Weekend In Khao Lak, Phuket

“I see trees of green…”

From the airport, we seek out the car rentals lady and proceed to follow her to the office for a GPS as well. Lady We Rent Car From in the little town of Khao Lak, about an hour’s drive from Phuket airport (during which drive we notice most locals speeding about on motorbikes sans helmets) has two children, aged 7 and 4.

In the car rental which looks like it serves both as home and office

Attending public school in Thailand where their mother explains they learn predominantly Thai with some English ABCs and Putonghua mixed in……. they are both startlingly computer literate in this little town, as they alternate bickering and joyfully sharing some cooking game on a computer with a Thai-language keyboard.

At their mother’s request they turn immediately to us with a “Sawasdee,” before resuming their bickering/playing as though they were never interrupted.

View opposite home office

GPS and rental car secured, we journey on for lunch. We decide against stopping just anywhere for local food because although everything we pass looks relatively clean (if occasionally a little rundown), I don’t want to risk food poisoning the moment we arrive. (A weekend like this is hard to come by.)

Kin-dee is mentioned in tourist brochures, and their food is just superb. Also, both large tables with families sitting at them are occupied by Singaporeans (I figure if Singaporeans with their little kids are eating here, it’s definitely clean enough for us – back when I lived there I remember local friends joking that when Singaporeans travel to other countries in Southeast Asia they might get stomach upset just from brushing their teeth with the tap water :D)

And check out the view from our table!!

Our server sheepishly informs Kings they’re out of coconuts. Still on a roll, Kings asks, “So many trees here still don’t have?”

“No monkey.” <even more sheepish>

Another server comes up to me and says “I really like your jeans. Is it Levi’s? Original Levi’s from America very expensive here, around 4,000 baht.” (That’s more than HKD 1,000 or almost RM 500. I don’t think Levi’s costs that much in HK, I think they have a lot more outlets and sales… Also for the record I’m wearing un-branded skinny jeans that cost HKD 300-something…)

And so on we drive, for about an hour….

The JW Marriott Khao Lak appears to be in the middle of nowhere, but once you’re in there it’s a sprawling hotel with almost as much pool as paths on the ground floor. (All around the rooms, bars, in front of the main lobby…)

It boasts the longest swimming pool in Southeast Asia, with direct access from almost all the ground floor rooms. (Also, from booking very last minute the room rate suddenly dropped drastically)

Including ours

Some of the rooms have gated access, for families with young kids…

Speaking of which, there’s lots of kids here. And every time we pass a family with young kids I’m thinking that’s me in a couple days. 

There’s a little blonde girl sitting on a potty at one end of the grounds. Her mum sheepishly shrugs at me.

“I was just thinking that’s me in a couple days.” She looks relieved. “Ah, you see, people with no children, they don’t understand. When they gotta go, they gotta go.” Her English is heavily accented like many of the Caucasians here – and I regret I didn’t ask them point blank where they came from, but it never came up, even when another mum shows me how to braid a little girl’s hair, securing it with little flower hair pins for the day on the beach. I know they’re not Italian, French, German…. Nor are they Aussie, Kiwi or American. To my very unpracticed ear they sound a little like our Russian or Romanian neighbors back in Hong Kong…

There’s umbrellas..

There’s an elephant near the beachfront bar. Kids are feeding him coconuts. I’m intrigued. All the trips to various parts of Thailand when I was growing up, the weekend visits to Sepilok reserve in Sandakan – I’ve never seen an elephant chew up a coconut.

There’s a big pile of elephant dung nearby. (Ok less intrigued. They couldn’t bring Nellie walkies before the show? Kidding. But not kidding about not letting kids crawl on that grass. Oh right didn’t bring the kids with. Darn I miss them.)

And then it’s night.

And there are holes in the sand with tea lights in them.

And mediterranean restaurants with live bands

And of course Thai

Yup there we are

And in the morning, more Selfies

Oh yes, I do love hot weather. But it’s time to go.

Goodbye Frosty.

And Merry Christmas dears.