WHICH ISLAND (or Beach)

One of the most spectacular islands, but no-where near the nicest beach - Loh Dalum at Phi Phi - image TrekEarth - Chis Jones.

“Please suggest a great island for me”, is a pretty common question.
Sometimes that’s it, other times they are more specific: “…..laid back island”, “….good snorkelling”, “……great nightlife”, “….fantastic beaches”. Quite often it’s a combo: “…..not touristy but not too dead, with great beaches, fantastic snorkelling off the beach, budget bungalows by the sea with inbuilt spa and Jacuzzi, some nightlife but not over the top and with an international airport no more than 30 minutes away”. Yeah right, know a dozen of these.
Anyway I though I’d try to put the islands and beaches I know about into some sort of categorical order.
Right at the end of this page in WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY? I'll lay the islands' geographical location out. There is also a section on ISLAND HOPPING before that.

LAID BACK - little Ko Chang Andaman side, Ko Ngai, Ko Kradan, Ko Bulon Lae, Ko Mac, Khao Lak.

COMPLETELY LAID BACK - Ko Yao Noi, Ko Yao Yai, Ko Siboya, Ko Libong, Ko Loaliang, Ko Sukorn, Ko Whai, Ko Kut. And of course the National Park no-resorts islands - Similans, Surins, Tarutao, Adang.

Note there are plenty of laid back beaches on non-laid back islands. For instance busy, commercial Samui has places like Thong Ta Kien among others. Phangan has a heap - most of the east coast beaches among others. Ditto Tao, which is also very relaxed in the small bays on the south west of the island. Phi Phi's east coast is a quiet gem. Ditto the southern most beaches on Lanta. Buffalo Bay on Phayam.

A point about the National Park islands - the headquarter beaches can get a bit busy on weekends and Thai public holidays.

It doesn't get too more laid back than Ko Laoliang Noi - no roads, no tracks, no village, few boats, one relaxed resort. Yet if you WANT, you can climb, snorkel, dive, fish, kayak. In this late afternoon shot the awesome cliffs are shading the beach/resort area.

PARTY PLACES - Phuket, Pattaya, Samui, Phangan (Hat Rin), Ao Nang, Phi Phi (Ton Sai), first 3 beaches on Samet.

GOOD DIVING - Ko Tao, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lipe, Khao Lak, Phuket, Ko Laoliang.

PRETTY GOOD SNORKELLING OFF THE BEACH - Ko Kradan, Ko Lipe, Ko Bulon Lae, Ko Ngai, Ko Whai, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Tao, Ko Phangan. And of course places like the Similans, Surins, Rok Nok, Laoliang.

SPECTACULAR SCENERY - few island/beach areas in Thailand don’t have nice scenery, but the real stand-outs of places with plenty of accommodation are Ko Phi Phi, Railay/Ton Sai at Krabi and Ko Nangyuan at Ko Tao.
The immediate area of Ko Laoliang is pretty good but there is only the tent resort.
Phang Nga Bay islands don't get much more spectacular, but you can only really stay on one of them, the sea gypsy fishing/restaurant island of Ko Panyi, and accommodation is limited.

Ko Nangyuan off Ko Tao - a very scenic location. There are bungalows on the far "mountain", the mid-islet and on the hillside below the camera. The higher balconies are good places to hang after sunset watching the underwater lights of the night diving school flash and ark. Good snorkelling off the beach here - the fish are so used to being fed in the top-right bay that they crowd around when you enter the water.

CLIMBING - Railay/Ton Sai, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Laoliang and apparently Ko Yao Noi.

ALL-ROUNDERS - ISLANDS/BEACHES WITH A GOOD VARIETY - some nice beaches, laid back areas, some nightlife, some other activities like snorkelling/diving/climbing/trekking (but not necessarily all or most) - Ko Lanta, Ko Lipe, Ko Phangan, Ko Tao, Ko Samui, Ko Samet, Phuket, Railay/Ton Sai/Ao Nang, Ko Muk, big Ko Chang.

BEST BEACHES - these are probably found somewhere in the Similans, Surins, Ang Thong National Marine Park or similar. But of places with easily got accommodation the choice is so great it is hard to pick one or a few. Phra Nang at Krabi would maybe get the gong - but it is so crowded much of the time these days.
Whitest sand? Hell, I’m not good here because I don’t care if the sand is white or yellow, both look nice. As long as it’s clean and there is plenty at high tide and the water is deep enough to swim at low tide.
I’m copping out on best beach and whitest sand. Although you could check the next link for the pix of the beach at Donald Duck Bay in the Similans.
For people wanting nice beaches I put together a page of pix of what I consider some of Thailand's more pristine beaches.

No shortage of nice beaches - this one is at Ko Nangyuan. Attractive enough that a lot of people daytrip from nearby (1km) Ko Tao. Apparently the island owners now have a small charge for non-residents.

NOT SO NICE BEACHES - Ko Sukorn has brownish-grey sand most places. Yao Noi and Jum are rocky at low tide in a lot of areas. Siboya is similar. But Yao and Jum are still nice islands to visit, as is Siboya.

SHALLOW AT LOW TIDE - the west coast and south coast of Phangan, Sairee and the south coast of Tao, quite a few Lanta beaches (most of Long Beach DOESN’T suffer this), the south end of Andaman on Lipe. Loh Dalum and most of the south coast of Phi Phi, Buffalo Bay at Ko Phayam, particularly in the middle of the southern beach, the main beach on Little Chang Andaman side, particularly at the southern end. The main east facing beaches on Ko Ngai and Ko Kradan.
But this factor doesn't worry me too much - I'm a keen ocean swimmer for fitness and I never have problems swimming reasonably close to shore at these places except for a few hours around lowest tide. Note that most days tend to have 2 low tides roughly 12.5 hours apart and the daylight high tide gets roughly an hour later each day.
Note too, in many trips to Railay and Long Beach Phi Phi I had no problems swimming at low tide. However my last visits to each coincided with one of those extra low tide periods associated with SPRING TIDES (the bi monthly tidal extremes associated with full moon and no-moon) and I found each a bit shallow at lowest tide, close to shore. Phra Nang near Railay is good all tides.
Hat Noppharet Thara/Ton Son east of Ao Nang get real shallow.

Shallow mid year in the southern Gulf ? - well apparently lowest tides are a bit shallower mid year. But we are talking mere cms in difference according to the scientific report someone posted. I think this has been overplayed. I’ve had great swims at Mae Hat
d and Had Salad on Phangan's "shallow" west coast away from low tide in June- August.

GOOD SURF - forget it in high season. Most places are dead flat or have ankle ticklers. The only half-decent (body) surf I've had high season is on Ko Phayam.
In wet season the Andaman coast gets swell. The popular Phuket beaches have waves which are surfable. The Trang coast sometimes gets big swell. Wally at Paradise Lost on Ko Kradan told me the sunset beach there attracts surfers. Note wet season surf I have seen is not quality - sloppy onshore muck. But surfable.

BUNGALOWS RIGHT ON THE BEACH - the only places I've seen the water lapping the pylons at high tide are Sinchai's at Hat Yao/Ban Chao Mai near Trang, Good Feeling at Ko Wai and at Bulone Resort, Ko Bulon Lae. But if you want bungalows within a few meters of the sand there are lots - some I know are Paradise Resort and Paradise Pearl on Long Beach Phi Phi, Toh Koh Resort and Holiday Inn on Phi Phi's east coast, Sawasdee and a lot of the other resorts on little Ko Chang, Ko Muk Charlie, most of the places I mention on the main beach at Ko Ngai, Leela Beach bungalows Phangan, Paradise Resort Ko Kradan, Ko Wai Paradise, Island Hut and Ao Kao on Ko Mak, Mai Pen Rai and JS on Had Sadet, Phangan, New Hut on Lamai at Samui.
The front row tents at Laoliang are 25m from the water.
Note you are out of luck at popular Railay and Ton Sai. Restaurants and reception dominate the beachfront - the bungalows are behind.
Ao Kao on Mak has a couple of beachfront bungalows. Real nice flashpacker/midrange place in a great position - image komak.com


Technically the aircon bungalows at Ao Pudsa Resort on Samet are headland - but this corner one is virtually beachfront. Tezza's cheaper fan bungalow was on the hillside behind. Roof at far left belongs to beachfront restaurant.

GOOD FOR TREKKING - the only islands I can think of which had virtually no walking trails or roads suitable for walking when I visited are Kos Laoliang and Whai. Correction Feb08 - you can now walk down the east coast of Whai plus a loop to a nothing bay on the west side and a track to a nice sunset viewpoint in a narrow inlet further north. Of the others, Ko Kradan and maybe Ngai would disappoint trekkers who want to cover big distances, but the trails are quite nice.

ADVENTURE ISLANDS
Ko Laoliang has climbing, diving, snorkelling, kayaks, fishing on the doorstep (umm, make that luxury-tent threshold). Railay/Ao Nang would be the next best bet - yeah I know it aint really an island area.


Manager Vinnie and climbing-guide Elliott check out bouldering-routes under the cliff overhang directly behind the tent area on Loaliang. Climbing routes of most grades take off along this section too.


I found this pic on Loaliang's website. I thought it so perfectly captures the holiday spirt, I couldn't resist including it.

OVERDEVELOPED OR STARTING TO GET OVERDONE - Phuket, Ko Samui, Pattaya, Railay/Ao Nang, Ko Samet, big Ko Chang, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Muk. A lot of people are saying Lipe is getting very crowded at peak season - sure is nice at shoulder (um slight correction - Pattaya on Lipe had jumped the shark by shoulder season Nov 08)

GETS BAD PRESS BUT STILL HAS SOME NICE AREAS - Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, big Ko Chang, Ko Samet, Ko Muk, Samui, Lipe and Railay. All are certainly worth visiting.

Slightly overdone Phuket - Kata Yai south end, one of the nicer areas of the "big 3" beaches - the budget restaurant/bars adjacent the headland here are real nice places to spend time low season when the crowds are down and the surf is up. This is a high season shot.

CULTURE - Most Thai islands aren’t exactly dripping with history, temples, artistic stuff, old architecture etc. I guess Phuket would have the most. There are also some temples and stuff around Krabi.
But to see the normal everyday fishing/farming culture of Thai islands little affected by tourism, I reckon the best would be Kos Yao Noi and Yai, Ko Sukorn, Ko Siboya, Ko Kut and Ko Libong. Jum, Phayam and little Chang are not bad away from the tourist strips.

Some of the best glimpses of everyday life can be seen at the departure points for smaller islands. This is the market pier at Laem Kruat, where public longtails depart for Ko Jum and Ko Siboya. The building far left is a restaurant where you can sit and check the bustling scene while waiting for your boat to depart.

CAVES - Railay, Lanta, the area near Hat Yao have caves. So too does the lake trip at Khao Sok, but this is not such a good place to be in or close to wet season, as the recent tragedy attests. There are sure to be others - I'm not a big seeker of caves.

NUDE BEACHES - for some people topless women are nude. In that case all the tourist beaches in Thailand except the domestic Hua Hin and Cha-Am are nude beaches.

But for full-on nudity, with people parading like in the Greek Islands, forget it. Thai people tend to frown on such displays. However there are plenty of lonely stretches of beach and rock platforms in Thailand where dedicated naturists can go nude and cover up well before any locals come near. I have seen nudists on many islands in Thailand.

All you dudes hoping for a gratuitous nude-pic here - bad luck kemosabes, this is a family show. So here's a gratuitous non-nude shot of smokin'-hot Aneka.

NO ROADS - of the places detailed in this blog Kradan, Adang and Ngai have narrow walking tracks only and Lipe, Railay/Ton Sai, Phi Phi and Bulon Lae have wider tracks/laneways but virtually no motor vehicles. Even the walking tracks at Whai are limited. There are no walking tracks on Laoliang.

NOT MUCH LONGTAIL NOISE

The beaches I found relatively quiet were at Ko Libong Beach Resort, Ko Sukorn Beach Resort, Ko Siboya Resort, Laoliang and the main beaches at little Ko Chang Andaman side and nearby Ko Phayam. The east coast of Samet has mainly speedboats which hummmm - I didn't hear one longtail in my Feb08 visit. There was not much longtail noise on Ko Mak. Nor at Long Beach on Lanta, Had Salad on Phangan, Thong Ta Kien on Samui.

The bungalows at Ton Sai next to Railay don't get a lot of longtail noise because they are up the track away from the beach.

PLACES I COULD SPEND A LOT OF TIME - (if I had to pick an island to stay on for several months) - Ko Phangan, Ko Lanta, Ko Tao, Ko Lipe. The first two are big and have lots of different areas to move to each week or so. Tao aint big but has lots of interesting little bays etc. Lipe is tiny, but I just like the place and would enjoy watching the turnover of tourists over time).

ISLANDS TO RETIRE TO - (I have had several PMs re this - I figure you want something big for variety, with good transport links including an airport not too far away, good services, good health facilities and reasonably cheap long term accommodation) - Ko Phangan, Ko Lanta, and even if they aint my personal picks - Ko Samui and Phuket.

Okay, what about the BIG KAHUNA of questions?
LAID BACK, NOT TOO TOURISTY BUT WITH A BIT OF NIGHTLIFE.
Hell, how many times does this get asked?
Okay, if you are talking islands maybe Lanta and Lipe away from peak-peak would get the gong. And even at busiest times on Lipe you could stay at Sunset or Sunrise Beach and walk across to Pattaya after dark for some laid back beach bars and restaurants.
I reckon it is easier to pick a beach than a whole island. Thong Nai Pan on Phangan. Long Beach, Khlong Khong and Khlong Nin on Lanta.
But there are plenty of other places with just one or a few bars/restaurants where if there is the right mixture of travellers/locals things can get real mellow. Hell sometimes this can happen at your bungalow’s restaurant.

Nice all-rounder. Long Beach on Lanta - plenty of accommodation, restaurants, bars - close to shopping - but still large areas undeveloped. Deep water low tide most areas, no rocks except at far southern end, not far from ferry or main Sala Dan town. Great sunsets. Not fabulous for snorkelling.

ISLAND HOPPING

Tao to Phangan to Samui has been the old favourite - for years these have been joined by several ferry operations. These tend to run all year except in periods of very bad weather.

Coming from Bangkok, the logical mainland departure is Chumpon with day and night ferries - from the south or the Andaman, Surathani (also day and night ferries) is usually best. Both places have bus and train connections to Bangkok. You can also fly into Surathani and Samui.

In the Andaman a logical high season circuit is Phuket-Phi Phi-Lanta-Jum-Krabi town (or to nearby Railay/Ton Sai/Ao Nang) by fast ferry. At present wet season cuts Lanta and Jum out of the circuit, but surely this is just a matter of time.

Lanta has been linked to the Trang islands of Ngai, Muk and Kradan for years in high season by the Trang Island daytrip ferries out of Ban Sala Dan, and by longtails from the Lanta town pier.

It is also possible to hop between all the Trang islands including Lipe by longtail.

But the BIG DADDY of island hopping is now possible - the new high season Tigerline Travel ferry service out of Phi Phi via Lanta/Ngai/Kradan/Muk/Hat Chao Mai-Hat Yao/
to Laoliang, Lipe and then Langkawi in Malaysia means you can now island hop all the way from Phuket or Krabi/Railay to north-west Malaysia. Actually there is another fast ferry joining Langkawi with Penang.

You can join the Tigerline service at the Ban Chao Mai/Hat Yao pier on the Trang coast after the company's minibuses have brought you from places like Trang airport or city, Krabi and others.

There is also a speedboat service operated by SPB from Lanta to Lipe which will drop in at other islands including Ko Bulon Lae.

A Satun area mini-loop is ferry/speedboat out of Pak Bara to Tarutao and then on to Adang/Lipe, speedboat to Bulon Lae and then ferry back to Pak Bara.

In the eastern Gulf, big Chang, Whai, Muk, Kham and Kut are joined in high season by the Island Hopping Service and Bang Bao Boat plus quite a few other speedboat operators.

Bang Bao Boat's biggest ferry. They have smaller ferries and speedboats (image http://bangbaoboat.com/)

Can you island-hop from the big Chang area or Samet across to Samui/Phangan/Tao?

This question is often asked on the forums. The answer is no, there is no ferry service.

A few years back you could fly from U Tapoa not too far from Samet and close to Pattaya to Samui on Bangkok Air, so this might be worth checking. And you can fly from Trat airport near big Chang to Bangkok and then onwards to Samui or Surathani. Otherwise it's the bus to Bangkok and then train or bus/ferry routine.


WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY?

The Andaman Coast Islands and Beaches
Starting in the north near the Burmese border are the Ranong Islands - little Ko Chang and Ko Phayam

Khao Lak is a series of beaches on the mainland not too far north of Phuket. The Similans are east of Lak and the Surins* north-east.

Ko Yao Noi (and Yai) are just to the south of Phuket.

Krabi/Railay/Ao Nang/Ton Sai are on the mainland south of Ko Yao.
Ko Phi Phi is a Krabi area island to the south east as is Ko Lanta to the south.
Kos Siboya and Jum are between Krabi and Lanta.

The Trang Islands start just south of Lanta - Kos Ngai, Kradan, Muk, Libong, Sukorn and Laoliang.

The Satun area islands are close to the Malaysian border - Kos Bulon Lae, Tarutao, Lipe and neighbours like Adang.

The Southern Gulf Islands and Beaches
Starting east of Surathani is Ko Samui and then heading north is Ko Phangan and then Ko Tao.
Northwards on the Gulf's west coast are the largely domestic holiday beaches of Hua Hin* and Cha Am*.

The Eastern Gulf Islands
Ko Samet is more central Gulf, not too far from Bangkok. Further east, near the Camobodian border are big Ko Chang and then to the south, Ko Whai, Ko Mak and Ko Kut.

Pattaya* is a mainland beach area a bit closer to Bangkok than Ko Samet.

Okay, there are others but I think I've covered the main ones.
* This denotes islands/beaches which don't appear on this blog, either because I haven't visited or haven't for some time. I'm taking Lady Tezza to Samui in August 09 so should have a page up on that in September, plus some updates on Phangan and Phuket.


If you have extra information or see mistakes, please post below. I don't get to check individual pages too often so if you have questions, please post them on the FORUM page accessed via the INDEX top right of this page. I try to check that one daily when I'm not travelling

You can find some real nice scenery at Maya Bay, Phi Phi Ley