Koh Phi Phi Thailand

Koh Phi Phi Thailand – the whole month of February 2009

It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know

I have decided to take advantage of the awful recession that is pestering most of the world these days. The airline I work for is allowing their cabin crew (and most of their staff) month(s) of unpaid leave, with keeping your job for when you get back and the use of the discounted  staff travel, who in their right of mind would not take advantage of this?!.

So Monday the 2nd of February was the big day that I was planning to fly to Bangkok, but the ever changeable weather in the UK had other plans with me. As all the people in the UK will remember, it snowed heavily the night before and that day and all flights due to leave from London Heathrow before 5pm were cancelled..

I thought I would be safe, as my flight was at 9:30 pm, but as the day progressed it became clear i was not going to Bangkok that day…

Now it’s not a massive big deal to most people, but on a staff travel, and therefore stand by, ticket, this is an absolute nightmare. I’ll explain why:  A full flight was cancelled and as I later found out: the previous day’s flight was cancelled too.  So all these people that were supposed to be on those flights, had to be rebooked on the next few flights, incl the day after, the one I was planning to travel on.  As ’stand by staff’ you obviously -and rightly- come after full fare paying passengers,  so this was not happy news for me at all.
It wasn’t looking good, but thanks to my friend’s boyfriend Paul, who works as a pilot and pestered all the pilots on my flight to give me a jumpseat (one of the empty crew seats by the doors), I got on the flight!!!!
And thanks to some passengers who didnt show for the flight at all, I ended up getting a whole row of seats, so I was happy as Larry and off to Bangkok the day after I planned to go, not bad going in this nightmare!!

And today, 3 days later, I am in my paradise Koh Phi Phi, all relaxed from the Thai massage I’ve just had, sitting in a pub with free wireless internet, writing my blog whilst having an ice cold Coke

I arrived here yesterday: flew from Bangkok to Phuket with Thai Airways and then stayed in the hostel I always stay there: the On On. It is quite a dump to be honest, but I initially went there 4 years ago purely because the film The Beach was filmed there (posing as a Bangkok hostel). The hostel is really nothing much at all, but I know it is open 24 hours so even when I arrived at 1 in the morning,  I could get a room and know that the next morning I can catch a taxi that take me to the harbour to catch the boat to Koh Phi Phi, as I know they do good deals on a taxi-boat ticket straight from the hotel.  So with the above in mind, the rooms that are slightly under standard are a small price to pay. Literally.
I only felt truly relaxed when I was on that boat the next morning, and even more so now that I am here.

I’m staying in one of the cheapest places here (250 Baht a night, which is just under a fiver), a backpackers dorm room, sharing with 12 other people! It’s not ideal, but I’ve got to watch the pennies as a month without salary does not leave much of a budget. I won’t be staying long though, as Cella has very kindly offered me to stay with her and her husband Aiad when I buy a matress (which will be soon, need to go back to Phuket to find one).
I met Cella 4 years ago when we worked together for Ashwindum Muay Thai Stadium and Monkey Beach Bar, right here in Phi Phi. Coincidentaly enough, Cella is Dutch like me and we kept in touch all this time (hail to facebook!).
She works at Visa Diving Centre and they need more sales people,  Cella makes one phonecall and I have a job! How amazing, all within 24 hours of arriving in Phi Phi!!
I start tommorrow, but be fore I start the job, I will go for a dive with Cella in the morning.

So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going for a meal with Cella, Aiad and the rest of the Visa Diving Team, to celebrate Aiad’s birthday. I’ll check back here soon

A week later..

I can’t believe it’s already a week ago when I wrote my last post! Not too much has happened since then. But let me tell you about my dive! After i had met most of the Visa Diving crew I was going to be working with, we headed off on a boat at 8am in the morning. Cella works as the videographer of Visa diving so she dived with me and the other divers whilst filming it all.
I hadnt been diving for 4 years (!!) but it really is like riding a bike, I hadn’t forgotten. On the first dive almost straight away we saw a turtle swimming along, the poor thing only had 2 legs to swim with, one front and one at the back! He swam down to us and then past us. Amazing. Later on we saw some more turtles and also loads of other colourful fish.

On the second dive I was having problems with my ears equalizing. With diving, just as flying, you put pressure on your ears, and you always have to equalize your ears for them to get used to the new pressure. My ears were hurting as hell, so I kept having to go up a tiny bit to ‘blow’ my nose then go down again. It took a lot of time and even at 12 meters it was still hurting.

Such a shame as I later found out the rest of the divers were below me seeing lots and lots of sharks! I missed out this time, but I’m going to try again in a few days or so (When Clare and Adam come over ) I did see seahorses and clownfish and loaaaaads more cool stuff. I am so glad Cella came along as she made the most amazing DVD of the whole dive.

After that, I’ve been pretty much working, no partying as of yet, altho today, FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH woooooo!! we are going for a big meal and drinks with the whole crew, as one of the Instructors is leaving and Cella’s mum is here.
As I don’t have that much else to talk about but my new job, allow me to give you a little insight of a day in the exiting life of Marjolijn on Koh Phi Phi

I start work at about 9 or 9:30 in the morning. We don’t have set hours we have to work, but the more you are in the Dive shop, the more chance you have of selling stuff to customers. And as we get paid by (10%) commission, I try and be there as much as I can.
Usually I am the only one there so early, so I put the music on, hand the boards out (with advertising the different dives and courses we have) and put my laptop in the back of the shop. Ferry’s start coming in from 9:30 and then arrive every hour or every half an hour.

When people with backpacks walk past I hand out maps of the island (with a little cheeky pricelist of Visa Dive Shop) and help them point them in the right direction and then ask if they plan to dive whilst they are here, and if yes, explain the different choices. Hopefully I book such people in straight away, but usually they want to find accomodation first. If these people end up coming back and book in with someone else, I get 5% commission. In the mean time we nip to the shop for water or food, but usually I walk to the beach to get my mixed fruit shake, last year I was into the mango shakes, but have totally discovered the mixed one now, its got lots a fresh fruit and ice cubes, so really it is a smoothie.

There is also a cute lady walking around in the morning with homemade donuts and in the afternoon with homemade samosa’s. I can’t resist them, especially since they cost next to nothing anyway (TBH10 , which is about 20p)
This goes on until about 1pm when the morning boat with divers returns. It’s busy in the shop for a bit and usually I take my lunch break at about 1:30 for 2 hours or so.
I order my lunch ahead at the bakery (an omelet or sarnie or some Thai food) and when it gets deliverd to the shop I am off with my towel and MP3player to the beach. I sunbathe, swim and snooze til about 3 or 3:30, then go back to ‘my’ place (I’ve moved into Cella and Aiad’s place now), have a shower and change of clothes and its back to work for me!

A few more ferries arrive and then it’s waiting for the new arrivals to walk past showered and fresh and ask them if they want to dive whilst they are here, or people who stop to look at the signs. It’s not easy and I don’t like to push, but thankfully there are plenty of people who want to dive and just walk in the shop. Trouble is there is lots of competition, 18 (!!!)other shops on the island, two of which on the other side of the street. You are only allowed to sell your dives and dive courses from your shop, or on the step if your shop, not on the streets, so it can be quite tough.
Althought between staff is no competition and we banter across the street or practise our poi if we are bored and take the piss out of each other. The shop closes at 9pm and towards 7:30 or 8pm we usualy (not always) start buying each other beer and stand on the front of the shop chatting and getting the attention of passers by to try and get them to come diving.
at 9pm we wait for the famous 6 words (let’s get the f@%$ outta here) and we head off for dinner together, or a few of us and usually a couple of drinks afterwards in our fav pub Roling Stone, which features the brilliant local Rock band ‘Made in Thailand’:

Then the next day its all same same but different ! … 2 weeks later

Same same but different is a phrase used a lot in Thailand, and I feel that Koh Phi Phi is same same, but different since 2004, my first time here..

But first, let me tell you about the past few weeks, as today, sadly, is my last working day on Phi Phi and tomorrow I shall be leaving to Koh Lanta for a few days to chill, be a beach bum and then its back home to work
Since my last edit of this post,I have had a fantastic time and met great some people like Jesse, the Cali/Hawaiian surfer/dive chick and Aimee the Indo/Ozzie cool chick who I hope to meet up with again in the future (again hail facebook! ) We partied loads with all the other divers who work all over the island and did some rock climbing, boat trips and more diving. James also popped over to Koh Phi Phi and will come to Koh Lanta with me.

Even though it was my 3rd time here, I am sure I will be back again. For those who have been to Koh Phi Phi before, it sure has changed! 4 years ago was the first time I came here, I stayed for about 3 or 4 months and left 6 days before the tsunami happened. Back then it was quieter, although even then there were a lot of day trippers on the island during the day (in their kitten heels on the beach – NUTTERS!) and some resorts, but mainly backpackers and hostels.

Last year I was here for 2 weeks, visiting Cella with my friend Anna and in those 4 years since the tsunami, it had changed tremendously. Obviously a lot had been washed away so many new hotels/guesthouses and shops had popped up and many were being rebuilt as we were there.

And now another year later, it is crazy how many buildings have been demolished to make place for new buildings with airco and nice clean floors etc. even MORE shops now and some more resorts. This island is sadly beginning to become a money making machine and locals are running around with $$ in their eyes…

It has become a massive party island so if that is what you are looking for, it is a fantastic place to be. many guesthouses and hotels to choose from and plenty of great restaurants with Thai or Western food. Although because of the partying, there are few places to stay where it is not noisy.. So if you are looking for peace and quiet, this is definitely not the place to go to, as even during the day the beach is packed..

So on a last serious note, I do hope Koh Phi Phi will return to its roots one day, and become that lovely, beautiful chilled out place again. till next time Koh Phi Phi, I will miss you