For five weeks in January and February of '98 I was lucky enough  
 to find myself planted on the southern Thai island of Ko Pha-Ngan. It 
 was my second visit to the island, having spent two magical weeks there 
 while touring Thailand for a month the previous year. Ko Pha-Ngan can 
be  the type of place that inspires one to get a tattoo and fall in love - 
 with life. It can leave you with stars in your eyes and sunshine in 
your  heart. 

    Ko Pha-Ngan is the middle of 3 main islands found in a line of 
 descending order in size and population off the east coast of southern 
 Thailand. Surat Thani is the mainland gateway to these well traveled 
 islands - Ko Samui, Ko Pha-Ngan and Ko Tao - which are situated among a 
 scattering of some 80 odd other smaller islands - a total of only 6 
 which are reportedly populated. Ko Samui, Ko Pha-Ngan and Ko Tao are 
 linked together and to the mainland via regular ferry service. 

    Ko Samui is the fisrt of the 3 islands and the largest at about 25km 
 long and 21km wide. It's a beautiful tropical paradise that's in the 
 fast lane to becoming a full fledged tourist resort. With the completion 
 of an airport in 1987, it is rapidly being overrun by luxury type 
hotels  and rich Europeon tourist touting matching luggage instead of 
backpacks.  Fat Western men picking up Thai prostitutes half their age amid 
flashing  nean, gigantic nightclubs and drunken scotter drivers. This is mostly 
 confined to Hat Chaweng - arguably the most beautiful beach on the 
 island and excellent for swimming. Of course you can get away from that 
 whole scene. And even at Chaweng you can still find a basic bungalow 
for  less than $3 American a night. But if you want to go out at night, 
 that's what's there. And the fact that it's there at all shapes the 
 whole feel of the island. It can be fun for a couple nights of 
partying,  shopping and people watching, but it can leave you grasping for your 
 ferry ticket out.

     The third and smallest island, at 21sq km, is the scuba diving 
 mecca of Ko Tao. A further 44km north of Ko Pha-Ngan, Ko Tao is 
 reportedly beautiful and tranquil with little else to do than dive and 
 snorkle. I have yet to actually make it there myself, despite much talk 
 and planning. On my two seperate trips to Thailand so far, I have only 
 made it as far as Ko Pha-Ngan - then gotten stuck.

    Ko Pha-Ngan is nearly as big as Ko Samui. Its two main towns, Thing 
 Sala and Hat Rin, are connected by a recently paved rollercoaster of a 
 road that leaves your head spinning as you jump out of the truck taxi. 
 The views from along the drive are spectacular, especially if you catch 
them at as the sun is setting amid the palm trees and sparking blue 
ocean.

    In its own way Ko Pha-Ngan is every bit as touristy as Ko Samui - 
 it's just the predominant type of tourist and what they come for that 
 makes it different; in Hat Rin at least. Twenty-something vagabonds 
from all corners of the globe and walks of life in search of a tropical 
 paradise and the infamous all night all day party scene at less that $3 
 American a night for a bungalow. 

    Not everyone comes for the parties. There are lots of differnt ways 
 to enjoy your space on Ko Pha-Ngan. But it's a big part of the world 
 there, colminating in Hat Rin. And it's the world that I slipped into. 
 As with my accounts of Ko Samui and Ko Tao, your experience may be 
 different again. But this is what I saw and felt and experienced - and 
I  know that many people will be able to relate.

    Some people say that Hat Rin has had its hey day, and in a way it 
 has. You have to be a lot more careful of the police than you ever used 
 to. Parties sometimes get shut down early if there aren't enough people 
 to make the bribe to the police worthwhile. But the magic is still 
there  to be found and there's still dancing barefoot in the ocean, digging in 
 as the sunrises. High on life. 

    Both trips to Ko Pha-Ngan I have stayed predominantly in Hat Rin, 
 spending more time in my hammok than bungalow. (There are also 
beautiful  more secluded beaches to be found on the island). Hat Rin is located on 
 the southern tip of the island. It's a unique place in that you can 
 enjoy the sunrise and the sunset with not even a 10 minute walk between 
 the two sides of the island. Cheap bungalows scatter both sides, alough 
 sunset is quieter. Not an air conditioned acccomodation in sight - 
 you're lucky to get a fan.

    Hat Rin - renowned for it's all night full moon and ear splitting 
 rave parties. One running into the next. Night into day into night. 
 Heaven on earth as scantily clad, sweaty bodies splashed in glowing 
body  paint give themselves up to the speakers for the night - gathered like 
 flies around a flickering light. Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch. You can feel the music 
 take your body over. Speed and ecstasy popped like vitamins. Eye candy. 
 Sometimes it's enough just to watch and take it all in.

    Hat Rin has a totally different than Hat Chaweng on Ko Samui. 
 Barefeet rule. Only foot traffic with the odd scooter or taxi. No neon 
 (only blacklights). Dirt roads and hammocks hammocks and more hammocks. 
 Your days and nights get turned around and inside out. You become part 
 of your environment. At one with the ants and geckos and dogs. Sleeping 
 at crazy times, when you do manage to sleep. The surreal becomes the 
 real.Instantaneous connections with people.

    And coming into this after having spent the last 12 months living 
and  teaching English in South Korea - a Confucionist culture where just 
 being a foreigner is enough to warrent a stare. Never mind body 
 piercings, tattoos, bareskin, green hair, body paint, and dancing 
 barefoot anywhere you feel the need. Coming from Korea it was like 
 stepping into Never Never land more than ever when I descended from 
that  ferry onto Ko Pha-Ngan soil.

    It's a playground out there. It's all one big playground. The same 
 rules apply. Don't take what isn't yours. Share. Watch out for scary 
men  (the police). Sometimes you scrape your knees, but they'll heal. And 
 sometimes you make it to the top of the jungle gym. Queen of the 
castle. And you know what? It's a pretty spectacular view from up there. Some 
 pretty amazing sunrises and sunsets. Cause at the end of the day, when 
 all is said and done, the sun still sets and it's still going to rise 
 tomorrow.

    It's sad when another night of dancing barefoot under the stars 
 starts coming to an end. Magic fading along with the electric glow of 
 bangles, beads and body paint as the sunshine outdistances the 
 blacklights. Like awakening from a dream. But dancing in the sunshine 
as  it pokes its head out from under the ocean to sunkiss another day, at 
 that moment as you feel the ocean pull the sand out from under your 
feet  and between your toes - you know to the core of your soul, as if 
 reminded, that anything is possible. And you're so happy to be in the 
 present. The right then and there. Music moving your body and 
recharging  your spirt. Energy connecting on the dance floor. One perfect moment 
 riding the tail of another. Mystic eyes and sweaty bodies. Worlds 
 colliding and merging. The same familiar faces blissing out in the 
 mornings next to the speakers, again and again. Families of friends 
 forming. (Where are you lot from? England, Canada, Sweden, Israel, 
 America, Thailand...)

    Someone is always up for a little dancing, splitting a mushy 
omelette,  an adventure, a bhanglasse, Sangtip and Coke (in a watermelon of 
 course), slippery nipples, a mission, a little brown trucker, a doobie. 
 All under the intoxicating backdrop of palm trees, white sand that 
melts  between your toes, beautiful people, beautiful dancing, sunshine, 
 butterflies and aqua blue bathtub of an ocean. It's frenzied and 
 laid back in one gulp. Tranquil and explosive.

    Everyone, someone is always ready to go off. All orchestrated by DJs 
 dishing out healthy helpings of pulsating, body possessing vibrations. 
 It's the music that's the heartbeat of Hat Rin. You can't get it out of 
 your head and legs some mornings. And people's energy bouncing off each 
 other. That and the music. One fuels the other until they are 
 inseperable. A circle of energy engulfing a magical world - where when 
 you wake up you're never sure where you'll end up, when you'll finally 
 sleep again, let alone in what hammock. And knowing that you've got so 
 many fantastic adventures awaiting you inbetween. Lurking around 
corners  and under palm trees. Waiting to jump out and suprise you and make you 
 glad you're alive to experience it.

    Sure all the usual scrapes and bruises of traveling apply - 
sometimes  more than normal. But there's something about the feeling of regaining 
 your health after being dog sick for a week or two that actually makes 
 you feel and appreciate the energy of being well - a natural 
 rush. And there's also something about spending a week laid up in a 
 hammock with a fever that's bearable. Especially with a million dollar 
 view off the edge of your bungalow. Banana shakes, paracetamol, and 
 little brown truckers to keep you going. That and the energy from the 
 fantastic family of friends that is born in a world as magical as Hat 
 Rin. Cause it's the characters and the strangers and the dance floor 
 friends and the party with every night friends and the soulmate friends 
 and the taxi ride friends- it's the people, as with any place, that 
 sends Hat Rin to another level.
    Then poof. It's gone. Visas expire, money runs out, plane tickets 
 come up, jobs start, you need to go somewhere to chill. Friends are 
 scattered like seeds across the globe, to explore new places. People 
 that were your entire world, there one day and gone the next - 
completely  beyond your grasp except in your memory. As you rocket 
forward into a  new world. Back to Bangkok. Onto the next adventure. 
Happy to know that  that world is there - a home. Knowing that your next 
visit may be  fantastic too. Maybe you've even got fantastic adventures ahead 
of you right then. But sad to know that that exact world will never happen 
 again. Not with that same family of friends. Not quite that same 
energy. 

 Impermanence - the only rule to ever learn.  But there's power to be found too.
You have faith that there are   other fantastic places out there to explore and
magical people to meet   and worlds to collide. And you still don't always know
where you'll end   up at the end of the day. And there's still an amazing sunrise and 
sunset  everyday. And you can dance anywhere, anytime. And that ultimately 
every  moment is divine.

       The following are excerts from my journal writen while 
       staying on Ko Pha-Ngan. 
 

 Jan15/98 

    I can feel everything slowing down. Red soil. White beaches. Green 
 Palm trees. Sky blue water swallowed by the sky. Fruit and Musleli. 
 Pineapple shakes. Hammocks. No time. All the time in the world.I can 
 feel Korea slipping out of my skin, my hair, my patience, my spirt. 
 Catching my breath. Paradise found.

 Jan18? 

               GUIDELINES TO BEACH LIFE IN THAILAND

   1. Spend as much time in the hammock as possible.
   2. Where as little clothes as possible (it's hot out there!)...
      change them seldom...sleep in them if possible.
   3. Barefeet.
   4. Bring your sarong
   5. Don't stand up too fast.
   6. Drink lots of friut shakes.
   7. Dance and swim (everyone needs a little exercise).
   8. Sunblock
   9. Watch the sunset (if you're awake) and the sunrise 
      (if you're still awake).
   10. Smoke many bongs (which oddly enough seems to co-inside 
       with hammock time).
   11. Never, ever trust a fart.
   12. Talk to strangers.
   13. Smile..just cause you are where you are.

 Jan24?

   "The price of self-destiny is never cheap and in certain situations
    it is unthinkable. But to achieve the marvelous, it is precisely
    the unthinkable that must be thought."
                                      - p.85 Jitterbug Perfume
                                             Tom Robbins

 Feb14

    Things are changing yet again. Travel can really fuck with my head 
 that way. I know it, but Korea was semi-permament. I haven't had my 
 heart strings tugged at like that with Ronen in awhile. Impermanence. 
 Roy and Ariel are gone too. Slippery Pete leaving tomorrow. Travel, as 
 life, is always full of good-byes. It's full of hellos too. But it's 
the  goodbyes that leave you with a lump in your thraot and a heavy heart. 
 Happy and thankful to have evn crossed paths in the fist place...but 
sad  too.

 Feb18

   Got a tattoo!!!A beautiful butterfly tattoo!!!!A Hat Rin butterfly. I 
 had so much fun playing with them that I gotta take one with me. My new 
 traveling buddy to fly me to my next adventure.
 

                *********BOOM BOOM*********
                  ******CHOOSE LIFE******* 

                                      - littlewing

Updated March 17, 2002

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