If At First You Don’t Succeed, Thai Again

I’ve avoided writing this post for a while because I knew that it would cause ripples among many of my readers. But I’m nothing if honest, so I’m just going to come out and say it:

Thailand didn’t impress me as much as I thought it would. Or as much as I had hoped.

Before I left on this trip, Thailand wasn’t even at the top of my must-see list. I know this will shock many people who love it and who have even made a home there, but to me Thailand was somewhere that has become so over-touristed – not only on the backpacker circuit, but now with families, honeymooners and expats – that I felt sure that it would be too Westernised and over-hyped for my liking. In that sense, I was actually looking forward to going there, simply because I figured that with no expectations whatsoever, it could only go up.

And luckily it did. Our first stop was a stunning hotel on Koh Yao Yai, which we were only able to afford due to a low season promotion. However, the amazing views from the pool, the size of the room and the happy hour cocktails (not to mention the yummy breakfast) all meant that my Thailand adventure got off to a great start. I felt relaxed and happy and was sure that I had been underestimating the Land of Smiles all this time.

Then we moved on. Again, to another small island which is not overly-populated. Again, the views were lovely and the locals were friendly. But you couldn’t get anywhere without renting a scooter, which is a novelty at first but quickly becomes cumbersome when it’s raining and all you want to do is pop out for something quick to eat.

It also quickly became clear that for us, Thailand low season was a big mistake. We were hoping to laze away our days on sandy beaches and drink fresh fruit shakes and buckets, as we had heard so many others do before us. But rain and debris meant that the beaches quickly became all but unusable.

Being the trooper that I am though, I didn’t give up. I moved on again to a third island: Koh Lanta. A favourite with expats because it is lively enough that there is plenty to do, but not so lively that it is an eyesore, it seemed like a perfect place to start accelerating our Thai experience. Unfortunately, the place was a ghost town. Tourists only seemed to make an appearance when the sun was shining, and some of the bars and restaurants had already closed for low season, despite it having only begun the week before. Not to mention that the hotel we were staying in made us change rooms four times due to electrical faults and bug infestations. By this point we were becoming seriously disenchanted with the whole place. And island-hopping was turning out to be more expensive than we had thought it would be. So much so that we booked a flight out of the country and hot-footed it to a big city where there was food and entertainment on every corner. A tad hasty? Perhaps. The right thing to do for our mental state? Absolutely.

I’m not saying that I don’t like Thailand. I’m not even saying that I won’t go back. I mean, heck, I haven’t even made it to the mainland yet and seen Bangkok with my own eyes. I realise that a lot of what happened during my time there was due to personal experience and bad timing. Next time, I will be sure to go during high season, even if it means my purse taking a harder hit. And next time I will be sure to learn from my mistakes the first time around. But I guess what I’m saying is that right now, I want some sun. I want to be able to walk to get food and have a vast variety laid out in front of me. I want to be able to enjoy a sunset every night if I can – partly because all of these are things that I dreamt about doing whilst I was stuck in an office planning this trip.

Thailand will always be there to welcome me with open arms and forgive my hastiness at leaving. But for right now the Land of Smiles will have to wait. Sorry.