There is more to a country than its capital city, and Thailand is no exception. Unfortunately for me, with only 2 weeks of vacation I was unable to go everywhere and do everything. While there were several things nearby that I could have done but chose not to due to time constraints, I'll keep things simple and just talk about the things that I actually did.
Of course, this also means that I can return in the future and have a completely different experience!
Awaiting the ferry to Koh Lanta
Thailand has many islands on its west coast (Andaman Sea) and its east coast (Gulf of Thailand). I chose to head to the west coast, where I heard that many of the islands were more laid back than the other side. I flew from Bangkok to Krabi on Thai Air Asia for about $50 and then took a van/ferry to the island of Koh Lanta. Lanta is a laidback island that is predominantly Muslim and not very touristy, apart from a string of beach bars with fire dancers and jellyfish lanterns. Like elsewhere in Thailand, it is incredibly cheap - I got a private bungalow near the beach for about $10/night (though I will admit, much nicer bungalows could be had nearby for about $15/night). I wanted to explore the island so the hotel owner rented me a motorbike for $6/day. Gasoline was sold at roadside stalls in liter bottles.
My $10 bungalow My $6 motorbike The gas station
Loudspeakers on the main road would broadcast the Muslim call to prayer several times a day, including around 6am, which woke me up but had a certain beauty to it, and I managed to fall back asleep.
The hotel owner who rented me a motorbike apparently had no worries about his kids driving off in their own motorbike. They could not have been older than 8 years old. In the U.S., they'd still have to be in a child's car seat! It's amazing what you can get away with when you're in a country where the threat of lawsuits don't hang over you...
As a laid-back place that isn't overridden with tourists, there wasn't a ton to do, but I set out in the motorbike and found a few things. There was a cave, and for a few dollars someone there took me on a tour. We put on headlamps and checked out bats, mushrooms, an underground lake, and cool rock formations. We also had to hike a bit to get to/from the caves, and I was surprised to see my guide wearing only flip-flops on his feet!
There is also a park with a lighthouse you can hike up to and also a trail that winds through a jungle of trees and even monkeys!
Very accurate and enthusiastic map The lighthouse One of several friends I made
I stayed on the west side of the island, and as I took a road that crossed to the east side, I was surprised to stumble across some rubber trees! They scrap off a layer of bark which causes the tree to "bleed" liquid rubber (latex), which is then collected. How someone figured this out way back when, is beyond me!
On the eastern side was a small town where I found small Buddhist shrines, and a school that had just let out. Parents were all on motorbikes to pick up the children. Nearby was a soccer field with a large portrait of the recently departed King of Thailand. I'm telling you, this guy was everywhere!
Poor guy....all chained up!
Same Same....But Different
One night, I had dinner at a clifftop restaurant, where I managed to scare myself by not being able to start my motorbike back up. I still had to drive back several miles across the island and was starting to freak out, until someone from the restaurant showed me that you needed to put the kickstand up before the motor would start up. Embarrassed, I gave him a few dollars to show my appreciation and got out of there before it got completely dark!
Chill colorful bars with a laid-back vibe. And fire dancers who liked to show off on the beach!
After a couple days I left Koh Lanta and took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi. This island has stunning beauty and the main town on the island is wedged on a small flat piece of land connecting the two mountainous parts of the island. This town is dense that there are no roads, just footpaths. And it's a big party town, with beach parties late into the night.
The harbor of Koh Phi Phi
Looking down on the town of Koh Phi Phi, with smaller island of Kho Phi Phi Lee in the back to the left.
But I did not come here to party. Rather, I came here to meet my catamaran for a 4-day cruise! For a cheap guy like me, this was a splurge, and it helped that they had offered a discount for this one journey. Normally the cruise is $800 but I only paid $550. And I didn't have a cabin roommate, either! It was a catamaran with about 6 passengers and 3 crew members. They cooked food for us and took us to different islands.
The catamaran I lived on for 3 nights.
It was not luxurious, but they did cook for us. And they cooked us YUMMY, DELICIOUS THAI FOOD. Did I mention that I love Thai food? And Thai food cooked fresh by a Thai lady on board a boat sailing around the Andaman Sea? It wasn't bad, I tell you. Not bad at all. :)
Our chef and some of the meals she prepared for us.
We took the boat around to some beautiful places, including Maya Beach, a stunning beach in a natural cove on a small uninhabited island. And as they will tell you dozens of times, it was featured in a Leonardo DiCaprio movie called "The Beach." I had never heard of this movie before or since, but the local tourism hypes it up. (Then again, when it comes to pop culture I am often clueless.) The beach was indeed beautiful and we anchored in the harbor where we snorkeled, ate dinner, and spent the night. Around 7am, the captain suggested we swim to "The Beach" to check it out before the people who charged an entry fee showed up. I stayed on board, since I could see The Beach just fine from there and it looked like, well, a beach. Some girls who swam over were surprised to discover that the ticket-takers were already there, and had demanded $12 to visit The Beach. So they turned back. (Remember, you can rent a private bungalow for less than $12, so such a fee in Thailand to step foot onto a beach is ridiculously high.)
The other fun thing we did was go out on paddleboats one morning. (I learned that you can get sunburned even with overcast skies, and also that I am not the best at paddleboating.)
Here is me looking like I know what I'm doing.....right before falling off!
I took this cruise in early December, which is supposed to be the dry season. And yet it was overcast every day and we got quite a bit of rain. So we weren't able to have a BBQ on an uninhabited island like we were supposed to, nor lay out on the deck and get a sun tan, but we still managed to have a fun time!
Pouring rain in the dry season is possible :(
We ended our excursion on the island of Phuket. It is a large island with some charming areas and Buddhist shrines, which I checked out on my way to Patong Beach - the tourism mecca on the SW side of the island. I knew that I would hate it, but I had heard so much about it I decided to spend one night on the island so that I could see for myself. And sure enough, it was overdeveloped with people offering sex, drugs, and much else. I did check out a ping pong show, which I had wanted to see. Just Google it because I'm not going to describe it here! It was a spectacle with crazy expensive drinks that the waitresses ask for a tip on top of (tipping is not common in Thailand), but worse was that they'd come around with a tip jar every 5-10 minutes and wanted you to throw in ALOT of money each time. I threw in 50 baht ($1.50) and they gave it back to me and said "you need to give more than that!" So it is a quick way to lose alot of money and I ended up seeing exactly what I saw on a bootleg YouTube video when I looked this up in the first place. So, if you're curious about ping pong shows, just find a video online and save the money. Or see for yourself. But you've been warned.
The other, more redeeming feature of Patong Beach was a lively night market. Here I enjoyed some delicious dinner and a $6 massage before heading back to my $8 hostel for the night.
Patong night market
ATM machine in Patong. Even they had a memorial message eulogizing the late king.