Catamaran Odyssey - Phuket to Singapore 2002

Phuket to Singapore In September 2002 we set sail for the open sea, mariners five. Four young sailors and our boat builder, Gunther, embarked upon an odyssey of Grecian proportions - Phuket to Singapore, and back to Koh Phangan, in our tiny 30ft Wharram catamaran. We left Ao Chalong, a thundercloud hanging over Phuket as we left the island behind.  We were to feel no rain, only wind,...

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Haad Rin's Trio of Beaches - Past and Present Times

The Magic of Haad Rin  The journey has remained the same for the last twenty years. Take the Haad Rin Queen ferry from Big Buddha on Koh Samui, and soon you are traversing that turquoise sea back to Koh Phangan. Which returning traveller hasn't felt that sense of excitement deep in their belly, aware of the wonders that await them? As the mystical island rises out of the deep blue sea, time...

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Koh Phangan Art on Sale Proceeds to Prisoners Support

After recently visiting an old friend in prison, famed Koh Phangan artist Colin G Thomason decided that proceeds from his annual sale of artwork this year would go towards supporting foreign prisoners in Thai jail.   In an interview with Colin, he explains: You may know that 2 years ago I sold several of my paintings at half price to raise money for Nepal after the earthquake? ...

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Thailand Reforms the Death Penalty for Drugs

With 200,000 inmates - 70% of Thailand's prison population - locked up on mostly low level drug offences, ASEAN authorities are acknowledging how the War on Drugs has failed.  Is Thailand, in 2017, deciding to move forward with a new approach? Thailand's Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya speaking at the UN on the importance of a Mekong & ASEAN drug policy that puts people and health...

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Morning Visit at the Thai Prison

8am at the Thai prison. Infront of a strategically placed sweat wagon used to transport inmates in and out of this establishment, two guards stand to attention for the morning flag raising ceremony and National Anthem. In the prison courtyard, the pariah dogs stroll around unaware, unperturbed by the officialdom taking place around them. A trustee prisoner makes his rounds of the prison shrines,...

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How Bizarre - Koh Phangan Hippy Markets Past and Present

Now and Then: Sunset Markets on Koh Phangan Bizarre Bazaar at Seaboard Bungalows Haad Yao Back in 1989, hippies were gathering at Koh Phangan bungalows near the beach for a social sunset market.  Time leaps forward and here we are again - a community of alternative travellers, gathering at bungalows by the beach, for the Bizarre Bazaar! So how much has changed in the last 30 years? ...

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Workshop 101: How to Help Your Friend in Crisis

Paradise to Nightmare in a split-second, Heaven to Hell in a heart beat...  How many of us have felt our hearts drop to our stomachs as we realise one of our community has gone down.  Circles of fate - or, some would say, inevitability - begin to tighten around us.  A crushing realisation descends that, this time, one of us is in trouble. The initial horror, panic and disbelief...

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