Discovering a Writer’s Paradise on the Magical Island of Koh Phangan In Thailand

I got so much writing done on this gorgeous tropical island!

I was walking along the beach on Koh Phangan Island located in the southern part of Thailand. I had been living there for about a year and had adjusted to island life quickly.

With so many picturesque beaches and a perfect blue sea, it’s not hard to get used to it at all.

While on one of my daily walks along the beach, I decided to go farther than I normally did. What I discovered was magical.

Through a thicket, I found a secret beach devoid of people and filled with the wonderful energy of Mother Earth. The funny thing is, the “official” Secret Beach was next to the super secret beach I just discovered.

This magical little cove became my new happy place. I climbed over the giant, bumpy, grey boulders and stepped onto the soft, warm, white sands that caressed my bare feet as I explored this new land.

The serene, clear, cerulean sea framed this lovely landscape. There were no other humans around. All I could hear were the high-pitched calls of various, adorable, tropical birds ringing through the trees.

I felt a very deep connection to nature that I hadn’t felt before.

As someone who does not worship any gods, this was the moment that I finally felt a strong bond with something way bigger and more powerful than I could ever be.

Earth was her own living, breathing entity capable of beauty so powerful that I could only look at her with awe and wonder. Her beauty moved me to tears. I felt extremely emotional and vulnerable in a way I had never experienced before.

I always loved and respected nature and tried to live my life reflecting those values. I have been on many psychedelic trips where I saw the cosmos and the universe and how everything is connected, but this was different because I had been sober for a couple of years already.

This realization was not drug-induced and came with a clarity that cannot be forced with LSD, ecstasy, or magic mushrooms.

This magical beach was only a 10-minute walk from where I was staying and I could go there any time I wanted!

More Than a Party Island

Koh Phangan is famous for having monthly, wild Full Moon Parties where thousands of people from around the world congregate on Haad Rin Beach, get super wasted, jump through fire hoops, dance the night and morning away, and lose all inhibitions.

But that’s just a small part of what this island has to offer. Whenever it’s not a full moon, even the crazy party beach is quiet and serene.

When I moved to Koh Phangan, I had only been there to attend the Full Moon Parties or celebrate the new year. I had not gone anywhere else on the island.

I went there to get away from the crowded city of Bangkok where I had been living for the past eight years. I was on my sobriety journey and rediscovering who I was. I needed nature and serenity, STAT!

Even with only seeing the debaucherous side, the island called to me and I answered.

During my first week there, I was so excited and amazed by how beautiful the rest of the island was. My Thai friend, Eddy, who lived and worked at a party hostel on Haad Rin Beach took me around the island on his motorcycle. He knew all the cool spots and scenic beaches. Each trip around the island was an adventure.

I soon found a place to live and established a routine. I’d go on walks several times a day to clear my head, shake off anxiety, help with my depression, feel inspired, and write.

I got so much writing done on that island.

I wrote in my journals every single day. I started working on three novels and a screenplay for a TV series. I also took photos every day and had more ideas than I knew what to do with.

Coming up with incredible ideas was never a problem for me. Finishing those daunting projects and putting them out for the world to see is where I still struggle.

But even though none of those projects have seen the light of day yet, at the time, I didn’t care about that. I was high on creative energy and loved every millisecond of it.

Abusing drugs and alcohol for two decades obstructed my creative spark. Sure, I’d get bouts of inspiration and write a bunch of nonsensical stuff in my journal that I thought was so profound while I was tripping, but once the drugs wore off, it was either too illegible to decipher or just pure cringe.

Being sober on a tropical island paradise helped me find my creative voice again.

I wrote several songs despite having 0 musical training. I was able to rewrite several drafts of my YA fantasy novel and come up with a very detailed fantasy world and a laundry list of vibrant characters that I could envision clearly.

I found the Creative Space and had direct access to it whenever I wanted. It was euphoric.

Every land on this planet has a special energy unique to that place. Koh Phangan has very strong creative and spiritual energy which is why there is a huge spiritual community there and why it’s now a popular place for digital nomads.

Writing Spaces

On my walks, I could cross up to 5 different beaches easily, each beach with its own unique personality. Happy Beach is a quiet resort beach with charming and affordable hotels and cute restaurants.

Zen Beach is where all the hippies and New Age spiritualists hang out. Every sunset, people congregate on Zen Beach to dance in a large drum circle, spin fire, or relax and watch the sun go down.

The nude beach next to Zen Beach is where the nudists like to let it all hang out.

Then there’s my super secret beach and the actual Secret Beach next to that. Every walk was a different experience, especially with the tide changing the landscape every moon cycle.

I had several favorite writing spots throughout the island, each more impressive than the last. I could write at an outdoor Thai restaurant on Happy Beach while eating tofu stir fry with a side of rice formed in the shape of a heart.

There’s also the Blue Rama restaurant, bar, and hotel situated on the top of a steep mountain with a panoramic view of the island that is so incredible that it doesn’t even look real. It also has an amazing infinity pool.

Or I could find a secluded place in nature, with no people around and just birds, stray dogs, and the sea to keep me company.

If you want to rent a cute, little, wooden hut by the sea for $100 a month, Koh Phangan is the place to do it. You can drink coconuts all day (just make sure they haven’t been picked by slave monkeys) and live a simple and natural life.

Experiencing the intense beauty of nature every day while writing down everything that pops into your head is a writer’s dream.

This is where you should go to feel inspired and find your voice again, especially if you live in a congested city and feel your creative voice being stomped out.

Not all is perfection…

But, just as this island is beautiful, it’s also dangerous.

I spent most of my time in Srithanu which is the spiritual part of the island. It’s full of yoga studios and meditation centers. There’s also a huge vegan community so most of the restaurants in that town are vegan.

The downside to there being a huge spiritual community is there are also a lot of cults and charlatans posing as spiritual gurus who take advantage of vulnerable people looking to heal from trauma.

A popular yoga and wellness center called Agama Yoga made international news back in 2018 when their leader Swami Vivekananda Saraswati, real name Narcis Tarcau, was accused of sexual assault.

There had been rumors on the island for years but the #metoo movement encouraged many women to come forward about their abuse while attending Agama Yoga.

Agama Yoga shut down, changed its name for a while, and is now open again with the old name. Vivekananda Saraswati left Thailand for a few months but returned and is still running the center. People are still giving that place money and energy.

So it’s not all sunshine and rainbows there, but cults and abusive gurus are common issues in all spiritual communities, not just on Srithanu. I kept to myself most of the time and just focused on my sobriety and creativity.

Even with my head down, I was harassed a lot by men and had to eventually move back to the mainland since the harassment got scary.

The rest of Thailand is very safe but the islands are a different story. The islands have their own codes and their own rules. Just be as respectful as possible and don’t get into an argument with a local because that can get dangerous.

Most people never experience anything bad on the islands but things do happen. Just be cautious.

Still miss the island life…

On that lush island in the south of Thailand, I was submerged in creativity. I was living and breathing it all day every day.

Now that I live somewhere else, still close to the beach but not nearly as impressive, that Creative Space is a medium cloud floating above my head and sometimes hard to reach if I’m not in a good mood.

Despite some scary encounters, I miss nature on Koh Phangan. It still calls to me.

If you’re ever looking for a place to escape to and live out your isolated, writer fantasy on an island so spectacular you’ll think you’re in a simulation, Koh Phangan is the place to be!