4 Island Speedbooat Tour - Krabi

The last week of the trip will be spent in the Krabi area, including Koh Phi Phi (where I am now). The Phi Phi islands are part of the Krabi province and about an hour from Krabi Marina. I stayed in a villa in Krabi just above Ao Nang beach, filled with restaurants and tourist shops. About 50% of this area was open and I had 2 tours cancel on me until I found one with enough people to let it ride. A tour is just the best way to explore all of the nearby islands vs. having to book a water taxi to each one. But first order of business immediately upon arrival…rent the best machine ever developed by man/woman, the Honda Click 125cc. 0 to 100km/h (metric guy now) in a minute flat. First stop was the best tailor in Krabi, and maybe anywhere in Thailand, King’s Fashion. It usually takes 2-3 fittings (3 days) to get a perfectly tailored suit to fit your body. I ordered 2 suits the first fitting, then somehow by the 3rd fitting I had 3 suits, a winter blazer, and 4 shirts. I couldn’t resist, the cost was just so much less than the US (time to get dressy in SD).

I honestly hated the sales guy though. I kept telling myself, he’s just excited to see a customer, let him be. Imagine a used car salesman that pops the trunk and is also selling snake oil. Literally spewing lies left and right, pretending to almost die when you say it’s too expensive (First offer was. Same price as US tailor). All I had to do was read reviews to find out what a “final price” was. “Please let’s not do the back and forth dramatic negotiations, it reminds me of work,” I said. He went on and on about how I’m his favorite customer and his boss is going to give him 20 lashes then lock him in a dungeon for a week if he finds out I was given these rates. I eventually just said in the nicest way, please stop, I’ll pay whatever you want if you just stop talking. He even tried adding 5% PayPal fees at the end because he forgot the credit card machine (I spent almost a grand so Thai Baht wasn’t an option) and sent me a charge with a note which read “please cover the 5% 🙏🏿 .” I said no shot, and he replied “no worries at all, I’ll take care of it.” I won’t single out where he was from but he wasn’t Thai. Regardless, the tailor work and quality was really well done so all smiles here.

Ok back to the tour, as always, the boat was almost 100% Thai tourists…and then me, until we picked up 2 women from Spain at Railay. Per usual, everyone stares at me like they haven’t seen an American in a while, or ever. I’m used to it by now, I politely smile when I catch them. Sometimes I forget I’m wearing a mask so I always make sure to do a quick dip of the head, a condensed version of a bow. I usually get one in return. First stop was the famous Railay Beach. I had no idea it was a very popular location for rock climbing and if I hadn’t injured my big toe a while back (it’s taking 6 months for my toenail to grow back, sorry TMI), I would be 100% down, it looked awesome. The cliffs and jagged rock from the cave hanging over the water is beautiful. There were two signs at the beach I couldn’t ignore…1) jellyfish fucking everywhere, beware and 2) Portuguese man of war jelly fish spotted, be fucking aware. If you don’t know what that is, ask the Google. That to me is equivalent of a sign for sharks, so I chilled on the beach.

We stopped at 3 more islands and snorkeled at 1 one of them. The islands are stunning. They remind of the islands in the Bahamas but a lot more flora, fauna, and landscape. Bohemian waters are a light blue everywhere, these waters were an emerald green, and every shade of blue. Visibility wasn’t great because it was cloudy but the water is literally bathtub temp. I met a 14 year old Thai kid that approached me with, “You are an American right?” I said yep, technically. “I have questions,’’ he said. I laughed and said “Ok, go.” His English was very basic and I’ve learned on this trip to speak slowly and get rid of all slang. “Are there sharks and snakes where you are from? I like sharks and snakes.” “Yep, big ones, that eat people.” I replied. We went on for 30 minutes about sharks, snakes, free diving (his clear attempt at flexing his skills which I gladly entertained to make him feel like a boss), the jungle, and tv shows/movies. His dad watched from a distance smiling and bowing at me every time I looked.

Soon, everyone on the boat wanted to ask me something. I really just want to wear a t-shirt that says, “I’m approachable I promise. No, I am not famous or an athlete. I have 2 Moderna vaccines (that is a very common question and people are stoked when they hear Moderna like it represents royalty or something)” in Thai. That night for dinner I went to CoNam, which was very highly rated. Of course per usual, I’m the only one there. I start to chat it up with the server and I asked about that. He said they used to serve over 800 people per day. The food was the best Thai I’ve had so far on the trip and it cost be less than $10. Massaman Curry was fire. The chicken skewers with spicy peanut sauce, fire. Crispy roti, fire. Again, I tell him I’m a chef because I hope it makes them feel good about their food. Again, it works. He wants to tell me all about it. He stands and watches me finish my food from a distance. I keep looking over, he keeps smiling at me, I keep giving him a thumbs up. This warms my heart, and what it’s all about honestly.

People are always curious about why I went to cooking school, and it’s really simple as I described in an earlier post. It brought me closer to one of a few universal languages, food, something that brings people together regardless of anything else. I can only think of art/music and love being the other two. Food is an expression of love, creativity, and culture. My next post will include a similar food experience after my next boat tour yesterday.Læs mere