While I was staying in Kamala Beach, Phuket in early December, I saw advertisements all over the village pumping the special Muay Thai boxing show at Bangla Boxing stadium at nearby Patong. As someone, who enjoys “ a good fighting spectacle”, I decided to buy tickets for a ladyfriend and myself. A ringside seat was somewhat pricey at 1500 baht (about 42USD) - it seems that they jacked up the prices because the target market were tourists - but I was on vacation and I wanted to break up the monotony (and boredom)

I really enjoyed the spectacle. 75% of the crowds were farangs (western tourists) and 25% were Thai. The tourist crowd consisted mostly of Australians, Swedes and Kiwis. These people drink beer like it is water – some of them were getting seriously intoxicated as beer bottles were splattering on the cement floor all over the place. Muay Thai Boxing is great theater and entertainment - lasting 5 rounds, each bout begins with a colorful prefight dance ritual and is accompanied by some exotic trance music performed by a clarinet and percussion ensemble. Often the fighter that is behind after the first two rounds emerges victorious because of superior mental toughness and physical endurance .

The nine exhibitions started with series of bouts with younger combatants (both male and female), before working up to the heavier and older weight classes. The first sets of matches were between some preteens. The audiences, especially the Thai contingent, were very vocal during the fights and there was lot of wagering going on – even I get caught up in the spirit as I bet and lost a 200B wager. The most enjoyable fight was between and a fairly fit and tall Thai girl of about 20 years old and a short squat and somewhat roly-poly gal ‘puying pompui’. While I thought the larger and taller gal clearly gave Puying Pompui a real beating – somehow they gave the victory to ‘the little fattie’ based on her courageous comeback in the last round. Oh well….

Factoid: Puying pompui in Thai means fat girl

After returning to Kamala Beach in Phuket recently, I was pleasantly surprised how this small resort area has recovered from the devastating Tsunami of Dec. 2004. Of all the places in Phuket, Kamala Beach was rocked the hardest and suffered the most death and destruction.

The new Kamala Beach shows little or no evidence of the Tsunami of three years ago - the boardwalk and the beach concessions are back, several new hotels and shoppes along the strip have sprung up and the tourists have returned to the beach in droves. More importantly, the people in the community have put to bed the events of 3 years ago and have moved forward with their lives.

Interested in exploring Kamala Beach, check out this introductory package!

As a side note: Duan and Jan, the owners of Kamala Dreams Hotel , have opened up a brand new cocktail and snack bar on the beach. The effervescent Duan, her oldest daughter and her son-in-law are manning this friendly watering hole. Stop by and tell ‘em that Hanumann sent you

Some people call this small island not far from Krabi, Koh Jum; others call it Koh Pu. In a way, this small, relatively obscure island resort does have a split personality. In addition to having fairly outstanding beaches including the mile long Andaman Beach, the southern half of the island is flat and is surrounded by mangroves and is known as Koh Jum and is the major tourist hub of the island. Development here consists of a series of budget bungalow resorts and a couple of island bars, but it is a very quiet scene. Located at the southern tip, the largest village on the island is appropriately called Baan Koh Jum and is the site of the only mosque.

On the hand, the northern half of the island is relatively mountainous with rubber plantations scattered along the hillsides and features some fairly beautiful but rocky beaches (especially at low tide). The northern half of the island is called Koh Pu and it is even quieter and less developed than the southern half of Koh Jum.

After staying at Ting Bay Resort for a week, located in the northern half the island, I just call it “a nice place to chill out and relax”.

She greets every arriving guest personally at Ting Rai Bay Resort with a small fruit punch, and then works tirelessly at the front desk and throughout the hotel the whole day, overseeing a myriad of responsibilities and chores. Being a small hotel proprietor is not an easy job, but after 15 years working as an accountant for a large government bank, Khun Taam, the owner of Ting Rai Bay Resort, relishes having her own business on the small island of Koh Pu, the mountainous half of the island otherwise known as Koh Jum.
After touring the small island with her husband, Khun Taam fell in love with the Koh Pu, as this part of the island had both the mountains and the sea, and the mountains reminded her of the countryside just outside of her hometown of Chiang Mai. Khun Taam’s dream came to fruition in late 2003 with the opening of Ting Rai Bay Resort, an intimate 15 room property located on a steep hillside overlooking a lovely 1000 meter white sand beach. This relatively new resort, which survived the devastating Tsunami of Dec. 2004, has blossomed into one of the island’s more popular resorts and bears the stamp of Khun Taam’s warm and gracious personality.

If you’ve been to Thailand before, you know that the 7-11 ministore has become a virtual institution in Thailand – any town or resort of any substance has at least one. On the small island of Koh Pu, a small tourist resort not far from Krabi in southern Thailand, there is not a single 7-11! There is even a 7-11 in the relatively nondescript city of Sa Kaew. This reality establishes Ko Pu (otherwise known as Koh Jum) among the ranks of one of the few truly off the beaten track resorts left in Thailand

Koh Pu. Save for a 1/2 mile stretch in downtown Koh Jum , there are no paved roads on this small, relatively obscure tropical island located not far from Krabi in southern Thailand, only several somewhat rough and uneven dirt roads. Nightlife is nonexistent as far as I can see - there are no bars, trendy cafes or tourist cul-de-sacs (places where tourists hangout) like other resorts that I am accustomed to. In terms of sheer physical beauty, it pales in comparison to the lushly tropical and mountainous islands of Koh Chang or Koh Samui and while there are some fairly decent beaches scattered round the island, there are better beaches to be found elsewhere in Thailand. Did I forget to mention, that there is no electricity on the island except between the hours of 6:00PM-12 midnight?

Why should you go to Koh Pu? If you’re looking for peace and quiet, you’ll find plenty of it on this small island. That is the big attraction here. Koh Pu is the perfect place to chill out, meditate, detox and to do some serious reading. Scattered around the island, there are number of small resorts and bungalow rentals including the absolutely delightful Tingrai Bay Resort. Hint: Bring plenty of books and reading material with you.

To get to Ko Pu, there is express ferry service from Krabi twice daily - 11:00AM and at 1:30PM. Fare is 350 baht.

There are approximately 3000 inhabitants on Koh Pu; most of them are Moslem and the primary industry here is cultivation of rubber.

If you are interested, gentleman - here are some more pictures of Chana and Tai. They work at the Siam guesthouse at Kamala Beach in Phuket, Thailand.

Thai girls (pronounced tigers) are something else. While shooting the breeze with Chanatip at Siam Guest House on Kamala Beach in Phuket, she asked me to take some pictures of her and her young ladyfriend, Tai. After the photo shoot, she informed that she and Tai are looking for farang husbands and politely asked me whether I could help her out in her marital pursuit? Being the “Jai dee”(kind heart) gentlemen that I am, I agreed to post their pictures online. Hey guys, these are very nice and sweet Thai ladies, they are not bargirls.

If you are interested in meeting these ladies, check them out at Siam Guesthouse in Kamala Beach or call 66 (0) 86 2727616