Why I Love Thailand (Part I)

"Same, same." But different.

This phrase is used by Thais constantly to describes pretty much everything. "The prices here just like next door -- same same." "This beach, same same." "The food in that restaurant, same same."

"Same, same" usually ends up meaning"radically different," and that is exactly how I would describe Thailand so far. This is the first place I've been all trip where I feel like I am on another planet. Impressively, the Thais have avoided foreign influence, colonization, and the homogenizing impacts of globalization enough to maintain their rich, millennia-old culture. Unlike Singapore - this is not the West. Unlike Malaysia - this is not a concrete China. The people are friendly to the point that the "Thai smile" is almost an institution. The food is so good that the Thais usually eat five or six meals a day, and for roughly $1 a meal, so do we. The beaches are beautiful, the tourists are everywhere, yet the people are not jaded. Buddhism here is not a religious obligation like Western religions can often be, rather it is a mindset that permeates every aspect of Thai life. Whereas other countries we have visited model their infrastructure on western examples, Thailand has developed its own standards independently. For example, all the buildings we see are clearly Thai - they are not just concrete structures that serve a function while offering no aesthetic appeal - even something as simple as a bus stop has a pagoda shaped roof.

So back to the trip ----

Three buses, four shuttles, one minivan, one ferry, and 24 hours later -- we arrived in Ko Phi Phi Don, a beautiful island off the west coast of Thailand. We were warned that it was pretty touristy, and as our boat approached the shore we heard some kind of horn blaring in the main town that sounded like a carnival ride on crack. Luckily we were staying on a beach at the far end of the island, so we wouldn't have to listen to whatever that noise was coming from town. When we pulled up to the ferry dock, the noise became clearer and we realized that it wasn't just some obnoxious tourist music - it was an emergency alarm:

"Attention please! Attention please! An earthquake is in the sea! Tsunami is expected!" This message was being blasted in about 8 different languages, and a slight panic passed through everyone on the ferry as we waited a good 15 minutes for them to unload our bags and let us off the boat. No one knew how to react, and there was no commotion on the island, so we hesitantly continued to walk into town to find something to eat. A German kid we picked up on the way told us that the German translation said something like "leave your belongings and head to higher ground immediately." We tried a few restaurants and were told "sorry we're closed! all the staff is in the mountains!" and "no sorry, we don't want to cook food if a tsunami comes!" Still no one was panicking, and we were very confused and still pretty worried. We kept watching the shore to see if the tide was still normal, and we figured out that if we saw the wave on the horizon we would only have about 2 or 3 minutes to get to higher ground. This was one of the islands that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami.

Eventually the alarm stopped, the staff came back from the hills, and we had lunch. Exciting introduction to Thailand.

After hiking for about 45 minutes through a jungle trail that circles the carless island, the three of us found a bungalow on the far beach and settled in for the night. We spent the next two days relaxing on the beach and enjoying the tropical weather and tasty food. It was more touristy that I would have liked, but it was still a beautiful place. Most of our pictures show the rare spots where there was a gap in the "farang" (foreigner) crowds.

As we got to know the German kid a little better and realized that he was a pretty bad mooch, not that interesting, and quite annoying at times, we decided it would be a good idea to loose him as soon as possible. We told him we were planning on leaving the next day for the east coast, and he thought it was a great idea -- he would join us. After some subliminal persuasion, I convinced him that it would be a much better idea to go to Surat Thani to take a meditation course instead.

We left Ko Phi Phi for the east coast - Germanless and - and found a shared taxi to take us across the country to Nikhon Si Thammarat. We hopped in the front seat of the 8 person van, which ended up taking about 15 people, and headed down an incredibly beautiful highway with dramatic views of karst mountains, tiny villages, and some serious jungle. We arrived in Nakhon, checked into a 5 dollar hotel, which was actually pretty nice for what we've come accustomed to, and headed out to look for dinner.

This was NOT a touristy area. There were approximately zero signs in English, and none in the Roman alphabet. We found a place that looked nice, sat down, and were approached by a waitress who surprisingly also spoke no English. Sign language has become very useful. We ate a delicious meal and exchanged smiling, curious glances with the other diners and street vendors around us. The huge table next to us was celebrating a birthday, so we sang along with them while their cake was served. They brought us a few slices. A woman from the fruit stand on the street brought over a heaping tray of purple plum-sized fruit, which we were later told are called mangosteens, and proceeded to peel them and watch while we ate every last one. They were DELICIOUS. Another guy and his young son brought over a grocery sized bag full of mangosteens and rambutans for us. Brian shook the kids hand and thanked him in Thai and everyone in the restaurant laughed and clapped. We payed 4 bucks for the meal, took our bag of fruit back to the hotel, gorged ourselves on these delicious Thai delicacies and passed out.

To be continued...