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With our visit to Phuket finished for life, as far as Jon and I were concerned, it was time to head to the other tourist trap of Thailand, Kho Pha-Ngan. Located in the Gulf of Thailand, Kho Pha-Ngan is the island made famous for its all night (and morning) Full Moon parties. The island was also made somewhat infamous in the book and movie The Beach, where Richard the narrator, uses the island as a foil for the destruction and corruption brought about by excessive travel and tourism. Interestingly, in the movie the scenes of Kho Pha-Ngan were actually shot in Patong Bay in Phuket, which I already described in my last post. However, Kho Pha-Ngan, while still touristy, is big enough to actually support all kinds of wants. Be it partying or simply lazing on the beach, it can accommodate almost anybody’s wishes. For me, I was craving the beach-bum life for a few days.

The beach I stayed at is a short hop via long boat from Had-Rin beach, the locale of the famous Full Moon parties. Our beach, called Had-Yuan, was much quieter – extraordinarily chilled in fact. Based on the recommendation of my little sister, we stayed at a place called Eden, owned by two Thai brothers. One brother, Kang, had an immediately likable disposition and would easily break into giggles or more often just a winning smile. Naturally he dealt with all the customers. I never met the other brother, but only saw him skulking around the background with a permanent scowl on his face. A more severe contrast between brothers I couldn’t imagine.

The bungalow we stayed at was a simply plywood shack, not even possessing a fan. Needless to say it was an absolute sauna during the day. Luckily days are not spent in plywood shacks in Kho Pha Ngan. Instead you spend them broiling on the beach, enjoying the incredible views.

I spent the next four days either lounging on the beach, getting a Thai massage (awful), or motorbiking around the island. One memorable day I dove on a locale called Sail Rock. Initially I was supposed to be partnered up with a banana-hammock clad Frenchman who had over 300 dives under his belt. Not happy to be partnered with such a newbie, he insisted on another arrangement. To everyone’s satisfaction, I joined a group of less experienced divers. Even so, I was always the first to finish my air, but thankfully my group didn’t hold it against me.

Jon ended up leaving for Kho Tau, while I decided to stay for a couple of days. But like him, eventually the days of endless nothing gnawed at me and I had to go too. It didn’t help that it was incredibly expensive on the island as it was impossible to simply walk off the beaten path.

One of the nights before leaving, the normally chilled-out Eden held an incredibly hedonistic party. The music bumped until 10am, I made it until 7am. That was enough for me, I decided to leave the next day. As I left, one of Eden’s electrical outlets burst into flames. Kang’s reaction was to blow the fire out and poke the smoldering outlet with a piece of paper. Inside I was screaming, “Shut the power off!!” Time to leave.

My 15-day visa was almost running out, so I decided to make my way off the island towards Ranong for a visa run which I described here.

Along the way I stopped by at Khao Sok National Park, a rare jungle sanctuary left untouched in Southern Thailand. I met a couple named Andy and Charlotte, and we decided upon a 14km hike. It was a nice walk, punctuated by numerous swimming holes. Leeches were in abundance, so all of us were very vigilant in ripping them off of our boots and socks. About 4km in, we met two random dogs who joined us for the walk. They were half wild, and definitely scared away all potential wildlife viewings. But they were nice companions, even when they engaged three separate monkey tribes in barking fits. Honestly, I thought the monkeys were going to massacre the poor mutts, but thankfully the primates stayed in the trees.

Next up was a visa run and then Bangkok, city of angels and right now city of red shirts.

Thai guy touching up some of the crass logos on Had Rin beach. Don't ask me how this started, just accept it.

Longboat ferry ride from beach to beach. When these guys wanted to, they could demonstrate the most amazing dexterity with their ungainly boats.

Rotting long boat hull somewhere on the West coast of Kho Pha Ngan

My bad-ass motorbike in Kho Pha Ngan

Dive location: Sail Rock island. This place is located roughly halfway between Kho Pha Ngan and Kho Tau

Sleeping on the return ride after diving.

Eden at night during the party

Eden, full out!

Serving drinks at Eden

Bamboo forests in Khao Sok Park

One of the dogs we met along the hike.