Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
With which of the 21 did you disagree?
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The second one. Back in the early '90s, I used to spend a lot of time on a tiny island in the Gulf of Thailand called Koh Tao, working part-time as a DiveMaster to pay for my diving, room and board. One small village with about 6 shops. No electricity, no phones, no cars... heck, not even any roads! Not one! Tiny island, 8 kilometers long and 3k wide. Just half a dozen bungalow colonies along the one beach on the west side, a couple of dive shops, and some local fishermen. The bungalows were all made of bamboo with thatch roofs right on the beach. Only one cement 1-room building, belonging to the headman of the village. Nothing to do there except dive, snorkel, stroll through the undeveloped jungle in the center of the island or around the hidden bays on the other side, and relax. If you get thirsty, just pick up a coconut on the ground, crack it open and take a drink. Night time was absolutely quiet except for the sound of the water lapping up on the shore. We'd build a fire on the beach, sit around playing music and talking in several different languages until it was time to sleep, then dive again the next day. It really was a tropical paradise.
If you were on the island for a couple of months at a time, you really needed somewhere to let off steam once in a while. So to co-ordinate with friends on other islands (as we didn't have phone service,) we'd all agree to go to the more central, larger island of Koh Phanghan on the night of the full moon each month for a party. All the dive shop's personnel, instructors, DiveMasters, plus all the long-time divers would look forward to the 'Full Moon Party' on Koh Phanghan as a way to see some new faces, catch up with old friends working in other dive shops, etc., etc. One night out of the month of pure hedonism. In '91, there may have been 150 people partying on the beach. But this area was (and still is) a popular Mecca for Backpack tourists, and they started coming to the party. And it grew. And grew. And grew... These days, perhaps 5,000-7,000 people,
all tourists, arrive on the island just for the party.
The locals from the outlying islands don't go any more.
Today, Koh Tao has three villages, two car rental agencies, two dozen (or more) bars with loud music, not one single bamboo bungalow, several large modern cement hotels with swimming pools, and the diving sucks. My last trip there was in 2004, and no desire to go back. No... I do NOT count the days until the full moon, nor do any of my Thai friends... but we used to!
P.S. If you read 'The Beach,' or saw the Leonardo DiCaprio movie by the same name, the island they were supposed to be on was in this area. In the book, they take a small motorboat for an hour's ride to Koh Phanghan. The ONLY island close enough to do that is Koh Tao. However, the movie was actually filmed on the other side of Thailand near Koh Phiphi as the Koh Phanghan area has become over-developed and crowded.
Stitchawl