Sunni Dawson

Live brave. Inspire you.

You are here: Home / Travel / The Farang Divide, Part 1. Frog poison, yoga and all night partying!

The Farang Divide, Part 1. Frog poison, yoga and all night partying!

By Leave a Comment

Farang is the Thai word for foreigner. You are always a Farang in Thailand. Always. Even if you’ve lived here for 20 years, have children here, establish a dog shelter, or have had the incredible honour of meeting the King, you are still a Farang.

Farangs generally come to the pretty coconut laden island of Koh Phangan in 2 distinct groups: to party or to do yoga. Even if you come to start up a business or to live out your years here, you still fall into one of these 2 groups. Either way you are trying to find yourself or move away from yourself.

The ‘Spirituals’


Farangs in the ‘yoga/spiritual’ scene in Koh Phangan are quite simply fabulous. There is a glorious spectrum of spiritual/ alternative/ healing sessions, workshops and courses a seeker can enrol in here.  They start with your average bodywork/massage, to esoteric messages from your spirits, workshops on open love and tantra, aura readings, aqua therapy, meditation, fire ceremonies and my new personal favourite: Shamanic Frog Poison Medicine.


I almost want to go to an individual healing session to find out what Frog Poison Medicine could do for me. Almost.










Besides writing, Farang watching is one of my favourite pass times. You have Farangs here who emanate continually smiley goodness like they are in the permanent state of holy communion with the palm fronds of eternity. 

Others mope around like grumpy wombats, overtly put out by the heat, sweat, mold, dirt, mosquitoes, stench and lack of perfect English skills of Thai people. 

Many are here ‘processing’ their navels, lives, ex-partners, mother issues with earnest faces and sad hearts, looking for any opportunity to latch on to someone or something that may take the pain away. 

The Party Beasts


‘Buckets’ (from Google images)

Some just dull the pain in a constant state of alcohol, drugs and pot, one hit leading into a buzz of another, the body and brain begging for more. They live their lives like the whirring of a blender, days whizzing continually into one long painful eternity.


Full moon party (from Googe images)
The more buckets the merrier! (from Google images)

Farangs who are here to party primarily gather in the hotbed of incestuousness: Haad Rin. Haad Rin beach in its prime, in its high season supremeness, contains every sort of sodomy and excess possible. Jumping fire ropes, slippery slides of jelly, buckets of peerless poison: Thai rum (one sniff is likely to bleed a person’s nose dry) with sugar highs of coke & red bull and any number of blends of secret herbs and spices enabling eyes to swim in the back of cortices. This enables a whole range of liberated responses to follow: the abilities to perform great feats; the dancing abilities of Michael Jackson; becoming the greatest of sex gods (I’m the motion of the ocean, baby!); the regalness of John George IV of Saxony, allowing him to piss wherever he wants (including in front of you, beside you and around you).

Just some of the crowd (from Google images)

  I stay well clear of this hub of   hedonistic play.

A typical morning in Haad Rin! (from google images)












The Farangs I encounter in my bungalow hood, on my stunning sun-sets- over water beach, tend to be more chilled, more enjoying the moment, could go out and party, but could equally enjoy a quiet night reading in a hammock sipping a Singha or two.

Its a nice space to hang out. I also take advantage of the yoga hood restaurants where veggie delights of all descriptions satisfy my incredibly high requirements of sensationally tasty food. But I have no desire to do a course, workshop or session. Nothing is enriching and challenging me more than this current task I’ve set myself. 

A beautiful Brazilian restaurant owner imparted this yoga/party group divide to me. She said:

‘I am not in one of these groups. But I love my life here. It is a relaxed, peaceful and beautiful life.’

Me: ‘I don’t fall into one of these groups either. I am here for a different reason, to write.’

‘Ahhh, that means you are happy with yourself.’

Beaming, ‘Yes, yes I am.’

I walked out of the shop content with this knowledge. Knowledge that it was true. It’s a nice space to be in. There are improvements to be made for sure, but these can evolve in time. And I’m ok where I’m at. Happy.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply