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30th August - September 6th (Issue 03 Juppie)

Places to visit on my itinerary list-

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - DoneLangkawi, Malaysia - DoneKoh Phangan, Thailand - DoingSingapore-Melbourne, Australia - Japan- TokyoBack to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur -

Then back home to London and back to the University of East London.

I was awarded a Travel Scholarship by my University, University of East London (UEL). My project proposal, that I devised myself, was to travel in South East Asia and learn about all the different cultures, see what’s on offer for young people like myself, and create an online mixed media magazine in ‘blog’ style presented in PDF printable and downloadable versions. http://juppieonline.blogspot.comMy magazine is called “Juppie” which is a Japanese slang term for young sophisticated work-ing person. I liked the term when researching one night. It’s also a play on the word ‘yuppie’.

Juppie- Koh Phangan in Thailand is definitely the unexpected sporting issue, as I have teamed up with Thailand’s boxing champion, Maui Thai. Read on to see what I got up to.

I have also been chilling by the beach, riding a moped around the island, eating lots of food, training in the art of Maui Thai boxing, and getting to know the two friends who I met on the way here, Sigfred and Keoko!

I am having too much fun enjoying the freedom to do whatever I want, make my own plans. I am meeting the best people and experiencing the best things.

Hope you enjoy my third issue. It’s been a long time coming...

Zoe Holloway x.

Artistic JournalistEditors Letter

Art page 4

Tattoo club- traditional Thai style drawing hereusing traditional Thai bamboo methods of tattooing if you wantmore info. [email protected]

Bizarre Page5

We British often shake hands to greet one another, but the Thais use the ‘Wai’ prayer. A gesture made of holding palms together, wai-ed, wai-ing.

I keep seeing whitening cream in shops, why?!

Environment Page6

Vast dense land on the Island, beautiful scenery, sea, beaches, elephants, Bhuddas and cocconuts!

Environment Page7

Food

Food is always available and cheap here. The currency is 61bht () to the £1. Things are very cheap compared to any UK prices. Thais like sweet and spicy food. The menu lists bugs, sops, noodles, phat Thai, Tom yum soup, fruit shakes, fish, curries, meats, and wondrous other things. There are many street vendors and food mar-kets there are so many different spices and herbs in the foods that all taste amazing. Although, I have to say ‘pet niknoy’ (not to spicy) whenever I am ordering because I can’t eat anything too spicy, which seems to amuse some Thais.

Nightlife

Koh Phangan is big on Nightlife; it is home to the ‘Full Moon’ parties on the beach called ‘Hat Rin’ and ‘Haad Rin’. If you are not around to catch Full moon, there is ‘Half Moon’, ‘Black Moon’ and ‘Shiva Moon’ parties; held in the Jungle. Also the Full Moon film Mekong is worth a watch..

People page 11

Chinnarach Thailand’s Muai Thai boxing championClora Sweden’s Muai Thai boxing championStuart Muai Thai boxerSigfred & Keoko

Places page 12

So many places to explore on this island you can’t get bored...A few places I got to see were Viewpoint Khao Ra. Hire a guide and you can see crocodiles, snakes, monkeys and deer. The best beaches, Hat Khuat,Hat Yuan, Hat Thian, Hat Sadet, Ao Thong Reng, Koh Ma (a snorkellingspot) and Ang Thong. Other places to see are the National Marine Park, Wat Pho free herbal sauna, the oldest Temple Wat Pho – Khao Noi, Wat Khao Tham – Chinese templeFind out about staying here for a meditation retreat:Wat Khao ThamPO Box 18Koh pha-NganSarat Thani 84280

Sail rock (Hin Bai) is one of best diving spots off the gulf coast Thailand. The best diving school on this island is lotusdiving.com,Hin Wong is the best yoga center on the island (agamayoga.com), You can go fishing off the pier which is a nice evening pastime for many youngThais.

Places page13

I was going to head to Phuket, Phi Phi Island which appears in the film starring Leonardo di Caprio The Beach, but I was put off because it’s become very touristy. There were also some riots in Bangkok and they declared a state of emergency which resulted in airport closures.

I didn’t want to take any risks, but wanted to get to some part of Thailand.I was told that Koh Phangan was nice, so I headed to this island situated south west Thailand. I was planning to stay at a place I read about called The Sanctuary, which offered relaxation and meditation. It was appealing, but when I went for a visit I found it was not for me as the people were stuck up.

sport page 14

With 60,000 professional fighters, Thailand’s most popular sport can be said to be Muai Thai Boxing. .Koh Phangan the island I am visiting has a population of around 8,000, 2 Thai boxing stadiums and 3 training camps.

It was good fortune when I heard that Thailand’s very own champion ‘Chinnarach’ has a training camp here, so I made tracks to go and speak to him, and with my love for all things sporting, I ended up training with Chinnarach who taught me Muai Thai boxing

skills while I stayed at the camp. Some stay for 1 month, 3months, 6 months, 1yr and even longer and fight in competitions on the island. There is also a female fighter here, Clora, the Swedish champion and some other male fighters.

I watched my first ever live Muai Thai boxing match on 2nd September; it is brutal obviously, but techni-cally a beautiful sport. I feel honored to be able to train for such a short time with Thailand’s champion of the sport.

sport page

travel page 15

The quickest easiest method is to hire a scooter/moped, but be sure to follow the roads on your map, so no footpath or off onto the beaten track racer rides! It’s dangerous; my Koh Phangan scars prove that!

It is only 25mins to the sur-rounding islandsKoh Tao and Koh Samui and tickets are cheap.

Thank - youI would like to thank the following people for helping me and making it possible for me to create this Issue-

Sigfred and KeokoChinnarach & PoiSian Harris -UELJames, Clora & Stuart

Get connected with Juppie go-to- http://juppieonline.blogspot.comContact- [email protected] creator- zoe-holloway.blogspot.com myspace.com/zoeholloway (email & facebook) [email protected]

issue03koh phangan

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