SE Asia VIII - Corrupted

The above picture was taken at Koh Panyee a Muslim fishing village in Ao Phang Nga. I didn't want this picture. I was strolling through the market when a monkey appeared under one arm, another on the other, and a ladyboy on the other side. It cost me 100B. I could have refused to pay, but I was impressed by their speed and dexterity. In Australia people pay 1000B for a picture with a Koala bear which craps on them, and they don't get a ladyboy in theirs either. The reason I have displayed this picture is because it illustrates how parts of Thailand have been corrupted by Western tourism.

On my travels I have met many people who have been to Thailand. They have all said how friendly the Thai people are. Once I got to Malaysia I met a couple of travellers who told me a different story. They found that Thailand had been corrupted by the tourist baht. They said that when Thais smiled at you they were actually cringing on the inside. The picture illustrates exactly what these travellers told me. However, it is not representative of the whole of Thailand. The corruption has taken place in Western ghettos. The amount of money has attracted Thais who want to get as much baht out of the Westerners as possible and the locals who have remained have become jaded by tourism. In Koh Panyee the local people would not make eye contact with you. If I said hello they would respond but they would not instigate it. A complete contrast to the way Thai people were in Trang and on the islands of Koh Libong and Koh Sukorn.


I was in Koh Panyee on an overnight trip into Ao Phang Nga. Ao Phang Nga is a beautiful area of limestone karst cliffs. The two main tourist attractions are Koh Panyee fishing village and James Bond Island. Boat loads of tourists visit both attractions each day from Phuket. I did my trip from Phang Nga in a long boat. There are two main tour operators in Phang Nga, Mr Kean and Sayan. If you get the bus into Phang Nga the first person to greet you will be Mr Kean. He speaks excellent English and is friendly (although he cools off once you pay for a tour). Sayan and Mr Kean charge the same money for the same trips. I had a problem on my tour because we were going to be left on a floating barge for an hour while 4 people in the boat went off kayaking for an hour. I phoned Mr Kean and complained. He got us moved to James Bond Island. He protested his innocence and insisted it had been a mistake and it would not normally happen. The other problem with the tour was that the boat man did not speak English. If you like your tour guides to keep quiet this is the tour for you. Also bear in mind that you will be sitting in a long boat on wooden planks for the best part of 7 hours and if you go to the outer islands it can get a bit bumpy in the long boat.


James Bond Island is an island that was used in the Man with the Golden Gun. It is a pretty island. Unfortunately it is covered in tourist stalls. These stalls sell the usual tourist tat and the only thing James Bond related is a t-shirt with James Bond Island written on it. The island gets extremely busy when the boats from Phuket arrive. A big tourist activity is kayaking. I envisage kayaking as a solitary or small group of canoes activity. In Ao Phang Nga there is one area where they have huge barges moored. A Thai guy sits on the end of your inflatable canoe and does the paddling, with hundreds of other inflatable canoes.

In saying that I thoroughly enjoyed my day and night in Ao Phang Nga and would recommend it. Koh Panyee is well worth visiting. It is quite something to wander around the village on stilts and it is better to stay overnight because then you get to see it when all the tourists have gone. I stayed at Panyee Bungalows and had an excellent meal while the sunset and a thunderstorm passed by. Ao Phang Nga is a big area so whilst certain areas get busy with the boats from Phuket in a long boat you can find places all to yourself.

If you do want to meet local friendly Thais all you have to do is visit Phang Nga (on the mainland). I was sitting in the bus station and got chatting to Bud. I'm not sure what Bud's job was but it involved being at the bus station. He had lived in Phang Nga all his life. Bud's English wasn't the best and my Thai is practically non-existent even when accompanied with a phrasebook. We still managed to have a very entertaining chat for an hour whilst waiting for my bus to turn up. We got talking about the King (I was wearing one of my 'I love the King' t-shirts). We were sitting in a cafe, the owner of the cafe brought out a picture of the King at a banquet with other monarchs. Prince Andrew was standing in the background beaming from ear to ear. We had a good long look at this. The cafe owner disappeared with the framed picture and then brought out the picture as a gift to me. Bud and I then moved on to talking about football, he is a big fan of David Beckham, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney. (I might suggest bringing England footballer pictures as presents for the locals). Bud even spoke to the bus company on the phone to check what time my bus would be arriving. The reason why I mentioned that I don't know what Bud's job was is because he gained nothing from helping or chatting to me. He was just being Thai. He wasn't acting alone either. There were various Thai people who took part in the chat or were looking on smilingly (apart from the cafe owner who didn't say anything even after presenting the gift of the picture of the King).