Hypertravel with Hardie #18: South Thailand

#18 South Thailand 2013 First the back story: my long coexistence with Asia, specifically SE Asia, is almost first and almost foremost with Thailand, beginning in 1992, mostly with Chiang Mai, to whatever extent anyone can truly circumvent Bangkok. That’s only logical, since CM is the main focus of Thailand’s handicraft trade, and that was my game back then, long since established, for at least a decade, in Latin America and looking to expand by this time. And, within five years, CM would be the central point of my business, even after I chose to live in Chiang Rai to the north. This is after spending almost half that same decade in Vietnam, and only gradually closing my business in Latin America. But my travel urge never really died, undergoing something of a minor peak around 1997, the year that I finally decided on Thailand, over Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam already mentioned. The logical goal then is to see all of Thailand, and if the Isaan northwest is the first goal; after Bangkok and the north, then soon the south presents itself as an equal if not better choice. Note that it is almost impossible to see all of Thailand in any one trip, so this narrative reflects that, as the south gradually became most important to me there. So, this trip starts in 2013, and focuses on the Songkhla are, where I would eventually go to ‘monk school’ in 2017. Still, all roads lead to Bangkok, and so that’s where this story starts, with bars, clubs, and pubs, ho hum. Fortunately, there’s a train straight to Songkhla. Christmas in Thailand: Songkhla I hadn't been in Songkhla in a dozen or so years, so jumped at the chance to put it back in the itinerary. After successively postponing and/or canceling trips to Bhutan and Burma, I was left with a hole in my schedule, so this fits the bill nicely. It's different. Normally when you think of southern Thailand, you think of tourist mega-resorts like upscale Phuket or backpacker havens Koh Samui, Pha Ngan or Tao. Then there are Koh Lanta, Krabi, Phi Phi, and countless others. Or if you're thinking about the dangerous and rebellious Thai Muslim 'three southern provinces', then you're talking Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani, or some other places that've made big bad news in the last decade's separation struggles. Then there are the boring provincial Thai cities of Nakhorn Sri Thamarat, Surat Thani, or others best known as transit points. Songkhla doesn't fit any of these easy categories. It has tourist interest, but almost no one goes there, Thais included. For one thing Songkhla's difficult—but scenic—position between sea and inland lake have kept organic growth slow, and access cumbersome. For another, its beaches have pine trees, not palms, and its most frequent visitors are likely Muslims from Malaysia, picnicking on the beach fully clothed. Songkhla likes to advertise itself as Thailand's original southern resort city, but that must date to a time when Marseilles was France's and Acapulco Mexico's. There are plenty of Western foreigners here, but they're not tourists; they're offshore oil workers. That's Songkhla's claim to wealth and fame, that and fishing and rubber plantations. Those workers all need entertainment, of course, so this is your last chance for whoring and drinking before the fundamentalist Muslim south, more fundamentalist than its Malay-national cousins across the border, I reckon. Sometimes you have to overstate a case just to make a point, I guess. The Thai southern separatists are more about politics than religion, anyway, I think, ethnic Malays who find themselves on the wrong side of the line that divides countries. There are many Thai-speaking Siamese on the other side, too, including many who reject the term 'Thai' for their ethnicity, 'Siamese' preferred. It's complicated. Songkhla itself is not so complicated, though, just bizniz and fun as usual, with only a few references to Malay language to remind one that danger is not far away. There are Muslims scattered over most all parts of Thailand, and for the most part coexistence is peaceful. And until recently, at least, with increasing fundamentalist sentiment, about the only distinction from other Thais was their refusal to eat pork, otherwise drinking and whoring with the rest. That has changed lately, at least somewhat. But Songkhla hasn't changed much, not from the first time I was here fifteen years ago, or the second time twelve years ago. That second time I fell in love and left precipitously rather than face the fact that the object of my affection was a special order for one of the local oil-field helicopter pilots. She needed money for her grandmother's hospital bill. By the time I knew what was happening, it was too late. She was an Isaan girl, and I'm sure long gone by now, but he may still be here. You never know. That little anecdote largely defines the situation here, foreigners with money all out of proportion to the locals' meager earnings, though earned locally, many of them Scots with experience in the North Sea, Saudi A, or even Nigeria. Fortunately I've done a stint as an oil-field roughneck, so I know the drill and the lingo. Most are pretty nice guys, too, albeit with usually only a tenuous relationship with the locals. So I gravitate to the bar with Nirvana on the play list, playing straight off of YouTube on a full-size screen, atmosphere more than making up for whatever the system lacks in fidelity. This is the Corner Bar, and Tom is the owner. He might as well be the King of Scotland, as far as I'm concerned. These guys are not stingy. For every drink I've bought, I think I've gotten at least two more free, often not even knowing who the generous donor is. I could get used to this, if I could get used to alcohol at all. I've been out of practice for years. There's only one rule: “No politics,” and that's probably wise, since there are US oil-field workers here, too. I doubt they voted for Obama. But after two nights of drinking, I'm in a daze. I really prefer an almost tee-total existence, like the last five years, but I also prefer some social intercourse, so you can't have it both ways. I'm teetering between a lost weekend and the dark night of my soul, uncertain as to how all of this plays out, while saving something for Christmas, at least, which should be interesting. It is, but I've had too much alcohol. These bloody Scots can drink me under the table. I should go see some more of the south while I've got the chance. Still it might be worth checking Songkhla out again, in a different season. If there's a dry season, then I don't know when it is. Floods were big in the news until recently, and even now it's cloudy and rainy much of the day... and hot. Any amount of exertion will yield an equivalent amount of water in the form of sweat, to the point that you might as well wash the item, since you'll have to wait for it to dry regardless. I do this two or three times a day, every day. It gets old. Thank God for air conditioning. Songkhla isn't perfect, but Thailand is something of a safe haven for me, and that's nice in many ways. I just have to define the terms. I'll be back. In South Thailand They Like it Hot... and Sweet The food down south, fierce and fiery, is renowned even amongst Thais for its spiciness. That includes yellow curries, and of course seafood, a welcome addition for us semi-vegetarians quickly backsliding into ovo-lacto-chicketarianism. Then there are the sweets, similar to the rest of Thailand, and heavily based on the use of coconut, or at least the 'milk' (not to be confused with the 'water'). This is native to the south, of course, and likely the point of dissemination toward the north, along with much of 'Thai' cuisine, curries originally from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Indian sub-continent, in my theory, at least. There is also 'Muslim food', which is really not so much different, to be honest, and which I take to be vindication of my theory of southern origins. Still they make a distinction in numerous eateries, mostly in the oldest part of town. You won't find pork, there, though, that's for sure, and that's the main difference. BTW be careful with the coconut milk. Over-indulgence can have a constipatory effect, as I found out the hard way years ago during a brief love affair with sticky rice and mango. That's a triple whammy I don't want to repeat. That's What I Like About the South—Thailand, that is... If southern Thailand is a masala mix of tourism, ex-pats, rebellion, and boredom, then Trang somehow finds itself at the center of it all. And while it has few attractions of its own in the city proper, that in and of itself is one of the attractions. That is a Backpacker Principle: authentic is better, as long as it's not boring. Trang is not, though I have yet to see a go-go or 'dark side' (a la Songkhla) bar, good deal. It doesn't have the old-fashioned and well-defined Sino-Portuguese shop-house district of Songkhla, but that's an anomaly in Thailand peculiar to Songkhla. At the same time it's got more than the typical boring layout of 50's-era Stalinesque architecture, typically defined by a sh*t-stained white exterior that has obviously only been painted once in its stressed-out life. Trang reminds me a bit of Chiang Rai up north, actually, with a fairly well-defined center and tangents streaming off at all angles. And at that center is the railroad station, very convenient, and something hard to find in this day and age of remote transportation 'centers.' The problem for us authenticity-seekers is to find that authenticity and isolate it from all the rest of the mass-market BS. My favorite thing about southern Thailand, besides all the seacoast (not to be confused with beach), and the connections to neighboring Malaysia, are all the birds—the ones in cages. This seems to be peculiar to the entire region, and while the birds seem fairly ordinary, though quite audible, the cages themselves are very beautiful, wooden waxed and polished to a high sheen. And the connections to neighboring Malaysia are numerous, down to the curry-based cuisine and the tuk-tuks which look more like Indonesian becaks than Thai tuk-tuks. They also have two short benches in the back, more like Thai seelors or songtaews. I also like the little glimpses of history poking out from behind weathered teak, as much Malay and Chinese as it is Thai. There is even a sizable Christian presence here, which definitely precedes the current evangelical movement. Most of the tourist attractions here are centered around nature—caves and waterfalls, in addition to the beaches. That's nice enough, of course, but many typically look like most of the rest. I'm a culture vulture foremost if not first, and that's more prevalent in the cities. Though I love Nature intensely, if I focused entirely on that, then I'd be remiss. A visit to a rubber plantation might be nice, though, the product still known here by the Brazilian province the first trees were smuggled out of: Para. It'll wait I guess. I persevere in my search for authentic experience. Trang may not be the end of that search, but it's not a bad stopover. From here I catch the train back to Bangkok. P.S. I just realized something: I've only seen one 7-11 in Trang. I didn't notice until I needed one. This is huge! On the down side, this is the only place I've ever seen Buddhist monks smoking cigarettes, two so far; so much for non-attachment. Soon they'll be 'vaping', I guess. Meanwhile back in Bangkok, the ongoing political struggles between the two political factions best known as red and yellow, populist and royalist, only now increased by the blue and purple, probably best described as progressive and conservative. They all make good food. 2017 Fast forward to 2017 and I’ve not only done my first meditation retreat at Wat Suan Mokh in south Thailand, but I’ve completed my first semester at IBC Buddhist college near Hat Yai. I then converted to online study and am now on my way north to escape the torrential December rains and look for a place to hang semi-permanently, maybe Cambodia. But first there will be stops in Hua Hin, and Trat, almost on the seacoast border with Cambodia. That may have ended my flirtation with south Thailand, but it only started my flirtation with Cambodia. I cam back to south thailand the the defense of my master’s thesis in 2019, but I haven’t been back south since, only north, always a second home for me.