Stuffed

I have left every Thai meal feeling completely stuffed. Possibly due to the lack of leisure alternatives on this isolated beach or possibly due to the number of good friends we have made here which we enjoy sharing time with, each meal has become an event and the food has never failed to deliver a good time. Although I believed I would be missing my American standbys, my actual experience has been quite different. Most often there are many western dishes available on the menus, but they have mostly lost their appeal on and I find my favorites to be Thai, and often involving some type of curry. Most of the Thai dishes the locals whip up for farang involve rice, veggies, chicken or pork, cashews or peanuts and some type of noodle or curry. Some are a little more interesting. Stuffed pineapple or if you are going all out the Thais would be more than happy to fry you up a snapper right from the sea... eye balls and all. Remember the cheeks are the tastiest.

Koh Phanghan leftovers

We leave our bungalo on Haad Tien today and head up to Haad Rinn and on towards the Thai mainland.  We are sad to be off after making friends with the owners of Love Lip Bungalo, but happy to have met such nice folks.  Posting some left over photos from Haad Yuan next to Haad Tien.

Yogi yoga

Yoga has a home in Thailand and is big business in Koh Phanghan, particularly on Haad Tien and Haad Yuan where we have called home since September. The Sanctuary was our first resting place, although seriously overpriced and staffed by people more than willing to make you feel unwelcome. All of the bungalo operators cater to the new agey type with all kinds of massage, yoga, fasting, detox, and wellness services. On any morning you can find the yoga faithful out on the beach.

 

 

Thai parrot wrestling

When the stress of jungle beach life gets you down and you feel like you need a stress release muay thai lessons are a good option.  When muay thai is a bit intimadting it is good to know their are other lower impact options.

The art of the dance

Almost as interesting as the muay thai fight itself, wai khru ram muay is performed by fighters before every bout for the purpose of warding of evil spirits and bad fortune by appealing to Buddha, intimidating the opponent, and for a bit of good show. It seems there are many marks of the Thai spiritual beliefs and much focus is spent on appealing to, and appeasing, the spirits for good fortune, even in times of battle. The video at the bottom is the wai khru ram muay before Izy the Aussie’s bout at Thongsala Arena.

Muay thai

As soon as we landed in Thailand I started getting excited about catching a muay thai kickboxing fight.  As chance would have it we ended up on a beach with one of the best muay thai training camps in South East Asia… Horizon Muay Thai Camp.  Over the past few weeks we ended up befriending some of the fighters and trainers at the camp, partying with them, and yesterday finally had the opportunity to head up to a fight at Thongsala Arena with them.  The highlight for me was being able to root on the only farang (foreigner) fighting that night, Izy the Aussie from Horizon, as he took on a local in the third match.  Each fight night card includes about seven bouts of five rounds each at three minutes per round.  Winners are determined by scoring or ten count knockout very similar to boxing.  It seems there are loose weight classes and fighters are matched up based on relative experience and win history, just not as strict as boxing.  The real difference here is that boxers may only fight twenty times through their semi and professional careers.  With fights practically every night somewhere on these islands the muay thai fighters here have hundreds of notches in their belts and Izy’s opponent for the bout having marked around 400 fights.  I am told these fighters earn around 2,000Baht or $60USD per fight which is about a months wage for many Thai locals so the economics are a strong incentive to get back into the ring as often as possible.  Tonight was Izy’s second fight since he arrived in Thailand a month earlier, and would result in his second victory by knockout.  This is a major accomplishment as the locals do not like to loose to a farang and they are a scrappy bunch and tough as the rock Koh Phanghan was founded on.  The head trainer Pu’s goodbye to me as I left the beach to go crash in my bungalow at 2am that night with everyone still drinking and celebrating the Horizon win on the beach: “Be careful tonight… remember, I can kill you in your dreams”.  He may be right, he may be wrong, but I made sure to bless the spirits before I fell asleep that night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The long tail

Thai boats of all sorts have a very distinctive shape with a long and narrow hull often with an extremely concave curvature sloping up steeply at the bow.  The smaller boats, about 8m long, are used for transport of supplies, fishing purposes, as well as the primary means of beach hoping on all of the islands here in the Gulf.  All of the land is very mountainous and road access is limited if not nonexistent so to get into town or just visit the next beach over requires a jump onto a long tail taxi.  The power for these vessels comes in the form of a massive reconditioned diesel truck engine block mounted on a simple gyroscopic cradle.  A modified 3m long truck drive shaft serves as the shaft for the rotor blade and as a rudder for the boat giving it the appearance of a wagging tail as the driver swings the entire contraption about effortlessly.  It seems Thais take great pride in dressing up their long tail with a bright and colorful paintjob and ribbons, beads, and flowers around the nose of the bow.  It is believed that Buddha sits on the bow of the boat guiding the sailor and ensuring good fortune and the dressings that grace the bow must be as appropriately dignified.  It is considered inappropriate to sit at the very bow of the boat as you would be stealing Buddha’s seat and also rude if you put your feet up on the bow as it is insulting to show the bottom of your feet to Thais.

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle or bucket?

Koh Phanghan is infamous for its Full Moon Party every month on the night of the full moon.  Tens of thousands of people converge onto the island, probably doubling its population, to a small beach about a quarter mile long to drink and drug all night long and dance away to hard techno music in the sand.  So well known is the party that neighboring islands have borrowed on the theme to throw Blue Moon and Black Moon parties.  The cheap accommodations, eats, and booze draw the gap year, vacationing college kid, and young backpacker lots that have made the party what it is.  As for the booze it comes in two forms… beer or bucket.  The beer of choice is Chan Lager popular for its 8% alcohol content and cheap price which is usually served as a tallboy 22oz‘er.  Small stalls about 1-2m wide line the beach front with shouting and hollering Thais trying to entice you to buy their buckets over their neighbors under bright red lights signaling the danger that lies ahead.  Usually used to help build sand castles for cute little kids buckets are sold in various sizes with a much naughtier intent.  In the smaller buckets you find either a can of soda or juice, a bottle of Red Bull concentrate (100ml concentrate bottles with ingredients illegal in the US including ephedrine), a 200ml bottle of your poison of choice, and four straws.  The cheapest, most popular, and most likely option to strain your liver being SangSom, who’s label claims the substance inside to be rum while a taste tells you it is clearly a liquor in a genus unto its own.  The larger buckets just double or triple the soda, the Red Bull concentrate, and the booze and double or triple the likelihood you wake up in a tub full of ice with your kidney missing.  I am not much of a gambling man so I will just stick to my Singha Lager.

 

Spirit house

Spirits are everywhere in Thailand and if you are Thai you would much prefer them smiling down upon you and your business than not.  So Thais set about building spirit houses on their property as a place for the spirits to reside and rest.  Often very ornate and colorful with more attention paid to their upkeep than the owners personal residence, they often sit in the front left corner of the owner’s property or place of business.  At least once a week offerings of fruit, sweets, drinks, and incense are left to entice the spirits to stay, be strong, and remain happy so they can bring good fortune and ward off the evil spirits.

 

Brews of Thailand

One of the best treats in life is an ice cold beer, especially in a land where it is at least 34C/95F in the shade every day.  What makes Thailand a bit different, other than the beers itself, is that you can buy beer anywhere and drink it anywhere.  Pick up a few on the way to dinner, pop one open on the street, and walk right in to the restaurant with it… no worries.  It helps add to the sense that I have been developing while in Thailand that you are home wherever you are.  Chan Lager… has as much alcohol content as it does lack of good taste.  Often served as a tallboy 22oz’er and breakfast of the frat boyish type, two of these and you are faced, three of these and your face is in the toilet.  Nearly on par with Sri Lankan beer for its righteously horrible flavor.  Singha Lager… great taste if not a tad bitter, the go to beer of choice on the islands.  Leo Lager… the best of the lot, the most expensive, and the most difficult to track down on the islands.  Bonus points to Leo for the coolest label.  7-11 prices: Chan 30b/$.85USD (tallboy 55b/$1.50USD), Singha 40b/$1.10USD (tallboy 70b/$2USD), Leo 55b/$1.50USD