This memoir will appeal to a variety interests, including underwater enthusiasts, those attracted to Southeast Asia, adventurers, business entrepreneurs, and individualists of all sorts. Tony Buxton struck out on his own as a young Englishman in the years after WWII. Determination, luck, and charm would take him to the casinos of the Riviera, the coasts of Ceylon, shipping business in Bangkok and Singapore, the reefs of New Caledonia, the polo fields of Malaysia, and to retirement in the hills of northern Thailand. Buxton is not shy about referring to the famous personalities he has met along the way: exiled European aristocrats, movie stars in Rome, a millionaire Italian-American who often befriended him, sultans of Johore Bahru, Jacques Cousteau, Mussolini's daughter, Thai royalty. Along the way he collected two Swedish wives, one Italian, and his Thai wife of the last forty years. The best man at one of Tony's weddings was a former Tarzan. This is a great story, and true. His tales of deep sea spear fishing are particularly remarkable.
This is a great hymn to adventure and individualism before the arrival of the drab globalization that is rapidly taking over the world.
Genre: SPORTS & RECREATION / Polo
new book
A young man arrived in a Chris craft speedboat , introduced himself as Mohammed and told me that he was the Minister of the Interior. I told him that I wanted to explore the deepwater outside the reefs.
“How?” He asked. I showed him my mask and swim fins. He looked shocked.” You can’t do that. A shark will eat you straight away. Why even if you put your finger in the water a shark will bite it off,” he said. “The water is so clear here we can see thousands of big sharks cruising around, I will show them to you, but you must not get in the water.”
Ali arrived the next morning with the speedboat. Behind followed hundreds of boats crammed with people. As I boarded the vessel, I asked Mohammed what the other boats were doing.
“Our people have never seen a skin-diver before, and they are curious,” he said. “There is nothing to do on these islands. We have no cinemas or T.V. So even the smallest diversion is a big event for us. Nearly every boat on the island the country crammed with people wanting to watch.”
“I suppose they want to see the spectacle of someone eaten by a shark. Mahamood looked very embarrassed.. I speared a fish and tied on at my back.. I suddenly felt myself being pulled back through the water at high speed. Terrified, I thought a shark had grabbed me,. Then I realized that the shark had only grabbed the fish but had taken a big bite out of it.h. t. I could hardly find it amongst the flotilla of boats crammed full with people. No doubt they were disappointed and surprised that a shark had not eaten me. I told Mohammed of the attack and held up the remains of the Pompano with a moon-shaped bite that the shark had taken.The crowds of spectators chatted excitedly whilst Mohamed embellished the spectacle.
