17 May 2010
We didn’t manage the 8am departure that had been intended, an early start would have been almost disrespectful to Thai culture. I say that purely in our own defence, when I give it more thought I would say Thai workers are more likely to have an early start, possibly even a late finish but with a siesta during the hot part of the day – as should everyone.
We took a Long Tail boat from Ao Nang to Railay having heard it toted as the prettiest spot in Thailand and known for some excellent rock climbing.
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On the ride over we had a conversation with some Aussies about the rubbish issues here, one raised a good point. Considering the low wages in Thailand how much could it possibly cost some of the local business owners to pay someone to go around and pick up all the rubbish [in their locality]. Sometimes it is hard to avoid coming to the conclusion that it is only short sighted business greed that is preventing this place from being the idyllic paradise its natural beauty has provided for.
To me Railay best demonstrates short sighted business greed in Thailand. Railay has an amazing geographic location; it is mainland Thailand but its high cliffs make it only accessible by boat and also provide some of the best rock climbing in the world, not to mention beautiful white sandy beaches. Geographically it has so much potential but greedy developers have taken to the place with no sense of coordinated direction or town planning.
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Resorts desperate to use maximum space have erected concrete walls on the high tide mark making it difficult for people to walk around the place at high tide and there are very few shared pathways. Inland you find caves filled with rubbish, on the east side you find mangroves littered with rubbish and in general Railay has a sense of spoilt beauty. Something that really struck me in a negative way about Railay is the existence of concrete walls (resorts) with shattered glass concreted on top as a security measure. Security against what? This is predominantly a tourist destination, not an area you would expect civil war to reach. These kind of walls are the sh*t you expect to see in South Africa, I can only put it down to construction workers who know no better – you can’t make a concrete wall without adding smashed glass on top mentality. The crazy thing about these walls is that they were often not complete in walling off a section; you wouldn’t bother trying to scale them because you could simply walk around them.
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On its positive side Railay does have some nice chilled bars. They are however expensive, more so than Phi Phi which has further to ship goods. I have yet to find out whether Railay is powered by generator (like Phi Phi) or is connect to mainland power. Rant finished.
