W_Z wrote:
book was way better than the movie. weak effort by danny boyle.
Hey, something to brag about.
The real inspiration for the 'beach' from the book and the movie was the Ang Thong Marine Park off Koh Samui.
In the book the guy goes from Kao San Rd in Bangkok to Koh Samui and then to The Beach. Your correspondent lived on Koh Samui over 10 years and went with a local pal to a 'secret' beach at the Marine Park. It was on the back side of the marine park and never visited by tourists as it was really a sort of pirate beach. This was a a place where fisherman would come for R&R or when when the winds were up. The place had hookers, weed, opium and even a pool table and simple restaurant. The pirate bit is from the days of Vietnamese boat people who had the misfortune to run into some of these fisherman before they made landfall in Thailand.
One of my favorite adventures was visiting there. When I read the book I knew immediately whee The Beach really was and it's not Phuket area.
http://www.thetravelword.com/2010/07/08 ... -thailand/Big Buddha on Koh Samui
"mia chow tao rai, Kap"--visitors
"song roy bhat"--Boss
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