Chiang Mai / Phuket / Bangkok (Thailand)

I have been traveled to SE Asia numerous times in the past 30 years but never spent the summer months in this region.  Many fellow travelers we spoke with claimed low season was a fantastic time to visit with not only lower prices but significantly less crowds.  Phuket is a very large island.  Instead of hunkering down in just one place for our two month stay on the island, we elected to experience four different beach areas on the island.  We split up our time with extended stays in Kata/Karon beach, Surin Beach, Patong Beach and Nai Harn Beach.

One of the disadvantages visiting Phuket during the rainy (low season) is the possibility of experiencing heavy rainfall at times, whereby, the sea can get stirred up by larger storms.
The first month the sun was out everyday.  Nothing beats hanging out on these vintage Thai island beaches with perfect blue/green ocean water.  It truly is a beach lovers paradise with a distinct SE Asian feel to them.  Surin Beach & Nai Harn Beach were our favorite beaches on the island of Phuket.

Although we did not stay on the NW section of Phuket, we did visit Banana Beach and just to the north, Nai Thon Beach.  Both are nice relaxing beach areas, a good distance away from the madness of Patong Beach and Kata/Karon Beach.  If lavish beach clubs filled with glamorous hipster foreign tourists from all of the world is your scene, than this part of the island is home to the following beach clubs: Maya, Carpe Diem & Catch.  For lesser known beach restaurants with the obligatory DJ & typical nightly fire show: Hugo Hub, Nomad, Kalido, Lazy Coconut, Nora, & Rava.  For more of a hippy beach atmosphere, we enjoyed Smigo’s Bar & Restaurant for dinner and a strategically placed cannabis bar on site along with a row of massage tables to get rid of your knots.  Food, weed, massage and beach……a perfect superfecta.

When the first strong rainfall rolled in, with it, a bunch of plastic debris washed ashore and was really disturbing to see.  Locals say, the plastic debris drifts in from other nearby countries. Indonesia, a massive archipelago, has a reputation of locals throwing their garbage into the ocean, which eventually makes its way to Thailand during the strong ocean currents during the summer months.  I have no idea if there is any validity to this, but regardless of where the debris is coming from, I find it really bothersome to see polluted beaches.

Years ago, Phuket’s beaches had undergone a significant cleanup by the Thai military and local authorities.  This resulted in the removal of vendors renting out ugly plastic beach loungers, umbrellas and makeshift shops selling shitty trinkets.  This cleanup initiative was really smart and helped revitalize Phuket’s beautiful sweeping sandy beaches, making them cleaner and more accessible to everyone.

I just wish the local authorities took this initiative one step further and making it a priority to collect plastic debris washed ashore.  Tourism is such a vital part of Thailand’s economy, especially on the southern Thai islands.  I just cannot wrap my head around how the local government has no such cleanup program in place.  It’s like running a 5-star restaurant and not washing the plates properly.  A proper cleanup program seems so easy to implement and it’s completely inexcusable not getting it done.

If I were ever strike it rich and become a mega millionaire, the first charity I would fund is the creation of a small army to keep these beaches spotless year-round.  Fortunately, most tourists visiting during high season (November thru April) rarely do get a glimpse of the ocean debris washed up onto the shores.  During this festive holiday period, expect clear skies, calm seas, and lower humidity, though prices for accommodations are at their highest and the island is way more crowded.  Barbie and I will take the low season sporadic rain, lesser crowds and significantly lower prices.  That’s just the way us Flashpackers prefer to roll.

Following our two month summer stay in Phuket, we then returned to Bangkok, our favorite city in the world for a few weeks.  As previously discussed the development in Bangkok over the years has been so impressive.  The city is just so much fun with an endless amount of shit to do and keep us entertained.

This time around we got to enjoy the brand newly constructed mega malls of One Bangkok and the impressive Dusit Central Park, equipped with a really cool outdoor sky deck with views of the city and over Lumphini Park.  We also really enjoyed the full day walking excursion from Chinatown to Song Wat Road and onto the impressive street art alleyways of Talat Noi.  Despite being exhausted from the heat, we pressed on with a boat ride journey with the local Thais along the Chao Phraya River, to our old backpacking hangout of Khao San Road.  We hung out on the plush comfy couches at the Khaosan Cannabis Dispensary.  This living room styled dispensary sits directly in front of the historic Khaosan Palace Hotel.  This location brought me back full circle as I have very fond memories of the Khaosan Palace.  It was the first budget travelers hotel I stayed in when I was backpacking around Thailand back in 1991, when Khao San Road was a true travelers enclave.  The dispensary injected us with a much needed energy boost to press on and backtrack to nearby Chinatown to partake in all the nighttime food festivities with the masses.  Another fabulous action packed day in Bangkok and route highly recommended!