Our experience of Thailand was through the lens of a tourist of course, but we always look for ways to explore the heart of the culture where we are visiting and get off the beaten track to learn more about local life. We did this a couple of times without the children in tow, but also saw some unique realities when we were in Ao Nang with them one night. In that case, we saw many ‘ladyboys’ as they are called there, out on the streets looking beautiful in their dresses and calling out to people to come and visit them. It is a part of this culture that we expected but you never really know how to interact with it and it is right there calling to you (in this case quite literally!).

We also saw the typical street bartering that you see in developing countries.  One evening we wanted to take a taxi from one village to another and we were quoted 500 baht.  We decided it was too expensive and walked away, but were immediately called back to ‘re-negotiate’.  By the time we finished our discussion, we ended up paying almost half the original price. This seems to be a stressful process for some tourists, but Mo and I are used to being heckled and bartering (ha!). Sometimes you learn the prices and possibilities too late though. For instance we were charged 1500 baht for our van taxi from the airport to the hotel on Day 1, but then asked other ‘stalls’ along the beach for their price (since they ‘advertised airport taxis’) and they were as low as 200 baht per person So on the way back, the 4 of us had a spacious SUV taxi (2015) to ourselves for 700 baht. 700 baht = 30 Canadian  The airport was a 30 minute drive.

At times our surroundings were an overstimulation of sights, smells and action for our senses, but this atmosphere added to the wonderment of our experience.  Watching whole families, or very young siblings, riding on mopeds and scooters in bare feet with no helmets, would be unheard of back in Europe, but in Thailand it was commonplace.  Electrical street wiring sometimes looked like tangled spaghetti with some of the loops almost touching the street.  Laundry was hanging out everywhere to dry and smells of food cooking along the road were intriguing (roasting bananas etc.). The garbage along side streets and even floating in water at some beaches was alarming to us and a reminder that they do not have systems in place to deal with all of their packaging being thrown away. We had seen some similarities in South Africa.  A lot of it ends up in streets. We didn’t see a garbage truck or recycling truck once in our 10 days there.  This is common in developing countries that don’t have the infrastructure for such systems, but it is also very shocking to see.  “Enviro” Mo was compelled to take bottles or pieces of plastic out of the ocean or from the streets to a garbage somewhere, but there is just too much of it and no system in place to deal with it. Similar to the plumbing and toilets in terms of ‘rudimentary’. Thailand has squatting holes or simple rimmed toilets that you have to flush by scooping water into from a bucket they have beside it. Toilet paper is thrown into waste baskets generally because the pipes can’t handle it. Washing up requires use of a “bum gun”.  Hotels are very modern mind you so we only had to use these squatters once or twice, but it was an instant reminder of the country we were in.

We also saw many examples of the traditional lifestyle that many Thai people follow.  One example was the Adhan or ‘call to prayer’ that we would hear throughout the day (and at 5am!!), that reminded us of the importance of faith for the Muslim community living in Thailand. If you have never heard it, imagine this call to prayer being broadcast over speakers that entire communities could hear, 5 times a day.  We also noticed that if you want to go into a store you need to remove your shoes first and go in your bare feet. So I took a photo of the shoes outside a store before I took mine off one day when I went to buy some juice for our drinks.  When we were in Ko Phi Phi and having a lunch there at a large restaurant, everyone had to take their shoes off and wash their feet before entering (and eat in their bare feet of course). Even when going to the little washroom on the beach at  Hong Island, there was a foot pool to walk through in your bare feet before you get to the washrooms, because the feet are considered the dirtiest part of the body to Thais. It is a great insult there to direct your foot towards someone so crossing your legs isn’t common amongst Thais for this reason.  Another daily ritual we witnessed was Thai families walking farther out from shore during low-tide searching for crabs and other shellfish to put in their bucket and bring home to cook.  Young men spend their time leaving early on their ‘longtail’ boats or coming in late and having to drop anchor far out because of low tide. For this reason longboats dot the beach and look like a part of the ‘nature’ there.

This blend of a tourism ‘culture’ with tradition and local routine was fascinating to witness. Overall, Klong Muang, which is 15 minutes from Ao Nang, has a lazy ‘beach town’ feel and the pace is slow and relaxed. Life is simple in Klong Muang. The merchants are up early at their stands and stay up late selling their goods along the main street. The houses on the back roads are what you see in these pictures below and everyone is barefoot or on a moped (barefoot). They are friendly and hard working. There are only 4 or 5 hotels in the area and they are discreetly tucked into the dramatic landscape. You can see how quiet our beach was in the pictures below, compared to the crowded beach at  Ao Nang that has massuese hustling you while you lay on the beach. There wasn’t one difficult or unsafe thing about it…just a very relaxing holiday location. Thailand culture was new to us, so we just wanted to share it for others who may remember it that way, or for those who haven’t gone (yet).