Ko Adang

Post-sunset shot from the southern part of the National Park HQ beach - nice place and time with a bottle of Maekong for company.

Ko Adang is another large, mountainous, rainforest-covered island in the Tarutao National Park. It is less than 2km north of Ko Lipe and about 30km west of Ko Taruatao itself.
I visited immediately after Tarutao and preferred Adang (and I did like Tarutao). Adang has no roads and fewer bungalows, so is even more laid-back. The beach at HQ is arguably better. Snorkelling off the HQ beach is better. The viewpoint is way more spectacular and little harder to access. The waterfall is much closer to the bungalow area and better signposted (until the last 300m) - although like Tarutao’s Lu Du falls, it aint breathtaking once reached. And most of the bungalows and other facilities at HQ are either brand-new or at the most 2 seasons old.
For people wanting to break their desert-island quiet with some shopping or other touristy action, Ko Lipe is a very short and cheap longtail ride away.

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AREA MAP - image from Andaman Island Hopping.

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ISLAND AND NEIGHBOURS MAP

Adang's National Park HQ beach starts on the bottom right-hand corner where the 3 + are and wraps around the corner to the lower east coast. Image - http://www.guidetothailand.com/

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The beach at NP Headquarters is a reversed L shape - the shorter southern section faces Ko Lipe and is backed by a 100m deep tree-shaded sand flat.

The HQ buildings, restaurant and long-house accommodation block are located here. The bungalows are located on the lower hillside behind the flat.
People can camp anywhere under the trees behind the corner of the beach at the junction of the L or the lower part of the northern extension of the beach. The beach is about 2 km from end to end. This shot is towards the far northern end.
The beaches attract people from Lipe although they were never crowded when I was there - when I took this shot there were 2 other people on the north-south section of the L. There is some okay coral off this beach, particularly near a buoy closer the junction of the L - look for the snorkelling-trip longtails.
Longtails from and to Lipe were charging 50baht per person - 100baht for one person in Nov08. National Park officials were not hassling casual day-visitors from Lipe for the 200baht entry fee. ..

Ko Lipe from the Gado Cliff, immediately above Park HQ - Mountain Resort's beach in the middle, the sweep of Andaman beach to the left.You can see the roofs of Adang’s lower-slope bungalows at bottom.
The path to the lookout is well-signposted from HQ reception and also from where it starts climbing near the new camping area bathroom blocks - 45 minutes and 35 minutes walk from each. 30% of the climb is easy, the rest steep - but no heart-breakers, although circumferentially-enhanced trekkers will stop for a few blows. And bolt to the restaurant on return to celebrate the 50grams lost in the climb with a plate of fries and a coke.

Trip reporter MV sent me this great shot from the top of the peak behind the lookout - it must be about 3x higher again - shot with a 1oomg lens. There is no track so he had to bush bash - said it was hot and dry going.


The restaurant looked brand new - actually having finishing touches made to the steps in this shot.

Nice views thru the trees of Lipe behind. Food and service good - prices a bit cheaper than the average budget bungalow restaurant - maybe a legacy of so many Thai visitors who aint gonna pay Farang prices. Unseen in this shot is a real nice outdoor balcony on the other (sea) side of the restaurant + picnic tables to the right suitable for big groups.
UPDATE - from 2011 all Thai National Parks have been alcohol free so you can no longer buy a beer.
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Near new National Park bungalows on the lower slopes behind the beach-flat.

Most had tree-interrupted views of Lipe, although the 2 western-most at far left were much better. When booking on the NP website, there is a schematic where you can select your bungalow.

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My 600 baht bungalow - best room all trip.

Tiled floor, concrete walls (hardiplank clad ext for some reason), sliding aluminium doors and windows, cathedral ceiling, dormer windows, skylight (but over enclosed-roof bathrooom section ????? - I don’t think that was the architects’ plan).

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Heaps of room inside, near spotless, 4 good lights, quiet fan, thick but very firm mattresses and pillows.

Good mozzie screens on windows but never as good as mozzie nets. Big bathroom 100% tiled, western toilet and bidet gun, separate screened shower recess, wash basin + plug with vanity and huge mirror, towels, toilet paper supplied - even a toilet paper holder. Good water pressure - cold water only. Drying rack, broom and pan, tap for sandy feet at foot of stairs.

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The longhouse and its bathroom blocks plus some staff quarters were the only facilities not new or near new in Nov 08.

Each room has 4 mattresses on floor. At 500 good value for 4 sharing. Could be noisy with wooden partitions between rooms. This block only 25m from the beach with fairly unimpeded views of Lipe.

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You can pitch your tent pretty much anywhere under the trees although the very nice and brand new bathroom blocks were in back of the corner of the beach.

Some Thais had pitched bigger tents up against the cliff in this area. Tents in shot are NP ones - being taken down after departure of Thai student group shipped in to clear the beaches of wet season rubbish - the park had been open only a week or so of the 08/09 season. Beaches were spotless. You need your own bedding when staying in tents.

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The Pirate Falls are 3km and 1 hour up a nice rainforest track which leaves towards the western side of the area near the longhouses. Look for the signs.

Slopes were mainly moderate with only a few short steeper areas. The track was well defined and sign-posted UNTIL the last 300m where it becomes just as difficult as Lu Du falls on Tarutao. Basically you just follow the thick black water-pipes. At one place these dive thru a tangle of tree trunks and thick climbing vines and you think NO WAY - but yep, you’ll find there is a kind-of-way taken by others. The falls themselves are 8m - 25’ tops. Nice pools below and above for cooling off, but not swimming. A small dam for the water pipes is slightly higher.
About 75% back down the track you can branch off and walk down to a small beach abt 500m west of the National Park HQ area where some private outfit is building a midrange hotel. Apparently this section was privately owned by a local. NP is unhappy but I got the impression that this small private holding is a one-off. I didn’t think to ask the ranger if the sea-gypsy fishermen in the two small villages at the north end of Adang had title to their land. This new place hasn’t got much space and is kinda squashed in on itself. It looked 70% finished in late Nov 08. It sticks out from the north coast of Lipe - the National Park HQ buildings are largely hidden by the casuarinas. You can walk back from the new place to the NP beach along the shore at lower tide levels. Don't let any security goons stop you visiting this place's beach - there are no private beaches on Lipe, all are owned by the king and open to anyone.

OTHER ACTIVITIES
Adang has some pretty good snorkelling by Thai standards off the western coast - longtails are always around on the beach near HQ to hire. You can also visit reefs at Rawi and some other locations. I didn’t bother - I have done these out of Lipe last century.
Apparently a more distant Ratana Waterfall can be visited but you need to hire a longtail for the first part of the trip.

NATIONAL PARK SEASON

- is dry season for Adang and Tarutao - usually opens mid Nov, closes mid May.

Note that these island NPs can be very popular with Thais on Thai public holidays and weekends - maybe not such a good idea to show up unbooked at those times unless you have your own tent.

GETTING THERE

FROM THE MAINLAND

Pak Bara is the main departure point at present. I have info on how to reach it from Trang and Hat Yai on my Lipe page.

There is a NP booking and information office (Tel:(074) 783 485) inside the pier compound at Pak Bara where you can also pay the 200b NP entry fee. The entry ticket is good for both Adang and Tarutao. You can also do these things on entry to the island itself. Booking accommodation over the internet is difficult from overseas because you have to get to a NP office or one of the Thai banks within about 4 days to pay. Online booking - http://www.dnp.go.th/

Andaman Island Hopping’s website http://www.andaman-island-hopping.com/traffic/ferrysouth.htm shows 2 slow ferries leaving at 1030 and 1500 taking around 4 hours, but KK Travel in Trang said their combined minibus/ferry ticket picks up a ferry departing 1230.

At least 2 speedboat operators also do the PB - Tarutao - Adang/Lipe run - Tigerline's timetable - http://www.tigerlinetravel.com/index.php?cat=lineboat - shows a speedboat leaving PB at 1100 arriving Lipe/Adang 1230 and the 1130 speedboat I took (can't remember the company) went onto Lipe/Adang after dropping me at Taurtao.

If you want to stay on Tarutao also, tell the ticket seller who will endorse the ticket. Buying a ticket for Tarutao and then another there for Adang is MUCH more expensive.

There is no pier on Adang or Lipe. Ferries and speedboats terminate in the channel between Lipe and Adang or off Pattaya Beach. A fleet of longtails then delivers people all over the place for 50baht per head including the NP HQ at Adang . My longtail first dropped people at Lipe's Sunshine Beach, next Mountain Resort, shuffled me across to Adang and then left with some people for Lipe's Pattaya. Pretty good tour for 50baht.

FROM SATUN

Thammalang pier near Satun where the frequent fast ferries from Langkawi in Malaysia arrive used to have a morning boat to the eastern pier on Tarutao and then to Lipe/Adang but this is not running so far in 08/09 season - looks like the new direct Langkawi-Lipe boats have starved it of passengers.

FROM LANGKAWI

Several boats make this trip to Lipe - you need to land first on Lipe for customs/immigration. See my Lipe page for details and sublinks.

FROM THE NORTHERN ISLANDS

Tigerline runs its fast ferry down to Lipe from Phi Phi picking up at several other islands and the Hat Yao mainland pier near Trang.

Satun Pak Bara Speedboat Club http://www.tarutaolipeisland.com/index.php?lay=show&ac=article&Ntype=1&Id=398027 runs from Lanta to Lipe.

FROM BULON LAE

Satun Pakbara Speedboat Club's fanger will pick you up at Bulon Lae on its way down from Lanta.

A reliable Trang travel agent for booking and transport into all Trang and Satun area islands - good on transfers/accommodation to/for Lanta and further north too - KK Travel in the parallel street directly opposite the railway station tel 075-211198, 223664, 081-8945955

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If you visit Adang you may also be interested in nearby:

KO LIPE

KO BULON LAE

KO TARUTAO

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If you have any extra information or corrections post them below. If you have questions, please ask them on the Forum, which can be accessed about 80% down the Index. I don't get to check each island page often, but I'll try to check the forum each day when not travelling.

Ko Siboya

You don't come to Siboya for beaches, snorkelling, diving, climbing etc. You come to relaaaax.
Ko Siboya is a medium sized island south of Krabi - just to the north and closer to the mainland than Ko Jum. Map - http://www.yourkrabi.com/
I rate it equal in "untouristy" to Kos Sukorn, Libong and Yao Yai. Main activities are cash cropping and fishing. The 3 low key resorts on the west coast have minimal impact.
I stayed at the original Siboya bungalow outfit - SIBOYA BUNGALOWS
This place is located on the west coast not far south of where the cross-island road arrives from Ko Siboya Village. Mr Chung who runs the place has selected an area with a nice long flat area immediately behind the beach which 100m or so inland climbs towards the coastal road up a gradual slope. Most of the 20 bungalows and the private houses at the resort are located on the flat.
Nice lawn area behind beach and immediately south of restaurant - elcheapo 250 bungalows at left, more expensive 350s start at top. Private houses, some for holiday letting, start further south and to the north.
You don't go to Siboya Bungalows for the beach - but maybe for the sunsets.
This low-tide shot shows the starter-mangrove set-up directly out from Siboya Bungalow's restaurant. NW orientation slightly lengthens the impression. Underfoot is dark sand and rock, not mud. At high tide there is a nice enough strip of sand a few meters wide along the beachfront and the occasional mangrove emerging from the water as in the opening pix top of page.
Look I'm a beach junky, but knowing what to expect, I was not the least fazed. Combine your stay with a few days on nearby Jum to get your beach-fix.

About 300m north (and south) of Siboya Bungalows the beach improves, but it still aint Phra Nang.
Some posters have said THAI WEST resort has a better beach. I walked 10-15 minutes north and yep, it is better than in the sunset shot at Siboya, but no better than immediately above. Nice looking resort BTW - but it seemed deserted in what was early shoulder season (mid-Nov).

Some of the private houses at Siboya Bungalows.

These range from beach-shacks to much bigger, flasher places than the above. Many are for rent when the owners are not using them - rates seem very reasonable - see website. These could be just the thing for family groups wanting somewhere relaxing to spend time.
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Owner Mr Chung. The perfect host - remembers your name and quietly asks every now and then if everything is okay. Image Siboya Bungalows.

House owners are largely old-time Thailand hands who holidayed with Mr Chung back in the day when he ran successful places on Phra Nang and Railay. So successful the leaseholders kept increasing the rent and forcing a move. Eventually he decided on finding the best building site on an untouristy island and quite a few of the Farang regulars threw in $10000 to help - and later built their holiday houses. Some winter here for 4-6 months. You always get a warm greeting from them when arriving at the restaurant - and this seems to spread to short-time guests.

No TV, amplified music, computers at Siboya Bungalows. The only time the no-music policy is relaxed is at Christmas and at New Year where a buffet-dinner and dance is organised. A long-termer told me this is one of the few times when there is 100% occupancy. Image - Siboya Bungalows.

Thorntree regulars normally have a piss-up in Bangkok at these times - but if I'm ever in Thailand around the same period I'm heading for Siboya.

BTW - I found food and service at the restuarant good. Prices seemed very similar to the average budget bungalow place.
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My 250 baht bungalow at Siboya Bungalows.

Rustic, very close to needing some TLC with timber renewal. Just enough room for 2 and their gear. Clean. Thin but comfy double mattress, ditto pillows. Mozzie net in good condition. Big indoor-outdoor concrete and tile bathroom, twin mirrors. No wash basin. Squat toilet. Toilet paper supplied. No longtail or traffic noise at night. Spacious verandah with nice outlook over big manicured lawn area to Ko Jum in background. The 350 bungalows were closer to the "beach", bigger and seemed newer.
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Beachside sitting-cabanas - perfect place for post-midnight discussions about the meaning of life.
I say this because the Brit girls and their Thai guys in this shot wanted to discuss the meaning of life at 2am on the bungalow verandah adjacent mine - at least the guys did.
I believe in letting the world know when I have a good idea - so I loudly suggested that these cabanas were the go. To a chorus of YES!!! from other bungalows.
BTW, the meaning of life to these Thai guys seemed to be having enough money**, which they didn't, but the way they kept returning to the theme seemed to suggest they thought that maybe their cute new friends could help.

** No doubt to keep their 16 year old wives and horde of kids comfortable back in Ban Saladan or wherever.
A regular mid-afternoon game of Tak Raw (volleyball type soccer) with staff, long termers and other guests. Mr Chung (foreground) is a keen participant. Image Siboya Bungalows.

I hired a bike (right) and explored the rest of the island. Ban Siboya here is the main village, but is pretty basic - a few stores and restaurants - no ATMs, money changers, computer shops. Most roads are dirt, thru flat and lowly undulating countryside with rubber plantations, cash-cropping and rainforest. This concrete section stretches W to E across the island to the small pier for Laem Kraut on the inland side - about 500m down the slight hill from this shot.
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GETTING THERE
FROM KRABI
Songthaews leave for the pier at Leam Hin at 1100 and 1500 - this took abt an hour and cost me 100baht which seemed too much - I think I was overcharged. Small public longtails leave from this tiny village on demand but seem to wait for the songthaew - cost if there are enough passengers only 20 baht. Siboya Bungalows has an office in Krabi town (see website) and if you go there they will arrange for the songthaew to call around to pick you up and for transport to be waiting at the pier. Otherwise you can usually hitch a ride with a local for maybe 50 baht.

FROM TRANG
The pier you want is at Laem Kruat, a bigger busier market/fishing town further south on the mainland. Get off a Trang-Krabi bus at Nua Klong on the highway and get the songthaew across to the pier. I think there is one morning and one afternoon longtail across to Siboya. It cost me 50 baht on my way out to Jum.

FROM JUM
Public longtails leave from both Ban Ko Jum and Ban Ko Pu to Laem Kraut (50 baht Nov 08) where you jump a public longtail for Siboya (50 baht). You can charter a longtail of course - in the opposite direction I negotiated a longtail from Siboya Bungalows around to Ting Ray on Jum's west coast for 600, but the Italians who were sharing pulled out at the last minute.
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Public longtail leaving Laem Hin village for Siboya. Don't be alarmed at tilt, the cap'n is doing a radical reverse-turn off the pier here. Trip takes 10-15 minutes in sheltered waters.

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If you visit Siboya you might also be interested in jumping across to nearby Ko Jum

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If you have extra info or see any mistakes, please post below. If you have questions, post them on the FORUM which can be accessed about 70% down the index page. I don't get a chance to check individual island pages often but I will try to monitor the Forum page.

Ko Yao Yai

ATTENTION - I feel kinda guilty. This page is one of my oldest non-updated reports - I visited in November 2008^^. For some reason*, Yao Yai has recently become one of my most popular pages - often out-rating all time #1s like Krabi and Phi Phi. 
For this reason I have just booked another visit for July 2013. That isn't a lot of help for you people visiting before then - so I have also just added some Google Earth images and updated names of resorts where my research has indicated changes.
^^ at least there is a January 2011 Trip Report from John Bassett down page - wish more of you dudes would do this.
* that is not to say Yao Yai is not a good island to visit. But I class it as off the beaten track, even more laid back and less touristy than its near neighbour Yao Noi. But then the latter also rates highly on views - maybe this is telling us something. 28/01/13

Fishing and cash-cropping are the main activities on large sleepy Yao Yai. Big on tourism it aint. Nice for laid-back tourism it is.

Yao Yai is a long mountainous island immediately south of Yao Noi and east of Phuket.
It is much less touristy than (not particularly touristy) Yao Noi, despite having nicer beaches, equal scenery and easier access from the busy parts of Phuket. The 4th biggest island in Thailand and only 6 resorts.

AREA MAP
25KM north south and Ikm from Yao Noi at the closest point. - map from Heimat Garden

Some of the places featured on this page - modified Google Earth image.

CLICK FOR A MORE DETAILED ISLAND MAP - from travelfish


BEACHES

Ao Jak - Ao Po La
The southern pier beach - Loh Jak - from the pier where 2 ferries arrive most days -one a vehicle ferry - after less than an hour from the Jian Warnit pier near Phuket town.

Loh Jak aka Ao Po La and surrounds - image modified Google Earth.

This is the second-best beach I saw - nice sand, water deep enough low tide for swimming, water reasonably clear (Phang Nga Bay water further north gets a bit murky).
The buildings in this shot of about 25% of the beach are the Phuket Island Hopper’s Beach Club - this outfit runs speedboat daytrips visiting the small beach-fringed coral kay Bamboo Island between Phuket and Yao Yai and then doing luncheon and some beach time here on Loh Jak, plus a mini-tour of the island.

Maybe 150m inland from the pier is GARDEN VIEW RESORT, a budget joint with trad bungalows - it looked to have been refurbished a bit from travelfish’s scathing report.
Ditto KO YAO BEACH BUNGALOWS (update Jan 13 - now calling itself FASAI BEACH BUNGALOWS) which are immediately on the pier side of the Beach Club, just out of shot to the right - the restaurant has beach views but the bungalows are built slightly further back over a tidal creek running parallel to the sand.

Beach Bungalow’s accommodation looked like it’d got a lick of paint both outside and interior when I checked it. Inside was tidy, clean, with bathroom. If I had not been put off by travelfish's report, I would have been happy with this place.The tidal creek looks a big daggy low tide but maybe you have your own little Venice when the water rises. Beach 20m away. 400baht before bargaining when I checked. Duck next door for a beer with the Beach Club high-rollers when your partner accuses you of slumming it.

The beach isn’t quite as attractive on the other (southern) side of the pier, but some rather nice concrete wall/thatch roof bungalows looked like flash packer standard were going in, about 50% finished in Nov 08.

There is no village right at the pier. There is a cluster of houses and a few shops maybe 600m up the paved road. HALAVEE RESORT is just off the road to the left in this area - okay budget according to travelfish, but one I didn’t get to check.


Loh Paret

The nicest beach on the island I saw is Loh Paret about one-third the way along the west coast from the south.

This shot shows about 20% of Loh Paret beach - the buildings belong to YAO YAI ISLAND RESORT (pix taken from their pier).

Loh Paret and surrounds - labels may be clearer if you click image to expand. Island Resort is about 8km from the arrivals pier at Loh Jak but the place has its own speedboat for transfers.

Some of Island Resort’s variety of bungalows - pretty nice but a look at the website shows pretty pricey.
Island Resort had an attractive beachfront restaurant with prices maybe 50% more than av budget bungalows. A good amount of guests here in what was early shoulder season - looked mainly Euro couples and families. The place has polarising guest-reports in the travel forums - some loved it, some were not particularly gruntled.
No other resorts on the beach, but there is a restaurant and a diving outfit out of frame to the right where the beach road terminates.

I originally planned to stay at Heimat Gardens , a boutique flashpacker in the small village about 10 minutes walk up the road from this beach. But my tentative enquiries fell thru when long-time guests extended their bookings. Nevertheless the lovely Yamalia picked me up from the ferry, took me on a tour of her place and then transported me about 15 km up-island to an alternative room she had negotiated for the same price. No complaints from me, particularly when the alternative place had a rack rate considerably upmarket from her nice accommodation.
Yamalia's Heimat Garden restaurant - this fronts the beach-road in a little village.
Kinda nice watching the ebb and flow of passers-by. Nice food maybe 20% pricier than the average budget bungalow and a good number of outside diners when I had some tucker around mid-day, a few of them island-dwelling expats with the usual bunch of interesting stories and info.
Yamalia’s rooms, only 6 of them, are in a modern motel-like block set back about 100m from the road in a really nice tropical garden setting. Very nicely appointed - looked every bit as good (and newer) than the pricier accomm she organised for me. An alternative track to the beach leads thru the jungle to the southern completely deserted end of Loh Paret - 10 minutes.


To La Ma Beach

To La Ma is a 4km long strip of sand in the north-east of the island. Thiw Son Resort is about 17km from the southern Loh Jak pier - but only 3km from the north-east Chonglad Pier where frequent boats go across to the Manok pier on Ko Yao Noi. There is another northern Yao Yai pier, Klong Hia about 1km out of frame to the right - longtail ferries from Bang Rong on the central north coast of Phuket. There are small villages just inland from both northern Yao Yai piers.
Koh Yai Village Resort is on a separate strip of beach the name of which I can't find. This midrange or better resort gets good reviews - it was not there when I was on the island but I'll try to drop in next visit in July 2013.

MY ACCOMMODATION ON YAO YAI
TIEWSON BUNGALOW - aka Thiwson, Thiw Son, Tue Son - my digs on Yao Yai, all by itself towards the southern end of the very long To La Ma beach in the NE of the island.
The shaded restaurant and the sitting cabanas are to the right. The other beachfront buildings are new upmarket accommodation under construction in Nov 08 - the far left one a huge family thing with a big central living area and 2 double bedrooms with bathrooms each side. Huge verandas.
The irony is that this is the joint which initially appealed most to me when doing research into the island - BUT being in the middle of nowhere I thought access would be complicated for what was my first stop off the aircraft.
Thanks Yamalia.

The beach does a slow curve out of frame to the right and goes for about 4km to terminate in a looong sand spit which reaches across towards Ko Yao Noi.
I jogged a few km up the beach each morning before brekka - no huts or villages. The main road is abt 200m behind the trees and scattered houses are along this.
Mid-tide in this shot. High tide goes right up to the sea wall. Lowest tide leaves 100m of sand (not mud) and really shallow water for another 60m. Water less clear in these northern areas.

My 2nd row garden bungalow at Tiewson.
Yamalia negotiated 800 baht without brekka but the rack rate was 1500 with brekka. This bungalow was upmarket from flashpacker - more lower-midrange, with aircon, fidge, TV. Spacious, spotless. Glass and timber bifold doors, polished floors, lots of storage, big indoor/outdoor* bathroom with western toilet, hot water, bidet gun, towels+soap+shampoo+tissues, good mirrors.
Big veranda, heavily landscaped garden manicured intensively by staff, neat tap for sandy feet at foot of stairs.
Value? Umm, despite such good facilities I’m thinking the list price is a tad high. But I don’t have too much experience with midrange places and I confess I paid 1500 odd for an inferior but beachfront bungalow on Long Beach Phi Phi LOW SEASON. Thing is, I got the impression from the restaurant meal choices that this place is set-up to attract higher earning locals from Phuket. Nevertheless all is not lost for budget travellers - the 3rd row had 2 traditional budget type bungalows with bathrooms for 600 no brekka before haggling.
* Ladies, don’t worry too much about blokes climbing surrounding trees to check your specifications. Very dangerous activity - I nearly broke my neck.
View from Tiewson’s restaurant on a hazy day.That is the south east corner of Ko Yao Noi on the left and some of the karst islets of southern Phang Nga Bay to the right. Ko Hong, a real popular daytrip karst islet out of Railay/Ao Nang is out of shot at right. The Railay/Ao Nang landscape was visible further south but the curve of the earth hid the lights at night. I got tanked on 90baht big Changs after dinner and wandered south about 2 km along the main road to a viewpoint - could kinda see the lights but when I tried to get closer to the cliff edge on no-moon night I walked into a barbed-wire fence. Well DUH! Imagine an Australian being surprised by a barbed-wire fence ANYWHERE! There are barbed-wire fences in the middle of the Simpson Desert 200km from the nearest homestead…… I still have the scars 6 weeks later.
Nice note - on the walk back down the pitch-black deserted road a couple of locals passed me on a motorbike. They doubled back to ask if I was OK. Nice people on Yao Yai - majority are Muslim.

More on the restaurant - my notes say food around 20% dearer than the average budget bungalow places I normally eat in. Some anomalies - small Chang exxy at 70, big Chang inexxy at 90! My notes also say the stir-fry chicken I had on the last night was one of my top 5 Thai meals ever.


AROUND THE ISLAND.
I hired a motorbike from Tiewson at 250baht per day and checked the rest of the island. A good concrete road runs from the southern pier to the two northern piers and then around to a bay about three quarters of the way along the west coast. There is ribbon development in patches right along this road, along with lots of cash-cropping, and rubber plantations, even some padi areas - and a lot of unused land - plus about 5 villages - the largest being the north-east pier town of Ban Chong Lad. However this is considerably smaller than Yao Noi’s biggest town - ditto total population.
From the north west bay, the road continues along the west coast to rejoin the main north-south road about mid-island - however this section is dirt and was badly cut up after rain, so I gave it a miss and retraced my path.

Google Earth shows several really nice beaches in the north-west corner - but both side-roads I took ended up at little estuaries where longtail guys eagerly asked me if I wanted to go to Yao Noi.

Oblique Google Earth image of the northern half of the island from the north-west

About half way down the island, Yamalia had shown me where a hiking track leaves from beside some roadside houses and climbs the high east coast mountain ridge to a viewpoint which looks out towards the Krabi mainland. However about 2 dozen roadside houses looked similar next day so I didn’t get to do this. Yamalia’s place runs guided climbs here.

Way down the southern end of the island paved roads which soon turn to dirt head down both sides of the big southern inlet - the fishing village in the opening shot was in the south east of this bay.

Oblique image of south bay - fishing village is about 7km from Loh Jak pier not too far out of shot top left.

Back on the side road past Yamalia’s, Loh Paret Beach and Island Resort is a the Laem Yai pier and fishing village on a nice north-west facing bay .

Not too far south of the southern pier at another bay, Bo Le, I came across a real high end joint - GLOW ELIXIR. The cheapest bungalow they quoted me was 5200 and I notice their website has some 33000 joints! Just the thing for you high-rollers. They weren’t real keen on riff-raff like me having a look - but the website gallery sure looks nice.
Value? Um when you get into this territory, value aint important - except in maybe bragging rights: “You paid only 6000 at the Elizr??”

Glow Elixr is a little over 2km from Loh Jak pier and has exclusivity on its own bay.

For the restless there are other Yao Yai activities like cruising, diving and snorkelling nearby Koh Kai Nai and Koh Kai Nog and Ko Hong.



GETTING THERE
FROM PHUKET
There are 2 ferries a day from the Jian Warnet (Gan Wanet) pier near Phuket town to Yao Yai‘s southern pier. This is about 500m “upriver” from the popular Rassada pier used by the Phi Phi ferries, but it took me a while to find a motorcycle taxi guy in Phuket town who knew the location.
Heimat Garden’s transport page http://www.heimatgardens.com/ferry_times.php shows a car ferry leaving at 1000, but my morning boat was a smaller passenger+goods job which could also take motorcycles via a plank to the upper deck - at 1030. The vehicle ferry was moored alongside, running in the afternoon that day.
Note that transport from the ferries is for visitors is not great - most resorts will send a vehicle and quite a few show expensive transport packages from Phuket airport which I think may include a fast speedboat. Or should for the price.
UPDATE 2013 - in recent years there has been an afternoon (1500) speedboat service operated by Green Planet joining Phuket's Bang Rong pier with the northern pier on Yao Yai - it then goes across to Yao Noi after which the Nopparet Thara pier near Ao Nang in the Krabi district. I caught it in the reverse direction in March and when we got to Yao Yai there was transport waiting at the pier - some seemed to be from accommodation, some local taxi services. At Phuket there were fare-inclusive minibuses waiting to take passengers to the main beaches and airport so I assume they will pick up for the outward journey. Green Planet's Phuket tel - mobile 082 42069998 - no doubt just about every travel desk on the island will be able to book them.


Yamalia offers free transport from the pier to her place. It’s about 8km to Loh Paret, so not a bad deal - image Heimat Garden

An old guy with a motorcycle taxi also hangs around the pier as does a younger bloke with a beat-up pickup-truck songthaew taxi. Beware - he uses the excuse of poor English comprehension to take you places you don’t want to go and charges 3 times the fair rate.

If you are heading to the north of the island 5 longtail ferries leave Bang Rong pier on the central-east coast of Phuket (details of getting there are on my Yao NOI page) to the more western of the north coast piers, Klong Hia.
Note the update up page about the Green Planet speedboat to the northern pier in the afternoon.


FROM KRABI
Green Planet's speedboat runs from Ao Nang's Nopparet Thara pier to Yao Noi, then Yao Yai and finally Phuket's Bang Rong pier in the morning (at 1100) taking around a half hour. Transport was waiting at Yao Yai pier. The Krabi tel # is +66 075 637 488 and travel desks all around the place were advertising this. Green Planet also run an express boat in the afternoon at 1600 - takes approx one hour.
Apart from the above, a big longtail ferry leaves Ao Thalen about 1 hour north of Krabi town, in the afternoon. Songthaews to Ao Thalen leave from outside the Vogue department store in Krabi town - they go via the bus station and the lady who runs the small travel agency there will tell you when and where it will arrive.

FROM YAO NOI
Longtail taxi boats shuttle to and from Klong Hia pier regularly. You can charter one if you don’t want to wait for about 5 times the cost. I shortcut the process by going direct from Tiewson’s beach to Laem Seafood Bungalow’s pier on the south-east corner of Noi on Tiewson’s longtail for 200baht.
Of course you could always jump on Green Planet's fast boats for the short trip.


UPDATE - John Bassett sent a January 2011
Trip Report on Yao Yai.

He caught the Green Planet speedboat from Ao Nang to Yao Yai via Yao Noi.





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If you visit Yao Yai you might also consider nearby:
KO YAO NOI

PHUKET

KRABI

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If you disagree or have extra information, please fire them in below. If you have questions, please ask them on THE FORUM which I check most days. I only visit individual island pages occasionally.

Ko Lao Liang

A great place for adventure travellers and those seeking a new laid-back location. Image - http://www.laoliangresort.com/

Lao Liang Yai and Noi are two lumps of limestone rising precipitously some 80m from the Andaman roughly midway between Ko Lanta and Ko Lipe. I first spotted them a few years back with their bigger neighbour Ko Phetra, from Ko Sukorn some distance to the east. Sukorn’s viewpoint was high enough to see the sun catching two rather enticing looking beaches, one for each Lao Liang, which made them a must to visit some day.

Lao Liang Noi - you can just see part of Lao Liang Yai tucked in to the south at left. The sun aint exactly catching the beach here - this was on departure on an uncharacteristic rainy late November day.

Michael and Vinnie who run an adventure company based at Ao Nang, along with a Bangkok partner X-site Diving, have established a luxury tent resort on Lao Liang Noi, the smaller of the twins.
This place is a natural to attract CLIMBERS AND DIVERS looking for new locations. From what I understand the climb sites range from beginners to quite challenging grades and the dive-sites are attractive, have some excellent spots for beginners and exclusive in that the Ko Phetra bird's nest group which has some sort of ownership title on the 3 islands won't allow other outfits, only the resort which pays them rent.

tezza takes his first ever climb. This is something I've always wanted to do but avoided because I couldn't afford another time-consuming interest.
This is about as high as the two beginners' climbs I did went.
Other climbers told me there are routes covering all but the most difficult grades on the European scale. This and many other routes are less than 50m from the tent section.

FISHERMEN AND KAYAKERS are also catered for.

I'm a novice kayaker and didn't trust my camera to keep dry when I grabbed a kayak and circumnavigated Lao Liang Noi. This took less than an hour, but I should warn that the combination of wind and tidal current made rounding the north-west and north-east corners difficult. I'm very experienced with the ocean thru surfing, didn't worry and worked at it, but maybe novices should stick to the beach-side of Lao Liang Noi and to crossing to Lao Liang Yai which is a relatively short distance with no other problems. Experienced kayakers would find the around island thing no problem.

The back of Yao Noi (western side) rises sheer out of the water. There are multiple ropes which the climbing outfit has strung up to help the birds nesters from Phetra who have some sort of ownership claim on the Lao Liangs. And big sea-level undercuts in the limestone where in several places you can hear waves swashing against the back of caves some distance in. (image - http://www.laoliangresort.com/)

SNORKELLERS will find the coral and fish off the northern end of Laoliang’s resort beach pretty good with even better stuff accessed via the snorkelling trips at Ko Ta-Kiang aout 10 km further east.You can see one of the good coral bommies just off the beach at Ko Ta-Kiang. The area also has nice plate coral and good fish life.
The commercial fishing boats in the background are a good sign for you rod-fishermen.
That is Ko Phetra in the background, maybe twice the size of the Lao Liangs and some 5km further south. It is off-limits to visitors, but Vinnie got permission from the birds-nesters for us to go. However once they heard there were to be some Thai guests with us, the withdrew their invitation - maybe they were thinking of some Bangkok land-grabbing spies or something.
It rained during my snorkelling trip so this is a http://www.laoliangresort.com/ image.
But my time on the island showed it is very nicely suited for quite a few other categories of travellers:
- THOSE LOOKING FOR A COMPLETELY LAID BACK LOCATION
Places don’t get much more relaxed than Lao Liang Noi. Only one small resort, no roads, villages, tracks etc and few other visitors - the handful of boats I saw from the mainland all headed for Lao Liang Yai which has a bigger beach and a small pretty rustic visitors’ area which can sell drinks, food, fruit etc.
You can often find a big section of the beach all to yourself. The best snorkelling off the beach is found between the northern end here and the north-east corner in the background, on the fringing reef drop-off which is about 50m out. That's Ko Libong in the background.

- PEOPLE WHO APPRECIATE GOOD SERVICE AND FOOD
More than half the guests during my visit where middle class Thais from Bangkok. Several resort owners have told me such people are more demanding than most western guests so if you see plenty of Thais at a given location it usually means the service level has stepped up somewhat. This was certainly the case at Laoliang where the staff, led by Vinnie and the gorgeous Safina were amazingly hard-working, cheerful and attentive.
Thais not only ensure good standards but seem always to get maximum enjoyment from their holidays. Always a nice atmosphere in a place with a good share of local tourists.
Note that even though the Bangkok part owning company is adventure-orientated, the Thai visitors during my stay were ordinary tourists.

And THE FOOD. An oft-heard western gripe in LOS is small Thai helpings. Well you fang-merchants won’t have to buy seconds and thirds at Laoliang because all meals are buffet-style with seemingly unlimited quantities and a large variety. Traditional Thai breakfasts or eggs any style, cereals, fruit, unlimited toast and jam, tea coffee etc is a great way to start the day. The BBQ fish and prawns every second or so night don’t go down too badly either, particulary as they are bought fresh that day from the sea gypsy village on neighbouring Lao Liang Yai.

- ENVIRONMENTALLY CONCERNED TRAVELLERS
Vinnie and Michael have recently taken over direct management of the island from an employee of their Thai partners, and are in the process of rebuilding and refurbishing key areas. The rebuilt bathroom block was sparkling and they opened a newly built beachside bar with adjacent sitting-cabanas while I was there.
Part of the refurbishing involves plans for water recycling and perhaps desalination, the latter powered by battery banks which collect excess power from the generator and perhaps solar panels. Michael apparantly has plans for rainwater collection too - something that may not make too much sense for a resort open dry season only - but believe me, November and April can get a fair amount of precipitation and other dry season months can have short sharp storms. At present all water must be shipped from the mainland.

This stuff is a work in progress but I was amazed at the amount done since the resort opened for the new season - Vinnie showed me some before-pictures. Thing is, I'm going to have to go back and check the place some time in the near future when this stuff is finished.
Rubbish, the bane of so many Thai resorts, is shipped out, there is a no-plastic bottles policy and the beach is swept for the usual junk which drifts in from fishing boats and the mainland. The grounds are also assiduously manicured - this is one spot which passed the tezza no-ring pulls, no cigarette butts test with ease. Michael and Vinnie's long term aim is to create a model sustainable resort in the Andaman region. Ideally, they would like to use Laoliang as a 'educational' resource centre for other resorts and Parks.

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ACCOMMODATION

The tents are in 3 rows in a nicely wooded area between the beach and the cliffs, the lower parts of which are clad in rainforest.

Each tent is divided into 2 sections - living and sleeping. A mosquito zip screen to each section means mozzies will find it hard to get into the inner sleeping area. The outer living area has a daybed, table, light, fan, fancy foot mat for entry (with a bowl of water for sandy feet outside the zip). Each section was about 2.5 x 3.0 m with plenty of headroom for a tall person, giving a total area as big as most flash-packer bungalows. Bath towels, toilet paper, and a hand towel were provided. Outside each tent were a deck chair and beach chair and a hammock lurked nearby.
The inner sleeping area had comfy thick mattresses and pillows, cushions and 2 sheets plus a blanket. A second power outlet made it easy to transfer the fan and reading light from the living section. My tent actually had twin extra-sized singles which could be pushed together to form a bigger double bed than the one shown here. tezza's budget point and shoot Olympus can't do the fancy low-light, wide-angle shots, so both the above images are from Laoliang.com
THE BAR
Traveller Ruese from Carmel, California hams it up in the opened-that-night beach-side bar. Small beers were 50 to 60 baht when I visited, close to budget bungalow average and cheaper than some I visited this trip.
The beach bar is flanked by two sitting cabanas (bar hidden behind) which double as nice lounging areas during the day.


MORE ON ACTIVITIESCrustacean-spotlighting. Laoliang has these rather big tree-climbing crabs.

Island visits - our snorkelling boat put into Ko Loa Liang Yai for luncheon and some beach time. There is a ramshackle daytrip area run by the locals behind the camera and a very small sea-gypsy fishing village at the end ot the beach out of frame to the left. That is our resort island, Loa Liang Noi, in the background. We also swam into Ko Ta-Kiang's small beach after our snorkel there.

Bouldering. Climbing-guide Elliott checks out some routes under the cliff overhang directly behind the tent section. It varies between a 2 to 3m "fall" to soft sand here - Elliott landed on his feet every time.

Fishing - and not just tiddlers. This is a loaliang.com shot. Note the high background trash levels are not acceptable under Vinnie and Michael's new management.
PRICE
A look at Laoliang’s website costs page http://www.laoliangresort.com/Packages.html shows a range of packages including food and transport, plus a daily rate (currently 1600baht per person high season, 1300 shoulder) if you make your own way to the island (Michael told me there will be promotions of 1200 per day for longer stays). Not budget.
But the way I looked at it was to compare with similar operations in Thailand and overseas:
In Thailand the closest I have experienced is the Similan Island Snorkelling live-aboard trip by Poseidon. This trip's location is as spectacular, the food as good - but the activity is more mono-focused and the living conditions way more cramped. Daily cost is similar.
In Australia the local aboriginal community runs a luxury tent resort at Cape Leveque in the semi-arid Kimberleys of northern West Australia. Isolation and water shortage means costs for supplies are similarly high. The beaches are even better, the landscape not quite as spectacular - but you have to be on the lookout for sea-going saltwater crocodiles (up to 6m long - crikey!!) and you can’t dive or climb. The daily tariff is 3 x Laoliang's.
Another viewpoint is to take a location with similar activities and landscape (this means the Railay area or Phi Phi), stay in a not too flash bungalow, eat to the same standard and quantity + unlimited tea, coffee, water, and hire snorkelling gear and kayaks - I reckon you could easily burn 1600 a day. And those places aint exactly uncrowded and exclusive locations like Laoliang.
GETTING TO LAOLIANG.
Tigerline can get you there on their very fast ferry from nearby Hat Yao pier or from a variety of islands between Phi Phi and Lipe. They have a minibus service to Hat Yao from Trang, Krabi, Ao Nang, Phuket and connections to Surathani, Khao Lak, Hat Yai and Bangkok.
You can make your way independently to Hat Yao pier on the minibus from Trang’s northern minibus station.
Tigerline’s fare from Hat Yao was 750baht when I bought my internet ticket, but Michael and Vinnie negotiated a 500 baht fare the day before I left. This is pretty comparable to accessing the Trang islands from Lanta or the Trang mainland piers when the quality and speed of the boat is taken into account.
Tigerline didn’t open it’s 08/09 operations until November24 - Laoliang resort had been operating a month or so before this - access in such circumstances is by the resort’s supply long tail out of Tasae, one of the mainland piers for Ko Sukorn. You can get to the pier from Trang by catching a songthaew or a Satun bus as far as Ban Na on the main north-south highway and another songthaew to the pier.
TRANSPORT UPDATE NOV 2012 - I just read a user report on one of the booking websites (I think it was Agoda - nice you can book that way now) saying Tigerline ceased calling into Laoliang in 2011. This person hired a longtail from one of the mainland piers and found it very expensive - I'd be looking at the resort website for info on its supply boats.

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GENERAL ISLAND UPDATE NOV 09 - a frequent visitor to Laoliang who is friends with the operators just sent me this information:

tezza- this is the word on laoliang: The National Park will be operating the resort WITH LIR this season. They take care of the restaurant, maintenance and care of the beach environment, shopping, ensuring water supply etc.

The Laoliang Island Resort staff takes care of guests, activities, tents and the bar.

A set amount from every guest goes directly to the Park Service.
If Park stays true to their word; this can be the best of both worlds.

Email Mike at the laoliang site to get more details.

Leaving Laoliang - the beachside tents can be just seen in the background. The upright is a tsunami tower. Tigerline's low long fast ferry rocks along at the pace of a speedboat - got me into Hat Yao pier past the scenic coast of Ko Libong in less than 40 minutes and up from Lipe in under 90.

CONTACT:
Laoliang's website for western guest is -
http://www.laoliangresort.com/
Email -
http://www.laoliangresort.com/
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If you visit Laoliang you might also be interested in nearby:
Ko Libong and Hat Yao
Ko Sukorn
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If you have any extra info or corrections, please post them here. If you have questions, please post them on THE FORUM which can be accessed about 3/4 the way down the INDEX page.