Forgive me for backtracking a bit, but I never had the opportunity to write about our visits to Phuket and Chiang Mai, Thailand; two separate trips that we took while living and working in Saigon. It was my first time visiting both locales, and I wanted to share my thoughts on each.
For years I had heard about Phuket. My brother would tell me stories about the time he spent there in the 70s staying in grass huts on the beach. Sadly, Phuket is no longer a remote tropical island, but one that has become quite popular and overbuilt. I knew this fact about the island before deciding to visit in October 2923, so I fully expected to hate it. But as often is the case, when you go into something expecting to hate it, you often come away surprised, and such was the case with Phuket.
Phuket is an island located off the peninsula of Thailand. It’s connected by a bridge, so you could drive there, but we took a non-stop flight from Saigon. The first surprise is that the island is bigger than I expected. I didn’t realize that our hotel was almost one hour away from the airport. Now distance-wise it’s probably not that far, but the roads are narrow and twisty since there are many mountains on the island. We decided to stay at Patong Beach - probably the most overdeveloped and tacky part of Phuket, but we wanted to be near the gay village, and if you want nightlife, you go to Patong Beach.
Fortunately, I booked a more upscale hotel at the northern edge of Patong Beach, so it was further away from the noise and crowds, but still walkable. The Four Points Sheraton was a beautiful hotel with a lazy river pool and beautiful views of the ocean. The beach was surprisingly empty, but I found out that October is the rainy season in Phuket, and considered the low season, so that was likely the reason why it wasn’t so bad.
We were meeting a good friend of Huy’s, who was visiting the island from Switzerland. We met up at the hotel bar and enjoyed our first of many tropical drinks. That night Huy and I walked down to Paradise Complex, the gay enclave of bars, restaurants, and saunas. We ended up at the Zag Club to watch the drag show. As far as drag shows go, it was one of the better ones I’ve seen - with the performers floating down the stairs out onto the street. Drag performers in Thailand, though, are mostly lady boys, or transgender women, so in my book does that make them a drag queen? I asked myself this question my entire stay in Phuket, and later during my visit to Chiang Mai. Either way, the music was fun, the costumes amazing, and the show was well attended.
Sadly, the rest of Paradise Complex was dead. Most other venues were either empty or sparsely filled. During the show, one of the servers from a bar across the street kept stealing the spotlight, dancing along with the performers in the middle of the street. He was more fun then many of the drag queens, and later in the week, we chose to sit at his bar and talk with him!
After the show, we headed back to the hotel and walked through the equivalent of the gay village, except for straight people It was jammed packed with drunk adults, so much so it was like being in a human bumper car ride. The music was thumping, the lights flashing. and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I could see why Patong Beach had the reputation that it does.
The next morning we all rented motorbikes and drove to the Giant Buddha. On the way, we got pulled over by the Thai police to check for our driver’s licenses. Fortunately Huy had his Vietnamese driving license, and because of the ASEAN agreement, it was valid in Thailand. Our friend from Switzerland, though, was not so lucky. He did not have an international driver’s license and had to pay a fine, which was almost $1,000 dollars! A painful lesson learned, for sure.
The giant buddha was exactly what it sounds like - a giant buddha. It is all white, and located up a large mountain. The views were spectacular, but there was a lot of stairs! And it was hot. Still, the motorbike ride there was fun, and we had a good trip.
The next day we spent the most of it on the beach and at the pool. We didn’t go into the water, surprisingly because it was a little chilly, with a strong wind. But we ordered some local food and ate on the beach. As you can see from the photo above, the water is a beautiful turquoise green.
Since we had the motorbike, Huy and I decided to drive to the very bottom of Phuket to see Laem Promthep View Point. It was quite a long ride on the motorbike, and we didn’t really have a clear destination, but fortunately Waze took us to the point without any problems. The road to the point was narrow, but there were very few people around, and when we got to the point, it was only us and another couple. We snatched a few photographs, and then drove back to a pretty cafe we passed and enjoyed some mango smoothies.
Another day we drove to Chaithararam Temple. The temple wasn’t that great, so I googled things nearby and saw Monkey Viewpoint, a popular lookout point with scenic views and well, monkeys. Having experienced monkeys in Bali, I was wary about going there, but we were close and had the time and so thought, “why not?” As we drove up and we stupidly stopped to buy some bananas. Big mistake. As soon as we parked the bike, I was ambushed by a monkey who body slammed me for the bananas. The parking attendant took out his sling shot and shot the monkey with it. At first I thought that was cruel, but I got no further then 100 yards from the parking lot when swarms of monkeys came down from the hills. I feared for my life, throwing bananas far away from me to keep them away. As soon as the bananas were gone, the monkeys left us alone.
For some reasons the parking lot is far below the look out point and we had to walk up to it. Huy and I started to walk, but soon realized that this scenic point was not close. We made it halfway up the mountain before turning around, sweaty and frustrated. We had to carry a stick with us, because monkeys kept coming towards us. At one point, a tourist van drove by us, and I suppose the monkeys knew those tourists would have bananas, so they flooded the street, chasing after the van. It was a like a scene from The Planet of the Apes. I promised myself on the walk back that this would be my last visit to a monkey sanctuary!
The highlight of the trip was the day we went to visit the elephant sanctuary. Thailand is well-known for its elephants, and it’s also well-known for the abuse and capture of elephants. The demand from tourists to ride on an elephant makes owning an elephant a valuable commodity, but in many cases the elephants are chained and beaten into submission so that tourists can ride them. I have always been opposed to even visiting such elephants, but this sanctuary was different. Their sole purpose is to rescue and care for elephants that had been previously owned and frequently abused by their former owners. All cost of admission goes towards the care and support of the elephants. Huy and I decided to go and made the long drive from the resort up into the mountains. We had to stop along the way to buy rain ponchos because it started to rain. And when it rains in SE Asia, it rains! Fortunately, by the time we got to the sanctuary, the rain had stopped.
The experience began with a lecture about the elephants and a brief tour of the facility. The elephants only spend about 3-4 hours a day interacting with the public. The rest of the time they were left alone in their enclosures to relax and enjoy life. The sanctuary rotates their elephants so they do not become stressed or overly worked.
After the tour, it was feeding time. We walked over to a big area as the mahouts (elephant handlers) brought in about eight elephants. The group was split up and we each had our own elephant to feed. The elephants were gentle as they pick out the banana from your hands. They would reach out their long trucks, pluck the banana from your hand, and shove it into their mouths. One elephant eats a surprising amount of bananas!
The elephants have gentle, soulful brown eyes, and it was amazing to pet them and feel their warm rough skin. We learned things about each elephant, such as their age, where they came from, and how they ended up in the sanctuary. Some of the stories were heartbreaking.
After feeding it was time to wash the elephants. This job is messy, but fortunately we were forewarned and arrived to the sanctuary in clothes we could afford to get dirty. All of the guests are told to enter a watering hole, which is basically a mud pit, as the mahouts led the elephants into the water. Our job was to reach down into the mud and rub the mud all over the elephants. Since the elephants are so big, we were only able to reach about halfway up. When the elephants are completely covered with mud, along with us, it’s time to rinse and scrub them down. We were given buckets and scrub brushes. Each of us had to fill the buckets and throw the water onto the elephant. Huy was in charge of the scrub brush. It was a lot of work to clean the elephants, but they seemed to enjoy it and it was an incredible experience to be so close and to interact with such beautiful and gentle animals.
After the elephants were clean it was time for us to shower and change since we were flithy. The facility had several shower and changing rooms, so it was very easy to freshen up. For anyone who visits Phuket, I highly recommend a visit to Green Elephant Sanctuary. It is a memorable experience and your money goes to support such amazing animals.
The rest of our stay on Phuket was composed of visiting other smaller towns, touring other temples, and mostly relaxing at the hotel, or searching for delicious Thai food. Because Phuket is a rather large island, one’s experience of the island can vary depending on what part one chooses to visit. Some of the colonial style towns in the center of the island are quaint and quiet, but for me rather dull. Some of the towns south of Patong Beach are more residential and quiet, but also a bit unremarkable. There are parts of the island where high end housing developments have been built and you can purchase five bedroom pool villas for upwards of $800,000 USD - certainly a far throw from the grass huts on the beach. In fact, the amount of construction for pool villa communities is incredible, especially in the area around the airport, which has become a fairly large city with strip malls and high rise buildings.
All this being said, I enjoyed Phuket. The beaches are still pretty, despite the crowds, and parts of the island are beautiful. If you don’t have the luxury or ability to rent a motorbike, you could end up trapped in one section of the island, and your impression might be limited, but we had the opportunity to explore and see the less touristy parts. We left the island saying we would visit again since we didn’t get a chance to explore the surrounding islands like Phi Phi Island, which is famous for its towering rock faces and hidden beaches.
Next up is Chiang Mai, but since this entry was longer than I anticipated (I didn’t realize how good my memory was for this trip!), I’ll write a separate blog for that visit.