Singapore Nardis: Phuket, Thailand

The kids came for their first visit to Singapore in March. Luckily for them, Merck paid for the non-stop Singapore Air flight. It’s 19 hours long but all business class!

We decided we’d like to go to the beach for the first few days so they could relax while recuperating from jet-lag. The many beaches of Thailand are only a short flight from Singapore and we decided on Phuket. Phuket is an island on the west coast of the Malay peninsula with the Adaman Sea to the west and Phang Nga Bay and the Phuket Sea to the east. Bangkok is 425 miles to the north.

We stayed in northern Phuket away from the busier beaches of Patong and Karon in the lovely Aleenta resort. While we were there we decided to take a day-long boat trip to the Phi-Phi islands, Hong Krabi and Phang Nga Bay, the home of the James Bond Island, which is famous for it’s role in “The Man with Golden Gun” back in the 1970s.

Phi-Phi islands are known for their diving and snorkeling areas. They are also the islands on which the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. The islands are stunning and the snorkeling very good. Phi-Phi as well as Phuket were devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. In Phi-Phi the destruction of the unrestrained development was a blessing in disguise for the eco-system of the island.

As we traveled north toward Phang Nga Bay we visited Koh Hong Krabi. Koh means island and Hong means room and this particular Koh Hong is near the town of Krabi on the Thai peninsula. It’s called a room island because is has an eroded group of caves in the middle of the island which harbours a large lake with a small passage to the sea. When the tide is high long tail boats are able to enter the ‘room’ and visitors can swim in around in crystal clear water with a depth of around one metre.

From inside Koh Hong Krabi looking out to the sea.

We finished our travels at Phang Nga Bay, home of many other koh hongs and the much visited James Bond Island. Originally and locally known as Koh Tapu or Nail Island, it found fame in the 1974 Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun" which starred Roger Moore and Christopher Lee, as the three nippled arch-villain Scaramanga.

Nearby is the village on Koh Panyee. This is a remarkable village, the whole of it built out over water on stilts with a giant rock monolith guarding its rear. There are 1,485 people from 315 families who live permanently on Koh Panyee. All of them are the descendants, directly or indirectly, from one family who were the first people to settle on Koh Panyee some 200 years ago.

Our last night in Thailand we decided to head down to Patong Beach which is known for it’s clubs and bars. There were plenty of bars, shops and nightclubs all selling beer and other things that I won’t include on a blog that children might read! We did end up at Molly Malone’s - you can always count on the Irish! And we were very thankful we had made the decision to stay on a quieter beach.

The Thai people are very friendly and when meeting you make the Wai gesture - hands clasped together as if in prayer with a slight bow of the head. It is used to say hello without speaking but also as an sign of respect. This gesture is often incorporated with the Thai word “sawatdee,” an all-purpose Thai salutation. No need to distinguish between "good morning" and "good evening", "hello" and "goodbye": sawatdee covers it all. When parting, some say chohk dee, meaning "good luck". Chohk dee also serves as a substitute for "cheers", not in the British sense of "thanks", but in the old-fashioned sense of "may the road rise to meet you, may the wind always be at your back."