Return to KOH PHANGAN After 20 Years
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- I return to tropical paradise island Koh Phangan for the first time in 20 years. First I meet up with my old friend Mark who I’ve known for almost 40 although we haven’t met for 15.
Next we hike through the jungle to the top of Koh Phangan’s highest mountain. Later I ride into Had Rin Beach where I had attended one of the first ever full moon parties in the 80’s
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That was a great watch…. I miss that island and really must get back there, so many memories of great people I met. Of all my travels no place has had such an influence on my quite like KPG…. Definitely my spiritual home.
I actually preferred it now to what it was like 30+ years ago tbh. My easier to get around now. Cheers
@daveman me to mate really miss that island. very happy memories there.
My favorite island...first visited it in 2014.
It's a beautiful place that's for sure and it's still possible to get away from it all there too
Done this hike many times. Good to see Mark looking well! 40 years is a long time.
I'd be worried about snakes trekking through jungle like that.
Actually I tend to see them more often in rural areas rather than actually in the jungle. I’ve never been scared of snakes although I respect the fact that some of them here are very dangerous
Nothing to be worried about. The jungle is an experience. Go with a friend and it's so much fun. There is so many majestic spots. So many views.. The sound in some jungles is piercing like a high pitch dentist drill. Not sure if best description but it's pure bliss
I visited Koh Phangan in 1990 with my girlfriend, we stayed in a beachfront bungalow at Tommy's bungalows on Head-Rin on the other end to the party. I have great memories of falling asleep in the hammock under the stars. Eating amazing Thai food and being in what felt like paradise. We stayed there for three weeks and left after the full moon party, which wasn't really that great to be honest, all a bit over messy and busy for me. Never been back to the island since, but might give it another go in the next few years.
Thanks for your own memories, long time ago now eh? If you go back you will find it a lot easier to get around the island. Cheers
hi. I have been at the same resort 2 times, In 1995 and 1997/98 and it also was tthe paradise for me.
After this I have visited the island of Koh Phangan in 1999 and 2002.
But anyway, I prefer the Island when there is not the fullmoon party. I got this party once in 1999, but even at these earlier times , it was overcrouded. I plan to go back soon.
Cool video Karl
Cheers Paul. I will try to check out some of your videos when I have time
So this was 13 years i first came to this beatiful island. How i miss Phangan island. Thank for this video
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you!
Karl ...I am not the sharpest tool in the box .....some might say I am a couple of roos short in the top paddock.....well I thought this video was shot with your new(2nd hand) Iphone......sorry ....😂😂
Btw it never gets mentioned....the Greatest leg spin bowler passed away on koh Samui in 2022....only matter of time that angle of tourism will have a impact 🦘
Lol. For a while my content will be from a mix of sources but it’s good to have a decent IPhone again, been using it today. Yes, I’m aware of that tragic death. Cheers Terry
Hi mate just catching up on videos fantastic again .your videos always take you to the unexpected. 🍺
Glad you like them Christopher! I do try to not follow the herd and make original content when I can. Unfortunately I do have to follow the algorithm sometimes though or I would never get any views.
BEAUTIFUL x
oh how it was to be young and dum and .(full of buckets?).....😁
Not much different to today really, just substitute the word ‘young’ for ‘old’ 😉
Only see 2 green ( pit vipers ) in thailand in the wild,
And red centapeeds / blk millerpeeds to be scared off..
Plus drunk englishmen !!!!
I've seen a few pit vipers myself. Dangerous in the sense that they just stay where they are rather than fleeing like some other snakes so a lot easier to tread on by mistake. The giant centipedes are nasty but the millipedes are fine. As for drunk Englishman....lol. cheers
I remember the free-for-all of people trying to get on the speedboats back to Samui after a Full Moon Party in 2000. Downright dangerous. Hopefully it's not like that any more!!
I have no idea tbh, my return visit didn't coincide with a full moon party or the build up. I should imagine the ferry trips are still in big demand
You like me , but ,,15 yrs b4?
Sorry went krumg tep 2000
. Bkk - total culture shock.
But next trip - 3 mounth later - hooked . But Pattaya shit. Live there 3 yrs. Bkk or the isarn for evey.
But thanks give me time , show old - + loa khao wiskey
Glad it brought back your own memories of your first visits and thanks.
Koh samui, koh phangan,hopes its koh Tao next karl?will be going to all 3 next March. Great vlog✌
Although I enjoyed returning to Samui and Phangan, Koh Tao will have to wait for another time. I do have some more interesting videos coming up soon from other parts of Thailand though. Cheers
Awesome, I loved that Island when I visited in March. I was definitely too old for the Full Moon party but attended anyway. I don't see a link to Mark's houses for rent?
I know what you mean, a bit too much for me too now lol. If you're interested then send me an email, thailandkarl@yahoo.co.uk and I will give you Mark's contact details
Worst pain ever in my life.
I had a shot of whisky.
I need to get seriously ill with Mark.
Lol Tim, he's actually not much of a drinker at all. Cheers
It looked like an arduous hike! Koh Phangan is such a beautiful place and the drone shots certainly proved that. It's great to see Had Rin beach looking so good even though they still have the full moon parties there, the clean up effort after the patties must be pretty intense. I loved the bit about the tree because we planted lots of Yang Na trees on our land last year and they're coming along nicely. I haven't been to Koh Phangan since 2010 so maybe it'll be 20 years before I make it back myself! I hope not.
It was good to get back there Sam, in all hjonesty I was a dbit disappointed that we never managed to complete the full hike we had intended but it does leave an adventure for the next time I go there.
Great video Karl what type of foot wear do you use while hiking in Thailand curious here in New Zealand I would say it differs cheers
I use "Quecha' hiking shoes bought from Decathlon, 2000 Baht and like them. In all honesty though I would rather they weren't waterproof as once they're wet they take a while to dry but very comfortable even on long treks. Cheers
Great video, And unparalleled drone footage you guys are living your best life And I enjoy every video and talking about the past I remember Thailand as you have before cell phones and before internet hell I even wrote a letter or 2. Cheers to both of you.
Thanks so much! Modern communications have certainly changed things a lot. In all honesty I enjoy having them but there was a certain charm about letters. I still have a few from the 80's myself, I'll dig them out one day. Cheers
hey Karl, I have been to Koh Phangan but not in the places you were. Live Paradise my firend ( aka cjparadise) this is a new channel the first one was shut down.
Cheers CJ, hope you are well.
You sure you meant 20 years? Because 20 years ago was 2003.
Btw great video!
My previous visit before this one was 2002 so 21 years ago. My first visit to Koh Phangan was 1989. Hope this clears it up. Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks
Great video. Mark seems a really nice guy
Absolutely, it was great to meet up after 15 years. Cheers
Was a 14 year gap for me to go to that island, a lot had changed, including me needing to put sun cream on the top of my head that I didn’t need to do 14 years ago 😂
It certainly has changed but I do appreciate the improved infrastructure. Time catches up on us all eventually eh?
Loved it there had a lot of fun say it's changed a bit great trek 😊
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks
Great vid of your difficult hike karl and what lovely accommodation for your stay, well done to you both.
Cheers Cliff, the great accommodation was a total surprise to me. Thanks again
Great video and you know I went to Phangan in 89 where I hired a motorcycle and travelled into the interior until I cam to a small monastery where a monk greeted me and gestured to come in. He grabbed a chain, that was attached to a big monkey around its neck, which he used to lift monkey up and monkey showed an impressive set of teeth. They use the monkey to get fruits from the tree canopies. After that I was taken to see the Abbot who spoke minimal English. So he sat in a sea of fruits looking like the personification of a well-fed Buddha. I thought we might have a spiritual conversation but his first question was did I see the FA Cup final last week😁. Fond memories
Great memories, I can remember a few places with pet monkeys myself and the locals did/do use them to collect coconuts and fruit. And don't they love their football lol? I can remember reporting a loss at a police station and all they wanted to talk about was John Barnes. Cheers
We stayed in a bamboo hut at the end of Had Rin beach for about 4 months Dec '87 to March '88, before the full moon parties began. To get to Thong Sala one had to take a boat or walk along the beach at low tide! Thanks for the video Karl, it brought back lots of memories; hammock therapy (lol) , hiking up into the jungle, riding dirt bikes without helmets , a cobra falling out of a tree just behind me , getting stung twice on my leg by a scorpion and thankfully living to tell the tale! I've never been back but they were good times indeed...
Sounds like quite an adventure you had back then, and yes it was another world. Cheers
You can't go back. It's changed beyond belief. Keep the memories pure
I thought that way for 18 years about Samui (stopped going in 2005) but then I went back with an open mind and enjoyed it. They’re both still beautiful places, sure we all deal with change in different ways and if returning would spoil it for you then I understand. Cheers
Awesome video Uncle Karl. I like the motorbike angle.
I really enjoy cruzing beach to beach. I can't wait to return to Thailand.
Yo Mark! I'm hopeing to return to Chumphon then looping thou the Islands. I would like to say hello.
Send me an email Sam thailandkarl@yahoo.co.uk and I will give you mark's contact details
Found your channel with the Samui then vs now video - you are a great story teller I have to say, enjoying the content. Are you going to Koh Tao by any chance?
Happy that you have found my channel, there are some great videos in amongst them that hardly anyone has watched. I'd love to vlog Koh Tao but it will have to be on another occasion. Cheers
Last time I went to Koh Phan Gan there was no road between Ban Thai and Had Rin and mushrooms were legal. Was in 93
Yes, things have certainly changed a lot since then. Cheers
Great vid Karl... I watched it in 1440p and your footage was very sharp and impressive. Especially the 2 beach sunset scenes toward the end. Another adventure in the record books. Your friend Mark's soon to be rental property looked fantastic for a stay.
Pleased to hear that Mal. Actually it was originally intended to be in HDR but somehow in the recovery process from the iCloud when I lost my IPhone 12 Pro most of it got downgraded to 2080 SDR. The Action Cam shots and the stuff I made with your drone were still in HDR. In the ended I edited it all in the SDR colour space and it blended pretty well. Been out on location today shooting on the new IPhone in HDR. Yes, accommodation wise I was spoiled on that trip. Catch you soon
You must be happy with the picture quality Karl 👌😀
Actually in some ways it was a compromise. I had shot it in HDR but for various reasons due to the loss of my iPhone I had to edit it in SDR lol. Cheers
What's your camera setup?
For this trip it was an Iphone 12 Pro as the main camera, DJI Action 3 for motorcycle shots and DJI Mini 3 Pro (borrowed) for the drone shots. Cheers
Thanks Karl, very nice video when i owned a little house on samui i never went to phangan i heard of a few boats capsising plus to many people for me, thanks for the video, Ray.
Yes, I can remember hearing about capsized boats, people trying to swim and drowning and even shark attacks. How much of it was true I have no idea. Cheers ray
👍@@karlsthailand
Gday Karl, great video mate, the cold leo's must go down well after these treks you do. Do you have any information on possible rent availability and prices on your mates houses, cheers
Yes, a cold one certainly does go down well, I’m fact I have just finished another hike today. Mark says he’s booked until December 5th but if your enquiry is for a date later than this then please email me thailandkarl@yahoo.co.uk and I will send you his contact details. Cheers
Thanks Karl I will email you
Thanks for another great video
My pleasure and thank you for telling me
Thanks for sharing that trail
Pleasure Sean, even if it didn't go quite the way we planned
@karlsthailand never does. That is the beauty of it
Wow, first time I've seen a video on Koh Phangan. It looks like a beautiful island, and that house your friend built is stunning., I'm moving to Thailand next month after my trial period earlier - let me know if you'd be keen on trying to setup a hike again.
I’d love to complete that hike via the route we’d originally planned. I hike all the time, check out my other videos. Cheers and good luck with the relocation
@@karlsthailand Cheers Karl, it's James by the way if you remember 🙂. My display name seems to be getting messed up. I'll message you on What's App/Line when I'm settled.
Ok, James, with you now. Cheers
Karl. I notice you pronounce the 'Ko' in Ko Phan Ngan as the 'ko' as in 'coat' rather than the 'co' in 'cockerel'. You obviously speak Thai. Which is correct? I was always lead to believe the latter.
It’s something I feel strongly about. If I am speaking Thai I pronounce it แกะ but I think it sounds stupid when you are chatting to other foreigners and you suddenly go all Thai and Tonal, same as พัทยา, I know how to say it properly but just say it how I want to when talking to westerners. Whenever someone criticises the way I say Pattaya I always ask them the name of that island a couple of miles from Pattaya (Koh Larn)…..and they always pronounce it wrong so I ask why is it important to say Pattaya correctly when speaking to other foreigners but not important to say other Thai places correctly ?. Cheers btw the correct pronunciation is g/ko prounced short and low tone but it’s not a sound natural to Westerners so my advice is don’t get caught up in the Thai pronunciation snobbery unless you are speaking to Thai people
@@karlsthailand Thanks for your detailed response. Most appreciated.
@gregoryfrancisjames5071 o problem. Apologies if it sounded harsh but believe me it sounds so ridiculous and try hard to go tonal in the middle of a conversation with your mates for one word lol
No problem. I value your views. I'm still learning,
Remember that like it was yesterday Karl.
A day or two earlier I had been to a precursor "full moon party" on Samuii, not the real thing, but stayed till dawn. When we arrived on Had Rin beach I was all partied out, but day before the genuine party, I got into those buckets, plus got a girl to get me some 'smoke'
I really was a legend in my own lunchtime, on that trip.
I think that was why we left for Samuii later that day, although you weren't really up for full moon either.
Good memory Chris, actually I do seem to recall you and a lady going to a a 'half moon party' on Samui, it might have been the first time I heard the term. It was strange the way we'd gone to such efforts to be there for the full moon party and then both decided that we'd rather not be there the day before. Cheers
😅I remember living on the island about 25 years ago.. lovely it was..quiet really apart from the parties..not so busy back then..I also remember hiring a dirt bike and riding a track from somewhere near had Rin to thong noi pan... or thong no pants as we called it..This tiny little village..so peaceful. It looks a bit more built up.. thanks for the video.. interesting.
Thanks for your own memories Jim, yes very little of the island was paved back then, that has certainly changed in many places. Cheers
Fun and see the hike Kalle. Slightly worse image quality than usual, the advantage of which is that you are not as red anyway 555👍
Yes Anders, I had to edit in a strange mixture of formats mainly as a result of losing my IPhone. It might be that way for a few weeks until I’m back in the swing of things with my recently purchased IPhone 14 Pro
Good to see you back up the mountains, Karl, doing what you love. I'm with you on the full moon party thing, way too many people for my liking. And I dread to think what else went into those buckets.
I'm with you Mark. I wouldn't scrub off the possibility of attending another FM part it's not something I would actively plan for these days lol. And those buckets are nasty and I can remember thinking that at the time too. Hope you are well.
Loved the journey from the 1st minute.
It is so easy to get lost or take the wrong junction when you're out there with no sign of civilisation.What a gorgeous place to lose your way there :-)
Phangan has to much unspoilt green space left.
It was a beautiful hike even if we did take a wrong turn. I had the trails loaded onto my gps and could/should have realised sooner, it's just that Mark had hiked it before and seemed so confident that we were going the right way. Cheers
Hi Karl, fun video to watch! Always love your stories from past visits as well.
Glad you enjoyed it Rick, hope you are both well
Never been to that island... but soon I hope... good vid as always mate
You should! Don't let the naysayers put you off , at least you can travel around the island with relative ease today. Cheers
What a fulfilling life, two handsome fella's meeting up like old school days.
I read all your epic trip report/diary.
I wanted to go there last time but I got sick, then it so easy to get stuck in pattaya with the awesome cheap food and rooms, and other delights
This hike is pretty survivor style, I wouldn't do it without a local thai person....
wish I could life your life but I am not old enough or rich enough yet...
I'll just keep slogging away if I can et away a month a year then it might be enough to get by..
That back ground forest noise is unbearable, even on low volume...
you saying you make video on your phone?
seems pretty stable
your brave with the drone
Ps. I got same hair style as you, but, I always need a hat..
It was good to see Mark, he's about 5 years younger than me and we met about 1984. We never went to the same school unfortunately and his education was far superior to mine. Yes, I use my Iphone both as my main camera and to edit with. Believe me being older doesn't always equate with being rich. Actually it wasn't my drone lol, someone lent it to me for the trip in exchange for me setting it up for him. I'm happy to tell you he got it back in perfect condition
Went here in the late 90's. Was a really chilled place back then, days of being on the beaches, laying in hammocks. We stayed in a beach bungalow, and ended up with the Thai's owners family for breakfast every day. It was an amazing time. Full Moon party was a bit wild, but so much fun.
That's cool Mark, although there's no going back you don't have to look too hard to escape it all there today.
Great vid to cheer the heart on a dismal uk Sunday morning. Going to go away and do some research on stonefish stings now and how to treat them!
That was quite a story about the stonefish wasn’t it? Cheers, glad you enjoyed the video
Beautiful jungle trek🔝👏🦾💙🇹🇭
Yes it was! We really enjoyed it. Thank you
Your videos seem to be getting smoother, loved the drone footage. Cheers mate.
Good to hear Pete, thanks
I like at mate good work mate love work mate
Cheers Nigel
Hey Karl, I've ridden almost a million km around this beautiful place. For cheap, standard available scooters, the Nmax or PCX are so much more comfortable and ergonomically designed to look after your back due to the riding position if you put your feet up in the top position (almost facing forward) when riding. Much more intuitive, and connected ride than bikes where your feet are flat on a 100% horizontal plane.
That's great. I have ridden PCX's before and do like them. I just hired this bike for a day and only did about 60km on it. I would have thought more about my choices if it was going to be a longer ride. Thanks for your advice based upon your extensive experience. Cheers
@@karlsthailand Nice one Karl. Keep on producing the content. Great places that most don't know about, great kit that no doubt cost a fair penny, yet you utilise excellently, and a quality delivery.
You deserve to earn a decent crust off this mate, best of luck 👍
Thanks so much. Actually although I have been gradually collecting bits and pieces my kit is still modest. I both film and edit my videos on an iPhone although I do sometimes add a bit of drone and action cam footage. Cheers
First, 🤣🇹🇭
Well done mate
Hi katl that was some walk your drone footage is excellent were u were staying loooked first class i wouldn't be into the full moon myself the things that bo on like to your friend amazing i was waiting were going for a beer until u said tne walk😂😂
It was a great trip thanks and I know, we’re strange lol. Cheers