Kata Beach – John Collings

What I’ll Miss About Thailand – The Beaches

Hau Hin a couple of months before the pandemic started

I know I have said in the past that I am more of a mountain man rather than an ocean man, but that does not mean that I don’t appreciate a good beach, and Thailand has a lot of them. It does have mountainous terrain to the north and I do enjoy those places, but it is mainly the beaches that I will remember from my stay of living in Thailand.

I was pretty lucky also. Most of the time, the beaches in Thailand are crowded with people and it can be hard to stake out a place on the sandy shore. But than Covid happened, and the usual stream of tourists were no longer allowed to come into the country, giving the beaches back to the locals who should have a chance to enjoy them as well.

This meant that there were many times we had the beach to ourselves. It is an odd thing to see, a long stretch of sand next to the warm, tropical waters just begging for toes to be dipped in. Most of the time, this was a welcoming sight, but there was a little bit of a down side to this as well. The Thai people usually do a good job making sure these beaches are pristine and free of trash, but with the loss of the tourist dollar, they were not able to keep all of the beaches clean. That meant it was a hit or miss affair where sometimes the beach would be clean, and there were other times where I had to watch where I was walking because I didn’t always know what I would be stepping on.

But on those beaches that were clean and the people were still not flocking to them, there was another sight that wasn’t as common in the past, wildlife had returned. Of course, I still saw the crab scuttle along the beach, or the birds flying just off the shore, looking for a quick bite, but I also saw monkeys and monitor lizards just basking in the summer sun. It meant that any time I went to a beach, a new adventure was just around the corner.

The beaches were only just a place to walk and lie in the sand, but there were many opportunities for water sports as well. I went snorkeling a few times, and paddle-boarding as well, but my favorite activity had to be kayaking. The rentals of these were still available in most places, and sometimes they were even a free service with the hotel we were staying at. It was a great way to explore the coastline and see other beaches that sometimes were not easy to get to.

Even if I did not have access to any of these floatation devices, I could still run out and play in the water. During the summer months on the southern beaches, the surf was pretty big on some of the beaches. What surfers that were still in the country made their ways down to these beaches to catch these waves, but there was still plenty of space for people like me who love to jump into the oncoming waves and keep my balance. I know it is not the safest activity in the world with the danger of the undertow, but it is probably one of my favorite things to do on a beach.

And with all of that available, the beaches in Thailand are the perfect place to lay back with a good book and relax. I know that there are many places out there in the world that offer the same kind of relaxation but I really fell in love with this activity in Thailand. The country does really have some beautiful landscapes and I know that they will get overcrowded again as things start opening up all around the world, but I will always look back fondly on the ways that I was able to enjoy the beaches while I was living in Thailand, and it will definitely be one of the things that I will miss from there.

Phuket – Siam Summer

The view of the Big Buddha from Karon Beach

I have really enjoyed my time in Phuket, and I don’t know if it is because I came during a time when it is not overcrowded with people, or if it is just the general vibe of this tourist destination. It is definitely one of the places that I will have to return to so I can get a perspective on this place as how it is meant to be experienced, and I still have to make it up the hill to visit that ever elusive Big Buddha.

Businesses who have not opened back up yet across the street from Karon Beach

Though on my last day here, there were many more places that were starting to open up, the majority of places still remained closed. I went to check out Karon Beach which is usually considered one of the top three beaches in the city, and we, once again, basically had the beach to ourselves. It seemed like a coordinated plan of everybody in the city because there wasn’t the usual small restaurants that I see all over the place in Thailand and some of the convenience stores in the areas were closed down.

The closed down resort on the northern end of Karon Beach

I think the most depressing example of this was the resort at the end of the beach. I could tell that this place is usually packed with people because it has great rooms that look out over the ocean, easy access to the beach, and a pool to wash off with after a day of trouncing around the sand. But it, like so many other resorts in this town, had closed down to wait for a day when the people decided to come back and visit.

Like I said earlier, it will eventually happen, but Phuket is going to do it on its own schedule. This is not the height of their tourist season and there are no international flights coming into their airport right now, so why should they push the envelope if there is a chance that they might have to close everything down again when they get back to the height of their tourist season. There were a couple of restaurants opened, and a couple of resorts. The bar across the street from where we were staying opened their doors yesterday and started to crank 90s rock music to attract customers. It didn’t look like he got any yet, but he had built up the courage to make the try.

It is really a great place with many exciting things to see and do. Some of them I didn’t get to do because they were closed down, and others I made an attempt to try but didn’t complete the challenge. All in all, it was a great place to come to and I will be back. It will be a completely different experience as well because it will be a different crowd of people. It will happen here just as it will happen wherever you find yourself right now. You just need to be patient, and let it happen in its own time and when it is safe to happen.

Until next time, be safe and treat each other well.

A Phuket Sunset – Siam Summer

The sunset from Kata Beach on Phuket Island, Thailand

Most of yesterday was spent traveling and getting situated in our new place. We opted to stay in a Condotel this time around. Yeah, I had never heard of them either, but basically it is a small apartment that is treated as a hotel so you can have a small kitchen and a living space. It is nice to have a kitchen again, and we went to the grocery store so we did not have to eat out for every meal. There was also the washing of clothes that needed to happen on these longer voyages, and a little bit of down time. By the time we got to a place where it was comfortable to go out and explore, it was time for the sunset.

The view from the southern tip of Kata Beach

Considering I have spent the last few nights going out to watch the sunset, it seemed like the right thing to keep up the tradition. This time around we had to walk fifteen minutes to Kata Beach in order to catch it. The walk over reminded me that Phuket is still trying to get up and running again. Many of the places around town were closed down except for the occasional bar, massage parlor and convenience store. It depressed me a little to think that there was still much to endure in this tourist destination and I wondered where all of the people might be found.

Coming to the beach helped me see that there were people out there ready to take advantage to the beautiful weather and the rising surf. It wasn’t as busy as I suspect that it gets normally this time of year, but it was nice to know that things were starting to pick up again. It also made enjoying the beach perfect. I did not have to jostle around to find a spot to relax, and there was enough space to stroll up and down it leisurely. It made for a great spot to watch the sunset.

The Surf House across the street from the beach opening back up for business

There were also a couple of business that had opened next to the beach as well. I counted at least five restaurants that were getting back to helping the small amount of tourists that have arrived out here from other parts of Thailand. Granted, they were still not at full capacity, but it was nice to see that they were open and the whole town wasn’t closed down completely.

It gives me hope that my time out here will be fun and I will get to experience a little bit of Phuket’s culture. At least it will be an educational experience to see what a tourist town is like during the down parts of the year and they grapple with the same problems that the rest of the world struggles with. It is nice to know that things are heading in the right direction, and I hope that wherever you find yourself that they are doing the same thing for you as well.

Leaving Paradise – Siam Summer

The bigger pool at Santhiya Resort getting ready to open up in the next couple of weeks.

I was able to talk to the head manager of Santhiya Resort today, and it was not because I wanted to complain about anything. There was nothing that I could complain about with this part of my trip. He was just at the dock to see us off when we left and while we were waiting for our boat to dock, he was telling us about the current status of the resort. Everyday, they were able to open up a new aspect of it, and they were seeing more and more guests as things moved forward. He expected that by the end of the month, they would be fully operational. It was just a matter of the guests returning.

The view from the dock at Santhiya Resort

This seemed to be moving in the right direction as well. On our first morning here, there were only three or four other couples having breakfast at the buffet, but by the end of our stay, it was hard to find a spot where we could have a meal. It even caused the coffee to be delayed when they made it, but we survived and got to enjoy a couple of cups before we had to pack up our bags and head for the dock.

One of the fishing boats now starting to travel out into the bay

The bay also started to pick up. On the day we came in, we were the only boat that we saw as we made the voyage from Phuket to the dock at Koh Yao Yai, but the way back, we had to weave through many fishing boats. I don’t know if this is because they wait until Sunday to fish this part of the bay, or if this is where they found the fish today, or if it had to do with the fact that more and more people were making their way to this part of Thailand, and the demand for fish was starting to grow again, and they needed to get the boats back out there to help with the demand.

Another amazing wood carving found on the grounds of Santhiya Resort

Everything was pointing to an economy that was jump starting itself once again. It has been the bigger theme I have witnessed everywhere I have gone in Thailand this summer. They are not back to 100 percent yet, but they are taking it slow because they do not want to screw this up. I know that I have enjoyed my time out here this summer, but this is not the height of the tourist season for them, and considering a lot of the economy is based on that, they want to make sure that it is safe for everybody when the reach that time of year. I think of right now as a test run to see what they would need to do if Covid popped up again someplace and if they could contain it before it destroyed all of the places in their land that could be affected by it.

I have seen it happen at least once, and I do believe that they did a great job of containing it. But this is not only the concern of the government. It involves everybody doing their part. If one person slips with their responsibility, it could mean the end for everybody involved. So the temperature checks keep on happening, and people still wear their masks when they are in public.

Moving out to get on the boat back to Phuket

And with that in mind, it is with a sad heart that I need to leave this part of my journey this summer. Koh Yao Yai is truly a magical place, and I do hope to come back to it some day. Sadly, I do not think it will be the same experience the next time around though. The crowds will surely be back, and it won’t feel like the place belongs to only me. I did enjoy all of my time here, but I enjoyed it more when there were less people. It is still an amazing place either way, and it will just be a different way to experience it when everything is opened and there are more options available.

The view from the rooftop at my next place next to Kata Beach on Phuket Island

This is not the end of my travels this summer though. It is just a change of pace. We left Koh Yao Yai behind, but find ourselves at a different part of Phuket island. I know it has not been that long, but it feels weird to be back in civilization. But I am looking forward to this leg on the trip. It looks like I will spend a little more time taking in the culture of the area, and less time lounging around a pool waiting for the next amazing sunset. I hope you join me as I deliver the goods on this part of Thailand as it slowly starts to open up as well.

Until next time, be safe and treat each other well.