Phi Phi Island, Thailand

Pictures from Phi Phi can be found here in Picasa!

As you might have read earlier, we ended up skipping Laos in the favor of some warmth and sun shine in Phi Phi islands, Thailand. Also due to the fact that getting to Laos and further back to Singapore seemed to become extremely time consuming and rather expensive.

We booked a night bus from Siem Reap to Bangkok for the price of 16 USD for 8 hours of drive time. Our pick up was at 1.15 and as usually the bus was late, leaving 3 am.

Just before reaching the border, around 6.45 am we stopped. Our tickets were collected and we were slapped on with red stickers in exchange. From there we continued to the border which opened at 7 am. No fees at the border.

It took roughly an hour and a half to go through the borders and customs. And as a surprise and something to think, while walking between the borders in the no mans land we found the place filled with casinos forming a big city between, and of course duty free!

After getting stamped to Thailand we were gathered as a group of red sticker ons and walked out to a pick up point roughly 500 meters away. From there we continue to Bangkok with mini buses fitting 13 person each.

Before leaving one of the organizer asked if anyone wants to go directly to airport and we raised hands with my Danish bro. At this point there was no talk about extra costs or airport fees.

We left around 9 am towards Bangkok and the international airport of Suvarnabhumi. Approximately 30 minutes before arriving the driver who apparently doesn't know how to speak English or even understand it starts to ask extra money from the ones who wanted to go directly to the airport. It wasn't actually sure who he was talking to but so we ended up reasoning. First he asked 60 baht per person, then 3 USD then 4 USD. He actually called his boss and some other backpacker in front row talked to him solving our situation which ended up to a high 4 USD, which we reasoned not to pay, because on the way the driver only had to pay 50 baht highway fee. It really felt like they tried to make us pay the trip for a second time.

On the airport I said to the guy, we are not paying 4 USD each and asked if we can call his boss, I promised 1 USD each and that's it (at the moment 1 USD is approximately 30 baht), and the guy nodded. At the same time my Danish friend blurted out that we settled for 3 USD per head so we ended up paying it too. Paid for nothing but still we got where we wanted, so it's all fine.

So we arrived to the airport at noon and tried to change our 16:55 flight to Phuket to an earlier one leaving at 14:40, but the flight was already full. We ended up spending the day at the airport finishing one movie and catching some shuteye.

We arrived to Phuket airport and wandered to airport travel information stall to book some random cheap accommodation (Summer Hotel), also a minibus to Phuket Town and the following morning boat tickets to the Phi Phi islands including free pick-up service from the hotel. After arriving to our hotel we strolled around for a while and I finally got my friend to step out from his comfort zone, from the Burgers and Fries. We had the best duck rice ever on this tiny street stall, although my friend was very suspicious in the end when the guy handled  everything, the money, food and drinks with his bare hands. My friends was appalled, though I was fine with it.

We were supposed to be picked up at 8 am, boat departing at 8.30 am, but you can already guess, late. In the end we made to the cruiser filled with hundreds of tourists filling up the decks below and above.

We were supposed to be doing all kinds of activities like trekking, canoeing, snorkeling in Phi Phi islands, but we ended up just partying on the beach, partying on the beach, partying on the beach and once again partying on the beach! We enjoyed our lives to the fullest!

On one day though we went to gym for couple of hours and founded a sauna to relax, so nice! It wasn't the Finnish version, though they had one, but broken. We entered a steam sauna with sizzling 70 degrees of burning humidity awesomeness!

Also one of the evenings was filled with unexpected excitement, when my Danish friend and I were surrounded by five Thai mafia guys. They threatened us with taser pushing it almost on our face and skin. They also knocked me with a club to the back of my head, and smacked with open hand to my face and stomach, even though we weren't resisting. They were demanding 3000 bath (100 USD) as ransom to let us go. Some Swedish guy came to the scene and started to bullshit us too, saying that he can take care of this if we just pay. He was threatening us by saying that these guys can take you to the jungle and smack you to dead etc, I didn't feel like they could but still, why take the unnecessary risk. In the end we ended up paying 1700 baht which was all that we carried that moment.

The trip ended with the most boring 11 hours waiting time on the Phuket international airport, but we really didn't want to miss our flight and my connection to Finland on next day, and we were a bit unsure about our JetStar flight tickets. I tried to buy them for us, but payment failed twice. Then my friend tried to buy the tickets, after one failure we got the itinerary confirmed. In the end my friend got to confirmed flight itinerary's in his mail and I received two confirmed ones almost two days after the flight had already left and we were in Singapore already. Lets see what they are making us to pay...