Thailand (Songkran and Full Moon Party)

We touched down in Phuket, Thailand in the morning and began our Test & Go processing. This involved a surprisingly quick PCR test at the airport, and a private shuttle to the hotel. As mentioned in a previous blog, we were required to stay at a pre-approved hotel and this one was higher up on our price range ($40 per night) even though it was much, much cheaper than the others available in the area. But once we added in the cost of the test, the cost of private transport, and the cost of the Thailand Pass to track everything, we were already way overbudget before we stepped foot in the country. We still weren't going to let this spoil our fun, though, so after waiting in our hotel for results (it took ~8 hours) we were off to explore!

Thailand is one of the most well-traveled countries in all of Asia, especially for younger backpackers. Some of the highlights for travelers are seeing the crazy capital city of Bangkok, diving into the jungle and hiking in Chiang Mai, and relaxing and/or partying on the countless white sand beaches. Thailand also has some big celebrations that tourists are encouraged to participate in. We had previously travelled to Thailand and seen Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and participated in Loi Kathrong (the lantern festival). This time around, we were here to see Songkran (the Thai new year) and to see what the Full Moon parties were all about. One of the best places to experience Songkran was Patong Beach, in Phuket, so here we were! The celebration typically includes a three-day-long epic water fight, with kids and adults alike running around with super soakers, buckets of water, and water balloons. Firefighters ride through the streets spraying the crowds with water from their trucks, and sometimes even elephants get in on the fun and spray from their trunks into the masses. Additionally, on a normal celebration, streets are covered in foam, sometimes to the point where you cannot even see where you are going. When we were there.....none of this happened.

Because of Asia's deeper struggle with Covid-19, many countries have been slow with eliminating restrictions. The Thai government had decided to maintain major restrictions for the Songkran festival, and kept the celebrations to more of the family oriented, low-key traditions (including sprinkling water on statues of Buddha, meals with the family, etc.). We were a little disappointed, especially after all of the expenses and requirements we had to endure to make it here in time. However, we understood that the celebration has a more religious and family significance than the giant party in the streets, so we were okay with missing out. Instead, we decided to hang on the beach and dive right in to the Thai food scene we had missed so much.

Our first night in there was no doubt in our mind that we were going to have Pad Thai. It is a staple dish all over the country and often mimicked in surrounding countries as well. It is a simply wonderful pile of fried noodles, veggies, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, and shrimp/chicken, and is served pretty much everywhere for less than 100 Thai baht ($6ish). If you go off of the beaten path, it's even less (60 baht, or $4). For dessert, we wrapped up with a Thai pancake. Their version of the pancake consists of a thin, crepe-like base folded over ingredients like bananas and drizzled with chocolate sauce. We went to bed very full, but by the next morning we were already out scouting out our food options (Thai food is seriously so good). We didn't want to pay for the hotel buffet (again, we were already over budget) so we went to the backstreets to look for food stands. We found a place run by two ladies that didn't speak any English, so it was a process of pointing at things on their cart and paying whatever they asked at the end. However, this is a VERY common meal type in Thailand and all of Southeast Asia. Pots and trays of stews, soups, fried meats, eggs, and whatever else are on display, and the server loads up a plate of steamed rice for you and you start pointing at things to pile on top. For the uninitiated (definitely us), you usually end up with some unidentified meats and a lottery pick of spiciness level. That's exactly what we ended up with, and Kyle couldn't quite handle the heat of the we-think-it-was-fish-of-some-sort soup. Otherwise, everything was delicious!

After breakfast we headed to the beach. One thing to note here is that Phuket is absolutely NOT a top place we have visited on this trip, and wasn't when we briefly passed through on our last Thailand trip. It is mostly tourists, and most of those tourists are only there to party. It's a bit dirty, and has a lot of Thailand's seedy underbelly on display (we won't go into details here). Bangkok was very similar for us last time we visited. While it may be something to see on your first visit (and we’d DEFINITELY suggest you visit), we think Thailand has so much more to offer, so we would recommend limiting your time in these cities and focus more on the amazing small islands and jungle in the north. We gave Patong beach our best effort, but there was quite a bit of trash both in the sand and in the water, and after not too long we decided to head back to the hotel pool. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel pool, and hit the swim-up bar for happy hour (if your forced to stay at a resort, you might as well live it up). There we met some mid-50s guys from England, Wales, and Australia. After a few beers with them, we hit the next happy hour at the hotel rooftop bar (again, we were living it up!). There we met the guys from England/Australia (they were cool, we exchanged stories and photos of house projects), as well as a new trio from Australia (they were all born in Greece but grew up in Australia).

The three new Aussies were mid-40s/50s guys as well, and they consisted of a restaurant owner, his head chef, and a customer (we're guessing their #1 regular). After a few beers up at the rooftop, we all decided to meet up for dinner, based on a recommendation from one of the guys from the pool earlier who had been to Patong Beach over 30 times. We ended up at a little hole in the wall restaurant where the Aussies talked to the owner and ordered a bunch of dishes without ever opening a menu. We had chicken satay for starters (the best we ever had or probably will ever have), tiger prawns, pad thai, pineapple fried rice, spicy calamari, and a sweet fish stew. All of the food was wonderful, and we even spent some time talking to the owner. Our new Aussie friends also picked up the tab, which was completely unexpected but extremely nice of them. John and the gang, thank you so much!

The next day we were on our way out of Phuket and headed to Koh Phangan, the home of the famous Full Moon Beach Party. To get there was sort of complicated. It took a combination of a 45 minute taxi to the bus station, a 6 hour minivan across Thailand's southern peninsula, a transfer to a large tour bus (they don't tell you there will be a transfer, they just slap a sticker on you and people pull you off one bus and put you on the next), a transfer to a open-air trailer, and a 3-hour ferry ride to the island. Because of the party, most of the accommodations on the island were booked or insanely expensive, but we found a place on the opposite side for cheap. We hopped on another mini-van transfer (booked via a guy on the ferry) with a pair of German couples who were going to a similar location. We started talking with them and made plans to take the van back over to the party together! We were dropped off where the road ended and the jungle started, but after a couple of minutes found the trail to our bungalow for our time on the island. It took the jungle trail, a bit of beach walking, and a lot of staircases to finally reach our hut. We were sweaty and tired, but snapped out of it quickly for some dinner and a shower to make it to the party.

We took a 6 pack of beer to-go from the bungalow restaurant and walked back to our jungle-drop off point, where we were quickly picked up by our van-taxi with our new friends. We passed around beers and laughs on the 40 minute ride over to the beach, and then it was time to party! The Full Moon Party is an all-night beach party that is famous in the area (and really around the globe). Although it is not really our normal thing, we were giving it one last shot before we get a bit too old for these things. We bought some "buckets" (a tin pail that is filled with liquor of your choice, soda, and redbull) and painted each other up with glow paint. From there we hit the beach and spent the night dancing, singing , doing the limbo (under a flaming stick), jump roping (with a flaming rope) and having a pretty damn good time. Around 2am Kyle had a little mishap, and ended up with a split open chin. We had to spend an hour after that in the beachside clinic for Kyle to get stitches. He walked in covered in sand, with no shoes (still no idea where those flip flops are), and with a guilty smile on his face. They used an iPhone for supplemental lighting for the procedure, and we were even able to barter on the cost of the operation! While he was getting treated, one of the German girls had to get some treatment for a burn from her scooter (the clinic was full of accident prone tourists). The others (including Nicole) got some more beers and hung out in the waiting room. We all walked out together, most of us with at least some of Kyle's blood still on them, and hitched a cab home. 10/10, would still party there again!!

Quick side note: The cab's to the other sides of the island were CRAZY expensive. We paid ~$15 each to get home that night. That $30 was the equivalent of two night's stay anywhere else in Thailand, probably with meals included as well. You're completely at their mercy, and you just have to suck it up and pay. It was the only damper on the night (yes, even including the stitches).