Christmas in Koh Phangan

Happy new year to you all!

We were lucky enough for family and friends to visit us over the Christmas period and it was fantastic to see some familiar faces. Back in February 2009, the day after E and I said 'YES' to moving abroad, we booked our Christmas beach holiday. Good things come to those who wait...


My sister D and her boyfriend T had arrived in Bangkok on December 11th from the UK. Between that date and our departure south to Koh Phangan we had visited Wat Pho and went on a klong trip (canal trip). E is still fixing those photo's and we will post them up here later.


The trip south was trouble free. As our morning train to Surat Thani was to leave Bangkok at 8am, we had decided to spend the night in Chinatown next to the river. Living in east Bangkok, we would have to wake up incredibly early to get to Hua Lampong station and beat the rush hour. We don't do early, so we all booked ourselves into the Riverview Guesthouse - an old building right on the river and ten minutes cab ride to the train station. There is a bar and restaurant on the top floor and we believe it may just be the cheapest place you can enjoy a drink with views of the Chao Phraya river. Don't expect amazing rooms - this is budget accommodation for those that don't mind staying somewhere a bit rough around the edges. The cab driver had no idea how to get there, so I had to call the reception and pass the phone to him. We drove down ever narrowing streets in Chinatown, past garages with mechanics busying themselves with second hand car parts - a veritable metal graveyard. Into a lane that could barely fit one car, over a tiny bridge and ending up in what looked like a big aircraft hanger. We had to walk the rest of the way and finally found the place. If you're over six foot tall, you'll have to duck as you walk into reception.


The next day we woke and hopped into a cab to Hua Lampong station to grab our train. Once on, the eight hours trip down south passed pretty quickly and we checked in to the Thairungruang Hotel for the night. Once again, this place was pretty cheap (about 500 Baht a night) and we'd recommend it to anyone unfortunate enough to stay the night in Surat Thani. Most people would get an overnight train from Bangkok to Surat Thani in order to get the early bus to Don Sak pier but after our experience of arriving in Chiang Mai looking like the living dead, we decided not to. Surat Thani has nothing going for it really. We sauntered around trying to find the best bus-ferry combo deal and just went for an offer from a travel agents adjacent to the hotel. 350 Baht each would get you a bus to Don Sak pier and then onto the ferry to Koh Phangan (about a four hour trip all in all). We were told of a night market. The 'night market' was about ten stalls selling meat on a stick. Instead, we busied ourselves in a bar down the road and drank incredibly cheap Thai whiskey until it was time for bed. Ah, holidays.


23rd of December. Time to actually get to the beach. Onto the coach which took us to the pier...

...and straight onto the boat. They sell sandwiches, water, soft drinks and beer on the boat - so don't fret if you haven't had brekkie. The indoor section was a bit stuffy, so we spent the trip on the deck.

As you are taken across the Pacific Ocean and flung towards the distant islands, you pass quite a few colourful fishing boats...

We'd finally felt the pollution and heavy air of Bangkok start to fade as the open ocean welcomed us with a warm salty breeze...

After picking more people up at Koh Samui, the island to the south of Koh Phangan, the sun burnt away the coastal clouds and the sea that I had promised E for months finally appeared.

And unfortunately we were torn out of our blue bliss and reminded that we were not masters of our own sea, alone in a shimmering expanse of turquoise, but simply tourists in peak season.

All these cab drivers work for the various guest houses, hotels and bungalows that litter the island. The boat hadn't even pulled in and they clambered past each other to attract fresh farang by simply screaming at the top of their lungs 'DO YOU WANT TAXIIIIII????!!!!!'.


Koh Phangan is famous for it's full moon party on it's main stretch of beach - Hat Rin. A lot of the people we met here were simply popping over for either that or the new 'half moon' party. If Koh Samui attracts flash packers with a healthy bank balance and a liking for water sports, then Koh Phangan attracts travellers and party animals on a tighter budget. Don't be fooled though - a lot of people think Koh Phangan has nothing to offer but a messy rave on a beach and crowds of Europeans tripping their nuts off to trance music. If you are one of those people, then let us convert you. As you are about to see, small quiet pieces of paradise still exist on this well travelled island where you can read a few good books and concentrate on getting a tan.


Avoiding the throng of taxi drivers we headed to the end of the pier where we were to meet our designated taxi driver. The bungalows we were going to? I hate to advertise it, purely to safeguard future bookings for ourselves, but we were going to stay at Mai Pen Rai Bungalows on Than Sadet beach. My father (T) and his partner (M) had arrived from Jakarta to join us for Christmas. It had been a couple years since my sister and I had seen dad and we were so happy they could join us. Our taxi, or in other words a 4x4 pick up truck, had arrived. The ladies hopped into the front seat leaving me and the lads to rough it on the back. The trip would take about 45 minutes. The road was tarmac for the first ten minutes, until it turned into what is essentially a dried river bed that would surely be impassable during they monsoon season. We were hoping for a quite beach and this road would pretty much guarantee to keep the crowds away.

After a safe but rocky ride, with heart-in-your-throat inclines, we made it to Than Sadet beach and checked in. We dumped our stuff in our room, turned round and finally inspected our surroundings. What you notice when you first arrive here, apart from the perfect beach and the quiet, is the vibe. It's incredibly chilled out and has an ambience that would subdue a violent crackhead. The main restaurant and reception area is kitted out with wooden tables and chairs, hammocks, cushioned chill out areas and tables that look out onto the river behind the building. Chilled out beats soundtrack your evening as you drink your cheap and generously strong cocktails. To top it off, the staff here are great. Constantly professional but also personable and obviously loving their job.  Mai Pen Rai bungalows have huts on the beach and all the way up the rocky outcrops that hug the bay.

As we booked well in advance, we managed to grab the huts on the beach. Here's our bungalow...

And here were the views from our bungalow...

Inside, the bungalows are clean and come with a fan. You don't need air-con here as the breeze keeps it fresh. You get to keep the windows open at night because of the mosquito net that covers the bed.

As always when you go on holiday in Thailand, someone adopts you as their chosen food source.

That first night, we chilled out in the main restaurant and played board games to the sound of chilled beats and waves lapping up the shoreline. The only danger here, apart from the snakes...

...is the room tab. Anything you order, either from the shop or from the menu, is simply written in your room's book. Word of advice: check it every two days and pay it. Electricity goes off at 11pm (if the bar is empty of customers) which is good because it forces you to have a good nights sleep and the stars shine just that little bit brighter.


It also means you can wake up early to catch the sunrise...

Our days, as you can imagine, were spent mainly stuffing ourselves shamelessly with great seafood and getting horribly sunburnt. If you get bored of staring at the sea or reading, you can busy yourself by hiring a kayak and row yourselves to a tiny deserted island thirty minutes away (which we never tried, unfortunately). You also have Than Sadet waterfall which is within walking distance and you can also visit the next beach, where Treehouse Bungalows have stationed themselves:

We ventured to the waterfall...

Ate at the brilliant restaurant with spectacular views called Pla's...

And admired the local wildlife. Especially this massive hornbill that flew to our beach every day...

You can feed the bird...

Unless it decides to feed itself...

Yes, that's right It's a bird attacking a cat.

Christmas dinner, laid on by the staff, was incredible. We ate a huge feast laid out for us on the beach and under the stars. Fish, clams, chicken, noodles, rice, king prawn...fish.... unfortunately any photo's we took had come out blurred. That had everything to do with the low light and nothing to do with the beer.

Boxing Day was uneventful in terms of originality (more ways to relax, etc) but something very special happened on the 27th: My darling sister D was proposed to by T!!!

You don't need us to say it guys, but congrats again.

Mai Pen Rai Bungalows have their own boat, called the Orion (not 'The Onion' as I had previously thought - I need get some glasses...). If you're lucky during your stay here, they operate trips to the Ang Thon National Marine Park. This is where an Englishman called Alex Garland once visited whilst backpacking in the 90's. You may have heard of a book he wrote called 'The Beach' which was eventually made into a rubbish movie starring Leonardo Di Caprio? Well, these islands are the inspiration behind the book (the film itself was filmed at the equally beautiful Koh Phi Phi on the other side of the gulf of Thailand). It was T's birthday that day so we decided to go on the trip. The whole day will cost each of you about thirty quid. Our first stop was to a bit of snorkelling straight off the boat...

D about to join her new fiancee...

And going for it....

Haven't had a better hangover cure.

I'll be honest with you - the snorkelling here isn't that great. The waters were murky and the coral pretty much non-existent. We were also a bit put off by the floating rubbish (polystyrene, bottles, etc) that was failed to be cleaned up by marine park service. Our next stop, however, didn't disappoint. We went to Emerald Lake which is where Mr Garland himself visited and immortalised in the aforementioned book.

That was the beach you arrive on. You then ascend some steps cut into the rock to the top where you can witness the lagoon.

Our boat waiting patiently...

See those yellow kayaks on the boat? We got back early, so....

We had one more stop at Wua Talap island where you can climb to the island's summit to see the surrounding area. It also houses Bua Bok cave where you can see stalactites and stalagmites. Being seasoned travellers and always up for new experiences, E and I had a cup of tea instead. This beach was so perfect we forgot to take any photo's. You can also stay here for 500 Baht a night which we will do next time we are here. There are empty beaches surrounding this island that you can kayak to and call your own.

It was a perfect day and unfortunately perfect days have to end too.

We went back and celebrated T's birthday and dad and M's last night with us.

The next day was New Years Eve. Did we go to Hat Rin and get off our faces at the famed full moon party? Been there, done that. Why would you want to do that when you could spend it with close family and friends on your own beach, launching paper lanterns into the night sky and drinking cold, cheap beer?

We had New Year's Day to recover and left on the 2nd of January. Once on our bus we were on our way. We got out our books, mp3 players and cards to take our minds of the fact that we'd just spent ten days in a very special place indeed. I was about to doze off when... BANG!!! THWACK-THWACK-THWACK-THWACK THWACK    THWACK      THWACK         THWACK.....

What the hell was that? I looked around to see if we had run over a elephant or something. It ruddy well felt like it. The bus went completely silent until we saw the driver and his colleague laughing their heads off, emptying the luggage hold. They were after the spare tyre. One of the coach's back tyres had literally exploded. We all got off the bus (they started jacking it up with us ON it) and surveyed the damage.

And we end with a bang.

Until next time!

(A message to people travelling to Koh Phangan, or any other part of Thailand for that matter: clean up your mess. We kept seeing people coming to the island and leaving beer bottles, cigarette butts, etc on the beach, leaving the Thai staff to clean up after them every morning. You're wrecking the precious eco system and showing no respect to the country you're visiting. Go away).