A Note From Paradise! (part 1 of 7): Discovering the Tropical Island of Koh Tao

July 18, 2008
Blue skies for as far as the eye can see...The glistening ocean dancing in the wind...Patches of clear blue water acting as little windows into the glorious colors of the underworld...Brightly colored fishing boats decorating the sea...Monumental boulders rising up from the sea extending up the steep hillsides, decorated by lush greenery of the local flora...Swaying palm trees dancing throughout the hillsides...The glorious fragrance of the plumeria trees...The vibrant red of the hibiscus flowers...The luscious taste of the freshly fallen papayas….This is what is in my field of vision at this very moment.

Lovely little Koh Tao, also known as ‘Turtle Island,’ is a tropical island off the east coast of Thailand. It's claim to fame is scuba diving similar to that found at the Great Barrier Reef. For my month off, I was looking for the idyllic place to slow down, let go, and completely unwind from too many years of pushing myself through exhaustion….and, I can confidently say, I found it. I have been staying in a little hillside bungalow at a beach called Tanote Bay…which, get this, I’m paying a whooping $11 a night for! Unbelievable! It’s a pay-each-day system here so every morning when I walk down the windy cement path, decorated with flowers singing in their bright colors about how beautiful they are, I always shake my head in joyful disbelief.

Tiny Koh Tao measures just 21 square kilometers and has a fulltime population of only 5500. It’s basically just this little tropical island, way out on its own, in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand. Given its physical isolation, its history lays claim to a chequered past and has been a favorite hideout for pirates, a lay-over point for weary fisherman, and even a detention center for political prisoners. The descendants of the original inmates still make up a large part of the local community…. but the vibe on the island is so laid back that apparently the locals have let go of their inherited criminal ways and, from my perspective, have become smart business people instead. I think they’ve realized the answer to the question, ‘Why be a criminal when one could be even wealthier from running a legal business instead?’

Any sort of business that caters to the flocks of white people who arrive from all over the world with fat wallets and a, Why-not-buy-it?-I’m-on-vacation! mentality, is likely to thrive here…a fruit stand selling the fruit that grows in your back yard, a souvenir shop, a street side restaurant, shacks on the beach, a taxi service with your own car...or boat for that matter, local snacks that you sell from your basket as you walk along the streets, knock-off sunglasses and random nick-knacks that you sell from atop your blanket under a tree, a massage stand from your collapsible table you’ve set up in the shade…With just the slightest bit of entrepreneurial spirit, from what it seems to me, most locals could create their own revenue stream. (Albeit, I have not tried to start a business here myself so this is just one outsider’s perspective.)

When you are operating from a small island with few competitors, you can pretty much charge any price you want. Furthermore, when your clients come from countries where salaries are at the minimum 10-20 times as great as the typical salaries here in Thailand, you could charge prices that would be considered obscene to any of the locals…(and would actually still be pricing things way under what us tourists would deem expensive….which I’d say only about half have figured out.) Speaking of, I’m going to take a break and go get my daily, hour-long massage on the beach….for $9. So, more to come tomorrow!