“For your safety and security, this party is for Westerners and Foreigners only.” What do you think about this? What are the reasons behind it? Safety in what sense?
In many “developing countries” with gorgeous natural resources, there are mini tourist-only playgrounds (some say “backpacker ghettos”) nestled in delicious strips of beach or hills. The idea is that tourists with money come to play… and want to be [...Read More!]
You are minding your business on the dirty town center beach, climbing jagged rock faces to try to get to the first of the pristine hidden beaches of Ko Phan gan which are tucked miles apart, wedged behind the rockin’ town, accessible only by boat or jungle trek. You are getting extremely sweaty, dirty, and persecuted by weird dog packs.Suddenly: “You want water taxi?” says the Thai man, holding up a [...Read More!]
1. It’s September. Who ARE these tourists?
I’ll tell you one thing: they ain’t Americans. I’m the freak again! Woo hoo!They are, however, a ton of Europeans (English, Irish, German, Italian, in that order, I’d estimate), Aussies, Israelis (tons!), and Canadians.
On the boat to Ko Samui, I had a lovely chat with a Colombian couple who have been travelling for ten months (!!!) to every country ever created (including [...Read More!]
Let’s call it like it is: I’m bopping around the crazy southern Thai Islands. I taught summer school all July, man– this is my vacation time! And I like it.
So. Five hour bus from Phuket to Surat Thani Saturday, then two hour ferry to legendary Ko Samui: the heart of the Thai tourist islands. McDonalds! Starbucks! Pizza Hut! Cars, modpeds, people everywhere! T’is a big (some say tourist-destroyed) island, and all [...Read More!]
“People try to insult me by saying my success is from a falang (foreigner),” said Nate, smiling as she steered us through the mo-ped-filled traffic, “but it’s just me.”The story that emerged as Nate (in her taxi-service capacity) drove me from her restaurant to the Phuket bus stop was inspirational. But was also a desperately welcome antidote to the uncomfortable Older-Western-Man-funding-Younger-Thai-Woman situation thick on the island.
Nate grew up in a rural [...Read More!]
“How old do you think zat man is?” Hans hissed at me, pointing to his equally white-haired, equally German chum. “Um, fifty?” I guessed politely. Hans threw his head back and cackled. “NO!” he hollered, “Fritz is seventy-five! And he is living viss a twenty-eight year old Thai girl!”
What else could I do, being the only young, female, American guest here at this party, but smile and [...Read More!]
You are on the southern tip of Phuket, near Nai Han. Mopeds race, bzzz-ing, ’round the twisted hill roads, and light blue waves smash through the rain onto rocky beaches. This is not so much a tourist place as a place to set up a life after middle age with a Thai bride, or perhaps a place to punch others in the face via Muay Thai boxing, or perhaps a place [...Read More!]
I am used to backpacker ghettos filled with $5 hammocks and loud European 20-somethings smoking and flirting and eating crackers to save money. This here is a different beast at this “Phuket Paradise Resort”.
This evening I emerged from my private $14-a-night mansion (from which all these amazing photos are taken! Kitchen not shown because I’m too lazy to cook) to swim swirls under the stars in the glowing lit pool. [...Read More!]
It is midnight in Phuket, Thailand, and I am in room 5 of my 5-room poolside, near-beach house… for which I am paying $14 tonight, due to a woven braid of human kindness and connections.
A week before my trip’s first flight, I donned a polka-dot dress for to visit my sweet mother’s place of employment. It was fun, and made me proud of my mother! It was also the first thread [...Read More!]