Happy Times in Krabi, Thailand

Recently ranked number 28 on the New York Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2014” is Krabi, Thailand. Krabi is a town on the West Coast of Southern Thailand, which functions largely as a springboard for travel to various beach, climbing, and other destinations in the area, including Hat Noppharat Thara, Ao Nang, Railay, and Ko Phi Phi. It was our destination for travel last weekend, the first weekend we were allowed to travel using our students’ passes.

From the Krabi Airport, we (we being myself and five others, with three to follow the next day) took a bus to Ao Nang. Here we found a street full of markets and shops. I bought overpriced Corn Flakes. By overpriced, I mean 85 Thai Baht, which is equivalent to $2.58. I purchased Corn Flakes because our next stop and final destination was Tonsai beach, a rather remote backpacker’s destination popular among climbers and accessible by long-tail boat. I have a peanut allergy and was unsure about the local cuisine, hence the cornflakes. More on this to come.

longtail boat picture

We arrived around sunset and the view was gorgeous. Many of the hostels were full by that point, so we stayed in a Bungalow resort for a whopping $21.28 a night, complete with an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, infinity pool, and little to no intrusive bugs. We did have a small lizard in our room the last night and a few spiders, but we suspect he was carried in on our bags and the spiders from the opening of the door as our room was cleaned each day.

bungalow picture

That night, we enjoyed a delicious, peanut-free meal right on the beach for under $2 each. I enjoyed the fresh, buttery pineapple fried rice so much that I ordered it again the next day. By day, we spent the majority of our time on the beach, slack-lining (a popular activity among climbers), meeting the locals, enjoying the sun, and playing Frisbee in the water. When not on the beach, we explored the jungle that we were calling our home, where we had several encounters with monkeys. The picture below is of a group of monkeys that we followed as they jumped from tree to tree along the length of the beach. The baby, not shown, clung on to his mother when not jumping on his own. The abundance of primates in this part of the world may be one of the greatest perks of being here.
monkey picture

The next day was a bit more eventful. We woke up, ate our deliciously all-inclusive breakfast, slack-lined a bit, and rented kayaks. We kayaked through various caverns and swam around sand bars in the middle of the ocean. We observed several fish as the area is a popular snorkel spot. We also visited the adjacent beach, East Railay, for lunch and a bit of shopping. Here we realized how spoiled we were by the backpacker spirit of Tonsai and opted to eat for under $2 as we had become accustomed to, at a small sandwich and burger stand. I bought a pair of pants for 9 USD, and we were on our way back to our home base of Tonsai.

There, we met up with those who stayed back from the kayak trip and many of us opted for Thai Massages. What an experience! Thai massage is really more like a beating-you-pay-for than a relaxing hour, but it was quite enjoyable nonetheless. Things were cracked and stretched and pounded and popped in the artful and skilled manner that is Thai massage. The cracks and pops were executed by a kind Thai woman for all under $9.

I continue to provide the prices to sum up the culture of Tonsai. Tonsai is not a tourist-friendly place. It is for those who want to get away from the city, stay directly in nature, and interact with and get to know the locals. From impromptu and unsolicited Thai lessons to slack-lining tips to sincere curiosity on where we were from, what we were doing, and why we were there, it was clear that Tonsai was not a resort town primped and polished for tourists. It was still raw and relatively unexplored, and, as I kept thinking while there, likely not much different from it was thousands of years ago.

Later that night, we met up with one former student of NUS and his travel partner for dinner and to enjoy our last night in the jungle. It was at that time that the only real downside to a perfect weekend began: food poisoning. Including those we met up with, seven of the ten of us were affected by the end of the trip, including myself. We are still unsure of the source, but upon looking in to the blogs of backpacker’s who had trekked the area upon return, we discovered that the “Tonsai Tummy” was actually quite common for the village and simply a rite of passage. I am thankful that the Tonsai tummy waited until the last night and even more grateful that I had the Corn Flakes for the way home the next day. They may have been worth 85 Baht, after all.

Being in Tonsai also facilitated my catching of a sort of travel bug. Since booking the flight to Krabi, I have become obsessed with checking fare deals and looking in to any and all off-the-beaten-path or heavily immersive cultural travel experiences available in this area. The proximity of so many of these unique locations to Singapore is overwhelming.

All things considered, I would return to Tonsai and the Krabi area for its beauty, charm, and simplicity and look forward to all travels to come.

tonsai beach pic