lisbonchick

We’re definitely not used to the cold anymore! It was so good to come back to Thailand and be warm again. Thailand does feel like home, it is comfortable, familiar and we love it here. So, why are you moving, I hear you ask… When we decided to leave everything behind it was for an adventure, for variety, for a different way of life. Staying in one place is not what we want and Africa beckons. We had 3 places we were considering: Mozambique, Senegal and Turkey. There were jobs for both of us in all those countries but Mozambique came first. Now for the paperwork! And so it starts. We have spent the last 2.5 months getting phase one sorted and what a headache it has been – there is more to come but we will get there.

2023 saw the year of the Rabbit – Chinese Lunar Year with 15 day long celebrations. There are quite a few Chinese temples in Phuket so this is a popular celebration here and all over Thailand. We went into Phuket Town to see the sights and enjoy the party atmosphere.

As it is out last year in Thailand, we had to decide which places we wanted to visit for the last time; we settled on Koh Phayam. One of our favourite places ever. It is such a beautiful, chilled island, no cars and not much there. There is one ATM on the island and it doesn’t always work so good to take some cash with you. No 711s, no high rise buildings, only small local shops, simple bars and restaurants. One of few places where you can still get a simple bungalow on the beach! It’s the sort of place where you could get stuck for months…

Job To Do is well known all over Thailand! His music has made a massive impact on Thai country and folk music with his unique blend of reggae. He has had a huge influence on the popularity of reggae music in Thailand and he plays all over. He has played many times in Phuket and somehow I never managed to see him. As luck would have it, there he was on Koh Phayam right next to our hotel! Great music, they played for over 3 hours and what a great atmosphere, sand between our toes and a very chilled crowd. You can read more about him on here: https://phanganist.com/koh-phangan-party-musician-article/story-job2do-thailands-most-successful-reggae-act.

I’m a sucker for hand painted signs, so here a few from the island.

I think we managed to explore most of the island on this second visit but there was a beach we had missed last time. It turned out to be one of our faves in the end. It had a road sign “beautiful rock by the sea” which was intriguing. As it turned out, there were many rocks by the sea and it was rather beautiful. I think the beach is called Khaokwai beach, not entirely sure as the signs point to the rocks and I saw no beach name.

And so ends our trip to Phayam – we will miss you! Back to Ranong and Phuket. Until next time…