Thailand

Thailand

Thailand is a land of over a thousand tropical islands, from the famous Phi Phi and Koh Samui to the lesser visited, but perhaps even more beautiful Koh Kood, Koh Lipe and Koh Kradan and the most popular city with the longest name in the world, that is popularly shortened to Bangkok . Photographing in this country is a love affair with light, water, and movement. Every boat wake, temple bell, and jungle breeze invites you to stay longer. These are the images of those moments.

Phuket

Freedom beach

Phuket is an island of colors, a feast for the eyes. Tuk-tuks blur past in streaks of neon. Street food stalls hiss and pop, filling the air with garlic and lemongrass. But, just outside the hustle and bustle of the city are extraordinarily serene and beautiful beaches. All of the images above are just one of those places in Phuket, Freedom beach. This is a beach, I discovered through one of my favorite travel blogs by two dutch travelers, Travel Monster. But it's much more than that, when you venue to the city, gold temple roofs flashing in the sun, pastel old-town walls splashed with blues and yellows, and markets glowing with chili reds and mango golds. One moment you’re in a temple courtyard listening to the hum of prayer; the next, you’re chasing the last light over a cliffside. The city is the most chaotic place, I've ever seen in my life, almost a mashup of Times Square in NYC, the Red Light District in Amsterdam and the beach near Waikiki Hawaii. The movie, The Hangover feels less like a comedy and more of a documentary of the area when you are here.

Phi Phi

The islands of fire and glass are full of long-tail boat and limestone cliffs that surround you on all sides from one of the most beautiful and touristic places in the country. Maya Bay was made famous by the movie The Beach, and now although the beauty is absolutely stunning, it's so overrun with tourists that you're only allowed on the beach for 45 minutes and you can't go more than ankle deep in the water to protect the coral. Five years after the movie was released, all the new hotels and restaurants were wiped out by a tsunami and thousands of people died. But the tourism scene actually bounced back. It's become a beach paradise meets party, restaurant and shopping scene, which is very enjoyable, although it destroyed the natural beauty of the island. Overall though, as a photographer, visiting once is enough and for my next visit, I'd skip Phi Phi and go to see Koh Lipe or Koh Kood, which are more purely aesthetic tropical beach paradises, similar to Phi Phi twenty five years ago, but with light blue waters instead of turquoise. If you go, stay in a tent to discourage overdevelopment of these natural paradises.

Ko Phangan

My favorite island in the world that I've seen, so far. It was here, I offered to photograph a man for free in a hammock overlooking the sea, but he rejected my kind offer, and I stepped closer and realized he was fully nude. My mistake, and also probably the funniest and most awkward moment of my life as well. The air smelled of mango sticky rice. Hammocks, apparently full of nudists, swayed between coconut trees. The shallow waters were full of the most beautiful naked women I've ever seen, some just living in tents, probably until their visas ran out. But the magic of this place is really the views, the warm weather, the sense of absolute freedom, the kindness of the locals. My only regret about Ko Pha-ngan was that I couldn't make it around that rock in the last photo to see the other side, because that big dog in the photo got those three other dogs to start chasing me and I had to flee for my life. Still this is a place you leave, but it never leaves you.

Khao Sok

The jungle here feels alive, breathing with you. Mist clung to the limestone towers, their reflections melting into the jade water. The night fell into silence so complete, you could hear every splash the ocean lapping against the floating bungalows. Nights were heavy with stars, the kind you forget exist until the wild reminds you.

The Standard Bangkok

Usually, I stay in the cheapest accommodation I can find, but The Standard Bangkok was another hotel on my bucket list that was an exception along with The JungleRoom and the eco-lodge Hideout Bali, and Coqui Coqui in Coba, Mexico. I'm convinced all these hotels and Airbnbs are the best looking in the world. They all shared something in common in that the sight to see wasn't the surrounding area, it was just the hotel itself. The Standard Bangkok is really a masterpiece of interior design that looks more artistic than MoMA.

The Last Frame

Every place was a chapter, from the elephants at the ethical sanctuary in Phuket to the elephants at the unethical space also in Phuket. Blue Harbour on Tritrang beach was admittedly photogenic and interesting seeing elephants in the ocean, but unethical for the elephants who had to give tourists rides all day. Below, you'll find a selfie of me in the Airbnb overlooking Tritrang beach, I slept in for a full day straight after getting food poisoning. In spite of that, this is my favorite place I've visited, for the beauty that's hard to put into words, the warmth of the happy locals and the intellectual curiosity it invites from being so different from America. The language, food, philosophy, even side of the street they drive on and the toilets are different, and it's a wonderful thing to experience that. Thailand will give you beaches and jungles that burn into memory, and cities that refuse to let boredom creep in. But what stays with you is the feeling—that restless, sun-warmed pull to keep exploring. I'd love to return for the places I missed, like the famous Ko Samui, and Railay beach in Krabi and the under the radar island treasures like Ko Kood, Ko Kradan, Ko Mook, Ko Ngai, and Ko Lipe.