The last beach in Thailand

April 8, 2011

After a week along the coast of Cambodia, we were on our way to the south of Thailand for some more beach time, amazing scenery and throngs of shirtless Australians counting the days to the next full moon. Loki, Thor, Allah, God, Buddha, Ganesh, and probably a raven or two decided that wasn't a good idea. Instead of delivering Sarah and Sander to the area, they brought rain. And lots of rain. As we were about to buy our bus tickets south, a timely email from Kelsey and Steve let us know that floods had washed out roads and villages, and Thai government was using the navy to evacuate people. This is how we came to Koh Chang.

We spent the first day getting out bearings and testing out the 'good snorkeling' spot around the bay. To say I was disappointed would be a bald faced lie, I was shocked. In about an hour peering under the water I managed to spot about 5 corals and a handful of fish. A dismal showing for an area allegedly protected as a national marine park. If this was the 'good spot' where are all these boat loads of tourists heading??? At $50 per person per dive, we quickly ruled out that activity too.

Thoroughly disappointed with the marine life on the island, we decided to take a tour of the scenery above sea level and rented a scooter for the next day. At the very utmost end of the road (term is used lightly here), as far a possible from where we had originally chosen to stay, we stumbled upon what is rumored to be the last beach in Thailand.

Here there were no quick-e-marts or pad Thai snack stands. No daytime electricity or even ceiling fans. The accommodation options were termite infested bamboo and rattan huts slightly up the hill from the beach, or some slightly less structurally suspect lodgings further down on the beach. After inspecting the coconut shaped holes in each of the vacant beach hut's roofs, and marking their tendency for appearing directly over the bed, we decided to brave the termites. We felt our karmic score was good enough to avoid a full hut collapse, but a coconut through the roof had already been proven possible, an apparently quite likely; and the sky was looking a bit stormy.

This 'last beach of Thailand' was exactly what both of us were looking for after 2 long months landlocked in northern Thailand, Laos, and much of Cambodia. We lazed, we swam, we drank beer, we showered with buckets (careful not to scoop up the tadpoles), and slept in such humid, stagnant air that clothing hung up at night actually became wetter by morning. I taught Sarah to play chess, Sarah taught me to loose at Jenga. Good company when you want it, and total seclusion when you need it to even out a fee tan lines.

Sometimes its good to remind yourself that it's far more important when traveling to embrace where you are than worry about where you're staying. Sure we were sticky, wet, filthy, salty, clammy and smelly, but we were on the last beach in Thailand, with no sounds but the waves lapping at the sand, a machete chopping at a fresh coconut, and your girl periodically requesting a new application of sunscreen.



Sander