We were packed tight in the airport shuttle bus to the ferry, and to pass time, I was googling random shit on my phone: What does Koh mean?
I’d just landed in Koh Samui about an hour before from KL, and the ferry we were going to take -- at least the one I was going to take -- was going to Koh Pha Ngan. Koh Samui is an island. Koh Pha Ngan is an island. Koh Lipe, which is popular with divers, is an island. And the beach they shot The Beach at was at Koh Phi Phi, which is also an island. All these places with different names are islands, and the one thing they all have in common is the prefix Koh, so I figured Koh probably means island.
“Koh means island,” the guy sitting next to me said. Homeboy was clearly looking at my phone, which, first of all -- rude.
But, when I turned to look at him, he seemed really genuine. There was a certain warmth behind his smile that made me physically incapable of being made. I returned the smile because I knew he meant no harm.
It’s insane the kind of shit good-looking people can get away with, and length we can go to justify it.
















