Travelogue#13:Still in Ko Phangan

March 7, 2006

Well I am in Haad Rin on Ko Phangan which is the second most populated town on the island and located in the south eastern corner of the island. Women aren't shy about going topless here. I keep forgetting to put sunscreen on when I go to the beach and come back burnt. I am going for that 4th degree burn kind of look. Ko Phangan offers many different things from partying in Haad rin, and diving, to yoga and meditation retreats throughout the island.

I switched bungalows from the coral bungalow in Haad Rin to Macs resort which is in "Baan Tai". They are white plastered bungalows right on the beach which kind of reminded me of Greece with their whitewash buildings. Unfortunately my bungalow is the only one that doesn't have a hammock and the fan doesn't work. The water at this beach is only 18 inches high all the way out so not great for swimming. And the scooter they rented me doesn't have good brakes. They don't believe in putting their money back into their business since they have a brand new 4x4 truck.

I was riding my scooter through one of the main towns when I saw Alex from Sweden walking down the street with a swedish woman. At first I didn't believe it was him because the last we spoke in Vietnam he was off to Laos and then into China. I first met Alex in Hue with a group of other solo travellers at a western bar and then we met again a week later on our boat ride out to Halong bay. He is in one of the pictures I sent. He said he was also sick of the bus and craved beaches again and had met a Swedish woman named "Anna" a couple months ago on one of Thailands islands "Ko Mak" and kept in touch with her through email. I told him I was going to the "Muay Thai" fights tonight and I made arrangements to pick him up on my scooter since he didn't have one and was using the taxi to get everywhere which is expensive for a backpacker. There are boxing stadiums all over the island. I think I counted 5 of them. A truck with a big sign promoting the upcoming matches cruises around the island with a loud speaker promoting the fights in english.

Alex and I got ringside tickets for $500 baht ($15cdn) (In Bangkok it costs $1500 baht) and met some people from Canada. I asked where abouts in Canada they were from and they said Vancouver Island and then I asked where abouts again and they said Campbell river. I asked if they knew my cousins "Jamie and Steven Holt" and they laughed and said they went to school with them and are good friends with Steven. Small world eh?

There were 7 matches with 5 rounds per fight. 60% of the fights didn't go the distance and were big knock outs where the loser was knocked unconscious. Muay Thai martial arts is 700 years old and still developing. They wore only 8 ounce boxing gloves (regular boxing gloves are 16 ounce) and can punch, kick, knee, and elbow and grapple. I only saw one elbow used and it was a "knock out elbow" blow as they grappled along the ropes on the inside one guy hit the other guy with a snappy elbow hook to the side of the face and the other guy dropped like a sack of potatoes. It is a barbaric sport when you compare it to regular boxing but it is an old Thai tradition. There isn't a lot of rules and they will even wrestle each other to the ground or throw the other guy off balance. They do their dance rituals in the beginning which is a tribute to their trainers. The winner gets $30,000 baht ($1000 cdn) and the loser $20,000 ($650 cdn) according to a thai who was seated behind us. I think the average Thai here on the island makes only $5000 baht per month working in the bungalows. The fights are constant action and both fighters are aggressive which is counted as points on the score cards if it goes the distance. The first fight I thought was the best since one of the Thai fighters had huge thighs and was aggressive about knocking out the little guy in the red corner. We placed phoney bets on the fighters and I thought the big guy would win based on his strong legs but he got tired in the 3rd round after chasing the little guy and the little guy picked up the tempo of the fight in the middle of the 3rd round and knocked the big guy out cold. There are no weight divisions because size means nothing in this sport. These guys are quick and tireless and it only takes one blow to knock an opponent unconscious and that is usually after another guy gets tired. These matches are way more exciting than regular boxing matches because the action is constant even in the clinches they don't break up the fighters but they knee and elbow each other in the clinches.

The next day I just drove around the island on my scooter checking out all the beaches and then met up with Alex and Anna at their beach in "Haad Yao" for 5 hours chatting on the beach and then came home for a nap before going out to the half moon party which other travelers had told me to go out to. Unfortunately after 2 hours of napping I realized I was not going anywhere and was far too tired to even move. I told Alex I would meet him in "Ko Samui" tomorrow (Thursday) and will stay anywhere from 4-6 days before moving on to Krabi and then Phuket where I will spend the remaining 30 days of my visa exemption pass before moving onto Malaysia and Indonesia.

Kevin