“The Andaman Sea, the Andaman Sea, oogly boogly, the Andaman Sea…” – Fishing with John, Episode 5, 1991.
Alone under the moonlight, our long-tail boat cuts through still water, transporting us from the city of Krabi to the shores of the island of Koh Jum. Hearing each other is difficult over the sound of the wind and the constant hum of the diesel motor propelling us to our destination, so we speak little, taking in the stars, the treed outlines of other nearby islands and the flickering light on the water’s surface. We smile at each other as we sit on our wooden bench at the center of the boat, realizing we had made the right decision. It is a much better arrival to Thailand’s south than the one we’d anticipated.
The trip had started off with a glitch. A two-hour delay for our flight down from Chiang Mai meant we would be arriving in Krabi too late to catch the day’s last public ferry to the island. At first we thought we would get a last-minute hotel in Krabi and then head out in the morning, but decided instead to spend the extra money and have our resort arrange for a private pickup from the airport. In addition to not sleeping at a resort we were already paying for, the alternative would mean wasting half the next day just traveling to the island, a lot of time when you’re only there for three nights. A private boat ride under the stars was icing on the cake.
Even though our marriage was still not legal, despite the cave “ceremony” we’d had a few days before (check the previous two posts if you’re not up to speed), there were many reasons to be excited for the final “honeymoon” leg of our trip to Koh Jum, an island in the Andaman Sea just off the coast of Krabi. For me, and probably only for me, one reason was the knowledge that John Lurie and Dennis Hopper, overloaded on sugar, had once nearly died on these waters 25 years ago on a hunt for the elusive giant squid. “Fishing with John,” anyone?… Together though, after days of melting our faces off on the sweltering streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we were excited to slow things down for a few days. Swim in the sea, catch some shade while drinking cocktails in the sand. That sort of thing. Which is basically what we did.
As we’d hoped, we spent much of our time on the island floating in the bath-like water, relaxing and strolling up and down the beach looking at critters and collecting seashells. Koh Jum is a less visited and less developed island than the more popular islands like Koh Phi Phi, a much more crowded destination that gained fame from the Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach. The views are also not as grand, lacking the aforementioned island’s towering limestone karsts. The trade off was that we had the place nearly to ourselves, which worked for us.
On one occasion we ventured away from the resort area into town for a couple hours, hoping to find some better food. While the resort was nice and quaint — a modest assortment of beautiful teak cottages lining the waterfront — they mostly failed when it came to cuisine. I’ve only stayed in resorts a few times, but from my experience, the one thing they seem to consistently do poorly is serve food that’s on par with the regional standards. So we thought we’d go local. This didn’t work out so well either. The island is very small, consisting mostly of one main road, and doesn’t have much in the way of eateries. Beer then? Maybe we can pick up some cheap Changs or Singhas and avoid paying resort prices? Nope, the island is mostly Muslim. So, we bought some water and fried bananas and enjoyed looking around. The main road was very pretty, mostly lined with small houses and shops. The few people we did see traveled on foot or motorbike and everyone we passed was friendly. One notable thing we encountered along the way were groves of tall trees with coconuts strapped to the bottom, collecting sap. We didn’t know until we asked later that the area is a large source of natural rubber. We spent the rest of the day at the resort and that evening took advantage of the beautiful sunset to take some more wedding photos along the beach.
On the last full day, a Monday, we ventured by ferry into Krabi, with the sole purpose of getting to the local Amphur and finalizing the marriage. Again, this was not to be. We had failed to notice, nor had we been informed, that both Monday and Tuesday — our last two days there before returning to Bangkok — were national holidays. All government offices were closed. Of course, we didn’t find this out until getting to town and asking a hotel clerk how to find the office. It was also unfortunate that Krabi really doesn’t offer much to see, so after strolling around for awhile, grabbing an iced coffee and a quick lunch, we made our way back, frustrated we’d wasted half the day. We shook it off though and spent the last afternoon bumming around the pool and walking the beach with a random dog we affectionately named Flea Bag following close behind.
With a day and a half to go before going home, we flew back to Bangkok. Our sole mission at this point was finalizing the marriage before it was too late. There were still more obstacles to jump through, but by mid-afternoon on the final day we were sitting in front of the civil registrar with a hired translator signing the official papers. With all that we’d been through, it was rather anticlimactic. More a relief than a moment of celebration. But we celebrated that relief, and spent the last evening happily wandering around, soaking in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok one last time as a newly married couple.
Now that all the romantic notions of marrying abroad are out of the way, here’s a glimpse of what getting married in Thailand is actually like.
Lulz. And, doll heads = no.
Really? You didn’t take a wedding portrait in the rickshaw with attractive floral backdrop?