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| Full Moon Party beach, Haad Rin, Koh Phangan, Thailand |
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| TRADITIONAL THAI WEDDING KOH PHANGAN 2002 |
Pablo and I had a traditional Thai wedding at the family bungalows.
We were dressed up like the King of Siam and Wonderwoman!
Married by five monks and the village elders... with our parents in the background.
That was back in 2002. I've spent over 7 years of my life, a third of the last twenty years, living on this island I call my spiritual home, Koh Phangan.
And I've got twenty years of Koh Phangan stories to tell, and diaries that span back to the early '90s - when I first arrived as a traveller at the end of the Asian road - a 4-month overland tour from London to Kathmandu behind me.
I recently found the diary from my first trip to Koh Phangan in 1993 - I'd started typing it up a few years ago when writing up all my stories. The exultant naivety of a 21yr old's new found freedom. I'm saving my stories for another day... but hey, why not? Let's go back to the beginning, and let that 21yr old have her say!
Writing's always been sacred ground for me, something to share privately with nearest and dearest - until recently. In 2013 I started contributing to Koh Phangan's online party magazine, Phanganist.com...
I started writing a series of party blogs,
Mia Escobud's Tales of the Underground.
Was lucky enough to interview the likes of DJs Marco Loco and Danny Rampling.
Saw Phangan Poetry Corner come to light to give local Koh Phangan residents a poetic voice box.
Even did a photoshoot with Elle to celebrate the original Koh Phangan Party Girl's 60th birthday.
It all goes on on Koh Phangan!
It's sure been a fun ride so far, but I'm still hankering to tell the old tales!
Then my friend Chris from motocycletourslaos.blogspot.com arrived to visit us here on Koh Phangan from Laos - and inspired me to set up my own blog, where I could say whatever I want, and say it here first. So here I am.
Chris has just returned from a six month spiritual experience lost in the Laos jungle and beyond, and he sounds like he's found himself: I remember the feeling, at the end of six months on the road, back in 1993! ...
Mia Escobud Koh Phangan Tales
© APRIL 2013
I recently found the diary from my first trip to Koh Phangan in 1993 - I'd started typing it up a few years ago when writing up all my stories. The exultant naivety of a 21yr old's new found freedom. I'm saving my stories for another day... but hey, why not? Let's go back to the beginning, and let that 21yr old have her say!
Writing's always been sacred ground for me, something to share privately with nearest and dearest - until recently. In 2013 I started contributing to Koh Phangan's online party magazine, Phanganist.com...
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| ELLE CELEBRATES HER 60TH BIRTHDAY! |
Mia Escobud's Tales of the Underground.
Was lucky enough to interview the likes of DJs Marco Loco and Danny Rampling.
Saw Phangan Poetry Corner come to light to give local Koh Phangan residents a poetic voice box.
Even did a photoshoot with Elle to celebrate the original Koh Phangan Party Girl's 60th birthday.
It all goes on on Koh Phangan!
It's sure been a fun ride so far, but I'm still hankering to tell the old tales!
Then my friend Chris from motocycletourslaos.blogspot.com arrived to visit us here on Koh Phangan from Laos - and inspired me to set up my own blog, where I could say whatever I want, and say it here first. So here I am.
Chris has just returned from a six month spiritual experience lost in the Laos jungle and beyond, and he sounds like he's found himself: I remember the feeling, at the end of six months on the road, back in 1993! ...
Mia Escobud Koh Phangan Tales
© APRIL 2013
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About Me
My name is Mel but my husband Pablo calls me 'Mia'. I'm from the UK originally, but I've always been a wandering soul. Travelling and discovering new cultures have always been my passion, and I've been exploring Asia for the last twenty years.
I've lived in Hong Kong and Japan in that time, and spent a total of seven years in Thailand. Pablo and I married in a traditional Thai wedding ceremony on Koh Phangan in 2002.
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Mariners Cove, Mandurah
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| Nok Talay |
We had a 30ft catamaran for charter in the Gulf of Thailand back then, but after a couple of years of life on the high seas we sold up, and moved on to our next venture - at that time developing property in Australia.
Nowadays Pablo is a DJ and I'm a freelance PR, writer and blogger for various island websites.
Living in Koh Phangan
My brother arrived to Thailand in 1990. He came home with a treasure trove of traveller tales that kept me dreaming for years!
He spent all his time on neighbouring Koh Samui, but as beautiful as Samui was back then - with its one million coconut palms - the island was full of reckless boys, drinking beer and going wild.
Koh Phangan was much more the 'hippy island' - much more my style! We always used to say Samui was for beer drinkers, Phangan was for weird hippies.
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| Reckless Samui beer drinkers |
Koh Phangan was much more the 'hippy island' - much more my style! We always used to say Samui was for beer drinkers, Phangan was for weird hippies.
I first came to Koh Phangan in 1993, and I've been spending the winter seasons here, pretty much uninterrupted, for all that time. Pablo came with me sixteen years ago, and he instantly fell in love with the island as much as I did, aged 21 - really, it is our spiritual home.
We've lived here for two years at a time, spent at least four to six months here very year, and we currently spend our time between Koh Phangan and the UK.
The boys would refuse to visit me on Koh Phangan for years because they didn't want to be tarnished with the 'hippy' tag! If I wanted to catch up with my brother and our friends from home, I had to get on the ferry to see them in the beer drinking culture of Lamai, on Koh Samui.
Years later they all have Thai wives and live in our hometown in the UK.
My Thai sister-in-law and I joke that we've reversed roles - she's Miss England and I'm Miss Thailand. I had a traditional Thai wedding and have an affinity with Thailand, and she got married in the UK and is more British than I am!
I'm the only one who married a farang, and paradoxically Pablo and I are the only two who still get to spend our lives in Thailand.
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| With my Thai-British sister-in-law |
Years later they all have Thai wives and live in our hometown in the UK.
My Thai sister-in-law and I joke that we've reversed roles - she's Miss England and I'm Miss Thailand. I had a traditional Thai wedding and have an affinity with Thailand, and she got married in the UK and is more British than I am!
I'm the only one who married a farang, and paradoxically Pablo and I are the only two who still get to spend our lives in Thailand.
Pablo and I still stay at the Thai family bungalows where we first arrived all those years ago, on Haad Rin sunset beach, Full Moon Party town. People say how can you still live in Haad Rin with the hundreds of thousands of tourists passing through every year?
But either side of the full moon Haad Rin has the most beautiful, secluded beaches anywhere on the island, and really is the undiscovered gem of Koh Phangan - just come and visit any time of the month when it's not full moon!
I'm sure you'll be surprised at the pristine beauty - Haad Rin still has the most beautiful beaches anywhere in South East Asia, in my opinion.
But either side of the full moon Haad Rin has the most beautiful, secluded beaches anywhere on the island, and really is the undiscovered gem of Koh Phangan - just come and visit any time of the month when it's not full moon!
I'm sure you'll be surprised at the pristine beauty - Haad Rin still has the most beautiful beaches anywhere in South East Asia, in my opinion.
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| Full Moon Party Beach, Koh Phangan, SE Asia |
Dangers & Annoyances
I love the beauty, the freedom, the expansiveness of living life on the islands… but there is always the shadow side to life in Thailand. Life and death, and everything in-between, is just so much more vivid here: you are much more likely to get yourself into a nightmare situation or even reach a sticky end than you are in the sheltered constrictions of everyday life in the West.
Health and safety don't real exist here as they do at home, and bike crashes, accidents, and mishaps are much more likely to happen, if you haven't got your wits about you! I've got a mountain of stories to tell about traveller tales on the islands, and I dare say I'll bring them all out one day.
Thai Moments
There are too many to tell, I wouldn't know where to start! Well, I guess I would, that's why I started writing my blog recently... there are so many stories to tell.
Thai Language
Pablo and I taught ourselves Thai through a series of phrasebooks. We ended up learning to read and write through children's school books. We're not proficient, we only speak colloquial, island Thai. I can read a menu in Thai, but not a newspaper.
We both would love to learn more Thai and are looking into the language schools on Koh Phangan, which have all sprung up in the last year. We've heard good reports and it sounds like fun. We're too lazy to learn by ourselves any more!
We both would love to learn more Thai and are looking into the language schools on Koh Phangan, which have all sprung up in the last year. We've heard good reports and it sounds like fun. We're too lazy to learn by ourselves any more!
Real Estate in Koh Phangan
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| Artwork by Colin Thomason |
We went up in the world this year and even got hot water. But that's what I always loved about Koh Phangan, it was always like living in a bygone age, where we lived our lives by the sunset and the cycle of the moon…
It's the old hippy coming out in me again!
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| Thai family |
Shopping in Koh Phangan
There are lots of funky fashion shops on Koh Phangan if you know where to look, but it's mostly party wear. There's Khattaya's and Moontribe in Ban Tai, and Napo Po, Fusion and Amazonia on the main Haad Rin drag between the pier and the Full Moon Party beach.
Favorite Restaurants in Koh Phangan
In Haad Rin, the Soi between the Gallery dormitory and the Kawee Coffee Shop, parallel to the 7/11 Soi, is where we all make a beeline for. On that side Soi you have the Gallery (Israeli), Maddy's (Thai), Nic's Lounge (Italian tapas), My Friends (best Thai on the island), Poo vegetarian restaurant.
For seafood it's Fisherman's Restaurant in Baan Tai, and the best steak on the island is at Peppercorn on Sri Thanu beach. For top class Italian with an extensive wine list try Fabio's in Ban Taai. In fact, try any Italian restaurant on the island for good food, Pablo and I are frequent visitors at most of them!
For seafood it's Fisherman's Restaurant in Baan Tai, and the best steak on the island is at Peppercorn on Sri Thanu beach. For top class Italian with an extensive wine list try Fabio's in Ban Taai. In fact, try any Italian restaurant on the island for good food, Pablo and I are frequent visitors at most of them!
Favorite Clubs and Bars in Koh Phangan
Jungle Experience, held twice a month in the week before full moon in the Baan Tai jungle, is a phenomenon that has to be experienced and is my all time favourite party.
My preferred music is Underground Tech House which you can find at a number of venues on the island, from 3000+ crowd parties to more intimate parties with100-200 people. They would include Secret Garden (Haad Rin), Ku Club (Ban Taai), Loi Lay (Baan Tai pier) to name but a few.
There are too many parties on Koh Phangan to mention, but a new club in a secluded location 10 mins outside of Haad Rin is the Mer Ka Ba Beach Club, which is a must see - with it's DJ booth in the jaws of a lion's mouth, overlooking the swimming pool and untouched beachfront location!
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| Tales of the Underground: Jungle Experience |
There are too many parties on Koh Phangan to mention, but a new club in a secluded location 10 mins outside of Haad Rin is the Mer Ka Ba Beach Club, which is a must see - with it's DJ booth in the jaws of a lion's mouth, overlooking the swimming pool and untouched beachfront location!
Favorite Thailand Websites and Blogs
Check out Phanganist.com for all things Koh Phangan, everything you need to know about Koh Phangan is here! Also I recently set up my own blog Mia Escobud Koh Phangan Tales, which I would be honoured if you visited.
(Expat) Women in Thailand
For the rest of Thailand I'd say it's probably tougher to move here as a woman than a man, but Koh Phangan seems to be its own universal microcosm - it's much easier for Western women to integrate here and, dare I say, be taken seriously.
There are female expat restauranteurs, travel agents, DJs, teachers, journalists, vets, et al on Koh Phangan: whatever you want to try your hand at, well, good luck and go for it!
The islands are quite matrilineal - all the land gets passed down through the women - so it's still the big island mamas who rule the roost on Koh Phangan!
I can't speak for the rest of Thailand or the corporate Thai world, where I imagine it would be quite hard to be taken seriously as a woman.
Personal example? About ten years ago I was volunteering in a local Koh Phangan school, and was amazed at the instant respect I was given from the community, as I was now 'Khun Khru', Miss Teacher. About this time an acquaintance got himself into a heap of trouble and ended up in Surat Thani prison for three years.
A year or so into his ordeal, my friend Nayana and I turned up to help, and we spent months dealing with lawyers, translators, prison guards and the British Embassy on Steve's behalf.
There are female expat restauranteurs, travel agents, DJs, teachers, journalists, vets, et al on Koh Phangan: whatever you want to try your hand at, well, good luck and go for it!
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| Big Island Mama |
The islands are quite matrilineal - all the land gets passed down through the women - so it's still the big island mamas who rule the roost on Koh Phangan!
I can't speak for the rest of Thailand or the corporate Thai world, where I imagine it would be quite hard to be taken seriously as a woman.
Personal example? About ten years ago I was volunteering in a local Koh Phangan school, and was amazed at the instant respect I was given from the community, as I was now 'Khun Khru', Miss Teacher. About this time an acquaintance got himself into a heap of trouble and ended up in Surat Thani prison for three years.
A year or so into his ordeal, my friend Nayana and I turned up to help, and we spent months dealing with lawyers, translators, prison guards and the British Embassy on Steve's behalf.
But as far as we got, and even with the respect given to me as a teacher, everything we achieved - or nearly achieved - was tempered by the fact that we were female. To an extent we probably got further than a male counterpart could have done, but we were still lacking in the end: probably because there was no way we were about to grant any 'favours'.
There was always that undercurrent, what can you do for us?
But I guess that's Thailand, it's a cultural imperative that favours beget favours, in whatever form. By example Pablo even had to 'bribe' his way into his own wedding! One man's corruption is another man's cultural dues…
There was always that undercurrent, what can you do for us?
But I guess that's Thailand, it's a cultural imperative that favours beget favours, in whatever form. By example Pablo even had to 'bribe' his way into his own wedding! One man's corruption is another man's cultural dues…
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| Pablo about to bribe his way into his own wedding! |
Advice for expat women in Thailand
Smile, smile, smile; be demure and smile. Women should try to act like ladies in Thailand, and not be too forthright or loud or rude, if they wish to be respected in the Land of Smiles.
Treat everyone with the respect you wish to be treated with, always show Thai elders the respect they deserve, and you'll adapt in no time.
Also keep your sense of humour, and don't be afraid to laugh at yourself… especially if you find those chillies are too hot! It's a favourite Thai joke to laugh at our farang intolerance to spicy food.
Treat everyone with the respect you wish to be treated with, always show Thai elders the respect they deserve, and you'll adapt in no time.
Also keep your sense of humour, and don't be afraid to laugh at yourself… especially if you find those chillies are too hot! It's a favourite Thai joke to laugh at our farang intolerance to spicy food.
Last but not Least
If you take the time to study the culture and learn Thai ways and social niceties, it may go a long way to helping you to understand the 'topsy turvy' Thai mind.
We may have different cultural values, but with a bit of respect we can all forge happy lives here in a welcoming environment.
I hope you learn to love Thailand as much as I do, and I wish you many happy days in this most awe-inspiring and breath-taking of Far Eastern countries. And look me up when you're on the islands!
We may have different cultural values, but with a bit of respect we can all forge happy lives here in a welcoming environment.
I hope you learn to love Thailand as much as I do, and I wish you many happy days in this most awe-inspiring and breath-taking of Far Eastern countries. And look me up when you're on the islands!
INTERVIEW for CHICKYNET, EXPAT WOMEN THAILAND
This interview was first published on Chicky Net in May 2013
This interview was first published on Chicky Net in May 2013
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| Mia Escobud Underground Tales |
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