The Thai Visa Run--Shall We Dance?

Imagine a dance where you can either pay for someone to show you the steps, or you can try to learn it yourself.  The dance itself seems pretty straighforward.  Among long-stayers and expats in Thailand, this dance is known as the Visa Run.

After 10 Months of Living With Less

We’ve been almost 10 months now, living on the road, being 'location independent'.  Until now, we’ve not been in one place for longer than 11 nights.  And still, all we have are our 2 backpacks and 4 day bags.  This is the travelling lifestyle—having to ‘live with less’ in order to ‘get more’.    

November Full Moon on Koh Phangan

Full-Moon, 10.11.11

There are 3 islands in the southern Gulf of Thailand:  Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.  Of these, Koh Samui is probably the more popular one, is the largest of the 3 and even has its own domestic airport.  Koh Tao is a scuba diver’s haven and is a popular place in SEA to get certified –in fact, we completed our Advanced Diver there 10yrs ago.  As for Koh Phangan, well, it has a certain reputation which would not make it an obvious choice for most families visiting Thailand.  But of course, we are not most families.

The New Face of Khao Lak

We’re back in Thailand! After a couple of nights in Kuala Lumpur, we arrived in Phuket without a clue as to where we were going.  Eventually we boarded a bus bound for Khao Lak beach, which is approximately 2hrs north of Phuket, on the west coast of Thailand on the Andaman Ocean.  Khao Lak bore the brunt of the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, with an official death toll of well over 4,000 lives.  In reality, it has been estimated closer to 10,000 due to a high number of illegal Burmese migrant workers in the area at the time who cannot accurately be accounted for.  Khao Lak was and is a popular location for those who are into scuba diving and for those who are looking for a quieter alternative to Phuket. Jim and I visited Khao Lak briefly in 2003 as we did some diving from here and now on our return visit, it is unrecognisable to us but in a good way-- well, sort of.

Looking south on Highway 4 through La On Village, Khao Lak