Official Arrival in Thailand - Nai Harn, Koh Phuket, Thailand
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 6 Mar 2011 05:05
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07:46.389N 98:17.901E
Sorry for the longer than normal delay...
We've been distracted. There was a quick trip back to
the US for Don, a bout of food poisoning for me, our favorite recurring
guests, Bill and Kathie Maloney were on board for two weeks, and last
but not least, we've been feverishly making plans for next year's Indian Ocean
crossing taking all the recent events in the Middle East and on the high seas
into consideration. Needless to say, we've been shocked by the taking of
two private sailing yachts by pirates, and the subsequent murder of
sailboat Quest's four American crew. More on all this in a future blog
entry. For now, below is a quick update on our official entry into
Thailand and first island of Phuket (pronounced 'Poo-ket') stop at
Hat Nai Harn (Nai Harn Beach).
On January 26, we sailed with Baraka, yes sailed, 45 miles
west from Koh Lanta to the southwest tip of big Phuket Island and the deep green
water of Nai Harn where we anchored with about thirty other sailboats and the
occasional giant floating jellyfish. We stayed five nights before moving
on to the north end of Phuket.
Thailand Fun Fact #3: Thailand, or Siam, as it was known
then, was under monarch rule until a bloodless coup in 1932. Shortly
thereafter the name of the country was changed to Thailand. In 1973, the
military dictatorship was overthrown and replaced by the democratic
government that exists today. The royal family is alive and well, and
still revered by the Thai people.
Thailand Fun Fact #4: With a population of 63 million,
Thailand is the most populous of the mainland Southeast Asia countries.
75% of the population are ethnic Thai, 14% Chinese, 5% Malay and the rest a mix
of various hill tribe people and other Southeast Asians.
Thailand Fun Fact #5: 95% of Thai people are Theravada
Buddhists, a branch of Buddhism that came from Sri Lanka hundreds of years
ago. The altars, shrines and temples add color and charm to the most
unusual places. Our favorite so far is the Big Buddha, which is under
construction (and has been for the past 20 years) on the highest point
of Phuket. You'll meet Big Buddha in a future blog
entry.
Thailand Fun Fact #6: Phuket is Thailand's biggest island with
84,000 people and 300 trillion tourists. Ok, I made that last part up, but
it's true that Phuket is Thailand's largest tourist
destination. Crowding the beaches are thousands of Europeans
escaping the northern winter and Australians escaping the higher priced resorts
of Fiji.
 Hat Nai Harn. Chock full of big, nearly naked, heavily
tattooed, unsmiling Russians looking hostile in their tiny bikinis and
speedos. Don was pleased to see several topless women sunbathers, who
definitely didn't read the advice in the guidebooks regarding the Thai
people's respect for conservative dress.
 Many of the beaches we've visited on Phuket and its
surrounding islands were devastated in the 2004 tsunami. As a result, all
are now equipped with these warning signs and a tsunami warning PA system.
We're not sure if the PA system is operational, but don't really want to find
out.
 Our first of many Thai tuk-tuks. Dave and Jan from
Baraka shared a taxi with us to Ao Chalong (Chalong Bay), where we completed the
proper check-in procedures with immigration, customs and port control without a
hitch. For the ride back to Nai Harn we hired this snappy red
tuk-tuk.
 Residing inside or outside most stores, offices, restaurants
and private homes is an altar like this one. The Buddhist gods must like
to drink soda from a straw and munch fruit while inhaling copious amounts of
incense. Not a bad way to live.
 A taxi driver loitering nearby while I took this picture
informed me (proudly?) that the mass of power lines is "The symbol of
Thailand!". He went on to proclaim that we wouldn't find the symbol of
Thailand in Malaysia. Oh no, they bury all their power lines down
there. He's right. I looked at all our pictures from Malaysia and
there is nary a power line to be seen. Funny that we didn't notice while
we were there.
 The elephant shrine. This little gem, complete
with its image of Buddha, 3,000 elephants and an incense seller's stall,
sits on the top of a cape overlooking Nai Harn.
 After hiking to the elephant shrine, Dave, Jan, Don and
I made up for it with an early dinner and Chang beers at a restaurant with
a view of Nai Harn. We always like a restaurant with a view - especially
one that includes our boats.
Our first impressions of Thailand were good. Touristy,
but good. Like the Indonesian people of that other overrun Southeast
Asian tourist mecca, south Bali, the Thai people tolerate the hordes of tourists
well. Very admirable given that almost no one can speak their language,
and almost everyone (although not always intentionally) behaves badly making one
faux pas after another (touching someone's head, showing affection in
public, taking pictures in front of a Buddha image, running around nearly
naked, stuff like that). In general, we find it's hard to get to know the
real people and culture when in a very touristy place. Often what we see
is what has been packaged for the tourists, not the real deal. It's not
like Fiji or Vanuatu or many parts of Indonesia where we boaters were the only
tourists and the people we met weren't there to cater to us. We are hoping
to find more of the real Thailand when we do some land travel in northern
Thailand. In the meantime, however, it's not like we really mind the
beaches full of big, nearly naked, tattooed, unsmiling Russians, or the
petite and mostly smiling Thais waiting patiently by their fruit stands, massage
tables and tuk-tuks to serve them.
Anne
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