Koh Samui Image by allPhoto Bangkok from Pixabay

Title: Lost and Found in Thailand
Wordcount: 71758
Genre: Romance
Language: British English
Synopsis: Escaping heartbreak, Olivia finds an unexpected soul sister in pediatric nurse Lena. Together they navigate Thailand’s chaotic beauty, strange encounters and unforgettable mishaps. When Olivia falls for a Dutch traveller she faces a new dilemma though—is this just a holiday romance or something more?

Text:

Chapter 1: Not Now Bunny

The distant rustle of leaves and the sound of birds chirping filtered in through the cracks of Olivia’s rusted window. Byron was the dream — a landscape that inspired many of her marketing campaigns. However, while the world outside bloomed with vitality, her interior world felt stark and hollow.
Yet today, as her fingers hovered over her laptop’s keyboard, Olivia felt suffocated. The digital collage she was designing displayed a tropical beach, a serene escape. It was meant to inspire adventure in potential tourists, but for her, it only deepened the yearning to break free from the past that now seemed to be her shadow. Every pixel she added evoked memories she wished to forget and dreams she yearned to chase.
A message popped up on her screen, Mia’s profile picture attached to it. “Liv, how are you doing love? Still confined to that room?”
Taking a deep breath, Olivia leaned back in her chair, the weariness evident in her eyes. She felt trapped not only by the four walls surrounding her but also by the memories they held. “Feels like I’m in a cage, Mia. Every corner, every inch of this bloody place reminds me of Isaac. I can’t even go for a walk without him popping up in my iphone gallery.”
“I think it’s time you left Byron Liv,” Mia typed back after a few seconds, followed by, “Have you ever thought about just… getting away for a bit? Clear your head, you know…start fresh?”
A heaviness settled in Olivia’s chest, contrasting the airy allure of escape. The memories of Isaac were not just confined to the physical space; they were etched in her heart and mind. “Where would I even go?”
“I don’t know, somewhere tropical?”
Olivia chuckled, the first genuine laugh she’d had in a while. “You make it sound so simple. Just up and go?”
“Why not?”
For a moment, her mind wandered. Olivia had been daydreaming about travelling to a tropical island with its lush green forests, calming beaches, and hidden temples in the mountains. An escape where she could confront her feelings and find herself amidst nature. Maybe it was time to turn those dreams into reality.
“What’s holding you back?” Mia’s next message read, as if she had sensed Olivia’s contemplation.
With a jolt, Olivia realised: Nothing. Nothing at all.
The decision was made in a heartbeat but executing it took a few weeks. And then, with her bags packed, essentials and a few journals included, Olivia found herself at the airport with a flight booked for Thailand, her heart fluttering in her chest like a caged bird about to be set free.
During her wait, she posted a picture of her journal and a coffee, captioned, “And I’m off. Thailand, show me what you’ve got.” This wasn’t common for Olivia, while she was great at creating content for other companies when it came to her own social channels, she was less than enthusiastic. And despite Isaac being gone, his mother continued to like each of her posts. A bittersweet reminder that she was still connected to her past, even at the gate of Brisbane’s airport.
Whilst she was scrolling through her feed a familiar name popped up in her notifications. Ben had sent her a private message commenting on the photo. “Liv! Can’t believe you’re taking the leap to Thailand! What on earth are you planning to do all the way out there?”
A smile lit up her face. Memories of their time together flooded back; the nights brainstorming on business ideas, the music playlists they shared, and of course, the endless cups of tea. When it wasn’t filled to the brim, Ben would tease, “Did the cat die whilst you were making this?”.
Returning to the present moment, drink in hand and phone in the other Olivia replied, “Trying to find myself, I guess…Thailand seems like the perfect place for it.”
“All set for the trip?” Ben inquired.
She nodded, her grip tightening on her cup. “A bit nervous, but ready. I want…no, I need this.”
“Heyyyy you’ll be alright. You always seemed like you had it together, more than me at least. Look Liv, I know it may not seem like it right now, but I really feel like this trip is going to be really good for you. Call me crazy but it’s just a feeling.”
“I hope so. We’ll have to catch up when I get back from Australia then.”
“Yes! Haha and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do ;)”
The flight was a blur of half-slept hours, airport coffees, and the distant hum of conversations in languages she didn’t understand. Before she knew it, she was stepping onto the ferry to Koh Samui, the ocean stretching endlessly before her. She wasn’t sure if she felt more nervous or free

The moment Olivia stepped off the plane, she was hit with an eerie kind of silence.

For an airport, Koh Samui was surprisingly still—no chaos, no long lines, just the occasional murmur of tired travelers shuffling toward the exit. The thick, humid air wrapped around her like a second skin, the scent of sunscreen, jet fuel, and the faintest trace of tropical flowers lingering in the air.

She slung her awkwardly packed luggage onto a trolley and rolled toward the nearest kiosk, digging frantically through her bag.

Where was that damn airport SIM?

Her fingers fumbled through the tangled mess of last-minute packing choices—socks, a paperback she was definitely not going to read, a granola bar she had shoved in there at the last minute.

Still nothing.

Editor’s comment:

You mentioned AI had been of some help in writing this piece. Unfortunately it’s pretty self-evident, in the cliché-ridden passages between your own sentences. Things like “A heaviness settled in Olivia’s chest, contrasting the airy allure of escape. The memories of Isaac were not just confined to the physical space; they were etched in her heart and mind” and “For a moment, her mind wandered. Olivia had been daydreaming about travelling to a tropical island with its lush green forests, calming beaches, and hidden temples in the mountains”. AI has a particular tone (or at least the current versions of it do) and sentences like this scream computer-algorithm-generated. No traditional publisher is going to be interested in anything even remotely or fractionally AI-generated – the legalities of AI data-scraping (read “stealing”) peoples’ entire life’s works to feed its models are still up in the air – and anyway, it all reads the same, and can be duplicated at any moment by anyone, so why would they invest money in it? The same really goes for self-publishing. Anyone can type a prompt into an AI-generator. Why would they pay you for your prompt-generated text when they can do exactly the same themselves, in seconds?
Now, you mentioned you had been using it just to assist you in writing your first work. Perhaps that’s a valid use, but I’d be worried that it actually impedes your learning how to craft a story, and certainly doesn’t help your imagination run free with language and metaphor, like sweating over a keyboard should! Remember anything that AI comes up with has been written before: those words, in that precise order, and usually many times before, so it’s not surprising that much of this piece seems strangely familiar …
The passages that are your own show some writing potential, and the premise for a romance is sound, with a potentially interesting angle that it’s a pediatric nurse who helps her along the way. This particular piece would be rejected out of hand, but I’d urge you to dispense with the AI crutch and write your own work. You don’t need AI. Writing is meant to be hard, and thankless, for goodness sake!

Thanks for posting!

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