Phuket is Thailand’s biggest island, a soybean-shaped splotch of tropical paradise just off the coast, sitting in the happy waters of the Andaman Sea, eight degrees north of the equator, twelve zones from New York. From 1993 to 1996, I lived here.
And now I’m here on vacation, one of the tourists I used to scowl at …
Normally, here, I should pontificate on how this place’s glory days are past, how its delicate ecosystem has been spoiled, its people jaded, and its prices pushed higher. But that would untrue, because in 1993 Phuket was already the Hawaii of Asia, with an international airport and mega resorts and tour buses.
But still, much was different, way back in the nineteen-hundreds ….
Telephone lines were scarce. Either you ponied up a hefty bribe for the telephone mafia or you waited the standard five years to get a line. The daily electricity outages were excuses to take a break from work. Many roads were dirt – potholes deep enough to cause whiplash that became orange lakes in the monsoon season; the paved roads the scenes of some serious high-speed carnage; ever seen The Road Warrior?
Back in those good old days, there seemed to be an almost endless supply of optimistic Western men, landing in Phuket like blindfolded soldiers storming a beach. Many of them eagerly poured their life savings into harebrained business ventures – giving the island yet another German restaurant or beer bar or dive shop.
But no longer. Thailand has the internet, and whilst my current home of San Francisco sits in a crater of despair, Phuket is thriving. Some very successful dot.coms are based here, taking advantage of the cheap – if not always top-quality – labor, the low taxes, the minimal government regulation, and the easy travel to other business hubs (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, etc). Many of these companies are profitable: revenue-driven, nimble and adaptable, in growing industries, steered by rugged entrepreneurs. No posh venture capital firms here; they’re scared off by the corruption. No employees slaving at their desks until midnight; they’d rather relax. Phuketters (I’m making that name up) earn twenty-five bonus points for lifestyle: warm weather, suntans, spicy food, and golf courses aplenty. Yet life here is still pretty cheap (double meaning intended). That hasn’t changed. This place proves the promise of the world wide web: to work and live where you want.