My intention coming to Thailand was to move slowly to savor and fully experience each place I land, but this past week I’ve been moving around quite a lot. Originally I planned to travel north from Bangkok, up through Chiang Mai, and through Laos and Vietnam before circling back to southern Thailand in a few months. My plans changed once I arrived in Thailand though. Burning season was still going strong in the north, and the rain had yet to set in, leaving the air quality in the north of Thailand some of the worst in the world.

Though things were slowly starting to cool down in the north around the time I planned to leave Bangkok, I decided it would be a better move to head to the beaches in the south. May is the very start of the rainy season in Thailand, and in June the southwest coast experiences frequent storms. I felt if I waited a few months to visit there would not be ideal beach weather, thus I went south.

Okay so circling back! I have moving around a lot this past week, because things in Southern Thailand are not what I expected. Don’t get me wrong, the beaches are gorgeous! Warm water and calm surf filled with fish you can see without even snorkeling or diving. Otherworldly mountains, jungles, and animals everywhere. It’s incredible, but something has been missing from the places I’ve visited so far in the south.

I spent two nights in Chumphon (which I ended up loving!), two nights on Koh Tao, and then another two on Koh Phangan.

Traveling to Koh Tao

I took the overnight ferry from Chumphon to Koh Tao, and I tried not to have any expectations but I was surprised by what I found. We landed on the island at 5:30am and I scarfed down a few snacks from 7-11 as a makeshift breakfast before beginning the walk to my hostel. It was about a 40 minute walk over but I was really tired from the ride over and stopped a few times to sit and rest.

In the boat we were in a room with 60 beds and an AC that wasn’t turned on. We were stuffed shoulder to shoulder and there wasn’t much room for bags, you had to squeeze everything onto your bunk. People in the room listened to music out loud and watched videos all night, and alarms were frequently going off. I did end up sleeping through some of this, but I lost some small things on the boat- my hand sanitizer, herbal inhaler, nail clippers. I think they might’ve rolled off my top bunk onto the floor? Not really sure, they just vanished by the time I woke up!

Vibe on Koh Tao

During the walk to my hostel, and waiting to get settled in, I noticed how western the island felt compared to the other places I had visited so far in Thailand. I passed trendy coffee shops, nicer restaurants, diving schools, and resorts. Pretty much every menu and sign was written in English. It’s low season to travel in Thailand right now, the weather isn’t ideal, but even though that’s the case my hostel was almost completely full and the island was teeming with western tourists. It’s not that there weren’t tourists in Bangkok but Koh Tao is such a small island and it was suprising how many westerners there were compared to Thai locals.

The other thing I noticed was how many white people I saw working on Koh Tao. In Thailand it’s very difficult to get a work permit and find a job as a foreigner. Basically foreigners are only allowed to do jobs that you could not easily or readily find a Thai to do, like teaching English. Other than teaching foreigners are almost never employed by Thai companies.

On Koh Tao, I visited a bar that was completely staffed by foreigners, and my hostel plus many restaurants had a mix of foreign and Thai staff. I assumed maybe they were volunteering for accommodation, which is common in more touristic areas, but when I met a guy at my hostel who said he had a job interview the next day I decided to ask about it. He told me that yes it is very difficult for foreigners to find jobs in Thailand- except for on Koh Tao. Many foreigners linger on the island for a long time and are able to find under the table work without a permit.

Something about this left me with a weird feeling and I’m still not entirely sure what I think about it. I totally support volunteering for accommodation and meals but I think working illegally and doing jobs that Thai people could do as a westerner is a lot more complicated.

Koh Tao was quite expensive compared to the mainland and everything felt very catered for western tourists. I met some friendly people on the island but it was truly a little western haven in the gulf of Thailand. I’m sure some people would be overjoyed to find this but It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.

Exploring Koh Tao

Regardless, I was already there I tried to enjoy my time exploring Koh Tao!

• My first day in Koh Toh, hours after getting off the boat, I joined a group excursion to John Suwan Viewpoint. Little did I know, it would be an intense (but short) hike using ropes to scramble and hoist yourself up rocks hot from the sun. I was absolutely drenched with sweat once we reached the top. The view was worth it. There was a ฿50 ($1.40) entry fee for the climb and beach, and we paid ฿200 ($5.50) each for a roundtrip songthaew taxi from the hostel.

• After the hike to the viewpoint we walked down to the beach below. It was my first time swimming in Thailand and I had only swam in the Pacific ocean before. I knew the water would be warm, but it still was wild to experience for the first time. There were a ton of fish of all different varieties swimming in and out of coral, as well as sea urchins and sea cucumbers. It was a perfect place to snorkel but you didn’t even need to in order to see some sea life! Spent a few hours floating around and laying in the sun getting burnt.

• It stormed the next morning but I decided to take a walk over to Ao Hin Wong from my hostel that afternoon. It was only a little over a kilometer but it took over 30 minutes, walking up and down extra steep roads. People were riding scooters to the beach with two or three people and I was afraid for them.

• The beach was nice but the surf was a lot rougher here! It was much more difficult to swim, I do think the storm made things more choppy. I spent some time sitting in the water getting thrown around by the waves then rested on the beach. There was a little bar that was kind of overpriced (the beach is quite remote) and a group of Thai guys in a circle playing acoustic covers of Nirvana and Pink Floyd. On my walk back an Austrailian guy pulled over and gave me a ride to my hostel!

Food on Koh Tao

• One thing I was grateful for coming to the islands was how easy it was to find vegetarian and vegan food. I had this tofu fried rice at Mama Tam’s, a popular reasonably priced Thai spot on the island, for ฿70 ($1.90). Out of all the times I had fried rice on Koh Tao, Mama Tam’s did it best. The tofu was fried and the rice was flavorful and fragrant without being too oily or “fried” tasting. I added a ton of chillies.

• 995 Roasted Duck is a restaurant that was highly recommended and I needed to visit regardless of the prices. I was pleasantly surprised to find duck soup on the menu for ฿80 ($2.20). The soup was light, oniony, but quite spicy (there was a spicy and mild version) with chewy egg based noodles. The duck was trimmed right off of whole ducks they had roasted and added to the soup, it was comforting and soft and sooo easy to eat.

• I tried to visit Mama Tam’s once again before leaving the island but it was completely packed. I checked out the restaurant across the street and ordered this tofu version of pad gaprao for ฿80 ($2.20). The tofu was stir fried with peppers, basil, carrots, and gai lan and the egg was runny and delicious.

Moving on to Koh Phangan

I met a British couple at my hostel on Koh Tao that recommended the hostel they stayed at on Koh Phangan, and they said the island was a little cheaper, so I decided to check it out. The ferry was about $12 and the hostel would be $3/per night so it was totally worth it even if I only stayed a couple nights.

I probably walked 6k that day from my hostel to the pier then from the pier on Koh Phangan to my new hostel. Most people take a taxi but most people I’ve seen are traveling with bags twice the size of mine plus additional luggage. When I was leaving the US I was having a tough time accepting I needed to switch to a bigger bag but now my “bigger” bag is much smaller than what everyone else has! Most people are on shorter trips than me as well so it’s a surprise to see how much backpackers feel they need while traveling. So far I’m very happy with the size of my bag!

I did not enjoy the hostel I stayed at unfortunately. The Wanderlust Hostel is a party hostel, and I’m not really into partying or nightlife, so typically I wouldn’t book one but the price was just too good and it was recommended to me so I went for it. The party aspect wasn’t the problem.

My first night I went to take a shower, using the bathroom and going to wash my hands first, and the sink wouldn’t turn on. I had to use my water bottle and a little soap to feel clean. Then when I went into the shower it wouldn’t turn on at first, and once it did run I got soaped up and the water stopped once again. I waited til a trickle of water came from the shower head and used that to get the soap off.

Koh Phangan is a small tropical island and I’m sure there are occasional problems with the water system but it felt weird and grimy to have the water turning off and on all day through the whole duration of my stay. Especially in a packed hostel full of drunk and high guests!

The sink taps were barely hanging on, soap dispensers broken, toilets wouldn’t flush right, and the common area furniture was bowing in from butt indents and seriously needed a refresh. Similar to what I experienced on Koh Tao, I was again surprised by how many foreigners were working. This time is was just volunteers, but the hostel was almost completely ran by a staff of foreign volunteers. The cleaning staff was fully Thai, and there seemed to be a really clear delineation between western guests and staff and the Thai staff.

Usually even with a language barrier there’s been a lot of friendliness between Thai staff and western guests in hostels I’ve stayed in but there was a really weird vibe at Wanderlust. It felt like the guests were ignoring and tip toeing around the cleaning staff and the cleaners were fed up with dealing with guests, understandably. I said hello and smiled at the cleaning staff I saw a few times and it felt like they had little interest in talking with me.

There was one solo traveller I met and we went out to eat together but besides that I wasn’t able to connect with anyone on Koh Phangan. I tried to start some conversations but other than saying “Hi” no one seemed to want to talk with me. A lot of people were traveling in groups and it seemed almost cliquey. Not the hostel experience I am looking for.

Exploring Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan is an island most famous with travelers for the Full Moon Party, but outside of that it’s a pretty mellow place to be. I missed the Full Moon Party by a little over a week (the Half Moon Party happened one of the nights I was there). Outside of the Full Moon Party time prices dip lower and it wasn’t too expensive while I was there.

• The day I arrived I walked along Tong Sala. It was an interesting beach because the water was really shallow for quite a ways until you walk very far from the shore. It was pretty and relaxing but not a great beach to swim because of that and how rocky it was. I saw some people kitesurfing and I think paddle boarding would be fun there!

• I was trying to walk from my hostel to Wat Khao Tam because I had read online there was a evening meditation there but Google Maps led me astray. I ended up trekking through the jungle to see if there was a path up to the temple which was in the mountains above where I was at but couldn’t find any and left with a ton of mosquito bites getting barked at by local dogs.

• The island is difficult to get around without transportation (thus my attempt at jungle trekking) and for my only full day I decided to rent a motorbike. I went with the woman I had met at the hostel and neither of us had rode scooters before. The rental guy was skeptical of if he should rent to us but I told him I had a ton of experience riding ebikes and he said it was the same thing haha. We paid ฿250 ($6.90) for 24 hours and had to leave our passports. I got on my bike and rode off and I guess the woman I came with immediately fell and damaged her bike so she ended up not learning to ride that day.

• Riding a scooter was fun and I’m glad I did it but I don’t think I will feel comfortable riding in more busy parts of Thailand. Traffic is mellow on the island and I was able to take it really slow and take my turns really wide. I decided to ride over to the other side of the island because it said it was 30 minutes but the trip ended up being closer to an hour on steep, winding rural roads. It was kind of scary but I was a stable slow driver and it went well!
• I ate at a restaurant/bamboo tattoo/gas station combo and they helped me gas up my scooter then I visited Thong Nai Pan Yai beach which was completely gorgeous and empty. I spent a long time floating in the water relaxing, I wouldn’t have wanted to get out but at one point I reached down into the water and accidentally grabbed a crab in the sand with my bare hand so I decided it was time to go.

• That evening I rode up to Wat Khao Tam on the bike which was a lot easier than walking through the jungle hahaha. I did end up a little too late for the meditation, but I got to sit and meditate on my own and take in the sunset from the viewpoint on the edge of the temple.

Food on Koh Phangan

• Khao Soi is a dish from Northern Thailand but I hadn’t tried it before so was happy to find it on Koh Phangan. I got this version with chicken for ฿80 ($2.20) and it might have been the best dish I had in the past week. It’s a warm, comforting, peanut-y, curry based broth with noodles and crunchy fried egg noodles on top. The chicken leg was easy to peel and eat. The owners were a sweet older couple serving soup and specialty coffee out of the front of their house. I hope they end up getting a lot more business because the food was great and it was completely dead when I ate there.

• I found this Thai omelette for ฿50 ($1.40) a few doors down from my hostel. It was garlic-y, oily, and rich, and I washed it down with a ฿25 ($.70) iced Thai tea.

• Islam is very common in Thailand after Buddhism and a lot of Muslims live in the south as you get closer to Malaysia. It’s very easy to find Halal food all over. I had this roast duck on rice for ฿80 ($2.20) and it was served with some stir fried greens and a delicous sweet-savory soy based sauce. This was the second time I was served a simple soup on the side with my meal and it had me googling “when do you eat the soup in Thailand” hahaha.

What next?

By the time I post this, I will have about 12 days before I have to exit Thailand. I’m still making my way down towards Malaysia and I am feeling like I will enter the country sooner than 12 days from now.

I’m spending a few days in Krabi currently. I heard there was nothing to do but I’ve been enjoying it. It’s a small Thai city that’s a little touristic but also sleepy. I’ve been hanging in cafes, eating delicious street roti, doing laundry, and restocking on gear I’ve needed that was too expensive on the islands.

The parts of Thailand I have visited are a lot more touristy than I was expecting. I’ve been traveling around and I don’t feel like I’m seeing much of what Thailand is really like, rather receiving a sanitized version for tourists.

Thai people are friendly, but often that friendliness feels like a smile plastered on so westerners will spend money, rather than a curiosity and excitement to meet foreigners. Maybe 20 years ago traveling through Thailand was a different story but it feels very touristic now. At this point it seems like many Thai people are fed up with foreigners and their behavior. I completely get it- I definitely got annoyed by tourists back home- but it just doesn’t lead to the travel experience I’m looking for.

Connecting with other backpackers and avoiding tourisim

I’ve been consulting Facebook groups and Reddit forums and it feels like this is often the experience traveling in Thailand, especially the south. I’m looking to immerse myself culturally, eat good food, chat with locals, explore towns, and see nature. A lot of people have been telling me that the surrounding countries are much better to do these things in than Thailand nowadays. Within Thailand everyone points to the more remote islands as being more what I’m looking for, as well as the northwest by Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai/Pai as being cheaper with more access to culture.

I’m struggling to connect with anyone (other backpackers) on any sort of deeper level. People are really friendly and I’ve enjoyed hanging with new folks but it feels like there’s some disconnect between me and others.

Maybe I’ll find it eventually but I’m letting go of the expectation that I’ll meet someone(s) that wants to travel together and do things the same kind of way I do. Everyone is also very straight and cisgender and I feel some disconnect there because I’m not used to not being surrounded by queer people. It’s easy to meet people but hard to find people on the same spiritual/cultural/social wavelength as me. It was also hard back home.

I’m not upset I came to the south or to Thailand but my experience here so far is definitely forcing me to reevaluate my travel plans, goals, and values. I’ve been doing a lot, relaxing, eating, and exploring, but to be completely honest I want to feel a little more challenged, and it’s been easy to avoid challenge in Thailand so far.

So with that I am off to Malaysia, and I’m not sure where I’ll go or how long I’ll stay there but I need to shake things up a little before heading back into Thailand.

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