Suntanning in Southern Thailand
From Katy and Aaron's World Trip 2007 in Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand on Feb 26 '07
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The first stop during our journey through Southern Thailand was a small fishing village known as Krabi. In addition to being a good launching point for various islands and beaches in the area, we were drawn here by the coast’s unique limestone rock formations. Time has weathered away the soft rock and left caves, animal shaped islands and sheer mountain cliffs that plunge into the sea. Intrigued by this truly unusual coastline and hungry for some sand and surf, we decided to explore the region by longtail boat on a “4 island tour.”
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One stop on our tour was snorkeling at Chicken Island. We saw parrotfish, corals, and clams, but the highlight here was catching a glimpse of a black and white striped sea snake.
Another stop was Tup Island, a cozy beach with great potential that was unfortunately overrun by tourists like us. The big draw here is a narrow strip of sand that connects it to a neighboring island during low tide. The water was clear, the fish plentiful, and most of the coral destroyed by the longtails dropping anchor!
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We have been dismayed throughout our trip to witness the oblivion that is paid to the environment here, from the destroyed coral we have seen in the south to the visible pollution we mentioned earlier in Bangkok. The tourist industry appears to be growing unchecked and education regarding environmental impact and maintenance is lacking. Among the smaller but equally irritating offenses, were the locals with shops on the beach encouraging tourists to “buy bread for fish food”. While snorkeling, we noticed many fish are so used to this that they swam up to our hands expectantly, and swarmed eagerly around the tourists heedless enough to buy the “fish food”.
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Leaving Krabi and the limestone coast behind us, we headed to the next stop on our tour. We arrived in Ko Phi Phi Don with a boatload of similar aged backpackers ready to start our ‘cheapest room’ search. According to our bungalow owner, we were lucky with our timing since many people had left to enjoy the full moon party at Ko Pha-Ngan. We were glad to hear this having no interest in the full moon parties which, aside from the obvious illegalities and harsh “no questions asked” prison sentence punishments, also enjoys a high correlation with low budget bungalow thefts.
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Ko Phi Phi is one of the more lively (read: touristy) islands of Thailand. The beaches are lined with bars and restaurants, and the interior with sundries and diving operations. It was great to have a huge selection of restaurants and fruit shake stands, but the beach was too crowded and so, after our first day, we found a few other beaches to lounge on. Both were reachable via 45 minute to 1 hour hiking through the forest on sparsely marked trails. These made for great exercise and excitement: Were we actually on a trail? How long should we walk before we turn around and try that other trail we passed? What was that noise?
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The hikes were well worth it. We found great snorkeling at Hat Rantee and, at both there and Hat Yao, were treated to a more peaceful beach experience than the main stretch of Ao Lo Dalam.
When the 2004 Tsunami washed over Ko Phi Phi, it destroyed the low lying narrow center where most of the tourist facilities were located. Buildings and palm trees were plowed down, leaving behind piles of rubble in their place. The government was, and continues to be, slow to step in. The cleanup and rebuilding was then left to locals and volunteers from the world over. We were surprised to see repairs and rebuilding still in progress over much of the island, in some places 24 hours a day. Even with the volunteers and round the clock efforts, there are a number of prime lots facing the ocean that remain abandoned, as well as large plots of land that are in mid-construction. On the plus side, the island is now equipped with a tsunami warning system consisting of a network of sirens and signposts leading up a paved path to the viewpoint high above the bays.
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Possibly you have seen the news about air quality in Northern Thailand recently deteriorating to hazardous levels? The primary cause of this choking fact is the Thai addiction of burning everything. Unfortunately, we can corroborate at least part of this. We did not go as far North as Chiang Mai, but have noticed their habit everywhere. During the train ride to and from Laos, we saw field after field of old crops in flames, and awoke coughing, sneezing, and covered in soot. During occasions when we have been close enough, we could see that included in these piles of old crops were also pieces of trash: plastic bags, water bottles, paper, old food, and basically anything they pleased to throw in. You may notice the haze in many of our pictures, no wonder the air is hazardous!
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As we hoped, the air on the beaches of Southern Thailand has been fresher and cleaner, but the tradition of burning seems to be in the blood. One afternoon, we returned from the beach to find thick plumes of smoke billowing over from the neighboring field (see pictures). We were lucky though, since this was our final day on Ko Phi Phi and we left early the next morning to go further south to Ko Lanta.
Our weeklong stay in Ko Lanta ended up being more vacation like than backpacker crazy. We found an inexpensive resort on Hat Khlong Nin beach, away from the crowds and longtail boats. It was perfect. The resort sat on the sands and had its own pool, restaurant, minimart, beach bar, and nightly fire shows. For an entire week we did nothing but read by the pool, drink coconut shakes, and enjoy the Southern Thailand Sunsets. Every night the beach bar placed mats and pillows at their driftwood tables, making it a great place to play cards and watch the stars.
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We left Ko Lanta a few days ago and are currently en-route to our next island getaway, Ko Tao. A small, coral fringed island in the gulf, Ko Tao annually issues the second highest number of PADI SCUBA certificates in the world. We are keeping our fingers crossed for some great snorkeling! Updates and photos to come.
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