Quite some years ago I worked as a dive instructor on the island of Koh Lanta, Thai­l­and. It was one of the best times of my life. I had the best job in the world, watch­ing fish in their nat­ural hab­itat almost every day and work­ing along­side some of the nicest people I have ever met on all my travels. It was a blast.

One of my co-instructors was an Eng­lish bloke called Kevin McK­eon. A few days ago Kevin passed away after a motor­bike acci­dent on Koh Samui, Thai­l­and. If you could chose one word to describe Kevin it would be Fun, with a cap­ital F. He was the sort of guy you could call up if you felt down and he’d be there with a case of beer tak­ing the piss.

Sadly, after we both stopped work­ing on Lanta we didn’t see each other a lot, but we always stayed in con­tact. Maybe three weeks before Kevin died I told him I was going to be in Indone­sia, where he worked as an Eng­lish teacher, and I’d come see him. But by the time I arrived on Bali he had already quit his job and was on his way to Koh Samui, Thai­l­and, so we never got a chance to meet up again.

Then a few days before his death, I received a mes­sage from Kev. Kevin was look­ing for work, some­thing excit­ing that paid all right. It didn’t mat­ter to him if it was a diving or teach­ing job, as long as it was fun. Kev was pretty cer­tain that Koh Samui was not the place for that to hap­pen. If only he’d acted earlier on this impulse. Any­ways, I wish Kevin all the best on his ulti­mate journey!

For me that only leaves one ques­tion. What is it with Koh Samui that claims so many lives? To me it seems there is a curse on that island. I have also worked as a dive instructor on Samui and have had a couple close calls myself. Too many of my friends or acquaint­ances have died in acci­dents on the island. Inev­it­ably, it is always the per­son on a motor­bike who loses against a car or truck. So, if you go on a hol­i­day to Koh Samui, do your­self a favour and take a taxi or rent a car to get around. It might be the best decision of your life!

Rest in Peace, Kevin! I will miss you!