Miracle on Thai

Sometimes you have a day when miracles happen. Not walking on water or anything like that, but the tiny miracles that make life perfect.

The day started the night before, actually. We were eating dinner in the small town on Koh Ya Noi at a Welsh-run, streetside restaurant. While there, we bumped into a few Americans making their living on the island. Tim is teaching English to both children and adults on a one-year program. Hector and his mother Barbara are here building a dream house and living the good life.

It was the final night of a special fundraising festival for one of the secondary schools on the island. We tagged along and were warmly welcomed by southern Thailand hospitality. Childrren were dancing, food was offered, and of course, fireworks were going off. We took in some karaoke at a coffe bar set up off to the side of the stage with Tim and talked about his life on the island. He was greeted every ten seconds by another one of his students. It was like walking around with a celebrity. They took pictures with him, shook his hands, wanting to meet his white friends.


Even though Tim may look serious here, he was a California chiller through and through

Afterwards Tim, Rachel, Andy and I popped over to a bar near our bungalow and saw a trio of musicians with their acoustic set up performing with the beach and sea as their crowd. We ordered some Thai Whiskey and soda water and drank and listened to the politcally charged songs. Like Bob Marley before them, the group performed sweet songs about strife and inaction in their native land. Tim, who speaks solid Thai, was translating lyrics for us and the evening took on a whole new meaning.

Two other Americans walked into the bar. One was a science teacher from the Bangkok area and the other was his friend from home, Minnesota, who was here on holiday. Eric comes to Koh Ya Noi often for his breaks from teaching and Lee was basking in a slight sunburn, jet lag and Beer Chang. (Because there are two Erics in this story, we will call science teacher Eric, “El Hog” because I learned from Lee that that was his hometown nickname.)

Discussions ranged from Bob Dylan and Prince, living abroad, life in an insurance office cube, and Christmas in paradise. We learned that El Hog, Lee and Tim were going on an island hopping boat trip the next morning with their friend Guy, a 39-year-old Thai man who was, as everyone describes him, “the shit.” He was cool, funny, happy, good looking, long haired and peaceful. And his infectious smile and good English skills made him an asset worth more than gold.

His father came to the islands and taught the local fisherman how to use nets to catch fish. He was also a local storyteller. He passed along his skills to his son and Guy now runs tours and teaches those he encounters about their surroundings and the history attached to it all.


Lookin' good and ready for our boat trip!

The trip for the morning was set. We were to meet on the beach near our bungalow to be picked up by Guy and a recently shalacked long-tail boat rented for the day. Our captain Aup was all smiles as well and full of life. All the guys played the Thai version of hackysack on the beach while waiting for Hector and Barbara to meet us. The girls napped on the sand in the shade. As we waited, two women staying at our bungalows passed by and were invited to come along on the journey. German Kirsten and Swiss Karen, apprehensive at first by being invited on a boat by a bunch of guys on the beach they didn’t know, let the flow of miracles continue and jumped onboard with only a moment’s thought.


The perfect still life picture with the flops, bananas, hat. This was taken during our lovely trip through the small islands

It was Christmas Day and there I was, cruising on a private tour of heaven with whipping wind, strong sun and new friends. We stopped at a sand bar beach caused by the high tides and frollicked in the sand and got to know each other. We drank beers, smoked cigarettes and prompted Guy for local lore. He was a bit subdued but every now and then you would get a nugget of material about the naming and formation of the uninhabited islands.

Moving on, we motored through an opening in one of the islands to a mangrove lagoon with crystal blue waters, starfish littering the sandy bottom and karst rock formations towering above us like Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Everyone went off exploring the shady undersides where the rock met the water. Kirsten, Andy and I held back and floated face up in the warm waters. As if it were harder to get any more mellow and happy than we all already were, the vibe settled into a comfortable zen-like experience. It was one of those moments when you knew something special was happening.


We were exploring the mangrove lagoon and we thought we had everyone. Rachel was going all Jacque Coustea on us and we almost left her alone in the water taking pictures of leaves. She snapped this of all of us after we realized she was missing

We carried on to other hot spots with many other people that rented boats looking for the same thing we were. Some were a little too crowded for our tastes so we moved on to a stretch of beach close to our island and completely empty. Because of the tides, the beach at Ko Hong was curled like a lower-case R into the sea. A small group took a rock-scampering hike to the top of the tiny island while a few others stayed on the beach to be still and quiet for a moment.

I don’t speak Thai and our boat captain Aup didn’t speak English. The two of us were on the beach while the others were seeking their spectacular view. We tried to communicate and then began using the sand as a blackboard to write our names. He would write mine in Thai and I would write his in English. We “talked” about riding Harleys and Choppers and The Eagles song Hotel California. He hummed the melody while throwing in the word California at the appropriate time.


That's me from the peak of one of the islands we hit. Rach went with the group to the top, while I stayed down below practicing my hackysack and learning hot to write my name in Thai

Our boat trip was complete and we headed back to the main island. Just then, a beautiful miracle popped up as Guy and Tim invited everyone to their friend’s birthday party. He owned one of the smallish-bungalow resorts on the island and was treating whoever got the invite to a buffet-style dinner of prawns, crabs, squid, and bottomless drinks.

With only an hour to prepare, Rachel, Andy and I took our cold showers and rinsed off the salty buildup that covered our bodies. Refreshed and looking festive, we headed out to Lamlai Resort and settled into the Thai hospitality that was coarsing through this Koh Ya Noi’s veins.

Rat, the birthday boy, had never met us but on this island that seems to be more of a reason for an out-of-the-blue invite. He welcomed us with hugs and smiles and said, “Everything free, come! It is my birthday!” Everyone from the boat was there as well as Tim’s co-teacher Joy, a Thai woman with a generous face and warm eyes. Also on hand were a couple of travellers from Washington DC on a yearlong trip like us.


This is Guy with barbara on his chair and Hector off to the side. Not the best picture but a great shot of Guy's intensely laid back vibe. This was from the birthday party after a couple of drinks

The evening was spent drinking whiskey and beers while telling stories and stargazing. There was a quick bout of fire dancing that took over the grassy field we were hanging on. The mood was festive as Rat’s local friends began to play their guitars and sing together versions of popular southern Thai songs. The guitar players were the same guys playing in the bar the night before. And we found out later that they were famous in the area for their songs.


(Nice work Rach on this picture. She had already downed four thai rum drinks before snapping this photo. That in itself makes this one even more impressive)

As the night wound down, the sun from the day and liquor from the evening were wearing on all of us. We huddled in a large circle and listened to the songs and I couldn’t help but think about the moments from the day that will forever be stained into my brain.

We stumbled onto this island through a roundabout recommendation and were apprehensive about the lack of information we could dig up about the place before we arrived. There is not much the tourbooks can say, logistically, about Koh Ya Noi; two paragraphs would suffice. But in our week living here we have learned more about Thai culture and their way of life than any other place we visited. We were met with hospitality and generosity at every turn and consider this slice of Thailand a hidden gem that will forever be on our radar of places to return.