Travelfish newsletter Issue 359 : The definitive list: Thailand’s islands
Hi everyone,
Arrrggghhh the Cameron Highlands update is nearly done, but not in time for this newsletter unfortunately. Tomorrow ideally! Instead I’ve pulled up what I’d argue is the most comprehensive wrap on Thailand’s islands online. Really.
Get stranded on Ko Lao Liang. Photo: David Luekens
On the subject of Thailand, if you’re heading there for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter we have called “Welcome to Thailand”. It starts with a series of daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. Then it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. The newsletter is very much aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here. All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand. Sign up here.
Good travels,
Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew
Support Travelfish!
If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. See more here.
Destination
The definitive list: Thailand’s islands
How many islands does Thailand have? If I’d had to guess I’d have said perhaps 50 or so (not counting piles of rocks), so when David came up with this wrap covering 94 islands (yes, NINETY FOUR), I was a bit, well, surprised.
I also felt a desperate need for a beach holiday—and so will you by the time you get through this epic piece.
David sensibly breaks them up into Thailand’s various regions. Each has a map showing where the mentioned islands are along with brief wraps and in some cases, suggestions on places to stay. There are also plenty of pretty pics to get those feet itching.
He starts with the Eastern Gulf (Ko Chang and so on), followed by the Central Gulf (Ko Samet through to Ko Si Chang), the Ko Samui Zone (the coastal strip from Bangkok down to the silly islands) and then breaks the Andaman Coast into three separate sections, north, central and south.
Each region also has a few transport notes and a suggested mini-itinerary to slot them together—after all why limit yourself to just one island when there are, well, at least 94 to choose from. Importantly, for each section David also put together information on when is best to go weather-wise—handy with Thailand’s varied seasons.
Now 94 sounds like a lot, but you may be surprised to learn that this list is not actually exhaustive! So, if you’ve been to an island we’ve missed, please let us know.
I’ve been to around half of these islands over the last twenty years and there is plenty I’d never heard of, so I hope the same goes for you.
Happy island hopping!
Stuart
Premium members only:
Book a round the world with roundtheworldflights.com (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2019.
Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and
start designing your own round the world trip »
Ten things worth reading
If seeing the world helps ruin it, should we stay home?
“And what of my vacation’s impact on my fellow man? Actually, academics have attempted to calculate that, too. Philosophers, not climatologists. But still.”
One for the rodent: Rats a cheap street snack in Cambodia
We reckon would go well with Vegemite.
Meet the volcano chaser documenting Indonesia’s volatile craters
Better known as Mr Volcano. One of our favourite Twitter accounts.
A Javanese sultan wants his daughter to succeed him. His people object
“The prospect of a sultana troubles many ordinary Yogyakartans.” Yes well, subeditors are allowed a fun day now and then.
Too convenient for some
“Like Sartre’s Cafe de Flore, the coffee shop as third place fosters and facilitates creative interactions.”
A journey down the Chindwin
“We marched around what seemed like half of Mawlaik in complete bemusement. There didn’t appear to be a golf course anywhere; no tee boxes, no fairways, no greens.”
The thrill of animal encounters is dissipating for travelers
“According to the wildlife advocacy group World Animal Protection, younger travelers are more likely than their older counterparts to be concerned about issues regarding animals’ well-being. Consequently, they appear to be the ones paving the path toward change.”
The eastern side of Koh Lanta is the perfect quiet island getaway
“There is no beach here, and the bay’s ebb-and-flow exposes gray tidal flats for several hours a day. But steep, forested peaks rising immediately to the west complete a mountain-to-ocean perspective that makes up for the lack of seashore.”
Indonesian village that sank offers grim lesson in the dangers of coastal erosion
“As in Bedono, environmental damage across the Sayung sub-district in which the village sits has been occurring since the 1990s, when villagers began converting rice paddies and mangroves to fish farms.”
Traveling the Pan Borneo Highway
“But what qualifies as sustainable or “green” construction often depends on who’s talking.”
Something to read
Home
“Epic, compelling, important: 2012-published Home, by Indonesia’s Leila S. Chudori (Pulang in Indonesian) is a colourful and illuminating novel tracing the lives of Indonesian political exiles in Paris from 1968 onwards and, several decades on, their children both there and Jakarta during the upheavals and violence of 1998.”
Travel shot
Ko Poda. Damn. Photo: David Luekens
Till next time
That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia.
Travel light!
Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team
You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org.