Leaving The Guidebook Behind

Information travels fast when you’re on the backpacker’s trail. Pick any beach-side watering hole and sit down; within seconds you’ll be able to overhear conversations shooting in every direction. “I heard of this place …This guy from Denmark was telling me … I just got back from …”

It doesn’t take long for you to learn which places are hot and which places have been conquered by the masses. Roaming the beaches of Southern Thailand is like an adventure in discovery. And more times than not, this premise holds true: the harder it is to get to an island, or find a specific beach, the more worthwhile it is to go there.

For me, the journey counts far more than the destination. In many ways this holds true in life as it does travel. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. And despite all the bumpy roads I have experienced along the way, I will never shy away from the next great challenge. It’s often been my experience to bypass the more familiar locations on the map in search of an undiscovered (at least by the masses) location. This is a difficult task and means abandoning your guidebook. After all, the true purpose of a guidebook is to provide you with a general outline, not a full itinerary.

It was only after I set aside my trusty Lonely Planet and Rough Guides travel books did I start to find the hidden gems of Thailand. For me it's all about learning about a place, and in turn, learning about yourself. And when you get off the beaten track, that's where you find out what there is to find out.

I took some great photos on Koh Phi Phi, ate good meals, and watched a few bootleg DVD’s in a variety of sidewalk cafes. The constant movement of bodies from one beach to the other, combined with the wall-to-wall bungalow operations made it easy to leave. For a short-term holiday, Phi Phi will give you a good blend of “quiet beaches” and “frat party mentality.” I was seeking something more visceral; off the beaten path and outside the reaches of Khao San Road’s travel agents.

I heard of this sleepy little island called Koh Lanta, in the south Andaman Sea, home to a clan of Chao Ley, or "Sea Gypsies,” and long white-sand beaches. Some travelers I talked to over the months had raved about the island; locals said tourism on the island was less than half of what it was a year ago. I immediately booked my ticket on the next ferry boat to Koh Lanta Yai.

On the boat I was greeted by a small group of touts offering everything from 150 Baht a night fan bungalows to 4-star resorts. The young Thai teenager named Jim sold me not only with his amazing ability to speak English, but his promise of a air-con bungalow on the beach with hot shower for only 350 Baht a night. I chatted with an Australian girl for most of the 2 hour journey; she was finishing up 6 months of solo-travel – meeting up with her family and boyfriend when the boat landed.

  

It’s an overwhelming experience arriving at Saladan Pier on Koh Lanta. At some points it seems like the entire island is there to welcome you (and offer you a place to stay). Nearly every bungalow operation on the island sends a pickup truck to transport guests to their beach. They arrive early to get the prime spots, hoping to fill up the truck bed with the most people possible.

We played the Thai game of “One More” for about an hour before our truck was finally deemed full. We departed for Merry Beach Resort on Khlong dao Beach, on the northern tip of the island. We managed to squeeze nine bodies in the back of the truck: 4 Swedes, 2 Germans, 2 Dutch and I, the sole American. Fortunately for me American arrogance and utter unwillingness to learn foreign languages has created a situation where nearly every traveler speaks fairly good English.

Merry Beach Resort was only a short drive from the main pier, but you would hardly realize it. Koh Lanta established a set of building codes on the island that forbid the development of buildings that rise above the coconut tree line. Because of this, development on the island has maintained a very natural state. Most accommodations are made from natural materials such as thatch and bamboo. The further you travel from the main town the more rustic each bungalow operation seems. Merry Beach was no exception.

Merry Beach Resort had about 20 bungalows spread across a very nice lot, a few hundred meters from the beach (ok, so "on the beach" wasn’t exactly true). The air-con room I was promised? There were 3 of them … all booked up. The brochure also promised rooms with telephone, television and hot shower? Not available.

“Maybe tomorrow,” they said.

Who was I to complain? This place was fantastic; even without the amenities promised by the silver-tongued salesman on the boat. Several of the other people decided to take a look at the rooms. We lost a group of 3 Swedes who were apparently looking for something a little cheaper.

Cheaper? This place was 250 Baht a night. I didn’t even need to look at the room. I figured I could always move to a different bungalow the following day if necessary. Rolland, from Stockholm, Stefe and Daniella, from Munich all agreed. We sat down in the thatch roof restaurant and ordered up a few beers and Pad Thai for a snack.

We talked for a few hours, almost always in English. I learned that Stefe and Daniella had just finished a two week project in Phuket castrating beach dogs and Rolland was on a 10 day holiday that took him from Phuket to Koh Lanta (eventually back to Phuket for a little more “activity”). We eventually went our own ways, only to meet up 10 minutes later on the beach, where after 2 minutes in the water it began to rain – the tropical rain you would imagine would happen on such a tropical island.

When the rain cleared we showered up and decided to meet up later in the evening for drinks and a meal at one of the many beach-side restaurants.

Koh Phi Phi, it was nice to know you

The maximum time any person should spend in Phuket is about 10 hours. Both times I’ve been there I have followed that rule pretty closely. After a nice night watching TV in my hotel room, I set out for Koh Phi Phi early in the morning (7:30 am pick-up). It was a short one and a half hour boat ride to the island, half of which I spent sunning myself on the upper deck. The ride was quite entertaining as the seas were a little rough, tossing the boat around, causing waves to crass all the way onto the second floor upper deck.

After arriving on the island, it was very clear that I had landed during peak season. People were everywhere! Susanne and I had spent a few days on Phi Phi last April, but it was at the end of the high season and the island was somewhat empty. In April we managed to get a great air-con bungalow on the beach for around 1,500 Baht a night. That same bungalow these days was going for 3,900 Baht. After checking I decided $92 a night for one person was a bit too much for this part of my holiday. Instead, I went for the closest hotel I could find that had a room available (ok, the first air-con room – it was freakin’ hot out). It was 2,000 Baht a night, but came with a beautiful view of the back of a very nice construction site and garbage dump. If I looked very closely through the debris and trees I could see a tiny bit of blue water in the bay, which, of course, is why I had to pay the “sea view” rate.

The reason why I was willing to pay so much is that I was really hot from sitting out in the sun all morning and really wanted to take a nice cool shower and rest up. The only problem was that I arrived at 11:00 (standard check-out time) and housekeeping said they would not have my room ready until 1:30. It seemed like an excessive amount of time to clean one small room, but what do I know about the hospitality business. I wandered around the island for a while, got hot, came back to the hotel and watched two Japanese girls take pictures of themselves by the pool. They easily went through a couple of rolls of film … posing by the tree; posing by the steps; posing with their towel (you get the idea). Man, how this has become such a hobby of mine. I just love taking pictures of Japanese tourists taking pictures.

Getting a little bored, I checked back with the reception desk several times to see if the room had been cleaned yet. I figured that it was a rather small hotel and it was unlikely that every guest had checked out at the same time. No such luck. At 1:30 my room was ready and I had the coldest shower I could stand.

SPECIAL NOTE: cleaning of the room did not include removal of cockroaches or geckos, apparently.

In the time that I waited around for my room I was able to meander around the island and make a few observations. I noticed that in the 10 months since we had been on Phi Phi nearly the entire island had been transformed into a high-end resort town. The affordable bungalows, although exactly the same as before, were now quadruple the price. The price to rent long-tail boat around the island had doubled and the speedboats became downright unaffordable to anyone. All the dive shops had built brand new buildings and the internet shops had been hooked onto on high speed network (blocking out instant messaging while charging double the price).

The charm that once existed for me on Phi Phi Island is not there anymore. But for the droves of Sweeds, Germans and French that now cover the island it appears to be exactly what they’re looking for.

For those looking for a bit more detail, allow me to quote my guidebook:

“Koh Phi Phi Don would itself be two island were it not for the tenuous palm-fringed isthmus that connects the hilly expanses to east and west, separating the stunningly symmetrical double bays of Ao Ton Sai to the south and Ao Loh Dalum to the north. The constantly expanding village at Ao Ton Sai is now a full blow low-rise holiday resort, and it’s the liveliest place to stay on the island. Shops, tour operators, restaurants, bars, internet cafes and dive centers line the main track that parallels the beachfront …. The beach is itself most attractive at the western end, but gets unbearably crowded with day-trippers.”

I did manage to make it up to the viewpoint this trip, which we couldn’t find the last time. From the viewpoint I could see just how much development had taken over the island. The entire center portion of the island was completely built up, with nearly every inch covered with some form of shop, hotel or cafe. The cool thing about the hike up the mountain is that I was able to take the “postcard” shot. The bad news is that it was a really long way up to the top. If I were a smarter person I would have just bought the postcard for 5 Baht at the base of the mountain and saved myself the torture.

The worst part about Phi Phi Island is not the development, however. It’s that the beach disappears during the day. Or better put, the ocean goes away. Both sides of the bay are subject to some pretty significant tidal changes. Right around the time a person would want to go lay on the beach and do some swimming, the water goes away. It stays that way until after dark. It’s quite a strange phenomenon.

I’m not one of those guys

I learned my lesson last time about staying in Bangkok too long, yet it appears that I haven’t learned my lesson about making last-minute travel plans and hoping that they’ll work out. After shopping in Bangkok for two solid says, I wanted to find a quiet place to relax and enjoy the rest of my holiday. Koh Lanta, on Thailand’s southwest coast seemed to be the perfect location. The guidebooks said it was a peaceful island that hadn’t quite reached the saturation point. I had also heard pretty good reviews from fellow travelers and thought I would give it a try.

When I reached the airport, I was told that I was too late for the 12:30 flight to Krabi, but there was a 4:30 flight I could take. Unfortunately, this flight was sold-out and no other flights where heading to Krabi that day. My options where to stay in Bangkok (near the airport) as the travel agent suggested (earning them a commission) or fly to Phuket and take the early morning ferry to Koh Phi Phi.

As some of you may remember, I’m not fond of Phuket. It’s technically an Island, but so is Manhattan. Manhattan has been paved over, so has Phuket. 10 years ago, Phuket was a quiet little fishing village. Today, it is a sprawling resort town filled with every type of hotel, restaurant, and tourist shop imaginable. Least us forget that it also has more prostitutes than you can shake a stick at.

Being that I was now a 20-something male traveling alone in Thailand, I cringed at the thought that I would be labeled “one of those guys.” You see, Phuket is one of the world’s headquarters for sex-tourism. No, I’m not even making that up, people sit around and plan this stuff out. “Let’s see, Disney world with the family, or hookers in Thailand?” Large tour groups from Japan, Germany and other European countries come here all the time looking for … um … you know … a little bit of love (the paid kind). The island also has some pretty good dive trips, but mostly Phuket is known for the hookers.

I was out of options and would have to suck it up and fly to Phuket. I snuck up to the Thai Airways counter and quietly purchased my ticket, all the time clinging onto my dive bag as if to say: “see, I’m going to Phuket to dive. I love to dive. I can’t get enough of it. I like to go to bed early every night without prostitutes so I can get up early and go diving. I’m not a pervert, damn it! I’m not!”

I doubt it made any difference to anyone. In fact, after scanning the departure lounge at the airport, it was clear that I had nothing to worry about. The overweight forty-year-old German men traveling with the teen-age Thai girls, however, drew a little bit of attention. I’m all for buying child-brides, don’t get me wrong. But really, is it necessary to have her sit on your lap the entire time? You still need to buy a seat on the flight anyway, maybe she could use it? On the other hand, perhaps I had them all pegged wrong. I’m sure they had plenty in common. Maybe the Thai girls really enjoyed the intellectual conversation about ….

Ok, screw it, these men didn’t care what people thought and the girls had a better life because of it. It might seem odd, but its part of what makes Thailand such a wonderful place. She doesn’t hide things like this. She holds her flaws out in front of everyone to see, “Yes, our young girls are married, dating, or getting paid to have sex with fat old men. What are you going to do about it?”

It creeps me out a little bit, but I’ll get over it.

The flight was uneventful. When I landed in Phuket I grabbed a taxi at the airport, while others waited around in masses trying to cram themselves into packed mini-buses. I made it to my hotel, checked in and pretty much stayed there watching Discovery “Travel & Adventure” the entire night. Of course, that was after I had dinner at a Go-Go bar, but who’s keeping track of details?