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Published: February 21st 2007
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We both arrived in Kho Lak with stinking colds, the worst possible timing as we were due to join the dive boat the following day. As diving whilst congested is not good for the health of your ears , we feared that we were looking at spending 4 days on a dive boat doing some rather expensive sun bathing. Luckily the company we had booked with (Kholak Scuba Adventures) were very understanding and said that it was no problem changing to another trip. This is where the life of an international travelling bum has a distinct advantage over being on holiday for a few weeks. We were able to change our plans again and rebook ourselves on a trip in 2 weeks time.
We stayed around Kho Lak for around a week, taking it easy in our luxurious air-con room (well at £5.70 a night it was posh for us) and occasionally making it out to eat cheap grilled chicken and Pad Thai (a common noodle dish). We also took advantage of the local WIFI availability, not exactly a ‘wireless hotspot’ as you can see from the photo of Lexa making a Skype phonecall the signal strength wasn’t up
to much and we had to hang the laptop out of the window sometimes to get connected!
Kho Lak was one of the places where people took video during the Tsunami - in fact the famous shot where you can see the water retreat and then come back into the bay. The town was pretty much destroyed and many people (mainly tourists) lost their lives. The coastline is quite flat for the first kilometer or so inland and then rises into low hills and it is easy to see why the wave had such a devastating effect. It was quite spooky being there and without transport to get away it still seemed pretty unlikely that you would be able to escape from a similar event without at least half an hour warning.
Today there is little evidence that anything happened apart from the new Tsunami Warning sirens and arrows telling you which way to run. All the buildings have been replaced and huge new resorts have and are still being built. In a way it seems like there is too much money around, expensive new cars everywhere and certainly no sign of any hardship. I guess
that is what a good aid package should provide, but I suppose the unsettling thing is that people appeared to have much more than they had before and maybe have financially done quite well out of the disaster. I have to emphasise that this is only the feeling that we had and maybe we are wrong, so I hope I don’t offend anyone who knows better.
What I am sure about and a feeling confirmed by other travelers returning to Thailand, is that it is no longer the backpackers haven that it used by be. Prices for everything have gone up dramatically and we were continuously surprised at the cost of what we thought was going to be a cheap part of our trip. I guess it is the natural progression of any location, it gets discovered and is beautiful, untouched and incredibly cheap. As the number of visitors slowly increases, development starts to destroy what people originally came to see and simultaneously the prices start to rise. Eventually most of the accommodation is mass produced resort style into which traditional dance nights have to be introduced to remind people what country they are in. We can’t complain
really as it is people like us going to these places that causes the whole process and the rest is just human nature.
Anyway I’ll stop ranting and get back to the plot.
With another week before the dive trip we headed south to find the idyllic Thai beach (as seen on TV) that I had promised Lexa. We heard that the famous Ko Phi Phi where I had visited before was pretty overrun with tourists these days and after getting to Phuket we caught a ferry to the east to the quieter island of Ko Yao Noi. Well it wasn’t quite as we had hoped, sure it was quiet and we got a lovely bungalow overlooking the sea that would have cost us 5 times as much elsewhere, but the sea was dirty and the visibility nil in the water. So no pristine palm fringed beach and another feeling of being a little trapped unless you paid the locals finely to transport you somewhere. We were lent a moped with gears for one afternoon which was exciting, particularly as the handlebars didn’t point in the same direction as the front wheel, it was fun to try it
in the end we didn’t adventure far as my ears hurt too much from Lexa screaming....
As you can see from the photo’s we were not the only residents in our hut and we had a few battles by torchlight with the locals. The main activity was trying to keep our food out of the reach of the mouse, eventually suspending it from the ceiling after he had chewed through a towel and plastic bag to get at our cornflakes. The big lizards enjoyed waking us up with loud throaty calls and had the delightful habit of relieving themselves above us, although we were saved from anything to nasty by the mosquito net! So we saw a couple of nice sunrises and got to know the wildlife, but didn’t really find the aquamarine bay and white sand beach. Glad to be moving on we caught the ferry back to Phuket for another night there before being picked up by the dive company and taken back up to Kho Lak for the start of the dive trip in and around the Similan Islands .
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Jenny
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Not such a paradise!
Sad that Phuket doesn't seem to be quite the paradise we would expect! Tourism always ruins everything doesn't it! Not sure I would like to get as close to nature as you have been either. Great photos though. Guess your actually in Oz now - bet that's fantastic. Spoke to your Dad yesterday Lexa on the webcam - he seems to be getting quite friendly with Vicki - the lady whose organising our holiday!! Lots of love - Auntie Jenny xx