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July 14, 2004
Movie: The Beach
Ok, its probably time I tell you about my overall experience of Ko Phan Ngan, and how it relates to the movie ‘The Beach’, as I’ve already told some of you there are some interesting parallels. It probably wont matter if you haven’t seen it yet, I’m not giving much of the movie away, but you might want to watch it first if you get disappointed by hearing about endings before seeing the movie (easily guessable, however I’m not scripting the movie here).
I bought and watched The Beach on the last night I had on Ko Pha Ngan, it had a… (now, now Dan, be creative) an emotional effect on me. Firstly, it was very cool to see some of the places I was/had been, on the film. Khao San Road is pretty much the same as they showed it, albeit a few years more advanced. Ko Samui is not exactly how they show it. It IS touristy and populated, and full of ladyboys and ladygirls, but take pictures of Ko Samui and add a McDonalds, Star Bucks, Pizza Hut, etc. and remove the dodgy-ass bud he’s riding on (turn it into a Taxi or Songthaew) then you’ll have a clearer picture of my impression of Ko Samui – Chaweng Beach in particular. Ko Pha Ngan ‘can’ look the way they represented it, but only at about midnight, once every month (yes folks, full moon party night). Otherwise, it’s nowhere near as busy as they make it out to be, and far less obnoxious. Also, that is only a representation of Hat Rin (town of full moon party) – other areas of the island are much less populated and less ‘impacted’.
My time on Ko Pha Ngan were kind of like Leo’s (I don’t remember the character’s name) time on ‘The Beach’ – in that it became a total time-warp, totally enclosed and separated from reality. It is an absolute party island (especially Hat Rin, but also elsewhere), and can very easily suck you into a routine of Partying hard at night, sleeping and sunbaking during the day. Day in, day out, it’s a fantastic dream world. I loved it. But – and there’s always a But – I can’t live like that forever. It’s great for a holiday, fantastic to get away for a few weeks, but especially when you’re on borrowed, interest-charged money, some aspects of reality work their way back in.
In contrast to being on an isolated island like in The Beach, Hat Rin does have mobile coverage and internet access, so there IS the ability to stay in touch with the outside world, but the motivation is generally lacking (due to being ‘in’ the party mode, or trying to sleep it off!). For me, it was a wild time of partying, but don’t get me wrong, you don’t HAVE to do that if it’s not your thing. I am now officially recommending Ko Pha Ngan to all travellers (ok, so if you’ve got kids its more of a hassle – maybe Ko Samui), young and old, single or coupled. As a seasoned traveller once told me, “Ko Pha Ngan has everything Ko Samui has, but none of the stuff you don’t want” – KB. I absolutely agree. It’s great…. From the fire twirling beach nightlife on Hat Rin, to the tucked away beauties of Thong Noi Pan and other smaller beaches, it’s all there. I mentioned this a few times while I was there, and I’ll say it again, “Ko Pha Ngan is a tropical bloody paradise island”.
Anyway, back to the movie. Once you get beyond what I’ve talked about, it goes a bit weird, which has no relation to me at all ;), and you don’t need to kill to stay on Ko Pha Ngan either :). However, once all the weirdness is over, and they all return to their previous lives, I can definitely relate to ‘experience’ being a single, enclosed, untouched memory. The idea of sitting in an internet café, looking at a photo of the experience, thinking it was out of this world, and that it might well be a parallel universe :).
Absolutely magic. I will definitely be going back to Ko Pha Ngan, probably for holidays, probably not for more than a few weeks (partying can be expensive, even in an inexpensive country).
Posted by Dan at July 14, 2004 02:42 AM