The Case of Jill Rogers in Phuket

This is the story of Jill Rogers, who was one of the few travelers (out of millions) to Phuket who did not have a grand time, and here is why...

Jill was not very conscious of her fluid intake; unless it was the very fine Chang beer served with ice at most all Phuket's eateries and clubs. So her day on the beach was spent drinking alcohol instead of water, and she became severely dehydrated as well as severely burned. (Unfortunately, she had left her SP30+ sunscreen in the hotel room.)

Off to a rocky start on her first vacation here, Jill had to spend day 2 in the hotel room nursing those burns and rehydrating her hung-over body. Only she forgot that tap water is not the way to rehydrate in Thailand, and soon after lunch she was feeling that terrible growl in her stomach that told her that traveler's diarrhea had come home to roost there. Day 3 was spent recovering from that ordeal.

But on Day 4 she was once again herself and decided to have a picnic and a bike ride out away from the beach and into the country. Unfortunately for her, she had forgotten her DEET bug spray so not only did she have fire ants joining in on her picnic, she was bitten numerous times by those pesky mosquitoes found in any marshy or wooded place. Fortunately for Jill, she found relief back in the hotel by applying calamine lotion and then soaking in an oatmeal bath for an hour or so.

Day 5 started out grand; she was avoiding any foods or liquids that could be a problem, but as mishaps happen, she felt the need to feed one of the many community dogs found everywhere on the island, which was resting peacefully and lazily in the shade and looking very friendly.

The dog, surprised at her advances, gave her a warning nip. Now Jill could not remember if she had ever had a rabies vaccine, or any other for that matter, i.e. for Japanese encephalitis, hepatitis A and B, tetanus, typhoid, tuberculosis, and of course rabies. So she was compelled to go to the local clinic (of which there are many modern facilities on Phuket) and subsequently spent several more days of her vacation getting the 3-shot rabies treatment, even though the likelihood of getting the disease is very low.

Wishing now that she had bought medical coverage from one of those international providers like The MedPass from GlobalCare, she had to kick herself mentally over all her mistakes made thus far, and forgo a trip to Phi Phi because of all the expense and discomfort of her first week on Phuket.

Now we have to come clean and tell you that the story of Jill Rogers is fictitious, but still chocked full of facts. We can all learn from Jill's mistakes, even if Jill does not exist (but she certainly could) - so have a happy and healthy stay with all that said!