After a quick pitstop in Bangkok to apply for Vesper’s new passport, we flew down to southern Thailand for two weeks of island hopping and beach bumming around Phuket and Koh Tao.
Phuket
Phuket is one of Thailands most popular “islands” along the western coast. We say “island” because it is large enough that it doesn’t really feel like an island. We started on the southern tip near a beautiful and relatively secluded beach. It was beyond hot, but the water was perfect - just watch out for the jellyfish! After a few relaxing days in the south, we headed back to the northern part of the island and used Phuket Town as a homebase to explore the island’s other more popular beaches, including Patong and Kata.
Koh Tao
There are tons of islands to explore in Thailand and we didn’t know how to pick which one to visit. When the embassy called to let us know Vesper’s passport was ready, however, it was an easy choice to head to Koh Tao since it’s more or less en route back to Bangkok. Koh Tao is popular among backpackers as a place to get scuba certified on the cheap. We’re both dive certified and would have loved to go diving but Laura had a nasty cold so we stuck to snorkeling. The only thing more brightly colored than the fish and coral was the shade of red we both turned later that day. Pro tip: don’t buy the cheapest sunscreen available!
Before leaving Thailand, we made one last stop at Golden Coins Taproom. We had one of their beers at Let the Boy Die the first time we visited Bangkok, but this time we were able to meet Pieak Pipattanaphon, Golden Coins’ founder and brewer. We chatted with Pieak while sipping our beers, getting the dirt on the Thai craft beer scene. Microbreweries are still illegal, but Pieak is getting around this by traveling to Saigon to brew the beer and then importing it back into Thailand. The beers were great and learning about how Pieak is changing the craft beer scene was an awesome way to spend our last day in Thailand. For the sake of future generations, let’s hope he succeeds!
