Wanderings in Thailand
Everyone has a different style of traveling. Some like to plan the details and nuances of the transportation and accommodation reservations, you know, secure the entire trip, but I prefer solo-traveling where I thrust myself out into the unknown with a couple ideas in mind and a pocket full of cash, which is exactly how I planned my trip to Thailand. The desire to travel the country came from being in Cairns, Australia the summer before in 2016, where I had met so many wonderful people that I will forever be grateful for sharing space with, but I never gave myself the opportunity to see the Great Barrier Reef or do any type of scuba diving. Staying exclusively in hostels, story after story was told of being underwater, being an alien, a foreigner not physically equipped to survive in their environment, and once my interest had peaked from some friends that were also spear-fishermen, the most common suggestion I would hear would be not to dive and pay for the certifications there in Cairns, but rather buy a roundtrip ticket to Bangkok or Phuket, take the Open Water course and return after spending less money than if I would have stayed and done the courses in Oz. That’s when my attention became fixed on Thailand.
Fast forward to the end of September, after I had traveled back home to make my youngest brother’s wedding, and also because my funds were running dry from rightfully deviating from my original intent for traveling to Australia. I worked the last few months of fall, and into January of 2017 saving as much money as possible before I left for Thailand and not defining an end goal, because I was planning on not having a plan. A very important lesson I learned from traveling in Australia was that, with my personality, having a set schedule was not going to work with such beautiful landscapes to see and people to meet. When I bought my ticket to Thailand, I had two goals to accomplish: to get underwater and to take as many photos as possible. Having broad but easily attainable goals was the prognosis, so I bought a nice camera, two lenses, booked my first week of accommodation, and then budgeted diving up to 9 times to become certified as an Advanced Open Water diver. The trip totaled 42 days, so I would also have to apply for an extended-stay visa or leave the country for at least a day, which was not planned into the trip and I knew about it beforehand, but we’ll get to that later. Here we go, a 42-day trip with only having a bed for the first week, I don’t speak Thai yet and I have no contacts to meet me once I arrive. What I did come equipped with, were two wide eyes ready to dive face-first into the unknown and the confidence and acceptance that I may stumble, but adaptation will follow shortly after that.
If you are researching your Thai trip, you must have already come across stories about taxi services holding monopolies or operating as a type of mafia, in particular Phuket, which was my port of entry. They are true, no matter where you travel and some places are better than others, always negotiate the fare before you get in the tuk-tuk or motorbike taxi or van or any other method where a ride is being offered. My first encounter with this came on my way from the airport to Pa Tong Beach where I was staying. The van driver had thankfully stopped his aggressive driving about halfway from the destination to allow the car-sick passengers a chance to catch their breath and to get some fresh fruit at the market. However, before that, we were herded into a travel agency, which presumably was a subsidiary of the taxi company, and each of us were required to speak to an agent to either book accommodation or travel to and from another destination for which only their services were offered. Only after being firm with my refusal to book anything else did they stamp my fare ticket so I could continue in the van to my hostel. Ok, that was interesting, but it was just a taste of what “touristy” people get. Piece of advice, do your best to blend in and be confident with your path. The rest of the ride was spent looking out the window at the fresh fruit stands and restaurants lined along the main strips and even in the most obscure places, since chances are they are family-owned and operated, and double as their home as well. Once I arrived at the hostel, I promptly dropped my bags in the musky dorm room since air-condition was only on before and after the peak electricity and heat hours of the day had expired, but the view alone was worth more than the $6 per night. Then I look to my right, and the only other person in the dorm room was someone recovering from a hospital visit after badly scrapping his face and arms from the previous night’s attempt to commandeer his motorbike through the night streets of Phuket. One hell of a story he told, but it made sense given the madness that exists along the few main thoroughfares in the city. I spent the day by myself before trying to get some much needed leg-stretching and rest, but staying right around the corner from Bangla Road is ill-advised if sleep is your need. And late that night, some soon-to-be friends would arrive in the dorm room after busing for over 12 hours through a tropical rain and lightning storm. Small conversations about where we were from and how long we have been in the country led to meeting two other people that were traveling together. We explored the Phuket area, and then before we knew it, all five of us were traveling to Koh Phi Phi for what was planned to be just two days.


Koh Phi Phi or the Phi Phi Islands are most recognizable as the filming location of Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Beach, or the inspiring double and almost symmetrical U-shaped beaches that nearly become tangent at their apex, or just as well-known would be the tsunami of 2004 that had devastated the island and the people that were unfortunate enough to witness the event. The restoration of the island, just over 13 years since that day, was incredible and only a few physical reminders were visible. The group I was with was comprised of one from Vietnam, three from Canada, and an American whose midwest accent got him more Canadian guesses than American. Upon deciding to travel to Koh Phi Phi, I had kept my original booking in Pa Tong Beach so I could stash my heavy bags and only bring a skeleton outfit to last two days, and since I had only stayed three nights of the seven booked at my original hostel. Island life was…everything, and after spending the first day touring, we had noticed something strange but amazing…there were no cars or trucks on the island, and walking paths were the only way to get around. The entire scene was close and welcoming with shops, restaurants, bars, and street food carts everywhere, and our hostel was nestled above the landowner’s quarters which was just down the alley from the only bar in the world where you can pay to get in a boxing ring and fight your friend or just a random person! Authentic Thai cuisine is amazing and healthy, but I got food-poisoning while on the island after rebooking to stay a couple more nights…a “Chang-reaction” of sorts. It may have been the green curry the night before, or it may have been from the Chang beers we were crushing each night while we partied and played card games with people from Germany and having our music being mixed by a DJ from England before we walked up and down the beach testing our limbo skills. Was it worth the risk of leaving my bags in one hostel to explore an island with new friends, end up extending that stay, getting sick while there, and spending more in a location I had not intended on exploring? Hell yes, the best travel plan is no plan.



Back in Pa Tong Beach after spending the previous four or five nights on Koh Phi Phi, and after a nauseating ferry ride and equally uncomfortable van ride to the hostel, I arrive just before sun-down. I don’t go out and drink or eat because Thai food still makes me quiver, so I try to sleep. After what seems like only an hour of rest, I’m awoken in the middle of the night by my hospital recovering friend who was still booked in the room as well, and he tells me that someone else in the room had moved out because of bed bugs while I was asleep. After a short debate with myself, I decide that the sleep was worth more than the consequences of bed bugs. I won the bet, remained bed-bug free and got about 4 hours of sleep. That morning, I had extended my stay at the hostel for one more night, and booked my taxi and ferry ride in the morning for my next destination, Koh Tao. The taxi ride to the pier was an experience in itself, swapping taxi vans three times all with different drivers. The pier in Suratthani was busy, and I had found a table close to the ferry so I could keep an eye on the passenger boarding signal, and I had a small group of school kids come up to me and ask for an interview. Just a few questions about my trip so far, then gave me some candy, and they were off! I hope they got an “A” on their homework! After arriving at 4:30 in the morning, I get breakfast and a cup of coffee at a joint just down the road from my hostel before I check in and fall asleep for a few hours. I love the vibe already, and Koh Tao has some of the most undisturbed waters in Thailand to dive, and also one of the least-expensive places to do so. It was recommended by one of my new travel buddies who had arrived the day before to dive as well, that this was the place to do learn. The five became four at this point, and once again, we found ourselves together on an island. Koh Tao was something special though. A very small island that has a seemingly equal amount of dive shops as there are restaurants. And instead of booking close to the action, this time I booked a week closer to the main pier, away from the craziness, and ended up sleeping well each and every night. I booked my Open Water dive course, and after a couple days of book work and technique training, we would be taxiing to the pier for our dives, and would leave from the dive shop promptly at 6 A.M. That’s fine, I was routinely getting up at 7 each morning to get some photos of early Thai life, but the 5 A.M. alarms were…eye-opening. However, getting up even earlier was a treat that still makes me smile and will for the rest of my life. For a week straight, I would wake up at 5, fill my smallest bag with a change of clothes, grab my phone and headphones and quietly leave the hostel. I was met with silence outside as dawn is just arriving on the island. My playlist…Jimmy Cliff. My footwear…barefoot. Every morning I would walk over a mile up and down rolling hills on a road watching the sunlight flood the sky, all while having Jimmy Cliff in my ear helping me welcome the morning on my way to the dive shop…Wonderful World, Beautiful People indeed. Not to forget breakfast, I would stop at the same 7Eleven and get a quart of chocolate milk and a small bag of cashew nuts. I was thankful enough for those mornings, and then to be out into the early afternoon diving was so humbling. Being underwater, and 30m at the lowest, you truly feel like an alien…large fish, small fish, crustaceans, and coral bright like they were on display…except it was all alive…and alive in a way I had never experienced before because I was swimming through their world. No pictures or videos can account for the comforting silence of it all…take a few minutes at night with no noise and focus on your breathing and you will have a relatable idea. Diving was similar to the encompassing feeling I had going into the trip to Thailand, which was that I had no idea what to expect, but I was going to do my best to remain calm, centered and open the entire time.




Time to leave Koh Tao, and the crew has shrunk by one, and the two Canadians left were planning on going to Koh Phangan to hit the Half Moon Party in the forest before they went up north to finish their trip. I tagged along, and we ended up having a sick time, literally, because a lady had projectile vomited down an aisle during the ferry ride while trying to make it to the bathroom, nearly hitting us but a handful of others were not as fortunate to dodge the area-of-effect attack (yup, WoW reference). We did not book anywhere to stay, so naturally we arrive during a rainstorm and taxi to a hostel of whom possesses an online presence, but a lack-thereof in physical form. Ok cool, so we continue walking through small pools of water and rain, keenly aware of the honking and speeding taxi drivers as we walk up and ask for open rooms, only to be turned away because duh, huge party this weekend so everyone is full up. Lucky for us, we come across an opening in an astronomically entrepreneurial crazy cat lady’s dream property. Booked one night, and tried to book another the following morning, only to be shunned and ignored by the one staff member as if us staying there was making her less money…amazing food and laundry service across the street though, family-run place and I would return to their shop a few times ordering three or four fried eggs over steamed rice with a Coke and a mango shake to drink each time, all for maybe 3 dollars. After we rented our motorbikes, we went back to the house of horrors, grabbed our bags, dropped the room keys and found other accommodation, and this time at a party hostel, very lively. Koh Phangan is large enough that it would take you 30 minutes to bike from the north point to the south, all while weaving through palm tree covered hills and mountains with fruit farms occupying the flat expanses in between. One of us, not me, had downed their motorbike while we were exploring the island…the GoPro footage rocks though, pun intended, and being the son of a doctor and a nurse, I had the opportunity to run my own “practice” for a couple days as we were not about to go to the local hospital to get fixed up. What a trooper though, after being bandaged up and stiff as a cadaver he still made it to the Half Moon Party in the forest, and partied all night to house music until it took a one-way trip to trance town. To me, the highlight was the food, as at that point I had gotten over my Thai food sickness. One of the last nights we were all together, we ate at an Italian restaurant just down the road from our hostel. The restaurant was owned and operated by a woman who had traveled from Italy to Koh Phangan many years ago, and ended up staying and opening up her own place. Wine from Italy and thin, flash-cooked pizza in Thailand…amazing. She said the worst part about relocating was the disconnection with family, but that moving was in her best interest…felt at home in a new place where she knew no Thai or English, but now she speaks Thai and English very well…just adapted. I don’t blame her, the views each night are breath-taking, and if you can make it, you move at your own pace and serve people that only wish to have a good time.
It was bittersweet as the Canadians left for the north country, we had spent the last three weeks partying, diving, and exploring Thailand together, but a lesson I had learned from Australia had come up at this point as well: when you travel, only spend your time and energy on things that will bring the greatest emotional reward to you since that is all you have time for. We all have energy sources that speak to us more so than others, and to me, that was island life. It was my pace, my feel, and I was not ready to leave it yet. They had flown to the north country and did things I never got to do, and having no plan I could have gone up north too, but I had decided to keep buying into my own calling and path.
Deciding to stay on Koh Phangan was more rewarding than I could have imagined. On one of the days I took a motorbike out and cruised the island, where I had stopped in a small, quiet fishing village on the northern shoreline of the island, Chaloklum. Parked my bike right next to the beach, and walked out as far as I could to get look-back vantage shots of the village and to witness all the personal fishing boats coming and going, it was so peaceful. Also home to the best Italian food I have ever had in my life, Cafe Della Mocha. Once again, wine from Italy and handmade everything. I found my next bed at Paradise Falls, which was just south of Chaloklum and tucked away at the foot of a mountain featuring a waterfall that was gently pouring into a perfectly cool swimming hole. I had booked a single room for about $11 per night, hell of a deal, considering it was a queen bed in a stand-alone unit with a shower and kitchen, and the waterfall was no more than 20 meters behind the unit. For the next four days, I would eat breakfast at the same restaurant on the beach, SaBaii Dee, have the place to myself, then motorbike around the island with my Dutch friends snorkeling at the beaches for hours. Then for the next four nights I would fall asleep with the soft crashing of a waterfall right behind my room…when I struggle to fall asleep at night now, Paradise Falls is the first place I try to return to. My time on Koh Phangan came to an end when rebooking was not an option and everywhere on the island was full, outside of the resorts, since the more famous party was that weekend, the Full Moon Party. I had parted ways with my Dutch friends the day before, and now it was time to move on alone to Koh Samui.




The approach to Koh Samui by water is worth noting, because there were multiple floating masses of plastic waste. Not freshly dropped in the water, but rather the result of the ocean currents bringing the trash from elsewhere and depositing it there. Sad to see, and it made it even more important to carry a reusable water bottle everywhere, including back home in the States. If you do buy plastic bottles, reuse them as many times as possible to avoid having your waste find its way to the South Pacific. Trash islands exist, and I wish I would have taken a few shots of the floating masses to prove it.
Things got exciting on Koh Samui right after departing from the ferry as I had my taxi driver try to extort me on my prepaid fare. My hostel was on the north side of the island, away from the touristy and popular places, so it was a little out of his way. It wasn’t the price I had an issue with, I would have paid more upfront for a longer journey, it was principal of the matter. I was already charged for the fare, and I was no longer required to pay for the ride. A tip is one thing, which I did every time after receiving transportation or a meal, but I’m not going to be charged twice for the same ride. My hostel was a 45 minute drive away from the pier, and I knew I could find another taxi service on the way, so with my 30+ pounds of luggage and equipment, I started walking there, except this time with the help of Bill Withers…he spoke of “using me” in an acceptable way. Another taxi did come by, and I gladly paid 3 or 4 times more than my original fare cost to get there. The hostel I had booked for the week had the most amenities and was the most modern place I had stayed on the trip, and after spending a few days to myself in a single room, the air-conditioned dorm rooms were welcomed. Koh Samui is the largest in the chain, as it goes from north to south and smallest to largest starting with Koh Tao — Koh Phangan — Koh Samui. So first things first, I rented a motorbike and a helmet, packed my camera bag and tripod, filled my CamelBak, and set out to go waterfall hiking. The island has so many waterfalls and lesser-known watering holes that it would be an adventure in itself to visit them all. One of the afternoons became especially exciting, because in order to access an area of the park where the water had flooded over the steps and paths, I needed to jump across a rushing overflow. So I took my shoes off to avoid slipping, took a few steps back and channeled my younger athletic self, and leaped over the gap. What I found on the other side was even more challenging terrain as I continued my hike up the waterfall. After climbing up a few other large boulders I come across a tent, and inside was a fellow hiker who had set up his tent above an intermediary waterfall to rest for a few hours or he could have been there for the night. Either way I was envious as we waved to each other, and I kept on my way. I took a break after a couple days of this, and spent a day at the hostel just reading. I had been working my way through Inside the Neolithic Mind by David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce for the second time, the first being while I was in Australia. Amazing archaeological read on religious and spiritual similarities among ancient European, Near East and South American peoples if that fits your fancy. I found that the book primes me to be open to new experiences and different successful life techniques, as at the core of their argument, we have and will continue to see the same things all over the world.
The next day started with an early lunch with a group of Swedes that were staying in the same dorm, and who had just arrived from the Full Moon Party the night before. Indian food was the cuisine of choice, and I felt like it was a brave one for them after the night they had just described. The food was good but not what we had chose because the owner, after taking our orders, promptly told us that we were ordering the wrong food and chose for us…okay, sure. More hiking and sight-seeing was on tap again, but this time I took them up to the Secret Buddha Garden I visited the day before and explored the grounds quite a bit, then found a not-so-popular viewpoint to watch the sunset over the island. Dense palm forests covered the busy road that circumvents the island, so it appeared only as a sunset over a barely inhabited island. Wonderful view. I had been eating dinner at the same place the two previous nights for two reasons; their spicy basil with chicken dish was amazing and they pushed my spice limits when I would ask to have it be “Thai spicy,” love them for that, but also because it was a restaurant that no one was eating at. Once again, family-owned and operated, and they made me feel as if I was one of their own. By the third night I had eaten there, they knew my face and what I was ordering before sitting down. The day I left the biggest tip was the day they made it so spicy that my nose was running and my lower eyelids were sweating. It took a couple weeks into my trip to realize that the best food will be at the restaurants that no one is eating at. Avoid being the first patrons of the day, but at night, find the places that no one or just a few people are at.
It had now been a month since my arrival in the country, and I had opted out of leaving Thailand and returning in order to get another tourist visa, so I needed to extend my visa through the immigration office. I go back to the motorbike rental shop to get my passport, since they hold a small deposit and your passport as collateral, only to have the worker there point out that my tourist visa had expired the previous day! At that point, I was now illegally staying in Thailand. The lady working at the bike shop had ordered a taxi for me to head straight to the immigration office, so I packed all my bags at the hostel, checked out, and headed to Immigration. Since I have never been to an immigration office in the U.S., to me it seemed like a DMV center, except with more people working, more children present, and people from everywhere around the world applying for permanent residencies, extending visas, and paying overstay fees. As my turn in line got closer, I felt more and more ashamed. The experience in Thailand thus far was so rewarding and I cannot speak highly enough of the Thai people I had met and how family-like I was treated the entire time, so for me to procrastinate to the point that I neglected to obey one of their laws made me feel awful. After running back and forth between buildings to fill out the proper forms with all my luggage in 90 degree humid weather, my visa extension was approved after paying the fee and explaining why I missed the date and how much longer I was staying. The entire experience was worth it for me to avoid any more complacency, and it was just another wrinkle in the journey, another story to tell. After the morning and afternoon spent down at the immigration office, I met up with my Swedish friends and we all went out to eat at the Fisherman’s Village, told them about the ordeal because I had referred the motorbike rental shop to them, and they were there when the lady told me my visa had expired! Dinner was nice and then we watched a great fire show on the beach for a few hours before parting ways with each other that night, since I had booked a last-minute single closer to the pier before I was ferrying off of the island the next morning and flying up to the north country. Island life came to an end for me, right as I was starting to feel like a local.




As I sat down on the plane and replayed all the memories up until that point in order to catalog the happenings in my journal, I started conversing with another American who was across the aisle from me. First of all, it’s rare to meet other young Americans overseas. For one reason and another, which will be left out of my recount, our country has a way of oppressing individualisms that lead to world excursions and inclusions of new perspectives. Not here, not me…so we spoke for most of the flight from Suratthani to Chiang Mai and laughed at how thankful we were to have the opportunity to step out of our country for awhile. At that point for me, it was quite a relief speaking with someone from home who had a similar mindset in regards to embracing the uncomfortable. And that is what life is about, pushing yourself to feel comfortably uncomfortable, reseting your boundaries to the point where you realize they only exist if you believe in them…that place is where you grow and find out what is truly important to you. Once the plane landed, we exchanged numbers and would meet up the next morning because I needed to take short nap and then get to exploring a new city.
Chiang Mai, Thailand is beautifully preserved and is centuries old. Look no further than the old Buddhist temples that sit on the inside and just outside of the moat and battered walls and ramparts that surround Old Town. Most of the hostels are in this area, it is where I stayed, and I suggest you stay there as well. I spent three days in Chiang Mai, and it was not enough. I walked around each day and night getting a feel for the place while taking as many photos as possible even though I could never find the shortest route back to my hostel…seemed like each time I walked in the opposite direction, but as long as you follow the moat, which is more or less a square border, you will eventually find your hostel. After I had taken my nap and was ready to go find the spiciest Thai food in the city, I set out for the night market. The night market is more of an idea than a place because it would stretch a half mile this way, and then a half mile that way. After having the second-best barbecue chicken skewer in my life and plate after plate of fresh watermelon and pineapple, I ended up lost. No idea where I was, and the short city tour became a 5-hour walk through side-streets and alleyways to find my way home. It was cool though, I like observing nightlife, and I wouldn’t have found this exciting open-air live Jazz bar and listened to incredible music if I wouldn’t have gotten lost. I stood outside, because inside was full and the waiting line had turned into a massive semi-circle of onlookers doing the same. The next morning I met up with my American friend for breakfast and introduced me to some more new friends from Germany, Ireland and England. Next thing we know, we were jumping off of a 15m platform into the Grand Canyon, followed by a night of dancing and card tricks with complements to our Irish lad.
My last day in Chiang Mai was amazing. Once again I had walked for miles taking photos and visiting as many Buddhist temples as possible to pick up on their subtle differences and observe their historic and cultural contributions, and I was also fortunate enough to stop and converse with someone who was going to school and training to become a Buddhist Monk. It was one of the many instances where I was lucky to have the other person speak multiple languages, because we never would have effectively spoken to each other if he would not have been able to speak my language. I left feeling so grateful and energized because he could answer some of my mundane and basic questions about the temple he was studying at, but also because it was obvious that all any of us want to do is live and be happy. Whatever we choose to do and sacrifice, it is all to make our lives more whole and satisfying…it is that simple, and the path he has chosen is different than mine, but they had crossed nonetheless because we both are searching for the same things out of life, and I would not have known that if I were to remain close-minded and selfish with my own perspective. One of those instances where you have to experience it to truly feel it, but I’m grateful he had been open enough to come up and speak to me. The night was great too, more beer except I had made the transition to Singha after my “Chang-reaction,” and the owner of the hostel that my friends were staying at had escorted us out to a couple different bars, and thankfully ending up at a reggae bar. Live music and everything, so naturally I was up front dancing and singing out every word to every song…never have I sung Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds so loud before. The walk back home that night was epic, stopped for some fresh fruit since the morning markets were just setting up, and I had Jimmy Cliff playing again on stereo as I trekked from one side of Old Town to the other at 4 A.M. Crashed in my pod-style hostel dorm room for a few hours, then off we go to Pai, Thailand for my last days in the country.My last day in Chiang Mai was amazing. Once again I had walked for miles taking photos and visiting as many Buddhist temples as possible to pick up on their subtle differences and observe their historic and cultural contributions, and I was also fortunate enough to stop and converse with someone who was going to school and training to become a Buddhist Monk. It was one of the many instances where I was lucky to have the other person speak multiple languages, because we never would have effectively spoken to each other if he would not have been able to speak my language. I left feeling so grateful and energized because he could answer some of my mundane and basic questions about the temple he was studying at, but also because it was obvious that all any of us want to do is live and be happy. Whatever we choose to do and sacrifice, it is all to make our lives more whole and satisfying…it is that simple, and the path he has chosen is different than mine, but they had crossed nonetheless because we both are searching for the same things out of life, and I would not have known that if I were to remain close-minded and selfish with my own perspective. One of those instances where you have to experience it to truly feel it, but I’m grateful he had been open enough to come up and speak to me. The night was great too, more beer except I had made the transition to Singha after my “Chang-reaction,” and the owner of the hostel that my friends were staying at had escorted us out to a couple different bars, and thankfully ending up at a reggae bar. Live music and everything, so naturally I was up front dancing and singing out every word to every song…never have I sung Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds so loud before. The walk back home that night was epic, stopped for some fresh fruit since the morning markets were just setting up, and I had Jimmy Cliff playing again on stereo as I trekked from one side of Old Town to the other at 4 A.M. Crashed in my pod-style hostel dorm room for a few hours, then off we go to Pai, Thailand for my last days in the country.





The van ride down to Pai was anywhere from 5 to 7 hours, I can’t quite remember, but what I do remember is the winding mountain pass the driver was ripping up on our way. No matter, where I live in California has an almost identical climate and landscape in regards to the hot days and cool nights and no flat land. Rough terrain is so much more exciting though, to me it reminds me that the world is far from smooth and perfect, just like us. The appearance of it is mostly marred and jagged, and it is constantly returning itself to useable forms of energy from one process or another. As we rose to the top of the final pass, you could see quite a bit of fire haze that had settled when you look down into the high and low valleys, it was dry season after all, but I was not expecting to see similar types of wildfires burning here as I did back home. Arriving in Pai was interesting too, stepped off the van and took in some fire-musty air and looked up and down the narrow strip outside of the travel agency building…it was full of motorbikes and tourists. Not the typical tourists though, Pai has a modern hippie feel to it, like it was a hidden gem a relatively short time ago and that now the word had gotten out.
My first hostel was a fishing resort that I had booked 3 nights at before I had flown out of Suratthani for Chiang Mai. A private room with unlimited fishing, I just needed to pay for the bait. Some people, me, would call this a dream accommodation, and each of the next three mornings I would wake up and fish for a few hours before going into town for the day, and then before going in to socialize at night, I would fish for another couple of hours to unwind. Most of the people I had met in Chiang Mai were also traveling to Pai, so we had a nice crew to roll around with and explore the area. The bar we most often frequented played live Blues music in the evening and at night…one of the best memories I have started with a trip up to watch the sunset at the giant White Buddha statue, then motorbiking back into town for the night market, having the best barbecue chicken skewer of my life, then another, and finally ending up at the Blues bar to dance barefoot in the street. The night market in Pai alone is worth traveling there for. The entire town shifts from their daytime operations to opening up food carts, grills, jewelry stands, and even bakeries…fresh donuts and massive chocolate chip muffins to go with your beer anyone?
Time to leave Pai and travel to Bangkok for my return flight. I opted out of flying from Pai to Chiang Mai to Bangkok, and took the cheaper route with a charter bus. Depending on your size, the bus will not be your friend. It was not mine. The double-decker charter buses that travel along the highways in Thailand are not meant for comfort, and I barely had enough room for my laptop and camera bag to sit on my lap and between my feet. After a couple stops to break up the 12+ hour bus ride, I arrive in Bangkok smelly and unrested and ready to spend the next 6 hours in the airport before I fly out. Remember how I said at the beginning that you will be taken advantage of by taxi companies? I did on my way to the airport and didn’t realize it until it was too late. So I grab my bag from beneath the charter bus and go with the first person that is calling for a patron to take wherever…first mistake`. He then walks me just outside of the bus depot and through this opening in the fence separating the two areas, and brings me to a group of his other cabbies and they start speaking Thai. After listening in on what felt like a plot, I’m escorted to his car for a ride. It had nice rims, so they considered it a limo, I guess. Neglecting to tell me the price after I asked him more than once, he puts my bag in the trunk and I take a seat in the back…second mistake. Only then does he turn around in the driver’s seat and show me the price list. His ride would have costed me 3000baht which equates to about 100 American dollars, and was the cheapest on his list. I immediately tell him no I cannot afford that, and ask how far the airport is from here…about 45 minutes away he tells me with traffic, so it’s an elapsed time fee. My third mistake came when I told him I could only afford 1500baht because that was all the Thai paper money I had left, so he says ok and would get out to find another coworker to take me in a cheaper car. Right when I try to get out of the car because I was going to go back to the depot and arrange a taxi to take me instead since that seemed like an outrageous price, he stops my door from opening and assures me he can find me a ride and that I need to stay put. I was already in too deep by that time, and waited for the other cab. The ride ended up being about 20 minutes long, and I paid what equated to about 50 American dollars for that ride…they got me. As I said at the beginning, always negotiate price before you get in the taxi, predetermine your own price limit, and do not tell them the maximum price you can afford because that will be the fare price. That experience left a sour taste in my mouth, but it would not take away from my Thailand adventure, just another wrinkle learned and more street knowledge gained. Suppose it was a form of retribution by the universe for overstaying as well.

If you are thinking about going to Thailand, stop thinking and planning and just buy the ticket. Have a few ideas in mind and places you want to see, but do not commit yourself to a set schedule. Especially if you are solo-traveling because you will meet so many people like you and will want to travel and explore places with them. Don’t be afraid to split your hostel stays up by booking a few nights in a dorm and then book a few nights in a private room to take a breather. I found that to be a great balance and you remain flexible, ready for whatever the day may bring you. Keep an eye on your bank account and set maximum limits for food and lodging, but more than anything, budget over what you plan on spending so you can have the flexibility to go off on an adventure within the trip and not worry about anything else than having the time of your life. Obey their laws, and get involved with the Thai people too. Most of the Thai that I spoke with knew quite a bit of English, and if not, you can communicate by just being thankful and using hand gestures. Embrace a different way of living for a short time, and you may become much more appreciative of what is in front of you. Our lives are far more complicated than they need to be, so observing and communicating with those that live successfully without as many luxuries that we have in our country is vitally important to our mental and emotional health. Lastly, take a deep breath and smile, you are not at home anymore and you may find a new level of comfort from that.
