Thailand

Stefanie Phillips
Aug 8, 2017 · 6 min read

This country was one of the first places I visited on my travels, and where I spent just over two weeks backpacking. I started in the south, on the West side of the Peninsula in Phuket then making my way to the East side visiting the islands of Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. From there I travelled north to the mountainous region of Pai, then Chang Mai where I fell in love with a particularly large and friendly creature. After falling in love, I made my way to Bangkok for the second time (the first was for Songkran) before leaving the country. Here’s where I stayed, what I did, saw and ate:

Phuket

The first place I visited in Thailand was the island of Phuket on the Western side of the country’s peninsula. I visited this part of the country in early February, months before I would get a chance to see the rest of it. We had a total of three days to enjoy the beautiful white sand beaches and clear waters so we got started quickly after landing at the Phuket International Airport.

About a 20-minute walk from the airport is the Sirinat National Park, home to one of Thailand’s most beautiful beaches (according to me). We approached the beach from it’s quieter side where all the long-tail boats were parked and walked along the sand to some beach chairs in the distance. The whole walk we remained in awe of the mountainous view on the other side of the beach-inlet. Once there, we discovered that a few restaurants resided on this part of the park and chose one of them for lunch. I dined on some (extremely) spice mango salad, vegetarian pad Thai and a coconut smoothie. All of the restaurants along this side of the beach had similar selection, but this one in particular happened to be a bit cheaper while maintaining an acceptable cleanliness.

After lunch we packed up our things and made our way back to the main road and into a shared minibus taking us to our hostel in Patong called Bodega. There were five of us all together, sharing the taxi with four other people. The traffic was slow once we got into the city centre so I took a much needed nap. Minibuses are a common mode of transportation in Thailand, and can be the most affordable option when going far distances. Take note: make sure the minibus is nearly full before you agree to pay for the service, in the circumstance that your bus is not nearly full you will have to wait until it is. Sometimes this takes hours, other times it takes minutes. Don’t test your luck!

After showering in our eight-person co-ed dorm it was dinner time and dark outside so we teamed up with an American teaching in Beijing to get dinner and tackle the famous, Bangla Road. She recommended a popular spot just walking distance from our hostel but unfortunately it was full and we were hungry so we settled for the also-busy place next door. I ordered vegetable pineapple rice (served in a pineapple) with tofu. Luckily for us vegetarians, there are a lot of tofu options in Thailand. While fish oils are hard to avoid because of the language barrier, tofu is an easy and understood substitute for meat. This is also where I tried my very first Thai iced tea. If you are in Thailand and don’t try one of these you are missing out! The traditional drink is made with Ceylon tea and condensed milk. While not so good for your health, this sweet drink is good for the soul.

After dinner I tackled my first bucket — a drink option sold often in Thailand which includes, a lot of alcohol and little mixer in a sandbox-style bucket — and walked over to Bangla Road. This road is extremely hard to miss with it’s flashing lights and loud music. It was my first taste of all things negative about Thailand tourism; prostitution, sex-trafficking, drunk tourists and exploitation of women. We didn’t last long here because of the bad vibes.

In the morning we woke up early to catch another minibus to the ferry that would take us to Phi-Phi island. This minibus and ferry combination was organized through our Bodega hostel. The chain of hostels offers trip packages, like this one, and frankly they are worth it. They offer convenience, less stress and similar pricing to planning it by yourself. I’d say they’re even cheaper if you’re one of those people that don’t know how to, or don’t like to bargain. Unfortunately the hostel did not offer free breakfast, but the one we had before leaving was reasonably priced at around $3 CAD.

The ferry ride was around one hour and took us to the port of Phi-Phi where we were asked to pay an entrance fee for the cleaning and preservation of the island. Although skeptical at first, this fee is legitimate and required by law so don’t argue with them for too long. From the dock we walked to out hostel called Stone’s Place and checked-in for the night. This hostel, like Bodega and a lot of the hostels in Thailand required a key deposit fee that you get back upon check-out — if you bring back the key and anything else they gave you. For the rest of the day we chilled on the beach and walked the small island beach town. Around sunset we walked to the famous Phi-Phi lookout point and took our pictures with the herds of tourists doing the exact same thing. The mosquitos were bad on the way up (and down) so wear long pants and don’t forget to apply your bug repellent.

When we got down we quickly changed and got ready for dinner and the night out. Luckily we scored a good table covered by a roof because it did rain for a bit. Take note: No matter what season it is, the rain is frequent and rapid in Southeast Asia, so always be prepared to get wet! We smoked some Shisha, drank a few buckets, danced on the beach, watched fire shows, engaged in some fire-limbo and got drunken Thai pizza. The latter I would advise avoiding after my friend got extremely sick from his slice. I on the other hand was fine, I think it was because my slice did not have meat (GO VEG!). If you’re staying at this hostel you need to know one thing. It it LOUD. If we did not have the intention of staying out late and enjoying the music on the beach this hostel would have been horrendous and we would not have enjoyed hearing the thump of the base rattling our bunk beds. That being said, we did plan on dancing the night away so the hostel was perfect, especially since we were only staying one night.

The next morning we woke up early and got on a long-tail boat that took us on a private tour around the island. We got to see all of the famous spots including, Maya Bay. We snorkelled stopped to go snorkelling in many spots. The trip was about 700 baht per person, a price we were told by a British local was very good. There were seven of us all together.

That afternoon we caught a ferry back to Phuket where we stayed in Old Phuket town. Our hostel, Sleep Sheep was just minutes from a large street festival that had taken over the town. Had it not been for the hostel’s close proximity to the great festival and all of it’s local treats, we would not have enjoyed our stay here. The room did not have A/C as advertised on Hostel World, the fans didn’t work and the wifi was significantly slow. The festival on the other hand was great fun because it allowed us to try a bunch of different local foods at an affordable price. Instead of sitting down for dinner we walked the streets nibbling on different eye-catching food. Take note: it’s not just this street festival that allows travellers to try local food for a reasonable price, many cities and towns have night markets featuring several different food stands to try new things. Remember to always check for clean oil, any use of local water on fresh fruit/veggies and choose the stalls with a a lot of customers.

The next day we were on our way back to Phuket International Airport and on our way home. However, since this was a weekend trip for me, that doesn’t mean it has to be one for you, too. If you are continuing your trip I would recommend you take a ferry to Krabi and connecting land transfer (most likely a bus) over to Surat-Thani where you can start your next island-hopping experience. Take note: Krabi has some beautiful beaches, including Railay Beach that I didn’t get a chance to visit. If you are passing through Krabi, I recommend you stay a night or two and see what this place has to offer. Also take note: There isn’t a lot to do in Surat-Thani so if you don’t have to stay there, skip over and go straight to the next island. If you have to stay make sure you visit the night market.

Koh Tao

Coming soon…

Stefanie Phillips

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