its associated litter and debris of clearing sites and abandoned fields and dwellings. Our tour buses were posh and with the necessary air conditioning the crews well dressed and very well organized.
We chose to take a tour to see a refuge for retired elephants in Pattaya rather than a shopping trip, or more temples. Bangkok was 3 hours away by coach and the ships captain gave out warnings about potential riots. Pattaya was only 20 miles and a good looking town with a beach front, fine hotels and resorts. Thailand is really open for tourist business.
We drove through the countryside past some really good looking new houses of the right size and shape for us to be interested in. Comparable with those we saw in Australia but newer and more modern looking. Some expensive looking temples and good landscaping completed the picture. The bus guide told us that the king was the longest serving monarch, he was 83 years old, had a son and heir and three daughter princesses. The royal family did a lot for their people, especially water projects, and creating business like jewelry making and promoting tourism.
As we approached the village we could see some elephants sheltering under trees. There are wild elephants in Thailand and they are protected. Thailand exports trained elephants to Burma to work in the rain forests, some are captured from this wild population, others are bred from the already trained stock. No-one wants one for a pet as they eat 300 kilos of food a day, including bananas by the bunch, sugar cane and other vegetables. Worse still, they feed at 2 am in the morning and their trainers have to get up to deal with this otherwise they eat everything they can. If the elephants get into a vegetable patch or orchard it is goodbye crop. Elephants will continue eating if they can. and drink 200 liters to wash it down.
We arrived at the elephant village which was very well laid out and the elephants, twenty of them, were there to greet us. We bought 2 kilos of bananas ($2) and started to feed them one at a time to our friendly elephant. We later saw the trainer pop in the whole bunch in one shot, crunch, crunch, swallow and it was gone. The same for a whole coconut.
We saw the elephants carry anyone willing to sit on their backs into the river. They submerged to a point where the riders were truly soaked but stayed on. It was very hot so we suspect that those willing from our tour welcomed the refreshing dip. We both declined.
A demonstration followed showing how strong these working elephants are. The females are preferred. Male elephants have a three month period where they are difficult to handle due to the mating period. Female Asian elephants do not have tusks another reason why they are preferred. The demonstration consisted of pulling very large, heavy logs in tandem, pushing and rolling logs forwards into a pile and various other working abilities. One elephant, small but not young, had been rescued from a circus. She had remembered many of her tricks which she was quite willing to show us. One particular trick impressed us. The translator asked for a member of the audience to hand him a money note. Receiving this, he threw it close to the elephant. The keeper then ordered the elephant to pick it up and hand it back. The elephant sniffed around to find the note, picked it up and then to our surprise handed it back to the person who had produced the note, not the translator or the keeper. The elephant then bowed to the appreciation of the audience. This continued with a large coin and two smaller ones, each time handing them back to the owners of the coins. As the ground was a soft dirt it would have been difficult for us to find the coins ourselves. It was amazing.
After the demonstration anyone wishing to take a ride, whether bareback or in a basket, on any of the elephants could do so. We also had demonstrations of how the elephant lies down on command for medical examination, and how the elephant lifts its front or hind leg to allow the handler to climb on. The elephants are only allowed to lie down for a short period as their huge size would overpower the heart. They sleep stood up.
Towards the end of the show the trainers brought in the large males who had enormous tusks. They were painted and dressed as war elephants as used in previous eras. So the trip became a super photo opportunity. 

Male war elephant dressed in its finery.

Koh Samui
We chose to have a day off from sightseeing here and elected to visit a beach resort. It was a good choice. It was a lovely place next to the beach. Everything had been laid out for the Cunard visitors. There were loungers and towels under very large umbrellas reserved on the beach as they were around the beautifully landscaped pool. A lunch had been arranged which consisted of many dishes of Thai food. It was excellent. Rob and I lazed around, swam in the pool and paddled in the warm sea. In fact for the first time we had ever encountered, the sea was warmer than the pool and the pool was warm. A truly memorable time.