Thailand. I have started this post at least a dozen times in the past eight months. I needed some distance to sort out my thoughts and feelings about Thailand and now need to finish before the new year begins. While I can say we loved Thailand, or at least Phuket, I was a bit discouraged by all the trash. I can't fault Thailand as much as I fault people and consumerism (all around the world) in general. We are no better here in the USA, we just have infrastructure in place to deal with it better. I guess in some ways, that makes us worse. I have had to stop several times while writing this post as I did not want it to end up being a rant on environmental issues. I could not separate it out completely because I still feel I need to say something about it, as it did impact our trip. Trust me when I say that this is the condensed version of my original rantings on the subject.
The Thailand I had hoped for and the Thailand I experienced, were as different as any American reality show is from real life in the US. I cant say that I was disappointed, but if I could do it over again with the knowledge that I have now, I would have taken a different approach. That said, I am in no hurry to return to Thailand. Not because I didn't enjoy our trip there, but it was hard to enjoy myself completely, when nearly everywhere was so littered with trash. I don't mean this to sound judgmental, it just makes me sad to see the country's beauty marred by litter, especially when it affects the wildlife and there are many other places that I would like to visit before returning.
We pack a lot into a short amount of time on our trips to experience as much as we can in the time that we have.
My feelings on Thailand are a bit mixed. The people are kind, the food is amazing, the culture is interesting, and some of the sights are stunning. On the opposite side of the spectrum; excessive trash, over crowding of tourist sites, over commercialization of tours and sites, plastic, and did I say excessive trash? We saw such a small portion Thailand on our week that we spent in Phuket and I am sure that once you leave the tourist areas, it is quite a lovely country, but the amount of trash that littered the ground, the flora and fauna, and sadly, even the ocean, was really disheartening. I guess I had higher expectations for Thailand.
And then there is the domestication of animals, mostly elephants, but also tigers.
It is easy for us as Americans to condemn the Thai people for using elephants for shows to make a profit. It wasn't long ago in this country that circuses had elephants as part of their shows. That ended only a few years ago here. As a kid and young adult, I remember the ring masters smacking the legs and back of the elephants or snapping a whip behind them and lions, to get them to move or respond in the desired manner. In Phuket, we did not observe any physical abuse of the elephants, however, it begs the question, how are they so well trained.
We visited the Phuket FantaSea show on our last night in Phuket. It was not on our original wish list but we were given two free passes, so we decided to go and see what all the hype was about. The show was well done, but again, I have some ethical questions about the training of the animals.
Knowing what we know now, we would have skipped this show and especially the riding of the elephants. They are beautiful, majestic creatures and it breaks my heart to think this may stress them out in any way. Still, the boys will not soon forget the experience.
I know that I can no more expect to go to a Native American reservation and see people living in tepee's, hunting buffalo with bows, and living off the land, than I could expect to see native Thai people living in grass huts, fishing with spears, and climbing trees to pick coconuts. However, I had hoped to experience a simpler culture.
I realize that much of the areas that we visited, exists solely for tourism, and because of that, you find all the things that come with a thriving metropolis, without the sustainability and oversight of an infrastructure that can support it. For my taste, I like the small villages in any culture and would have liked to experience that in some form in Thailand.
I know this would have required more research and planning and my part, plus time, and several extra vaccines. I would have liked to find locals to take us on a boat to the places the tour boats don't go. I would have liked to find a rain forest to hike through, and a deserted beach, unspoiled by visitors.
Food and culture are deeply intertwined in Thailand, and we did get to experience a small amount if it. Yes, the food was outstanding and that alone would be enough for many people who visit Thailand. If Apollo and Orion were a little older, I think some small huts in a rainforest near a snorkel friendly beach would have been the perfect Thailand vacation. All four us love exploring and hunting for bugs, fish and birds.
I cannot say enough good things about the Marriott Phuket Beach Club where we stayed during our trip. The facilities and grounds were pristine. The employees and Thai people are friendly and always offer a warm smile.
There were great restaurants, a gym with a spa, stores, kids clubs, multiple swimming pools, beach massage facilities (which we took advantage of daily), and our villa was beautiful.
If our intent was to stay in one place to soak up some Thai sun while being pampered, this place certainly fit the bill perfectly. But, we came to experience Thailand, so this served as our home base with daily trips away from this small piece of paradise.
We rented a car in Thailand. Driving in Phuket is an experience in itself. So many vehicles...especially motorcycles, often with 3 or 4 passengers, all going in different directions with an anarchist approach to traffic laws. The car did offer us the freedom to come and go as we pleased and on our own schedule. After a few days, I started to feel a bit more comfortable navigating the city.
Jumping right in to our trip, we found our way to Monkey hill on the first day and took a long hike up the hill to meet the monkeys.
We were cautious but we did purchase bananas and peanuts to feed the monkeys, ironically from a vendor/home right in front of a sign telling you not to feed the aggressive animals.
We spent an hour interacting with these beautiful creatures and by the end of the trip, both boys admitted that this was one of their favorite part of the trip.
We laughed, we were fascinated, we were intrigued, and we laughed some more. I think we could have gone here daily and not been bored. The boys were disappointed that we did not find our way back to Monkey hill before we left.
For one of our guided adventures, we took a day "snorkeling" trip to the PhiPhi islands... which turned out to be nothing more than a tourist boat excursion, on a tight schedule, that just happened to stop at a couple places (for a short time) where you could snorkel if you wanted. (Man, I missed Fiji with my brother and his family this day.)
The water was beautiful but the sites were too touristy for my taste, and every spot was overly crowded with boats and people all jockeying for a spot. Did I mention that this was the shoulder season, weeks removed from the peak of tourism? I couldn't imagine being here in December.
As we always do, we made the best of the situation and really enjoyed ourselves.
Night markets in Thailand are a
whole different adventure in themselves. While the biggest ones (and tourist oriented) take place on the weekend nights, we found some during the week that were quite impressive.
The markets were packed with natives and very few tourists. The food booths were a thing of beauty. There were so many different types of food all ornately displayed. There were even vendors dedicated to the culinary delicacy of insects.
Grubs, worms, crickets, ants, and water beetles were relished by the locals. The grubs unexpectedly tasted a bit like bacon. Melanie was the bravest of us all and ate more than Apollo and I combined. Orion wasn't having any of it.
We could have tried ten different foods every night in Thailand at one of these markets and we still would not have made a dent in the variety of options that they had to offer.
The boys really enjoyed shopping in the night market and we all had some good laughs at the knock -offs of name brand merchandise.
Apollo and Orion found some bags and souvenirs, did some haggling, and got to experience something very different than what they are used to back home in the states. The prices for items at the night markets were very reasonable since they were geared towards the locals and hot the tourists. Denim jeans started at about $3, while used shoes seemed to be a hot item especially brand named shoes.
At first, the night markets seemed like such an oddity. But once you realize that the days are hot and humid, it make sense that the markets take place at night, out of the heat of the sun. The markets are a place for friends to meet, do some shopping, and families to have dinner. I was surprised by how many people were there. It seemed more like a fair than a market with the amount of people in attendance. The people watching was great, but we stood out like a sore thumb and the locals were watching us as much as we watched them.
On our last day in Phuket, we went searching for a little lesser known beach off the beaten path.
It was marked by a small sign that could be easily missed if I hadn't been better prepared. The hike to the beach was through a beautiful jungle and we had to kind of guess at which way to go.
Sadly, this beautiful beach, Banana Beach, was overrun with trash. I know that my pictures do not reflect what I am describing, as I made a conscious effort to avoid taking pictures showing the trash. In hindsight, I would have taken a lot of pictures to document this but at the time, I wanted to focus on the positive as much as possible.
While not may tourist were at this beach with us, most all of them were walking the beach picking up trash or pulling trash from the water.
Melanie, Apollo, and I all snorkeled at this beach, and you could hardly swim a body length without running into plastic bags, cups, styrofoam, and other pieces of trash floating in the water.
The bags often contained trapped fish. While very sad, it was also a great learning experience for all of us... especially the boys. They were able to see first hand the effects of single use plastic bags on such a delicate environment.
Still, we had a blast at this beach in between pulling trash from the water.
Thailand exceeded my expectations in the food department. First and foremost, the fruit was AMAZING!!
Both price and variety. Apollo could live on dragon fruit alone, while Melanie and I couldn't get enough of the passion fruit.
Orion's addiction was pineapple and bananas which never taste quite as sweet on the mainland as they do in the tropics.
Through in some papaya, mangos, and fresh coconut milk, and we were all pretty happy.
That said, our favorite restaurant that we found was a literally a tarpaulin and bamboo shack. It was situated in the trees off the beach, and in between resorts on a little traveled set of roads used more by residents than tourists.
We found this spot quite by accident while ridding loaner bikes from the resort. We initially thought it was a shanty town of homes the first time we went by.
When we circled back to the resort, we noticed a sign and menu out front. We came back that same day to sample the fairs after seeing the live seafood bins out front. We had some of the best seafood here. The food was so fresh and so good that we came back the following day. The prices were very reasonable and the food was unbelievably delicious.
We also ate at a fancy restaurant at the resort and while the food was unreal tasting, and the presentation was impeccable, the price was what you would expect to pay at a fancy restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area.
What was most noteworthy about this trip in regards to Apollo and Orion, was their comfort level in the water. Both boys had been on swim team for about nine months when we went to Thailand. Because of this, they were not afraid to venture out in the ocean with snorkeling gear on. It made it a bit nerve racking for Melanie and I as we had to chase after them and bring them closer in. Even when the sea was a little rough, the didn't hesitate to get in the water. Apollo even navigated a plethora of jellyfish at Banana beach only managing to get stung a couple times.
The boys are becoming more aware of the differences in cultures and learning to respect those differences. They are concerned for the the wildlife and environment wherever we go and I love seeing them pick up trash when they see it on the ground. Apollo now chooses to not use straws when offered to him with a drink. We want the boys to embrace the world, love to travel, love people, and not be afraid to try new things. With that, I think we are doing a fairly good job.
In summary, I would say to anyone that has ever considered traveling to Thailand; Go!! Do not be discouraged by what I pointed out in regards to trash and litter. Just know what to expect. Get your travel vaccines, eat from the street vendors, visit the night markets, and try the grubs.
Apollo started 6th grade and Orion started 3rd. Both boys excel in Math and science and are overall good students except when it comes to keeping up on homework assignments.
