Thailand – Now & Then

Posted by Michael, Intrepid Dad - 11pm

Greetings from Koh Lanta, an approx 20-mile long Island lined w/beaches down most of its Western coastline. If it were the Thailand Jeanne and I remember from 21 years back it would be sparsely bungalow’d w/a few little backpacker enclaves sprinkled throughout. The locals would be curious about us, speak minimal English and play videos in their restaurants to draw in tourists. The fisherman would actually fish. The travelers would mostly be international backpackers on the super cheap, looking for the next full moon party to rave all night. The pace would be very, very slow and a sense of seclusion would permeate throughout.

Welcome to Thailand 2011 – a tourist magnet for Europeans and others run by locals with an increasingly sophisticated sense of how to capture the tourist Euro. 10% of the accommodations here are cheap bungalows ($13 for a double bed in a thatch hut, most likely w/a primitive toilet,), 70% are mid level cottages, bungalows and hotels ($35-$100) that for the most part sport plumbing, swimming pools & AC, and the remainder appear to be higher end resorts ($150 - $2000) with beautiful aesthetics, exotic amenities and a wonderfully peaceful and pampered experience. We are finding ourselves in the lower side of the mid range and that’s treating us just fine. We’ve noticed just about everything is called a “resort”, no matter the level, so Adam has taken to occasionally saying “hhhmmmm, check out that resort” when he notices the most dismal, dank and sorry looking places. Forget about missing towels, pools, windows – we’re talking plumbing and doors off their hinges.

Not only are there lots more tourists but it seems a Tribe of them defected to drink in year round sunshine, Singha and simple living. - purchasing or building “resorts” and hiring locals to cook and clean. A Swedish couple with a 9-year-old girl owns and runs our place. Their daughter attends a Swedish school here w/60 other students, is comfortable speaking to all the guests in English and more, and seems to take great pleasure at alternating between torturing and caring for what seems like a few dozen tiny kittens that are about her at any point of time. While on the subject of our proprietors, another thing that’s changed is the density and intensity of tattoos (at least on the farang foreigners that is) and tattoo parlors. Adam and Kira are still wondering what a “Bamboo Tattoo” is, which were offered for free at the shanty restaurant we ate at last night’. Maybe that’s why it took over 1 hour to prepare 4 basic dishes for us – were they too busy giving away tattoos, and if so wouldn’t it be better to wait until after the dinner hour to do so. But I digress… Our Swedish bungalow operator sports a tangle of feminine forms permanently inked onto his back along w/the requisite barbed wire motif armband tattoo plus more. A long blond pony tail, never wearing a shirt, sot spoken and easy going, he seems to alternate between an occasional cigarette, a local beer, and a mention for one of his Thai workers to attend to something. This appears to be a pretty typical profile around here, except for maybe the soft-spoken part.

So who are all these tattooed people and what compelled them to do that to their bodies? I’m not talking about a discreet little bit of body art – it seems bigger and badder is better from what I can see. But even with all this “edge”, I was surprised yesterday when I ran by the prior night’s full moon party at 7:30AM and all that remained was a DJ and 1 table of 4 post sunrise revelers. Years back the scene woulda still been pumping and thumping – so it seems to me the “average” tourist may appear more visibly extreme but is perhaps actually a lot more restrained than days prior?

Fortunately, there’s plenty that hasn’t changed. Pineapple shakes, banana pancakes, smiling Thai faces, the spectacular warm turquoise aquamarine ocean, distressing plastic litter everywhere (tho less than before), everyone stopping to watch the sunset and transport by motorcycle tuk-tuks. The restaurant menus are pretty much the same, as are the palm thatch beach shanties in which to dine or relax. Thai massage is still available and cheap, along with hair braiding and more.

I knew things would be different, and yes they are. But the joy brought from sunsets, corals and fine grain sand beaches are timeless – that’s inviolable, a least until there’s so many tailor shops built beach side (so far we saw 1 here by the beach) that its too distracting to take in the timeless pleasures. The good news – there’s still plenty of paradise to find just beyond the commerce and modern tourist conveniences.