When Thailand doesn’t mean Thai

I’ve been in Thailand for a month already and on Koh Tao for half of that time, and I’m gradually getting used to island life once again. Koh Tao is far bigger than the island I used to live on, but the diving community is small and I’m putting faces to the gossip all the time. Because that’s exactly what island life is like- everyone always knows your business. Coming from a very friendly town, I find this reassuring, but I can see why it drives some people nuts.

There are quirks to this island though. It being a huge tourist destination (though I’ve yet to see any straw donkeys), there is a real mix of culture here, but I wasn’t expecting was there so few Thais. The few times that I’ve tried to speak my (limited) Thai, I’ve been met with blank looks. I’ve gone back to the phrasebook feeling very confused and after this happening several times, I spoke to someone about it. Apparently the Burmese migrant community here is huge, and the common language that most people speak is English. Thai seems to get you nowhere here.

One of the things I love most about Thailand is the abundance of temples, even in the busiest section of a city, you can seek solace in the serenity of a temple- but not here. Apparently there is only one temple on Koh Tao, and I’ve yet to find it. I’ve been trying to put my finger on why this unsettles me slightly, and the only thing that I can reason is that temples are such a big part of so many Thai people’s lives, that it feels distinctly un-Thai not to have them dotted around every town.

The island has only been continuously inhabited since 1933, starting off as a prison island, and a few people from neighbouring islands came to set up colonies at about the same time. It only became popular with travellers in the 80s and since then the population has grown massively along with the construction of hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and bars that goes hand in hand with the tourist industry.

Now it is an island that dives by day and parties by night. Sairee beach is the famous party hotspot, but drinking seems to as much as a hobby as diving does around here, and it takes some getting used to.

I think I’ve been spoiled rotten with the diving that I’ve done all over the world, but I have to say that I’m disappointed with the diving on Koh Tao. I had been warned that the dives sites were busy, because the island’s notoriety for offering cheap dive courses brings many people here, but I wasn’t expecting the poor visibility and what I regard as a poor selection of marine life. Yes, there are huge shoals of fish (which are readily being harvested by fishing boats close by), but it’s difficult to see anything remarkable to point out. If you’re lucky you might see an eel, and if you’re even luckier you might see a turtle, but from what I can gather the marine life here is in rapid decline. Whether that’s from overfishing at the surface, the decline of the coral, or just the fish not being keen on so many divers invading their habitat is debatable.

All of these things are so at odds with the Thailand that I know, it makes me feel that I could be on any party island, regardless of what coast it is closest too. I feel that the island is suffering an identity crisis.

Once I’ve qualified my course which enables me to be a scuba instructor, I’m thinking of moving on again, but this time I’m thinking somewhere a bit further afield. I’m still not quite sure where yet, but the world is my oyster.

Adventures into the unknown

I was talking to a friend recently about the different styles of travelling. Some people will say that they’ve “done” a country if they’ve been to a capital city, or spent a couple of weeks lounging on the beach of a certain country. I feel that I doubt I’ve ever “done” a country. Despite having spent years in Thailand (on and off), I still don’t think I’ve “done” it, and I’m still experiencing new things all the time.

At 4.30am on Saturday morning, when most people I know wouldn’t have even gotten to bed yet, I was getting up and leaving for a journey to a place I’d never been to, but had heard so much about. Koh Tao is a small island in the Gulf of Thailand, and although large compared to many of the islands that dot Thailand’s coast, it only measures about 21 square kilometres and is famous for being a centre of diving. It was a long bus journey from Bangkok to Chumphon, which is the port which boats to Koh Tao leave from. After being stuck on the bus for six and a half hours, it was a refreshing change on be sitting in the sun on the deck of the catamaran that would take us to Koh Tao and others on to Koh Phangan and then onto Koh Samui (I used the Lomphraya company, and the journey cost 1050 baht). A happy hour and a half was sat drinking beer and chatting to others that were going to spending time on the island.

As Koh Tao came into view, I was struck by how mountainous the island was and how beautiful and crystal clear the water was. As I disembarked there was the usual scrum of people trying to get you to sign up with a dive centre or get you to go to a particular hotel, but I ducked out of this and decided to find a cheap central hotel, and I could explore and decide which dive centre I wanted to try at a more leisurely pace.

Once I’d checked in and had a snooze, I set out and explored the streets of Mae Haad, the main town on the island where the port is located. The streets are fairly narrow with no cars and a few pick up trucks which are used to transporting goods around the island and double up as taxis when needed. Everyone else gets about using mopeds, bicycles or on foot.

So the next day, I decided to do as everyone else was doing and hire a moped. The going rate for this seems to be between 150 and 250 baht a day, and after a quick lesson, I was on my way. The roads connecting Mae Haad to Hat Sairee and Chalok bay are all relatively good, but as I went further off the beaten track the roads got progressively narrower and less decent. Which was when two Spanish guys on an ATV came hurtling round a corner and forced me off the road and down into a deep sandy ditch. Ouch. I escaped without major injury bar cuts and bruises all down my right side, but I was shaken and went back to the town very cautiously indeed. Once I’d cleaned myself up, I found out that this type of injury is very common here, and the cuts and scrapes that people bear are known as “Koh Tao tattoos”. You have been warned.

I wasn’t brave enough to go back out on the bike again that afternoon, so I caught a lift in one of the pick up trucks that was heading to Chalok bay to go and visit a dive centre I’d heard good things about. Buddha View Dive Centre lived up to its reputation with friendly staff and a great atmosphere, and it’s where I’ve decided to take my scuba diving instructor’s course in just over a month’s time. So today has been spent getting back on the dreaded moped and spending the morning looking for an apartment in the area. accommodation seems to vary massively, and I found a really beautiful apartment that’s about double my original budget, but that I’ve totally fallen in love with. Everywhere else that I’ve seen pales in comparison and I’m trying to decide if I should let my head or my heart decide this time…