Pavarotti on Thong Naay Paan Yai beach

Well here we are once again ladies and gentleman: another Monday morning, another update from the boys abroad in Thailand.

I'm hot and frustrated, sitting here in this internet cafe in Krabe, Thailand, after a two day quest to find a computer capable of connecting to my camera. Still no joy. Windows bloody 98. I really want to upload the pictures for you all to see and then write the blog entry, but I realise now that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do it this way around.

It's suprising and a bit disappointing that little things like this can still piss you off. I should be like; hey man, I can't download my photos. Hey man, chill out - at least you don't have to go to work! But of course, it's not that simple. Some things you take for granted, and no amount of chilling in a hammock on a beach on Kho Pha-ngan will enable you to shake that from your consciousness.

Which brings me nicely around to this: I had a long list of two things that I wanted to achieve on Kho Pha-ngan. Firstly, I wanted to go to the full moon party at Haad Rin. Secondly, I wanted to spend as much time as I could lazing around in a hammock listening to my tunes. You will not be suprised to hear that, happily, I achieved both.


Sunday 24th September, 11am
Location: Thong Naay Paan Yai beach, Kho Pha-ngan

I'm sitting at a thick square marble effect table, stained with candle wax, protected from the sun by a small leafy tree, an army of ants under my feet, my new home a few paces to my left, the warm ocean a few paces to my right. 'Common' drifts lazily across the sand from my veranda of my chalet, where Steve sits reading in his new purple sarong.

We are on Thong Naay Paan Yai beach on the east coast of Kho Pha-ngan, and it is peaceful and beautiful. We're staying at a place called Central Cottages, the place recommedned by Andy from Mediacom. Surely he will be pleased that we found our way here.

Our journey to this place, which lasted a little over 24 hours, was relatively straightforward. The brain-deadening monotony of the bus journey was broken shortly after we climbed off our bus at Surat Thani bus station. We were approached by a pushy taxi driver who told us that he would take us to the pier, and to the boat which would bring us to Kho Pha-ngan. Instead, we were taken to a travel agency, with which he was evidently somehow affiliated. There we were bamboozled, almost persuaded to get a boat to Kho Samui instead of Kho Pha-ngan. Fortunately, despite our tiredness, we were switched on enough to realise a scam when we saw one. For starters, the tickets to Kho Samui cost twice what we should have paid. It helped that there were four of us. For this leg of the trip, Steve and I have been joined by a lovely couple from Manchester way - Phil and Hayley. They've been travelling for two months and, to be honest with you, they are a bit cannier than Steve and I.

Anyway, together, as a team, we resolved the situation. The agency realised we'd seen through their evil scheme and shut up while we asked the taxi driver (who was hanging around waiting to scam some more cash from us no doubt) to take us to where we had originally asked to go. Previously quite amiable, he suddenly became rather unhelpful, and ultimately abusive when we refused to pay him the extra cash he felt he deserved for hanging around for 5 minutes at the travel agency.

It was all very educational, and I was pleased that we came through the whole experience unscathed. Backpackers: 1, Thai rip off taxi drivers: 0

Now, as I sit here at this marble table, the sun has moved and is hot on my back. The U2/Passengers track 'Miss Sarejevo' has come on, and the tenorous tones of one Luciano Pavarotti are now drifting down the beach. I think perhaps Steve and I are the classiest guests Central Cottages have had in quite some time. I think perhaps it is time to go and buy a hammock.


Tuesday 28th September, 10am

The reason my handwriting is a bit sloppy this morning is because I am lying in my newly purchased hammock, which is blue with a tie-dye effect. It is lovely and cosy and not condusive to neat handwriting. By purchasing the hammock and lying in it in this particular manner (ie. on the balcony of my chalet listening to my music, the sand sloping gently down to the sea only 10 metres away, waves lapping, sun shining etc.) I am fulfilling one of the two tasks I set myself for this particular leg of the trip. The other: to attend the full moon party, will have been achieved by this time tomorrow.

Let me tell you a bit about Thong Naay Paan Yai beach. For starters, it's no Pehrentian Island beach. I guess that at one stage the sea here would have been impressive, but after swimming in those unbelievable clear Malaysian waters, it is a little bit disappointing. But hey, it's not so bad: as I inferred a moment ago, I'm not here to swim.

The beach is end of season quiet which is nice, because although Long Beach on Kecil (Pehrentian) Island was not crowded, there was always quite a lot of activity, largely because of the diving. Also, it's not very sociable here. People, even small groups, tend to stick to themselves. Of course there are exceptions. Us, for example, and the people we've chatted to. But that familiar experience of walking down the beach and smiling at a half dozen random people in the space of a minute, and having your smile returned, is conspicuously and sadly absent. People don't seem to want to make eye contact.

I have a theory about this. Kho Pha-ngan is not really a backpacker island. Rather, it has because a holiday island, a party island, and the social rules which govern contact with fellow residents of the beach are much more conservative. Maybe that's bollocks - people are just ignorant wherever you go. Not ALL people of course. [You guys for example, are just fine! Ed].