City Love Companions

Phuket is a notch above all the other Thai resorts, second only to Pattaya when it comes to tourist traffic. Five million visitors a year makes their “phuk-eet, let’s charge double for everything” approach somewhat justified. Transportation, hotels, drinks, food, everything is almost twice as expensive when compared to other resorts. Is it worth the money, though? Oh, for sure. Phuket is in a league of its own. Thailand is all about that organic, rugged, backpacking experience. It’s colourful, a little dirty, smelly, and wonderfully chaotic. Phuket is the opposite; the tourists here are looking for an upper market experience. Think more in the lines of Dubai than Bangkok. This province is even home to a substantial number of Muslims. You might want to think twice before showing too...

Imagine you just bought a new graphics card. You plug it in, install the drivers and all the additional software. A few more minutes later you can play your favourite game on ultra settings with new levels of detail, vibrant colours, and sharp textures. You love it at first; there’s so much going on, a whole new world to experience. Next thing you know, you get nauseous, your eyes start bleeding and you’re have an epileptic seizure. Pattaya reminds me of this sensory overload. It’s your very first acid trip. In my opinion, this city is the incarnation of everything that is wrong with modern tourism. Just like all-inclusive tours in Egypt. You know, the ones where people don’t even leave their hotel pool area. Everything is plastic, hollow as if quickly put-together for the tourists...

Bangkok has recently become a bucket-list destination for the new generation of millennial yuppies. Was it the second instalment of The Hangover trilogy? Was it some obscure One Night in Bangkok cover that everyone had playing on loop? Perhaps some overnight promotional campaign or ticket price drops? I don’t know, but suddenly everyone and their mum had been to Bangkok. I personally know a guy who quit his job at Sony and traveled to Thailand to learn Muay Thai. Sounds cliché now, but back then it was mind-blowing. It was about the same time the digital nomad trend set off. People realized that they can live on an exotic island for $500 a month while working remotely from a beach bungalow. All good things come to an end, especially when too many white people flock to one place. Have yo...