Day 1: Dying Reef

Post # 1.

Journal excerpt:

I’m talking with Coon Jaeng and he says “are you going diving?”
“yeah” I answer.
“there is coral out there” he says, and gestures out from the beach. A few rocks peak above the sea, and dark blue blotches like camo-shapes are visible beneath the surface. “There is coral out there, but it’s dead.” He says. His voice, like the sea, is calm covering something much more complicated. I imagine I can hear sadness and picture other currents underneath. “Three weeks ago” he said “it was green and alive. Then it turned the color white, then it turned the color black and then it died. It happened all around…” he gestures as if circumnavigating Lipe island. “I went to look in my boat. It died on Ko Adang island and Ko Rawi island and Egg Rock too…. It’s the same as 12, 13 years ago, when Thailand had Elnindo.” ‘sorry, what?” I ask. We are speaking thai and I didn’t catch the last word. I leaned in closer “el nino” he says again, slower, and I understand that I do understand the Spanish word. “ka, ka, Cow Jai” I say ‘oh, yes, I understand.” From the veranda where we are sitting, Coon Jaeng squints out over the beach. “That year, the water was cold, and the coral died the same. This time it is not cold. It is very hot. It’s about temperature. Now, the water is hot. It’s too hot for the coral to live.” I look out over the bright water with pinched eyebrows and a falling heart. Today is my first day of the month I’ll spend on Lipe Island, a four hour boat ride off the southern tip of Thailand. I’ve come to study the coral reef and its relationship with the island’s inhabitants; what factors go into its degradation and what impacts the decline will have on tourist development and the local people. “I came to learn about the reef” I say. “and now its dead. It is hurting heart,” which is the Thai word for sad. “In the US the coral is in danger too, the oil in the sea comes out and comes out and we can’t stop it”. Coon Jaeng nods. We sit in silence for a while. The waves lap up on the paradise white sand beach. A black fishing bird is cawing form the tropical trees in front of Pi Jaengs bungalows. “Today, you dive out there” Pi Jaung says getting up “tomorrow I’ll take you out to Egg Island. Egg Island coral is more beautiful… but its dying too.”


Post # 2.

Hello!

I arrived safely this afternoon on Ko Lipe island. It is unbelievably beautiful. Very humid. And there are hardly any tourists here. The waters are a crisp light blue. The sands are warm and white. Most resorts and restaurants are closed. People (the whole journey long) have been kind and helpful. I’m looking forward to the rest of my stay here. Pi Jaeng, the owner of the bungalows I’m staying at is wonderful. My bungalow has a big hammock overlooking, past shading tropical trees, peaks of the open sea. After starting at 7:00 am W (on four hours sleep) and arriving her at 3 pm F (minus a 13? hour time difference) and sleeping only a bit on the plane I fell directly into bed until now (6:30 – nightfall) so I’ll go into town tomorrow morning to email this and check out the internet situation. At worst I know there is internet for 10 cents a minute (yikes) at one resort. I’m doing extremely well and having a very good time. I was able to get an extra supply of money out of the ATM in the pier town, so although there is no way to get money on the island, I should have enough for the trip with me (hidden around and mostly in my neck pouch for now).

One funny story so far is compared to the people who are just coming out for a few days, my 20.7 K bag and carry on and back pack were humungous!! The speed boat dropped us off on the opposite side of the island from my resort, and for a moment I contemplated carrying all my stuff (possible, but extremely hot and potentially embarrassing) all the way across the island (a 30 munite walk without bags). However, two really helpful employees of another resort gave me a ride in their motorcycle with side luggage car, (for like 3 dollars) and from their resort and I called up Khun Jaeng who cheerfully came to pick me and my stuff up from their resort (and we could meet in person for the first time). I liked him immediately.

Two stories of success were changing my money in BKK (31 B / dollar) not in New York (where the rate was 27 B / dollar) and saving a hundred dollars that way. Then I got to Hat Yai, took a group taxi into town $2 and got a ride from a wonderful woman, Anowan, the two hour van ride to Pak Bara (the pier where I’m going) for only $5. It was a private ac van with lovely company since she goes everyday as part of running her company in the low season, even if only one person like me comes. Although she runs at a loss for the day, she says over time it all works out. (she lives in Pak Bara so she was heading from her Hat Yai office home, a trip she makes each day). It turns out there isn’t a local bus that goes to Pak Bara this time of year, so it was doubly fortunate I could go with Anowan. Because to go by bus would have meant traveling three separate busses and def. missing the 11:30 ferry until the next day. On the ride we joked about how the 6 boats and many agencies running during high season all compete and “fight” to get customers, but in low season everybody works together and are friends because there are so few tourists that they can’t all operate. The same service from the airport would have cost $70 dollars or more. I made the ferry, and had a wonderful time cruising at a whopping, bouncing, flying, 90 kilometers and hour with a really fun family from south Africa out to the island.

To a slight prick in my stomach I realized the only thing I’ve eaten today is a airplane sandwich at 6:30 AM. Hehehe. Time to pull out some of the snacks, dad packed me for the plane, and while I barely touched since meals were served so often. I think I got (in this order) dinner, lunch, breakfast, lunch, dinner, lunch, no wonder my stomach is confused. This time, unlike in last September, we chased the sun around the globe so the whole trip was brightly lit. Mom, the water was a light blue, but mostly looking out the window was too bright to do. We flew over Alaska and n. Canada and could see the tiny nubs of melting glaciers up the big trenches where the used to lay nestled in the mountains.

If your interested google Ko lipe, and click ‘welcome to ko lipe” and check out the map. I’m staying at Sanom bungalos, which are on their own tiny private beach below the biggest “sunset beach”. The owner is the only indigenous islander to have a tourist resort. I’m pretty sure I’m the only guest around right now, but many local people were hanging out in and around the resort today when I came in. Khun Jaeng (the owner) says I’m welcome to use the resort kitchen to cook for myself, or I can get food from the restaurants in the other parts of the island. I have electricity from 6 pm to 1 am to charge things and write. My Thai is slow and I’ve forgotten some words, but it’s returning at a reassuring rate. The flights and connections were no problem at all. I’m almost done reading Blink which is fantastically interesting.

Hope this isn’t too much detail! I want everyone to know I’m safe and sound. I’ll email this tomorrow morning and possibly even skype if the much more affordable internet café is open this time of year. Forward freely.

Love,
Gigi

Post # 3

June 19th

Wow. Today was awesome and I am exhausted!!! The day started with me getting up at early morning, about six. I made my room riep roy, meaning tidied up, and put away the rest of my things, organized my backpack to be a day pack for each day. I was feeling a tiny bit apprehensive about going out to talk to people, but if I didn’t feel that would they really be worth talking to? What I mean is, I guess, the best things are always a bit scary and risky, but that’s where you have the most to gain.

I walked out my door to go into town and talk to someone/have some breakfast but before I even leave sanom bungalos I run into a couple of guy and one girl hanging out in the Sanom greeting/café area. I start talking to them a bit, and they invite me for coffee. Somehow, I understood them very well, especially one really friendly guy name Rit. They were impressed by my Thai and we got on really well. It was defiantly a confidence booster. It was so much fun talking to them! They invited me to eat breakfast with them. We walked out to the beach and over to the rocky point, where their lodge was perched above. Smoke was rising from a cooking fire nestled between three triangular rocks. We made breakfast on the beach! I learned everyone (all 8 peoples) names by writing them down and practicing, there was Rit, Ne-ew, Non, Oh-rah., Guang, Ek or “x”, Atit, and Ray. –interjection, omg, my eye lids are sunburned!!! – it was so perfectly amazing. We took photos and chatted and joked. They were all guys, a big extended family. I wondered at the time where all the girls were. The boys splashed, snorkeling, in the water. We ate together on the beach. It was… watery cooked cabbage with garlic and egg! With (tor you’ll love this) something called “salty fish”. Aka fish cooked, soaked, roasted, grilled, injected, made of, and sprinkled with salt. About one rice sized flake of fish is like… my max per bite. normally people just sort of squish a ball of rice on the fish and the juices that come out make the rice flavored salty. Classic real Thai food.
Everyone was just perched on these big bolders on the beach, joking and chatting, or shuffling about up and down the rocky sairs/latter to get up to the huge bungalow veranda above. Smoke rising from the fire and wafting over into the sunlight…

It felt great to make friends and hang out on the beach with them. They invited me to go snorkeling with them, but I decided I had a responsibility to email that I had arrived safe so I went on. At one point, Ray asked me what I thought of Thai people, and i said “They are very generous” and that is the truth. I think if I had to describe all of my experiences in Thailand with two words they would be adventure and generosity.

After that I went into town and used Pi Pooh’s internet and reconnected with him. He remembered my face which was fun. (we interview Pi Pooh in my project group studying waste management last time I was here. He basically single handedly started up a waste management system on the island.)

Next I came home chatting to people on the way. Lipe is composed of the biggest most developed “sunset beach” lined with bars, resorts, massage parlors, resturants, ect. Then a main foreigner drag/walking street, lined with the same plus stores, internet cafes, ext. Almost all of these are closed. The beach and the streets have accumulated debris, natural coconut shells, bits of dead coral, leaves, and driftwood, as well as construction debris and lots of trash. A few of the every kind of venue is open though, and almost everyone I’ve seen has been Thai, and a lot of them local or at least full time residents, which makes a whole different feel because the migrant seasonal workers are not as invested in the island, its social atmosphere, or it’s future, as those who call it home. When I spot them on the beach or in a shop, Farang (foreigners) are a unexpected and a sort of awkward sight.

The other half of lipe is remnants of forest and the Chow Lay (ocean people) villages. These are corrugate roved houses, bustling with playing kids, and working/socializing adults. The village is crowded with bedraggled chickens, and skinny dogs, and cats. I saw a chicken wire cage with doves, women washing clothes, carrying coconuts, making dinner, a guy and his toddler son burning an empty blue oil drum, a scrawny puppy yowling as it ferociously chased its tail, a man selling popcorn from a cart… Imagine trees enough for shade, dirt roads, houses haphazardly arranged over the packed ground, a spattering of brush and gardens, many neighbors hanging out together and working, lots of animals.

I’m trying to basically only speak Thai unless the other person speaks really good english (like pi pooh) and I’m really enjoying immersing myself in the language again.

After coming home, I went for a snorkel off Sanom beach. When I got out there I’d say about 30% of the coral was bone white. Some was dead, some was still alive. There were a decent amount of fish, some pretty big parrot fish, a few morish idols. It was a mix of a really euphoric to be there, but sad about what was happening dive. My new fins were heavenly and all my equipment, mask, snorkel worked flawlessly, which was awesome. I am fascinated by reefs. The second I get in, I just want to learn more about them. Get really close up and look at the little symbionts in the coral. Follow the schools of fish. Know what species I’m seeing. Know what species I’m not seeing, but should be. They are just so exciting and high energy, even when they are half dead.

After the swim I showered, the water very warm from the tubes in the sun all day, and washed my equipment. I decided to escape the heat of mid day and did a lot of organizing ideas on my porch. I brainstormed and wrote up schedules, safety protocols, decided on how I would record my experiences and did some journaling.

I took a two hour walk around the island. Bought some long kong, and knawhk fruits to share. Came back, showered again, and met with my new neighbor friends for dinner. This is when I found out they are just visiting and are leaving tomorrow! Oh no! all that time I spent memorizing names, socializing and networking is leaving tomorrow morning. Boo. It was really fun and rewarding and worth it, though it would have been superb if my friends were staying longer.

I am so exhausted I can hardly type. Good night!

ONG I almost forgot!! On my walk I saw a older fisherman carrying a GIGANTIC SWORD FISH over his shoulder into town. It was at least 7 feet long, without its giant sword nose. It was insane! He let me take a picture. Coming soon. I bumped into him a bit later, too. He sold it for 500 B -- about 16 dollars.