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, and maybe Lettie, Gunther's wife, had been right...

... "The wind really is behind Nok Talay!"  We set the sails and we were bombing along - twice the speed of Kerida, our boat builder's ketch, and no heeling.  Gunther had told us that Nok Talay would feel like a Rolls Royce after our week long trip on Kerida.

"The wind really is behind Nok Talay!"

We sped passed Phi Phi island, a rainbow guiding our way - 
a good omen for the beginning of our trip 

Twenty-one hours later we'd accomplished what had previously taken four days in Gunther's little ketch.  We'd arrived at Rebak Marina, Langkawi, in our own boat. 

We manoeuvered Nok Talay into the bay to see how tiny she looked compared to the other yachts.  She sat so low in the water that from the jetty it looked like there was nothing of her - a strange that illusion, as aboard was only a feeling of spaciousness.

After a trip to immigration, swims in the marina pool and dinner in the yacht club restaurant, it was time to set sail again further down the Malaysian coast.  We navigated our way through Langkawi's outlying islands, then took to our 3 hour shifts at the helm.

Setting sail for the open sea... in our own boat!

3 hours on, 12 hours off, the rhythm of our days. 

Cooking up chicken, and fish, when we caught it...

the boys reefing the sails when it looked like a storm was brewing.

And that night we had a storm to 'blow the man down' - and we were hossing along.  We averaged 10 knots, maximum speed 13 knots... although later in the Changi Sailing Club Seaman Stu would comment, "No-one's ever got a Wharram to go that fast!"

We were screaming along, Nok Talay's port bow diving under the water, starboard hull reeling, water slamming over the deck into the cockpit.  The wind was biting us, and only later would Gunther admit he was so worried he had goosebumps.  But the boat, his creation, stood the test well, holding herself together and proving herself seaworthy.

An exhilarating storm - but in the back of my mind I couldn't get rid of a friend's words from his outings on his own Tiki 26, "12 knots is TOO fast."  When the storm had passed we were all content to sail along at a meagre three knots for the next couple of hours.

Sailing aboard Nok Talay - 'Seabird' in Thai

Supertankers by Night

Later that night we approached Penang and had our first experience with a supertanker, up close and personal.  As its navigation lights came closer and closer, Gunther told me to hold my course, it would be gone by the time we got there.  And true enough that supertanker did steam on by - but it was still hair-raising stuff the first time, especially at night!  By the time we reached Singapore we were hardly batting an eyelid at them.

We passed on by in the night, rainclouds threatening, 
a storm brewing but no wind or rain... 
"Weird," said Guenther

The tankers disappeared and we were back to the open ocean, working our way south down the Malaysian coast.  The next morning we passed through One Fathom Banks, a bottle neck on the shipping lanes, and suddenly there were tankers everywhere again.

The wind had died in Penang, and after a night of motoring we'd decided it was time for some sailing.  But a few hours later, not only had we sailed perilously across the channel of supertankers, we had drifted miles out to sea and were suddenly going nowhere fast - travelling at 1.9 knots per hour on the wrong course, against the current. 

It was time to take stock, get some power going and motor back closer to shore to where we could navigate safely should the GPS fail.  Safety first - and speed is safety at sea.

Nok Talay charter to the Angthong Marine Park 2003

Back on course we had a marvellous day sailing down the coast.  As sunset approached I took my shift at the helm on a glassy ocean, a low orange sun to the west lighting our way from behind.  The lighthouse ahead beckoned us on towards Admiral Marina.

Port Dickson glimmered away in the distance, twinkling like a minute Hong Kong in the evening light.  The sky above was aswathe with stars - it was so spellbinding out at sea. Soon, we navigated our way in to lie at anchor outside Admiral Marina for the night.

Arriving into port, Gunther found he had an extra day free, but the open ocean was calling us.  We were dying to get Nok Talay back to the sea.  Tomorrow was Friday the 13th - sailors never set sail on a Friday - and so it was decided back to the sea, yippee!

Catching fish on the Malaysian coast

 Malacca Straits

South, South, South.  New ground, new waters.  Malacca to the east, Sumatra in the unseeable distance to the west.  With calm ocean, quiet wind, we motored downwards into the Malacca Straights, the beginning of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. 

Unbeknown to us the current was pulling us off course, and we were drifting ever closer to the shipping lanes.  In the early hours the current had started to push the boat and the waves forward, while the wind, opposing the current, was coming from dead ahead.

The resulting choppy ocean gave Nok Talay a bashing.  Gunther set the engine speed to optimise a controlled motor sail to settle her down.  We were comfier on deck, but the vibrating from the engine was giving the sleeping sailors below suicidal tendencies!

"The boat must be comfortable (and therefore safe) 

over everyone else's comfort - then all will be safe" Gunther

When Marty came up on deck to take his shift he decided to do an experiment with the engine, slowing it down... thereby steering us straight into the shipping lanes.

After a heated discussion on the pros and cons of motorsailing we finally went to bed - but the next morning Nok Talay had crossed the lanes of supertankers and we'd drifted miles out to sea again, going backwards in a 3 knot current with the engine off.

After a quick conference it was decided, against our skipper at the helm's wishes, to get the engine started!  The busiest shipping lane in the world was not, we agreed, the place to get upset about fuel consumption and engine noise - as valid as those concerns were.

Angthong Marine Park, Gulf of Thailand

There were lessons to be learnt for all of us.  We had to feel it for ourselves, it wasn't something Gunther could teach us.  We had to learn how the current could affect our course, that we had to steer adjustingly.  It wasn't always as easy as getting the compass set right and off you go - we had to learn to sail our boat through our own experiences.

Back on course, going somewhere again, Kukup Island on the Malaysian coast was fast approaching as we sailed onwards towards our first major destination... Singapore.

But first, we were hit by a dreaded Sumatra storm... 


To celebrate 250,000 all time views on my Koh Phangan Tales blog, I'm publishing this never before told, old sea shanty from many moons ago... Soon to be continued!

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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 expands and the vortex draws us in, until we arrive at Haad Rin pier - ready for another adventure of a lifetime.



Once upon a time, the world outside Haad Rin used to disappear into another existence. It would be weeks or months before us wide-eyed travellers, weary of the Asian trail, would leave these shores again. Haad Rin would draw us in and keep us spellbound, until another magical season had passed on by. Nowadays visitors may stay only a few days, but the magic still remains! Once the Full Moon Party has passed, Haad Rin, quite paradoxically, remains the best kept secret on the Thai islands.



Today Haad Rin is quietly undergoing a facelift. The image of drunken youth trashing their party wonderland is fast becoming outdated, as beautiful, aesthetic resorts spring up all around Haad Rin's three beaches. At the pier, Haad Rin Resort's pool has an unsung olympic opulence to it. Up the hill, Sun Cliff boasts stunning views over Sunset Beach. While higher up still, Sea Breeze has spectacular views over another of Haad Rin's sublime and unheralded jewels: Leela Beach. 
 
The Sublime Leela Beach

 
Twenty years ago Leela Beach was a deserted palm lined cove, with a shack restaurant and one lone beach hut. I remember a straw blond German staking out his territory in that lone beach hut for a few seasons in the early 1990's.  You'd see him at every party in his silver 'Spaceman Spiff' trousers. He was either wearing those trousers or nothing at all, frolicking in the warm coral seas of Leela Beach. As Koh Phangan veteran Mario will tell you, our strange ways were tolerated back then.

Nowadays the uncompromising beauty of Leela Beach can be enjoyed as much as it ever was, from the sensitively integrated resorts of Coco Hut and Sarikantang. The old Leela Beach Bungalows further down the seashore still remain, and this beach remains a favourite hang out for both those looking for a little more luxury - and those Koh Phangan long-termers in the know! What better waterfront jewel on Koh Phangan to spend the afternoon on than the wondrous Leela Beach?

Bohemian Haad Rin Sunset 

Haad Rin Sunset is still my all time favourite stretch of beach on the planet, probably. Not only does it have million dollar views to Koh Samui in the distance, it also has the most sublime sunsets I've ever seen. I've stayed at family run Bird Bungalows for the last twenty years. The three-tiered coloured sea is shallow here, but in recent years some classy poolside resorts have sprung up on Haad Rin Sunset too - upping the Bohemian sense on Sunset Beach from shabby to chic luxury.

Of course long-standing Coral Bungalows, with its pool parties and high profile Muay Thai contests, is a must visit for the backpacker crowd. As is Seaside for a traditional happy hour beer. But if you are seeking charm and style, the resorts of Best Western Phanganburi and The Coast provide the perfect holiday atmosphere. Expect good service, spa treatments, great food and superb cocktails. Both have the lavish allure of a relaxing stay in Haad Rin. And, my oh my, those sunsets!

And then… explore! Who doesn't want to get off the beaten track and discover untouched beaches on their travels? And that is the beautiful paradox of Haad Rin. Keep walking ten or fifteen minutes after Bird Bungalows on Sunset Beach, and you will soon discover the best kept secret of the lot: virgin territory, granite rocks and empty beaches like something out of a Robinson Crusoe movie. Surrounded by lush vegetation, a forgotten world exists, so very close to the Full Moon Party.

Full Moon Party Bay

And then there is the most famous beach in Asia. Think of Haad Rin, and most think only of the wild chaos of the Full Moon Party. But in my opinion this gorgeous bay still comes top of the most beautiful beaches in South East Asia. That fine white sand, that jungle backdrop, that wide, sweeping, crescent moon bay! It's just such an exquisite shore, where we can play in the turquoise surf and lie on a sun-drenched beach under the palms. It fulfills all our ideals of paradise.

Cactus and Drop In may come alive by night, but during the day Sunrise, Phangan Bayshore and Fairyland offer some of the best chilled beach living anywhere. That's where you'll find us lounge lizards soaking up the sun, sea & surf! For those of us more active there's volleyball at Tommys, Muay Thai at Jungle Gym, not to mention some of the best yoga on the island at Lighthouse. Secret coves, sunset beaches and hedonistic luxury... Haad Rin has got it all! What's not to love?

Why don't you stay a while longer and discover the delights of Haad Rin for yourself?

Welcome to Paradise!


First published on Haadrinbeach.com in 2016

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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?  And how much have the farang who gather here in the winter months changed as a community?  I caught up with long termer Eddy, who recently published photos of Tommy's flea market in the late 1980s.

What do you remember about Tommy's flea market at that time, Eddy?

"The market of the hippies on the grass between Tommy's thatched huts and restaurant was the Haad Rin attraction in those days.  It took place every afternoon and you met people from every corner of the world there; it was usual to see someone you had met, maybe, a few months earlier in Manali."

Hippy Market at Tommy Resort in Haad Rin, late 1980's

Same Same But Different

As we still meet people from all over the world here today.  I arrived to Koh Phangan a few years after Eddy in 1993, but I do remember this early fleamarket, which had moved from Tommy Resort over the headland to Leela Beach, below the Back Yard, by then.

Eddy says, "I remember when they moved the market to Leela Beach, but not the reason why.  I seem to recall they held it only twice a week, on Friday and Sunday, I think. Leela Beach was paradise, I often went there.  There were many Israelis even then.  There was an Osho meditation centre and I believe that's why they called it Leela Beach.

The atmosphere was very relaxing.  Somebody played the guitar or bongos; we played cards or frisbee on the beach.  And there was certainly hoopla in those days, with loud music coming out of the bungalows."

Same same but different?  Welcome to the Bizarre Bazaar 

The atmosphere at the Bizarre Bazaar is not so dissimilar.  Instead of guitar and bongos, DJs play the island soundtrack to the weekly gathering, but there are still hoopla and fire spinners, as well as henna tattooists and craft workshops - and cocktails too!  

Creative Koh Phangan

Back in 1989, Eddy particularly remembers an Irish guy who carved jewellery from 500 Italian Lire, which in some ways resembled Thai 10 baht coins. "I bought one myself, and who knows, maybe I still have it - there are still some boxes in my basement where I keep all the memories of that time!"

Tommy's Flea Market, late 1980's & early 1990's, Haad Rin Beach

Koh Phangan still attracts the creative types who craft their own jewellery, weaving macrame and fashioning crystals.  It's natural for Phangan to still attract these types.  Working the European summer, they take time out in winter - and where better to release their creative energies than on the vibrant shores of Koh Phangan?

It has never been any different.  Maybe we are wearing slightly different clothes, maybe we have far too many possessions and are addicted to the internet.  But in an age where we are all becoming digital nomads, it's no surprise to find those who think outside of the box still sitting on the beach on Koh Phangan.

Bizarre Bazaar at Seaboard Bungalows, Haad Yao, 2016

Changing Times

"On the beach at most was a few dozen people, even in high season.  The casino of personal water craft and the constant coming and going of boats along the coast was a normal sight.  There were only a few hundred people at the first full moon."

Eddy continues, "I go back to Koh Phangan only during high season now, to follow closely my business, even if I do not manage it in person. I live beautifully in the months on Koh Phangan.  I have many old friends who still live on the island, although many of them are gone now."

'The market of the hippies on the grass at Tommy's was the Haad Rin attraction in those days'

"I find that, with very few exceptions, there is no resemblance to the new generations of tourists and new residents on the island - who are often the children of those who discovered this beautiful paradise - and my son is a classic example of this.

We had the spirit of adventure, there was much fellowship and we were happy with anything - now everything has changed, they are all splattered and drink like sinks."

Lazy Tuesday afternoons at Seaboard Bungalows weekly gathering

The community that gathers at Bizarre Bazaar still owns the qualities Eddy holds dear - the spirit of adventure, the fellowship, the innate happiness - and don't we all get disillusioned with the next generation trashing the beauty in its path?

But they are here today, gone after the next Full Moon Party.  While we remain... still seeking each other out, still feeling the Koh Phangan connection.  Still gathering at bungalows near the beach, three decades later, for a social sunset bazaar.

Long Live the creative Koh Phangan energy, permeating our travelling souls - and big love to Eddy - for remembering how it wasn't so very different all those moons ago.

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Jailhouse Boogie : Paradise in a Cage

As lucid and poetic as ever - and a freebird once more - one of our much loved Koh Phangan characters waxes lyrical about prison life.

 Blame it on the Boogie: Sheik Yer Booty

Recently released from Koh Samui Prison, I'd asked Sheik how was his time inside?  His response was intriguing, and our insightful interview began here:

"Wow pretty happening spot, old friends and many new acquaintances.  Pretty relaxed place considering the atrocious conditions.  Truly surreal.  Paradise in a cage."

Now returned to his native homeland, Sheik Yer Booty tells his Samui Prison Tales.

Koh Phangan Days  

This picture is of me at Leela Beach, way back in 2003.  The year my brother died and I permanently moved away from Canada, to redefine my existence on Koh Phangan.

Earlier years on Leela Beach, Koh Phangan

Canada (except for my amazing friends and family) held such horrible memories for me that I had to boogie - and search out somewhere to adequately express myself - without having the weight of prying eyes set upon me.

Just before my arrival to Koh Phangan, my family and I suffered the loss of my brother.  Five years younger than myself, he was my best friend and confident.  His tragic death, for me at the time, seemed to have signalled the end of laughter and good times.

For years before his passing I had thought of returning to Thailand, specifically Koh Phangan - having visited the island once before in 1996.  The advent of my brother's death propelled me into the warmth and sounds of the island.

Sheik enjoyed the freedom of life on Koh Phangan for more than a decade, before as he describes it, 'the inevitable' happened.  His prophetic profile photo before his arrest (below) seemed to point again to darker days.

Prison Time

When I first entered the prison I felt sort of stunned.

I had already gone through the emotions that one would expect leaving Koh Phangan.  I knew right away that it looked like I was in for the long haul.

Sadness and self directed anger had set in.

What surprised me the most - and still does - was the overall feeling of futility that I was experiencing.

I had resigned myself to the fact that this was my life now, I was experiencing the other side of the ying and the yang: all the nastiness coming to replace all of the joy that I had experienced over the last 10 years or so.

The Monkey House

On my arrival to Samui Prison, I hadn't really taken in my immediate surroundings:  I was tired and spent.  However, I was quite taken aback, to say the least, when I saw a little later what was to become my living quarters.

The farang block the prisoners call "the monkey house". 

Grossly overpopulated, the cramped conditions were overwhelming.  Thank goodness that I am a relatively small and flexible person who can be made to fit just about anywhere.  40 of us were left scrambling for a place to sit or sleep on the tiled floor.

 My first few days saw me sleeping on the floor.  The top half of my body in the common room and the lower half resting in the toilet.

Prisoners are not afforded bedding upon arrival and have to scramble to have some sort of means to attain relative comfort.  I was fortunate enough to run into an old and very dear friend of mine in there - who unfortunately does not have the small and flexible physical characteristics that served me so well.

He provided me with a blanket to sit on and a small pillow for me to rest my head on.  Having broken my neck some years before this was a necessity, which was just that: necessary.  I say there were 40 of us crammed in there at first; that later became an unbearable 45.

Boogie fan: Sheik Yer Booty showing a Full Moon DJ some love

Jail Cell Blues

My first few days saw me sleeping on the floor.  The top half of my body in the common room and the lower half resting in the toilet.  As if this was not bad enough, I moved to the middle of the room with hopes that this would alleviate some of the discomfort - but to no avail.

There, I avoided the non stop traffic that my lodging in the toilet brought on.  But I was subsequently squeezed into a seriously tight situation - made worst by the admittance of 3 new cell partners.  Kicks and jabs were far too common and restlessness prevailed.

I was later moved to a make shift hammock (blanket with loops at the end) strewn from bar to bar, dangling just above the population: my face in proximity to the ceiling was at a distance of about 10 inches.  The whole scene was truly uncomfortable.

Whenever I felt sorry for myself, I would place myself in the shoes of my friend (who shall remain nameless for the purpose of this interview) who has so far survived 3 years under these circumstances - and is possibly the tallest person I have ever known.

Yin and Yang  

Lord of the Dance

As I mentioned before I felt basically exasperated.  I felt as though the other shoe that I always suspected would fall had finally come down and that of course it would find me stuck in jail in Thailand. 

I wasn't shocked, more like resigned to it.  I felt almost like this was payment due for the amazing time I was having, the amazing life I was experiencing: at once finally being utterly happy with myself, my friends, my family and life in general.

Kind of like a case of things being too good to be true.  I felt that life's cycles usually work that way.  Mine anyway.

That is, until a little later I realized that happiness is a state of mind - that can be attained no matter what the outside experience is.

Paradise in a Cage

Wow pretty happening spot, old friends and many new acquaintances. Pretty relaxed, considering the atrocious conditions.  Truly surreal.

Lovers strolling hand in hand, making out on straw mats strewn about the place.  In contrast near riots as the shower obsessed population go crazy giggling and splashing about in the toilets.  So weird.

The ladyboys and mannish boys stroll along cooing, lofting without a care in the world.  Imagine paradise in a cage.  Honestly, it really adds to the charm of the place.  I'm sure it must have a psychological effect that is undeniable.

At the very least it registers in one's subconscious and helps to diffuse the overall urgency of the place.  Unless the person in question is a homophobe, I suppose.

* In another interview with an ex-inmate, *Alex expressed similar sentiments to Sheik: the futility of wasted days in jail; and how most Thai men engaged in gay relations to relieve the tension... although the Thais may argue that ladyboys are the 3rd sex!

A place where everybody knows your name...

Farang Dynamics

Most everyone on the farang range is fairly mellow.  Most have accepted their fate, and are enthusiastically looking forward to the future - what else to do?  No one seems outwardly depressed; however on their own I'm sure that everyone is suffering in one way or another.

New additions to the population are a little tightly wound, as can be expected... Most have never been incarcerated before, so certain levels of anxiety can run high at times.  Life in limbo, not knowing what to expect... what sort of time to expect.

Some have no idea what exactly they have been charged with, the language barrier being so great.  Communication between the institution and the farang prison population is almost non existent, causing great anxiety amongst those newly arrived - and to a certain degree amongst long timers as well.

Koh Samui Prison represents the greatest lesson 
in patience and humility that there ever was.

Those who have been privy to and have played the game for a while are, as a result, more calm and accepting of their situation - to the point where jokes are made of the futility of the situation.

That is not to say that frustations do not run deep amongst these prisoners; only that, when possible, certain situations are better off laughed away.  The opposite could drive one crazy.

New arrivals generally have yet to understand that no amount of anxiety and self retribution will help their cause.  Koh Samui Prison represents the greatest lesson in patience and humility that there ever was.

Change Comes From Within

Although happiness has always come from within, it does receive help from the exterior and material self - however, happiness is primarily bred from inner comfort.

'Free your mind and your ass will follow'

After my brother's passing, my demeanor at the time was one of self destructiveness and pain.  I spent years wallowing in self pity, but gradually would see my way through it - by acknowleging the fact that my life was, infact, blessed.

Change occured rather bluntly once, during the episode of what I would call a nervous breakdown.  I took notice of the constant beauty that surrounded me: the sand crabs as they performed their dance in the sun.  Life in perpetual motion.

Happiness comes from within, and so does change... 

Where for a moment I foresaw the end of all things good for me, the next saw me rejoicing at the mere concept of motion, the beauty of being.

Ever since, life with all its twists and turns has been just a wonder to me.  One that is so great and full of potential.

This realization, coupled with my understanding of logic - as it pertains to life's willingness to bring happiness - finds me not dwelling on individual moments of sadness, anger or anxiety.

It is my philosophy that no matter what may happen during the course of one's life, however terrible that event can be - the loss of a life, the end of a relationship, or time served - with time, all of these advents become mere memories and lessons learned.

I believe that only by accepting our past are we then allowing ourselves room to grow. 

To grow into a realm of happiness and the comfort that that brings.  In other words, no time to waste being unhappy - when logically I know that later I will be happy:  such is life's lessons as I understand them.

Freebird Fly Free

A month after my arrival to Koh Samui Prison - not so long, but it felt like forever - I was very surprised to find that I was being released, as I had already resolved myself to the tedium of incarceration.  I felt extremely happy and very hopeful for the future.

One month later and I am still all of those things!

Ah Mel, as positive and excited as I am to be starting all over, I miss my home so much.  I guess I was getting too comfortable.

Looking forward to new horizons.  Staying positive as always, embracing clarity.  All is groovy.  I just miss my music so much.

Time to boogie, really.

Glad to be anywhere but there.

As our old friend flies free to his next life adventure, we wish him luck on the journey.  Huge thanks to Sheik Yer Booty for his fascinating insight into Koh Samui Prison life!

 Related Articles:

Samui Prison Tales 

Samui Prisoners Support visits Koh Samui Prison regularly to buy inmates much needed drinking water and supplies... All donations gratefully accepted!

 PayPal email : kohsamuiinmates@gmail.com

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Enchantment and Debauchery - Wild Times on Samui 1994

I'd been going full on since arriving in Thailand, but Koh Phangan's Full Moon Party had knocked the partying out of me.  Back on Koh Samui I spent the week recuperating - before the Wild Times began again!  It was Christmas 1994...
 

Wild Times on Samui - Lamai Beach 1994

Wild Lamai Ocean

Lamai Beach in the daytime was as beautiful as ever.  The waves would come crashing down on the undulating white sand, denying me entrance into the sea.  The aqua-blue sea behind the galloping white horses looked inviting, but I'd been trashed on this beach before and my wariness remained.

On other days, a calm sea would let me enter to swim in the instant depths of Lamai.  The current was strong, the wild ocean responding to the waxing and waning moon in its most powerful cycle around the December solstice.  The highest tides in Thailand were always around this time.

Lamai was lined with palms, and was a tropical vision.  My brother Tim had arrived here in 1990, staying in White Sands' bungalows for less than £1 a night.  He sent a postcard home with an arrow pointing to his A-frame thatched hut on the beach.  My fascination with Lamai had begun there.  I'd dreamed of this utopia for years.

Enchantment on the Hill  

Up on our hilltop resort above Lamai, the lazy days were spent in the Thai restaurant.  Typically constructed in wood, raised on stilts, it was decorated with wicker furniture and bric-a-brac.  Open to the elements, there was only a roller blind to pull down in a rainstorm, or to shut up shop at night.

The jungle vista became a green blaze outside the wooden framework of the restaurant.  We could have been in a tree house, looking down all around us to the treetops below; the azure blue of the heavens above us.  The neat ganja joints, laced with opium oil, being passed around the restaurant made the colours especially vibrant.

It was a truly trippy experience.

Bao at his favourite lookout above Lamai

On some afternoons I'd escape to the thatched pagoda - perched on a rock overlooking the bay - with one of the Germans, Mickey.  We'd listen to Bao gently playing his guitar; singing to us, the wind, and whoever else was listening.  As we sat on the pagoda looking down on Lamai, it was a surreal setting to find ourselves in. 
 
There were no intruders here.  We were all welcomed and invited to share the hilltop homestead, and to take what we wanted from their laid-back lifestyle.  And so we did: Mickey would later marry Bao's sister, Gop, the sweet, innocent girl who had become my new best friend that season.

The hilltop restaurant: the Canadians and Gop

Christmas in the Tropics

By the time the Friday arrived I'd recovered from the excesses of the Full Moon Party.  Now, it was the eve of Christmas Eve and I was ready to party again! 

The Newmarket crew didn't join me out that night, saving themselves for Christmas, so I ventured to the Bauhaus alone ready to mingle.  I found company in my old friend Danny's travelling partner, Wesley - who told me all the old late '80s Thailand stories - and Massa, the Danish guy staying at our bungalows.

Sipping home brewed toffee vodka

After a night out on Lamai, Massa 'the Moonshine Man' gave me a lift back to our bungalows.  There we were greeted by a naked Swede called Kent, standing on his balcony scratching his manhood.  Kent got dressed and joined us as we sipped Massa's home-brewed toffee vodka until the sky began to lighten.

At this stage, 'Special Agent' Kent went to bed - we were all living our own fantasies of who we wanted to be at that time - and Massa and I made our way down the steep descent to Lamai beach for sunrise.  We sat side by side on a fallen palm tree, watching the wild ocean as a blaze of red burned above the horizon.

Waves crashing down on Lamai's coral sand beach

The silhouetted waves seemed larger than ever now, as they curled over and smashed down into Lamai's coral sands.  We were having Christmas early.  Or at least I was, for Scandinavians celebrated Christmas on December 24th anyway.

Even though I was hanging out with the hard core Lamai boys, it was quite innocent.  They all had their eyes on the delicate young females that graced the Lamai bar scene, meaning I always felt completely safe in their presence.

I was never their prey.  They accepted me as one of them.

Samui day trips and nights out

China White Nights

In the early hours of the mornings, I'd return home from late nights out in Lamai to be invited onto the balconies of other hardcore Scandinavians.  There, I'd watch them rack up powdery lines of the purest China White.

Until then I'd always thought heroin was brown, but these connoisseurs explained to me the distilling process of their preferred drug, and how China White was the purest form of heroin you could get.

They were passionate about it when they talked, and it seemed to have a different effect on them from the skaggy monged-out drug I'd witnessed in the West.  They were even more wide awake and frenetic after a line, but I was never tempted to join them - I already knew people in my home town who had died of heroin overdoses.

As I watched their wide-eyed euphoria turn to instant rage - their last lines of freshly racked up heroin blown away in a gust of wind - my resolve was confirmed.  It was a powerful, concise lesson in the ups and downs of heroin addiction.  Maybe it put me off forever.  Or maybe addiction just never was my bag.

Wild West Lamai

A decade later: still hanging out with the Samui boys

After a few hours sleep, I roused from my toffee-vodka hangover as I heard a voice say, "Thought you'd turn up!" I dragged myself to my feet to find Richard and Mark, our Canadian buddies from the Full Moon Party, had come over to spend Christmas with us.

That night nine of us - English, Canadians, Germans and Danish - set off for Christmas in Lamai and Chaweng.  After talking our way through sets of Mekhong, we left the Rock Pub - a Lamai institution - at 5am to make the ascent homeward up the hill.

That was an early night at the Rock Pub...

'No roof, open till the last person leaves in the blaring sun about midday.  Probably best to take your sunnies with you for a night out.  Blaring rock music, people stage diving off bar and tables. 

Whenever trouble broke out and bottles starting flying, which was quite often, the staff would come over and shield our heads, then bring us new tables & chairs if ours had been smashed!! 

Good times with a Guns 'n' Roses & AC/DC sound track.' 
Lamai's Rock Pub in the early 1990's as described by Dean, RIP

Lamai was a crazy free-for-all den of drunken debauchery at that time.  When Pablo first came with me in 1996, he described it as like arriving into the Wild West - only everyone was riding motorbikes instead of horses.

The Weed Run

On other days, I'd catch up with the Scandinavians on the ring road above Lamai. Sweating profusely, the alcohol of the night before escaping from their clammy pores, I'd notice them carrying 7/11 plastic bags on their motorbike handles.

Samui ringroad in the early 1990's

The contents inside the bag constituted breakfast: a bottle of chocolate flavoured milk, half a dozen beer 'tinnies' to wash it down - and the odd half kilo of weed hidden at the bottom of the bag.

The theory was that the safest way to transport your contraband was inside your 7/11 shopping bag.  Their other theory was that the safest time to do a run was bang on 6pm, when everyone would be standing to attention for the national anthem.

Back then a kilo of weed could be bought for somewhere between £50-£200, depending on which stage of the 1990's you were in.  Over on Koh Phangan the Thai mamas sold ganja on their restaurant menus as 'Special Fish'.  It used to be one of their main crops on the Haad Rin hillside - they grew so much of it they had to burn the excess.

Samui coastline early 1990's

Eventually enough tourists turned up with a desire to purchase the surplus cash crop - but then the police arrived on an early 1990's crackdown.  Thereafter the locals became scared to grow marijuana, let alone admit to selling it.

Hence the code names for ganja in restaurant menus.  More stories from Koh Phangan's Golden Seasons here!

Up Soi Katoey

In the hilltop restaurant one December morning, one of the rough and tough Swedish guys had his head in his hands, moaning to the table.  We thought he was just nursing a hangover, until his moans became louder and louder and more lucid.

"Oh no! 15 years! Oh NOOO!", he groaned, in a deep guttural lament.

It took us a while to get him to elucidate, but when he did we were crying with laughter.  Fifteen years in Thailand and he was proud to say he'd never slept with a ladyboy.  Fifteen years in the Land of Smiles and had never been duped yet... until last night.

Drunk enough to believe he was taking home a coy and lovely Thai lady, he'd woken up with a shock to find he had a SheMan in his bed.

A ladyboy with hairy legs.

Me & hometown buddy in Lamai 1994

Later, I had my first conversation with a Thai ladyboy in that hilltop restaurant.  It was the early hours of New Year's Day 1995 and the Newmarket crew had gone to bed to avoid the random company in the restaurant...

... A gay guitarist from an aging Swedish rock band, a couple of Lamai smack heads, and a pair of ladyboys, regaling their tales and showing me their fake tits.

"Ever since I was a little child, I knew I wanted to be a girl", said the graceful creature with the manly face and the perfect silicone breasts.  Her other line, which I will never forget, was, "I want a man who can toss me around like a lettuce".

That was it!

Ladyboys were destined to become my best friends from there on after.

I was hooked, by all the enchantment and debauchery... by all the Thailand madness... and by the Wild Samui Times!

Wild Times at the Full Moon Party 1994

Thai Whiskey and Temples: Bangkok Bound 1994

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A Love Affair with the Haad Rin Queen

The low gurgle of the engine...  The smell of the ocean...  The contrast of the blue painted decks and the turquoise sea.  A journey on the Haad Rin Queen is transportation in more ways than one.

The Haad Rin Queen has been ploughing the seas between Phangan and Samui as long as many travellers can remember.  The rocky motion entrances her passengers still, as sea spray splashes the legs of itinerant wanderers and backpackers who lay about her decks. 

The old tug boat has welcomed all walks of travelling life, turning them into happy seafarers for a short while...  A brief moment, which will linger in the annals of their travellers tales for ever.

It is a sensual journey of joy.  The beginning of a recurring love affair, whether young or old.  

An experiential mode of travel, which leaves an imprint on your brain - as you too fall in love with the Samui Islands.  Their irresistible charms call to you, never failing to move you with their sensuality...

You have arrived on the Samui Islands, and you will never be the same.

White cumulus clouds chug along in the sky above, mirroring the motion of the old tug boat herself.  

The Haad Rin Queen ploughs the waves, creating her own white horses as she crosses the emerald sea.  Then, the misty blue, elephantine hills of the islands rise from the ocean - heralding your arrival in paradise.

As your dreams of the islands embed within you, it is a time to reflect.  A time to let the experience of the island you are leaving behind transmute into treasured memories...

Then the sense of expectation of arriving on the new island, with all its hopes and dreams, beckons.  

You feel it calling to you of the pleasures to come.  It is always a poignant moment of hope and excitement - of treasure and loss - full of memories of a paradise soon to be lost or gained.  

The turquoise water holds the fluid memories of emotion.  And your heart burns with the truth of it, always.  It is a tale of love; a love story with the Samui Islands, like no other. 

The Haad Rin Queen has become her own living myth.  Her rocky motion has ignited the passions of passengers for decades. 

You'll never experience a dream of the islands like this. 

And the Haad Rin Queen, she knows it.  She knows your soul better than you know your own.  
Like a siren, be careful she doesn't capture your soul. 

Happy sailor, I have been lost to her, ever since I made my first journey upon her.
 
And lost to the islands I remain.   


* Mood piece inspired by our Tropical Writer's Workshop and Koh Phangan Uncovered articles for South East Asia Backpacker Magazine, Jan-Feb 2015. *

Thanks to Moira Bulacios Prat for the top photo!   
 

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