Koh Tang Island
C
hakara Khin stared through mirrored shades at the floating rust-bucket that was the heart of his pirate operation. As a former merchant seaman who had spent a great deal of his life as a deck-hand on ships sailing the Gulf of Thailand, the sight of the decrepit old vessel offended his seagoing sensibilities. On the other hand, he thought as he signaled the man at the helm of one of his hot-rod skiffs to circle, the more the reconfigured old freighter looked like just another tramp working these waters, the better it was for business.
And business is good, he thought as his boat passed under the mother-ship’s fantail where the deck crew had sloppily painted over the Korean hangul characters that once spelled out the ship’s name and homeport. For many years prior to her
