Travelling on Petchkasem road, and it’s a long road, you might be following a truck full of building material. You might see several of them that turn off and head towards the mountains.
You will also see many places where there is new build. Go onto the coast road and head towards Khao Ko Lok or continue toward Pranburi then turn left at the traffic lights and you will see more new build – homes, shops, condos, roads.
Take in the view. If you’re a frequent traveller then you might realise that something is missing. Ah, yes! The mountain that used to be there is now no bigger than a builder’s spare tyre. The lush green vegetation has given way to raw red rock with trucks perched on it, gouging a trail that circles the mountain, stealing the earth and reducing the ancient land to nothing.
The Western World has been levelling the earth for years and when I arrived in Thailand it was a pleasure to recover some of those lost landscapes. My eye gloried in the rise of land that sometime looked like jagged teeth biting at the air: sprigs of trees, tangled foliage and broad leaves that alleviated the sameness of the horizon; land that was alive with insect, bird and beast.
Paradise is disappearing fast and I feel a great sadness.
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