Clichéd and Crowded: Experiencing The Touristy Side Of Thailand

#TravelGoals

Before the thought of Thailand ever entered my head, I was inundated with this hashtag. Videos shot in the perfect light, showing turquoise-blue seas and tanned skin. Heavily edited Instagram posts, captioned with short but to the point heart-eye emoji’s. All set to an appropriate soundtrack of tropical house. When a place looks so divine and dreamy why wouldn’t it be Travel Goals?

To me, Thailand had always been the pinnacle of the Southeast Asian backpacking route. You can’t claim to be a backpacker if you haven’t eaten street food in Bangkok, got a cheap pair of elephant pants in Phuket, or partied on the beach during a full moon.

You’re less of a backpacker to someone simply if they’ve been and you haven’t (arrogant travellers are another story for another day).

Before I go on, just to clear up – I will always encourage people to visit places for themselves. There’s certain arrogance to telling people what they will and will not enjoy. Every destination is unique, and everyone’s reaction to a destination is unique. However, we are in the age of social media – the image of everyone and everywhere is carefully crafted and controlled. Places and people are meticulously fashioned to look perfect no matter what, filtering out all the faults. I am just as guilty for doing it myself.

Specifically, the south of Thailand is the main culprit for what I can only describe as tourist trickery. You can’t move for over-shared Facebook videos of the blue water in Ko Phi Phi, or appealing Instagram’s of empty beaches in Krabi. South Thailand, in general, is subject to such intense over-hyping that when you actually manage to experience it for yourself there’s a solid sense of:

“Is this it”

My first stop in south Thailand was Krabi. As I mentioned I’d been inundated with snaps of white sandy beaches, mostly empty, shore-lined by the more crystal of clear blue waters. I was staying outside of Ao Nang beach, which is the main beach near the town. After spending the day exploring on my scooter I was desperate to relax and unwind near the ocean. What met me was an overcrowded beach, restaurants and bars all catered to western culture, and a heavily polluted ocean.

“It’s OK” I thought “I’ll just hop on a boat to Ko Phi Phi, guaranteed paradise”

The main issue I had with Ko Phi Phi was that the island was STUNNING. The waters were blue, the sand was white, and the views were incredible. However, the overcrowding and over-development of this small slice of paradise made the taste of Phi Phi slightly sour. The other issue was that any hint of Thai culture was slowly and surely diminishing in favour of 7/11’s and Irish Bars.

I love an O’Malley’s just as much as the next person (I would murder a Magners right now), but I was not prepared to see one on the tiniest tropical spec off the Thai coast. Similarly the famed Maya Bay – famous for being the beach from The Beach – was so overcrowded with boats and bodies that all I experienced was dodging selfie sticks and trying not to get hit by a long tail (yet you’re still charged through the teeth to view this portion of ‘paradise’).

Next stop was Phuket. I stayed in Patong, which a nice Thai lady had warned me about being extremely touristy and busy. To its credit, Patong is a no frills, cheap and cheerful holiday destination. If you are into that sort of thing – great! To me it felt like an Asian Magaluf, complete with a god-awful beach and (shock) more Irish bars. A quick google-search of Patong will treat you to the kind of travel goals that I mentioned before – but I can tell you with the utmost confidence that that is completely and utterly not what it looks like.

The waves were churning out plastic bottles and the sand was less fine-white and more land-fill (whether it’s tourists or locals, littering is just unhelpful for everyone).

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Believe me when I say this is certainly not meant to be a scathing Thai diss-track. I completely understand that whining about visiting these places runs the risk of me sounding like the most ungrateful millennial out there. Aside from the over-hyped up places, there were plenty of flawless and picture-perfect locations all over Thailand. These included Chiang Mai, Pai, and Koh Tao – just to name a few. The temples are intricate, and the un-spoiled nature is spectacular. Moreover, the Thai were so accommodating, friendly, and just down-right amazing people!

I am just as susceptible to believing social media as the next person. Just next week I will be flying off to the Philippines to get my Insta-worthy fix of blue lagoons and white-sand beaches. The fact of the matter is that those aren’t the only reasons I want to go. At the top of my list will be experiencing a new culture, trying new and crazy street food, and mingling with locals. Getting that Instagram worthy shot will just be the cherry on top of the cultural cake.

Don’t let me tell you not to go somewhere. If you want to go to Phuket, go! You’ll experience a damn sight more than you would just sat at home. But don’t go for the fake Instagram’s and filtered reality – because real-world disappointment will most likely follow. Go for the culture, the people, the food, the smells, the sounds – experience as much as you can! If you have the time, go off the beaten track and find a new, untouched slice of paradise.

To me, that’s real #TravelGoals

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