When was the first time on Koh Phangan? A travelogue by 2004
It was 2004 and I was about to take my Abitur exam. I'm not sure whose idea it was, mine or my buddy Karsten's, but one thing was clear - we have to go to Thailand!
Planning the trip to Thailand
I have no idea how we came across Thailand. I think Karsten had read something about the country in some travel magazine. I don't even remember exactly who started the trip. As far as I remember, I called him at some point and asked if he would like to fly to Thailand with me. And he immediately said “of course, let’s do it!”. He'll probably claim it was his idea.
However it happened, at the end of March 2004 we were on a Thai Airways plane. 2004 was the year of the devastating tsunamis in Thailand, and as a result, flight prices plummeted. It was a bad year for Thailand, but we benefited from it. The flight with the Thai cost us a mere € 450. I've never come back to Asia that cheap! Of course, I still hope that Thailand will be spared such a catastrophe in the future.
Arrival in Thailand
Since we are total chaotic people, we of course had “no plan” at all about what we wanted to do and only had a few tips from a friend who had been to Thailand a few months before us.
Bangkok: A shock
We arrived in Bangkok and were initially shocked by the air. Every traveler to Thailand knows that - you come out through the glass door at the airport and it's like walking into a wall. Incredibly hot and stuffy. The air, the heat, the noise and the hustle and bustle ... that was all too much for us. We turned around and booked a connecting flight to Koh Samui.
Koh Samui: Dream Island found?
Koh Samui 2004: dream vacation under the palm trees
The island was more to our liking. Palm trees, sandy beaches and a deep blue sea. Now we had finally arrived. We had one of the tugboats at the airport take us to a hotel in Lamai and enjoyed the ride across the island. I remember looking out at the sea and thinking, “This must be what paradise looks like.” The next shock came in Lamai. There were bars everywhere full of women constantly screaming at us. Did I mention that we had absolutely zero preparation? At the beginning it was quite flattering to be surrounded by a dozen women who wanted to force you into a bar. But after a week we were fed up. This was not the vacation paradise we had imagined!
From Koh Samui to Phangan
So we followed again the advice of our wise buddy and made us with the Ferry to Koh Phangan on. We had heard there should be really quiet beaches and crazy parties there. In Haad Rin When we arrived we first rented two scooters. We wanted to go up to the north of the island. It should be really quiet and secluded there. When we drove out of the small town, we were shocked by the state of the roads.
You can't really call them streets. These were more well-trodden clay paths with insane curves and crazy gradients. No protection at all and next to the streets it went straight down to the sea.
With zero driving experience, we had the pants of course painted full and are nice and slow drove at a snail's pace. In fact, we made it through the worst part without incident. I believe Ban Tai Then it went again.
It was evening and already dark when we were in Chaloklum arrived. A quiet little place with a 7/11, some bars and inns. We stopped at some small bar where a few German emigrants were sitting around. We joined them and asked if they knew of a good inn nearby. “They’re all good” was the answer. Well, that's a word!
After a strengthening beer we saddled up again and drove on along the beach. We drove towards an illuminated restaurant and the wind carried the sounds of us from afar Deep Purple to. We knew straight away that we were in the right place! The restaurant was completely empty, only a nice old Thai grandma stood behind the counter, who of course gave us a warm welcome. The food was delicious, the owners super nice and we decided to stay in one of the adjoining bungalows right on the beach.
To pay, we should just write everything we ate and drank in a red book. I have never experienced anything like this again before and after Koh Phangan! I wonder if this is still the case today.
By the way, the plant is called North Beach Resort. Even today there are cheap “Fan bungalows“ for just 350 baht a night. When we woke up the next morning, for the first time we could see exactly where we had even landed. A series of small bungalows located directly on the beach, in a beautiful bay with fishing boats. The best thing about it – there were no other vacationers on the entire beach apart from us. The bay is not really ideal for swimming, as the sea is quite shallow. So you have to run far out before it gets deep enough to swim.
After all the hustle and bustle on Koh Samui, that was finally the remote place we were looking for!
Nightlife on Koh Phangan
We stayed for 5 days and really let our mind wander. During the day we fed ourselves full in the restaurant, lounged in the hammock and explored the island on our scooters. In the evening we gurgled all the way down to Haad Rin to be there on the beach in the Zoom bar and in the Vinyl Club to celebrate. On the advice of our travel guru, we also started working on the Amsterdam Bar to seek out what was not that easy at all. We asked our way from one bar to the next and of course drank a beer at each one. After we had been gurgling all afternoon, we finally found the bar. It was worth it, because from there you had a fantastic view of the whole island.
Farewell to Koh Phangan
After 5 days of lazing around and partying, we unfortunately had to leave much too early. Of course, I met a nice girl last night that I never saw again. With a heavy heart we went to Koh Samui and from there back to Bangkok to the airport. Saying goodbye was not easy for us, because in the short time we had grown very fond of Koh Phangan. Thailand has already seen me since that first trip, but I haven't made it to Koh Phangan since then. But I want to change that next year and hope the island hasn't changed too much in the meantime. Maybe I can even persuade my buddy Karsten, who has become a bit lazy to travel in the meantime. The holiday together is still a highlight for both of us that we like to think back to.
