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Last week I headed down to Koh Samui to catch up with an old friend (well young friend I have known for a while) and then we headed over to Koh Pang Nan for a few days chilling out on the beach.
Koh Pang Nan was very similar to last time I visited 3 years ago, a quiet island geared to backpackers more so than holiday makers.
Koh Samui
Having avoided Koh Samui (Koh means island in Thai) since my last visit when I hated the place (I arrived in high season with 20,000 tourists) I was interested to see what Koh Samui would be like from a local's point of view.
Luckily for me a friend, Yarenda, moved from Bangkok to Koh Samui last year to open her own Hair and Beauty Salon and I have been promising to go down and visit her since, finally things are going well enough with this site and my work that I felt I actually deserved the time off. So I went.
Koh Samui is still very undeveloped as a tourist destination, there are the 5 star resorts available the day spas and beauty retreats but from a typical local view point the place is laid back, most buildings under 3 stories in height and a definite beach culture permeates the place.
In fact I would say that Koh Samui reminds me of when I was a child in Australia we would go up the coast to a small costal village for our holidays, with the shopfronts and everything a little bit old style.
In contrast to my earlier visit I really did enjoy my (short) time on Koh Samui and could probably easily live there for a while but it would be an extended holiday, I could not work from there to be honest (well not until I am an established actor).
Koh Pang Nan
(Comes under various spellings).
After a couple of days in Koh Samui we grabbed a boat across to Koh Pang Nan for a few days, last time I visited I stayed for about a week, this time I wanted to go and see what myfeelings about the place were now that I have lived in Thailand for 2 years and understand it's goings on a bit better.
Boat Trip To Koh Pang Nan
The weather was not the best, it was raining a little each day but was mainly just overcast, as you can see by this photo as we arrived at Koh Pang Nan.
Cloudy Koh Pang Nan Weather
Luckily for us the weather stayed fairly nice with only a hour or two a day of rain.
Koh Pang Nan had not changed much since my last visit and for this I was surprised considering the amount of construction going on last time, but then I guess the hassle and additional cost of shipping building materials to such a remote island keep the place from growing wildly, unlike certain areas of Bangkok.
Koh Pang Nan is geared towards backpackers going out at night to the various discos and pubs right on the beach, or even the floating bar located 100 meters offshore (in high season) and getting drunk and having a good time and then spending the next day laying around the beach front recovering getting ready to do it all again.
For me I had a lot of fun just watching the tourists trying to interact with the local Thais, for me I knew exactly what the Thais expected and what they were doing and why, while the tourists were having troubles dealing with another cultures way of doing things. Add alcohol and you get a few tourist guys having hissy fits because the Thai girl he was dancing with is now talking to someone else.
I am not sure where these guys were from but I have never been to any place in my travels that gave you ownership of a woman just because you danced with her for 15 minutes.
Needless to say I stirred the pot ;)
The Thais were amazed and thrilled that I could speak Thai with them too, ordering food, getting about, asking where the taxi driver thought he was going.... it really shocked some to start with.
I would say excuse me, then place an order in a very polite manner and some locals would just stare at me, uncomprehending, then I would repeat myself and it would click that I was speaking Thai and not bad English with a heavy accent and they would break out into smiles.
All in all it was a very nice atmosphere, some of the local Thai guys were smart arses but then I could put them in their place with some choice polite words and anyway I knew their game and once they realised I knew I got a little more respect (many Thai guys in the islands dream about getting a white girlfriend and spend 90% of their time trying to get one).
Koh Pang Nan Views From Paradise Bungalows
I chose to stay at the side of the island closest to Koh Samui, this is also where the famous Full Moon Party Takes place, but mainly of interest for me is that this is where the nightlife is and all the clubs and restaurants that line the beach are located here.
Koh Pang Nan Views Of Paradise Bungalows
The bunglows that were not located directly beach front were hidden up in the jungles such as this photo taken of hte bungalow that I was staying in, just up behind the restaurant in full view in the front.
As a holiday Koh Pang Nan is a nice place to go and chill out, there is little to do besides drink, party and lay about but then sometimes that is the best thing for a holiday.
Personally form me it was great to catch up with an old friend and spend some time together and even better to see that her gamble to pack up everything and move to Koh Samui had paid off and her business was growing. I am always thrilled to see my friends doing well.
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