Thailand - over so soon!

I'm still getting used to the time difference on the GPS tracker. I looked at the map today and had visions of Mark cycling in the middle of the night....However, given the 7 hour difference, it was not so early after all! From the air, the most striking feature in this part of southern Thailand is the 100km long lagoon complex on the east coast. A bit of Internet research revealed that it is called Thale Luang (sometimes Lake Songhkla) and it is the largest natural lake in Thailand. There is a good account of it here which includes reference to a small population of river dolphins in the lake which are threatened by the amount of fishing which takes place. Flickr obliged with a photo!
As explained on his web diary, Mark's original intended route into Malaysia through the extreme south east of Thailand is unadvisable due to insurgency (The International Herald Tribune website explains the details of this) and thus he will now be crossing sooner into Malaysia and following the west coast route to Singapore. 13 countries down............