PHUKET, THAILAND

It was just a brief stop in Phuket.  There were no tours we wanted to take and as we were walking toward the taxis, we met a couple coming off another ship. All 4 of us got in the taxi for a 20 minute ride to town.

There are some fabulous beach resorts in Phuket, but we really did not want to go to a beach, and decided to just stroll around town on our own.  The other couple were doing the same but wandering in a different direction. We agreed to meet back where the taxi left us in 3 hours.

The town is very small and not many things to see.  Phuket is an island belonging to Thailand and at one time was rich in rubber and tin and  part of a major trading route for Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders.  One of the smaller islands off the coast was made famous in a James Bond movie "Man with the Golden Gun."

As we wandered the streets Len took photos. We listened to the fellow up on the ladder explaining his thoughts to the other workers below.

We heard him say: "Grounding may provide some protection against electrical shock, but does not defend well against the risk of electrocution. A non-GFCI circuit relies on the circuit breaker in the panel to trip when a ground-fault occurs. A circuit breaker will require a minimum draw of 15 amps before the breaker trips (20 amps on a 20 amp breaker, etc.). Electrocution has been known to occur with exposure to an electrical charge as little as 1 amp. A GFCI outlet will trip at .005 amps. A charge of .005 amps may still give you a nasty shock, but it’s a lot better than the alternative."

This little guy did not leave the bike.

and (drum roll please) - an interesting fixture on top of a street light.