Ko Lipe - Where's The Sunny Blue?

I left Ko Lanta in a downpour. The bad weather continues but it wasn’t so bad during the afternoon of the boat ride to Ko Lipe. It took all day as we stopped at small islands along the way to pick up and drop off passengers. I think maybe I should have gotten off at one of those islands as they appeared to be very quiet but I had also been told that they are expensive.

The boat to Ko Lipe was old and tired. It had, “Welcome, Aloha”, stenciled on the thick painted steel near the wheelhouse so I think it lived in Hawaii at some point. The large seating area for passengers had a very strong odor like marine paint or something of the sort. I asked what it was. The crew looked at me perplexed like they didn’t smell anything but others aside of myself also commented. I was told I could sit up top by the wheel house. I did and the odor wasn’t near as bad. Later I figured out it was probably a freon leak in the air conditioning that caused the smell. The air conditioning froze up later in the day and the odor went away as it started blowing warm air. I think the crew charged it right before leaving and figured it might hold for the ride. It didn’t.

During the afternoon, clouds cleared a bit for a little sun. Oh, what a difference the sun makes. We passed several lovely islands that I didn’t know about and thought maybe I should have gotten off at one as they looked really quiet. I spent a good portion of the trip talking with a guy from New Zealand.

Upon arriving in Ko Lipe the boat pulled up to an old car ferry where we got off. I thought the car ferry might shuttle us ashore but I quickly noticed it was permanently moored. Everyone was funneled into a line where we were told we had to pay a 200 Bhat fee to visit Ko Lipe since some of the Island(s) are supposed to be National Park and what not. Also, we would have to pay another 50 bhat to have a boat take us a very short distance to shore. Again, what a racket. It’s not a lot of money but the principle. I kind of understand the so called park fee but the extra shuttle boat charge when I already paid for a relatively expensive ferry to Ko Lipe was B.S.

As I often do I arrived without booking accommodation. I was warned that Ko Lipe is kind of expensive for Thailand so to be prepared to spend a little extra. It was almost 5 pm so I started looking right away.

My first impression of Ko Lipe wasn’t too good starting with having to pay just to set foot on land. It’s a small island but more developed for tourism than expected. There’s a walking street from one side of the island to the other and that’s where I started my search. The street is kind of narrow and was crowded. I had to dodge motor bikes and motor bike tuk tuks along with people. I stopped and inquired at a couple of places and quickly figured out the price range. I cut across to Sunrise beach via a roundabout way. I soon discovered tucked behind the façade of candy coated walking street lots of garbage and poverty with locals living in corrugated tin shacks along muddy dirt alleys.

At sunset beach I walked along the shore. The budget bungalows looked kind of dark and depressing. Low hanging thatch, only a couple of windows, a fan with mosquito netting, and cold water shower. At around 800 bhat, if not more, they didn’t appeal to me at all. Especially in the gloomy warm still muggy air. A dorm room in a hostel is 650 Bhat. The bottom end for a hotel started around 1300 bhat then went up from there. I checked a few places that were ok but none were great.

As dark approached I noticed a sandwich board sign advertising room available in front of a health clinic right off walking street, in the middle of everything. A very nice woman from the clinic ran out and greeted me enthusiastically. The front of the building houses a clinic but the back is a boutique hotel. She said she had a room and could give me a discount. One of the advantages to showing up late when things are a little slow. She showed me a very nice room with lots of extras. Safe box, kettle for boiling water, fridge, wifi, a/c, etc. 1400 bhat for one night ($39 USD) or 1300 bhat if I stay more than one night. Still, I wanted to look a little more and wandered off for five minutes. Knowing myself, I knew I was headed towards the road of indecision and was kind of tired from the long boat ride. I went back and took the room for one night. I figured I just decide the next morning if I’d want to stay there or elsewhere for my time remaining on the Island.

After checking in I went for a walk on Pattaya beach to get more acquainted with the Island. The beach is lined with small resorts, restaurants, and bars. I stopped at scuba place and met a really nice young French women working there who is from one the French Islands in the South Pacific. She gave me the low down on the Island as we talked awhile. I asked her about accommodation and she thought I got a great deal. Unless I wanted a bungalow as I described or a dorm I wouldn’t find anything cheaper without pitching a tent.

The night was not cooling down and staying warm, still and muggy. I found a place to eat that had some good fans stirring air around. I wasn’t feeling Ko Lipe. The odd 7/11 on walking street with it’s not so well behaved Chinese tourist customers made the Island even less appealing as I bought a bottle of water. I then called it an early night and went to my boutique hotel room to enjoy the a/c. Yes, I know I am getting a little soft on this trip.

The next day I awoke to more clouds and such and decided to go for a run. At 7 am things were very quiet so I started off down candy coated walking street and off up a road to the left. It quickly led to a raggedy area. Corrugated tin houses, garbage, and small dengue fever mosquito ponds displayed a vast contrast. It made me wonder where the 200 baht collected from all the tourist goes. How about hiring a couple of garbage men? I don’t get it.

I’ll have to amend a previous blog post comment. Thailand for the most part is no longer a third world country but parts of Thailand are still third world. A portion of Koh Lipe is anything but paradise for some of the locals. I’ve seen this kind of contrast before. Considering all of the wealth brought in by tourists some local people see very little if any benefit and it’s not because they don’t work hard. Just a little public assistance or a modest bit of integrity in the powers that be can make a tremendous difference. However, in most impoverished areas abroad there is usually a great deal of corruption. Again, Ko Lipe, despite natural beauty, is not making the best impression for me.

After an ok run, where I had to walk a couple of times to get around packs of stray dogs, I thought I might get lucky with clearing weather later in the day so I hopped on a cheap snorkel tour with a long tail boat. It turned out to be a group of 9 plus a boat driver and guide. Lunch included.

The first place we stopped was crap because the weather was too cloudy and the water was rough and murky. The next two places were pretty good and would have been great had it been sunny. Lots of coral, fish, sea urchins, and weird stuff. Not bad at all. From there we headed over to another island to join some other groups for lunch.

At the lunch island I got my 200 bhat ticket to enter Ko Lipe checked for the third time and was told it’s only good for five days. The island was kind of nice with fine white sand but a little noisy with Chinese tourists who like to make noise because they seem to think that’s the thing to do when traveling and having fun. As we ate our curry lunch the clouds grew darker and thunder started booming in the distance. The thunder drew nearer and nearer. Clouds darkened.

Some of the long tail boats tried to leave ahead of the storm but were turned back when white caps appeared and a heavy squall blew in. Most everyone gathered under a thatch roofed makeshift park station snack shack to wait out the storm. We could see other boats rushing back. Thunder rumbled and and the sea got rough for about 30 minutes. As soon as things calmed down a bit we got in the boat to make a run back to the main Island of Ko Lipe.

The white caps had calmed down but the swells were still kind of deep for a long tail boat. We crested one swell and came down hard. The bench in front of me cracked and broke in the middle like a karate chop with three people sitting on it. Nonetheless, the boat was doing ok and the driver was doing everything right as we found calm water in the lee of another small Island. At that spot our guide landed the boat and told us we could get out to look around for 10 minutes and take a photo but that would be the last stop. With another squall approaching I was kind of surprised he stopped and I could tell no one else really cared about getting out for 10 minutes so I said something. I asked if anyone wanted to get out and simply stated that another squall was headed our way and we should probably just run ahead of it back to Koh Lipe. Everyone thought that was a great idea and the guide seemed happy as well. I think he was just trying to squeeze in a little something extra as we had to pass on seeing some other stuff due to the weather.

Since the seas were too rough to return on the Pattaya beach side, where we left, we landed on the Sunrise side without a problem. By the end everyone was happy to be back on Ko Lipe proper. I said, “Cest la vie”, such is life, to a French couple in the group. They smiled and replied the same. At that moment, by chance, we both noticed a sign of a tree that said, “Sea La Vie”, and got a laugh out of that. By the end, the boat broke a bench seat, a Swedish man in the group lost his Go Pro camera, and I lost my UV protective snorkel shirt which I really liked. Oh well, “Cest La Vie”.

So far Southern Thailand isn’t really doing it for me. Maybe it’s just timing. I think a great deal of it has to do with the weather. I have yet to experience a proper sunny day. I’ve just experienced a few limited short sunny spells.  Also, I am a little put off by how overly touristic everything is. I know there are some heavenly fine places to find in the Islands of Thailand but I think it takes time. However, I don’t think anything in Thailand is undiscovered.