Celebrate Loy Krathong every day on Pang-nga Bay

Though Thailand's Loy Krathong festival is only held during the full moon in November, there's a way to celebrate the water-borne rite anytime. With John Gray's Sea Canoe, visitors to the caves in Pang Nga Bay set their Loy Krathong boats afloat each night of the year.

To celebrate Loy Krathong, adherents launch small round boats, or krathongs, decorated with banana leaves and flowers. They pray for sins of the previous year to be washed away and for good luck in the next year. Even more traditionally, they pray to the water spirits, asking for forgiveness for any harm that was caused to water during the year. Additionally, absolution is asked for any acts that might harm water during the course of the next year.

It's as if Gray, a sincere environmentalist, is working to help the whole world, or at least a small corner of it, be granted forgiveness for polluting and wasting a precious natural resource.

He's helping in other ways, too.

"It's become a sweetheart thing, too," Gray told a group of around 20 people who took his Hong by Starlight tour on November 27, 2004. He explained that couples often launch their krathongs together, hoping for a good relationship for the next year. "So you married couples, you'll never fight again," Gray said to the laughter of the group.

The trip coincidentally took place one day after the traditional Loy Krathong, and an almost full moon was on the rise after a day of touring through four caves or hongs, Thai for room. But there was one last stop – the floating of krathongs. Some on the tour had floated krathongs the night before, so they were in for an extra helping of absolvement and good fortune.

With the help of their guides, everyone made a krathong to float, with a cutting of a banana log, banana leaves, joss sticks, candles and flowers supplied. Surprisingly, there were a few Thais who had to be instructed in the art of krathong making as well.



A pony-tailed 59-year-old former surfer and rugby player with a background that ranges from epidemiology to documentary filmmaking, Gray began the night-time canoe tours around 2001.

He's been Thailand since 1989. He came here after spending time in Hawaii, where he started a sea-canoe touring business and helped lobby for laws to protect the environment.

"Then I thought I'd move to Asia and try to change things," he said to the knowing laughter of my friend and I as we rode in the van to his pier from our guesthouse. He’d picked us up that morning.

He started a sea-canoe business in Phuket and hoped to spread franchises throughout the island, providing environmentally responsible business opportunities to the locals. Instead, more than a dozen crass imitators were spawned, all operating on his turf in Pang-nga Bay. So many operators were offering day trips, he decided to switch to after-dark operations.



His Hong by Starlight actually begins during the day, and it was 10:20am when Gray fetched the writers from their hotel. The times the trips start vary, depending on the tides.

By around 12:30pm, Gray's 15-metre, diesel-powered trawler had made its way from the pier to the inaugural paddle of the day. Along the way, the guests ate a lunch of spring rolls, fried noodles, green salad and chilled fruit. Always looking to spread his environmental views, Gray noted that no shrimp would be found on his menu, because shrimp farms destroy mangroves.

Gray lectured about how the odd-shaped limestone formations, or karst, came into being over the course of millions of years. He talked about the delicate environment of the mangrove lagoons within the karst hongs, and urged his tour group to be respectful.

Keeping quiet was strongly urged, as Gray showed a drawing of a person with a zipped lip. Soft talking among the guides and their passengers was okay, but "if they can hear you talking in the next boat, you're talking too loud", Gray said.



The group was split into pairs and given a guide – a canoe paddler. Slip-resistant steps made it easy to get from the escort boat into the specially made canoes – long, narrow boats big and stable enough to comfortably hold three people. The canoes are made of heavy, rubberised fabric, similar to the construction of river rafts. To make them even more of a hybrid, they are powered by the double-bladed paddle used for kayaks.

The first stop was Princess Cave, named for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who once toured the cave with Gray's company. It was a technically difficult start to the day, requiring the passengers of the canoes to lie flat on their backs as the low-slung boats slipped under low-hanging, oyster-encrusted rocks.

Gray had warned everyone to not touch the oyster rocks. Extremely sharp, they'll "cut through to the bone" if you press your hand against them. Navigating through this treacherous passage was a task best left to the guides, who needed no assistance to manoeuvre the canoes.

Through the cave, the way opened up to the sky and the group got its first taste of a mangrove hong, a water-filled lagoon surrounded by the hollowed out walls of the limestone rock. After about 20 minutes, they turned around and went back through the cave.

"Another 10 minutes, this will be empty," said Sompong "Pong" Hamvong, my guide.

Gray's tours are scheduled to take advantage of the tides. The water must be high enough to allow the boats easy passage, but not so high as to keep them from slipping under the low entrance of the caves.

The next stop was Diamond Cave, so named for a sparkling stalactite formation inside it. Here is where Gray’s competition was encountered. At least two other tour groups were present and the inside of the cave resembled a theme-park ride, with dozens of rubber canoes passing to-and-fro in the dark.

The other tour groups hadn't been admonished to zip their lips, or if they had, the words had been ignored. One foreign tourist was oohing and aahing loudly as he looked around, and was unmindful of the angry stares and the "shhh's" directed his way. That group departed quickly, though, leaving Gray's group alone.

On the way out, Gray pointed out an overhanging branch, high up on the hong walls. There used to be a white-bellied sea eagle that sat there every day, he said, until too many noisy tour groups started coming to Diamond Cave.

Gray continues to try and do his part, though. During the day, he set out paddling solo in an ocean kayak, which he would fill with garbage found along the way. At least two loads of trash were picked up during his solitary voyages.

Next for the group was the Bat Cave, so named for its colony of insect bats. The theme-park scene was much the same here, but after five minutes Gray's group had the place to itself. The other companies were finished for the day. Gray’s had just begun.

In the Bat Cave hong, the group watched as the water receded, exposing the mud flats. Slowly, strange finned creatures emerged. They were mudskippers, fish that can operate on land for short periods of time.

"Say hello to your ancestors," Gray told the group. More and more of the mudskippers emerged, some fighting for their small piece of the muddy turf. Depending on the strength of your telephoto lens, they looked like cute, little bickering critters or fierce, prehistoric throwbacks, engaged in a battle to the death.

There was also fiddler crabs and at least one mangrove snake. After 20 minutes or so had passed, the group was paddling out of the hong, lest they become part of the muddy habitat themselves – at least until the tide rose again.

Other wildlife spotted during the day included crab-eating macaques, who were spied swinging from the trees high above the hong. There were also brahminy kites – white-headed eagle-like raptors. At least a dozen or so trailed behind the trawler as Gray's staff baited them with pieces of raw chicken that were thrown into the water.

The next-to-last stop was at Hong Island, a small bay where the group could engage in some "self-paddling", finally getting to try their hand at canoeing themselves, and exploring the surroundings, all under the watchful eye of Gray.

After a sumptuous feast of rich, filling brown rice, tempura-fried vegetables and fish, cashew chicken and other dishes, the boat returned to the Bat Cave.

With the krathongs made along the way, the group headed back into the cave. Urged to be extra quiet inside the hong, the kratongs were set afire and put afloat.

Along with the glow of the kratongs, there were two forms of bioluminescents. In the air were fireflies, with their tails aglow in a mating ritual. And in the water were plankton that became luminescent when disturbed by the paddles or by the hands of the group members. It was if nature itself was joining in the loy krathong ceremony, working overtime to bless the participants and absolve them of any sins committed against the environment.

A good start toward that end was the retrieval of the krathongs, which some guests kept with them as a reminder of the message Gray shared with them.



The Hong by Starlight tour was Bt3,450 per person (November 2004) and included transport to and from hotel, meals, snacks and strong filtered coffee. A change of clothes is suggested, as participants will get wet. A changing room is available. Dry bags are provided for cameras and other items, but John Gray's Sea Canoe is not responsible if there is any loss or damage to such valuables.

John Gray's Sea Canoe
124 Soi 1 Yaowaraj Road
Talad Yai, Phuket
(076) 254 505-7
www.johngray-seacanoe.com

Comment: On December 26, 2004, one month after my trip with John Gray's Sea Canoe, a tsunami struck Phuket and the Indian Ocean region, causing more than 120,000 deaths. John Gray was among the survivors, though. Please read his account of that fateful morning.

South Thailand seacanoeing

My first real adventure trip in Thailand and my first such trip in a long time took place in February 2003. It was organised by Sea Canoe, based in Phuket. The trip, dubbed the Bucket of Bulldogs Tour, was with seven other guys and we all got on amazingly well, considering our different backgrounds and personalities.

After taking a 14-hour train ride from Bangkok down to Trang, and spending a day and night there in a hotel, the Sea Canoe people picked us up the next morning and took us on a two-hour drive by songtaew (pickup) to Talay Noi National Wildlife Sanctuary, just in time to see the lotus blossoms still open. The place was abundant with birdlife, with the best viewing close to shore. I was thus dismayed to find out that we would not be immediately paddling on arrival there. We would first be towed out to a more desireable spot by longtail boats. This would set the tone for the rest of the trip: A lot of riding around on various conveyances and then a little bit of paddling.

When we finally got around to paddling, it was nice, and we probably would have seen and heard a lot of birds if it hadn't been for the constant drone of longtail motor boats ferrying package tourists around (and this was after we had been advised to keep quiet, though one of our party used the lull between between longtail boats to discuss the differences of Southern Thai language and Central Thai language).

I saw some kind of falcon catch a fish and carry it away. Also, there were numorous comorants and gulls as well as some Brahminy kites. It was pointed out by one of our more astute members that these birds were migratory and would be spending their nesting season in Siberia or some far-off place.

Later in the day, we took a short, rugged nature hike and went in a cave with bats, blind fish and some centipedes. I can't remember the name of the park we visited. We got our first whiff of bat dung, which we would smell several other times during the trip. We stayed in Phatthalung at a fish farm that had some cheesy guest bungalows. The carpeting on the walls was the touch of class that woudn't be out of place at a summer cabin up on Lake Superior.

I was feeling sick and we stopped at pharmacy. I self-medicated myself with amoxicillin. Also, my roomie for the night gave me a does of Theraflu. In return, I gave him my cold and felt better the next day.


Day three started with a dusty truck ride and a long hike to see the Sakai hilltribe people. They are an ancient people who have been in Thailand probably longer than any other people. A secretive tribe, they were scared of us. Only an old man, the village chieftan, was present when we arrived. Then a middle-aged woman came out. Gradually, more women and children came out, probably about two dozen people in all. There were no adult males in the village, except for the old man, who demonstrated his skill with the blow gun, an artefact he would later give to one of our party. Many of the children were clearly half Thai, with straighter hair and lighter skin - the result of Thai-Malay rubber tappers having relations with Sakai women. After a lunch, just outside the village, we headed back down the mountain. I was walking ahead of the party, searching for some solitude away from the banter of the others when I came upon the young Sakai men. It was pretty scary, being alone in the woods and meeting up with some boys from the 'hood. But, there were just as scared of me, I suppose, and were wondering what a little, fat white man was doing out in their jungle.

On the way to Pakbara pier, we had 20 minutes to swim at a raging waterfall and wash the dust off. At Pakbara, we each got a rustic bungalow. At sunset, three of us went for a sunset paddle. We were taken out into the bay by longtail boat, where we paddled around Koh Yai. I saw a white-bellied sea eagle, a small cave with bats and some crab-eating macaques. Later at night I borrowed a bicycle to search for an Internet cafe and get some change for a 1,000 baht bill. I found out why Thai people ride their bicycles so slow - none of them have brakes that work. I discovered this without mishap and adjusted my speed accordingly.


The next morning we were taken to the Satun River for a paddle through Seven Curves Cave - a real cave with bats and darkness. First, we paddled upstream in the dark, in a cave, a wholly disorientating experience. You couldn't see the current, so it would come out of nowhere and threaten to sweep you into a wall. Had we been prepared for this with proper headlamps and helmets, it wouldn't have been as big a deal. We paddled up through the cave and then turned around and paddled downstream through it, followed about about an hour's worth of paddling on a river - a wholly relaxing experience not unlike float trips I had been on back in the States. After the paddle, we stopped at an interesting set of waterfalls that went over some clay. The surface was kind of soft and tactile, not slippery, so it was fun to climb up the falls.

That afternoon, we headed back to Pakbara and hooked up with the small boat that would take us out into the Andaman Sea. Our first stop was Koh Tarutao National Marine Park, a two- or three-hour trip. The sea was pretty choppy, and I got slammed by a good-sized wave. Also, some of the kayaks came undone went flying off the top of the boat.

On Tarutao, after getting situated in a quirky bungalow, there was time for another sunset paddle. We did a fairly good pull, this time paddling from the harbor to a couple of beaches, all without the assistance of any motorised craft. That was pretty nice.

The bungalows on Koh Tarutao left a bit to be desired. They are tidy, sturdy and clean, but there's no fans in the room, so it's hot at night. Also, there's no power during the day, which is not a problem unless you use the toilet, which is windowless.

Tarutao is a historic place, as we learned from the excellent visitor's center (with an interesting library). There was once a penal colony on the island, with some influential political prisoners. During World War II, when the island was cut off, the prisoners and the officers became pirates and conducted raids throughout the strait. The island was the setting for "Survivor: Thailand", the US unreality TV show. I saw no evidence of the TV show having been there, though.

Day 2 on Tarutao was spent paddling up through some mangroves. This would prove to be the most challenging activity on our trip. We paddled up the river that runs through the center of the island. It is lined with mangrove swamps and we saw some crab-eating macaques along the way.

When we got to the cave, we had to portage into it. During these manuevers (the Sea Canoe people did most of the lifting and carrying) I lost a flashlight, but had a spare.
We paddled through the cave (fairly disorientating, but not as bad as being on a fast flowing river) and then up a creek that got smaller and smaller until we couldn't paddle anymore. We then turned around. When I got back to the mouth of the cave, the water had gotten lower and the entrance was sealed. There was still a way in, but not by boat. It was necessary to get out of the boat and drag it through the mud. I got out and sank in up to my knees. I stayed calm and got out, but not without having my Teva sandals sucked off. I retrieved them, but they were broken.

The rest of the group was similarly baffled by the problem. One of the Sea Canoe guides tried unsuccessfully to find a new way into the cave. From inside the cave, I advised all to take off their sandals and go the way I did. Eventually, we all got through, but not without getting muddy.

The next day, we departed Tarutao for an island I will not name because it's a nice place and I don't want to see it trashed. The beach was clean, and there was a coral reef right off the shore, where I went for my first-ever snorkeling swim. I saw all kinds of fish and colorful coral.

Later, I took a hike up a mountain, which turned out to be quite exhausting. Another part of my sandals broke, which I was able to repair, with the help of a loaned Swiss Army knife and the encouragement of at least one other person. I also took a short sunset paddle. The accomodation was some neat tent bungalows, which I shared with one other person. This was a relaxing place.

The next day, we headed out to Koh Rawi for snorkeling. At some point, the Sea Canoe guys thought it would be a good idea to try some snorkeling. I jumped into the ocean, only to see black murk in choppy waters and to feel the sting of jellyfish. Bad idea. Later, at Koh Rawi, I snorkeled and saw fish and coral to my heart's content. It was pretty nice.

This was also our last time of kayaking, a 30-minute slog through choppy seas and baking sun from Koh Rawi to another small island. It was an inauspcious end to the "kayak" trip that didn't see us do an awful lot of paddling.

The last night of the adventure was spent of Koh Lipe, an island of resorts with lots going on. Budget travellers visit here use it as a base to explore other islands. This particular night, a big man named Jimmy, representing probably 300 pounds of heavenly joy, was having a wedding party after marrying his Thai girlfriend. There was lots of people dancing on the beach in what must have been a full moon party.

Our final day was spent travelling, first by boat back to Pakbara, then minivan (my least favorite mode of travel in Thailand) and finally by airplane from Hat Yai back to Bangkok.

Overall, I will give the Sea Canoe people high marks for planning a gradually more challenging itinerary for us out-of-shape guys, as well as their helpfulness and courtesy, especially at mealtimes, where the group of us were all served at the same time, personally being waited on by the Sea Canoe staff. The difficulties in this trip were perhaps unavoidable, and without them, it wouldn't have been as memorable or as adventurous an experience.

Amphawa Now

A group of Thai journalists took a tour of the village of Amphawa, Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand on November 12, 2002. The trip was sponsored by Joy Sports, a local provider of Feel Free kayaks, and Baan Tai Had Resort. The then-new resort gave tourists a mission: Paddle a kayak through the canals of the village and be drawn toward the charms of its people, their history and their way of life on the Mae Klong River. Here is the story I brought back from the trip:

"Never get out of the boat." Wiser words, from the character "Chef" in Apocalypse Now, have perhaps never been uttered in movie history.

They certainly hold true in Amphawa where a new resort, Baan Tai Had, situated on the Mae Klong River, is promoting the eco-friendly sport of kayaking as a way for tourists to get into the stream of life in the sleepy Samut Songkhram province village.

The river is a metaphor for life's journey in Apocalypse Now. In the Vietnam war film, Chef and Martin Sheen's character take a walk into the jungle, leaving the Navy patrol boat that is ferrying them to Cambodia on a mission. Chef wants some mangoes, but gets more than he bargained for when a tiger chases them back out of the greenery.

There are no tigers in Amphawa. But then, there is no real reason to get out of your boat either as in this town, the river is life.

Everything is available on the water. If you want some noodles, there will likely be a noodle vendor in a boat, paddling her way down the canal, just when you are getting hungry. How about some ice cream? The ice-cream man drives a boat, too. Fresh vegetables? The water-borne hawker will be right along.

Or, you can tie up along the footpath at a shop and have what you want brought out to you.

Of course, there's no reason why you can't get out of your boat, since no tiger is likely to jump out at you.


In fact, there are plenty of reasons to get out of the boat, such as the preserved remains of the "miracle monk" at Wat Juramanee. The monk, Nung, was a much revered figure in the province, and when he died about 15 years ago, his body was placed in a glass casket and left to lie in state inside the wat's huge temple, the interior of which is painted in gold-leaf detailing.

If you stay in your boat, you'll never see the exquisite frescos in the temple at Wat Amphawa. The reconstructed paintings run from floor to ceiling and picture in great detail the goings on around the court of King Rama II, who was born in Amphawa. His history permeates the province and a great many of the numerous temples there go back to his time. Wat Amphawa is on the grounds of King Rama II Botanical Garden, which includes a museum set up in an old-style wooden house.

At least one temple in the province, Wat Ban Kung, goes back a bit further, to the Ayutthaya period. This was where King Thonburi brought his court to regroup after the fall of the old capital, before he came to Bangkok to establish a new capital. You have to go by road to see this one. It's a small temple that is made quite impressive by the huge, 300-year-old banyan tree that has spread its serpentine limbs up and over the structure, making it look like the temple was built inside the tree.

At another temple, Wat Bang Kai Noi, work has been going on for the past 10 years to install elaborately wood-carved illustrations of stories from Buddhist scripture. It's quite a sight to behold, and not far from the river. Thing is, you have to get out of your boat to see them.

Of course, if you stay in your boat, you'll get to see the way of life in the town. You'll get a feeling that you are travelling back in time, as the old-style wooden buildings line the banks of the canal. It's quite a change from the concrete and steel structures that have taken over the landscape elsewhere in the Kingdom.

You'll see bemused expressions on the faces of residents as they watch you paddle past in your gaily coloured kayak. Or, because you are paddling silently along, without the noisy power of a long-tailed boat engine, you might scare a grandmother who is taking a bath in the river, and get to see her scurry away to cover before you get too close.

There's wildlife of the animal kind as well. Herons pass overhead, diving into the river for some fish. Emerald green flycatcher birds perch on the utility wires over the canal. They dive to the surface of the water, snatch up bugs and carry them back to the wire, where they beat the insects into submission with a few audible thwacks of their beaks on the cable.

The klongs in Amphawa are still very much active. Not having been blocked off and left to stagnate, the water is clean.

In late October and early November, a night-time boat trip on the Mae Klong comes with a light show, as fireflies are swarming in the trees and shrubbery along the shore. It's an unbelievable sight at first, as entire trees are aglow with flashing, yellow pinpoints of light. At first you might think someone has strung Christmas lights up in the trees, but there are so many it wouldn't be possible.

Tourism is still in its infancy in this province - a place where visitors pass through on their way to somewhere else. With the opening of Baan Tai Had Resort at the end of month, perhaps some tourists will find a reason to stop. Even then, the sights are more geared for Thai tourists, as little English is spoken and practically no literature is available in anything but Thai. But once the Thai tourists come, others will follow. And maybe they'll get off the boat.