Travelfish newsletter Issue 371 : Thailand’s southwest islands

Jan 20, 2020

Hi everyone,

Hello 2020! The less said about 2019 the better, but I would like to say “Thank you” all who sent kind and thoughtful emails as a result of the last newsletter of the year—yes, good riddance 2019! Here at Travelfish it is all eyes forward and putting that year as far out of sight and mind as possible!

Oh hello beautiful. Photo: Stuart McDonald

Bring it on 2020, and what better way to kick off a new year than with a three week, badly needed, vacation on the islands of Southwest Thailand. More on that below.

We’ve been a while between emails, so if you’re scratching your head wondering what the hell this email is, I’m Stuart McDonald, the co-founder of Travelfish.org—the online travel guide to Southeast Asia. This newsletter is dispatched (in theory) every Monday, and serves as a wrap of a few interesting developments in the region along with a longer piece on some particular aspect of travel in the region.

If on the other hand, you’re heading to Thailand for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter I have called “Welcome to Thailand”. The newsletter is aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here.

I only staggered back into the virtual office last week but there are a few islands updated (Hello Ko Kradan, Ko Rok and Ko Lao Liang—see below for links) already. I’ve also added a way for non-members to purchase individual guides for Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. You can see the full list here. I’ve also commenced work on a complete redesign of the site—more information on that next week.

Please don’t forget we have a donate to Travelfish page. If you’d like to make a one-off (or regular even!) donation, please see here. Thank you!

Lastly, without going into any details, for many it is getting harder to work as a freelance writer in certain countries in Southeast Asia. You need not be writing hard-hitting political pieces (though that certainly helps!) to find yourself on the receiving end of some seriously unwanted attention from the authorities.

With that in mind I’d like to take a moment to highlight some publications that are working hard, in some cases in very difficult circumstances, to deliver informed commentary to their readers. Please consider subscribing to, or supporting in some other way, any of the following five publications—I’m sure there are many others, so please excuse any omissions.

Monga Bay (global), New Naratif, Southeast Asia Globe, The Gecko Project, and newcomer to the Thai news scene, Thai Enquirer.

Till next week!

Stuart

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Destination: Thailand’s Southwest islands

So where do you go, kids in tow, for a serious mental health break? Across December and January I opted for a gaggle of Thailand’s southwest islands. It had been many moons since I’d been to some of them and in a couple of cases it was the first time I was to set foot on the sand. Overall? Two thumbs up, but OMG my wallet.

We started off in Trang, then headed out to Ko Kradan (with a side trip to Ko Rok), followed by Ko Muk, Ko Libong, Ko Lao Liang, Ko Sukorn and Ko Bulon Lae. After Ko Bulon Lae we turned around and headed back north to Ko Ngai, before heading back to the mainland and Trang for a night train north to Bangkok and then flights back to Bali. The entire trip was around three weeks long—four weeks would have been a more comfortable period of time to fit them all in.

I’ve already published updated to Ko Kradan, Ko Rok and Ko Lao Liang (Ko Muk was updated earlier in 2019 by David) and the rest of the updates will be rolling onto the website this coming week. In the meantime here is a brief wrap on each to get your feet itching.

Ko Kradan

Arguably the best overall beaches of the islands we visited, with some decent, though in places very damaged coral reefs. Accommodation is expensive for the standard and the cost of food often outrageous. Would I return? I’d more likely stay on Ko Muk and visit Ko Kradan as a part of multi-island snorkelling trip.

Ko Rok

These twin islands boast crystal water and pretty good spots for snorkelling along with a few stretches of blindingly white sand. Camping has been shut down till high season 2020, so this is day trips only—Ko Kradan is closest, but daytrippers come from as far away as Phuket and it can get extremely congested in the middle of the day—aim to arrive early!

Ko Muk

Probably the most backpacker friendly of the islands, with plentiful budget accommodation and places to eat. It is a living island, so unlike Ko Kradan and Ko Ngai, has villages on it. The beaches are good, but not the best of the islands we visited. If you’re on a budget, this is probably the best spot to stay and visit the others on daytrips.

Ko Libong

The biggest of the Trang islands, Ko Libong has under a half dozen flashpacker to midrange places to stay lined along a golden sand beach (there are also homestays in one of the villages). The issue here is the beach is not swimmable at low tide. On the upside the island is known for its crowd-pleasing dugongs (we saw four). A very sleepy island.

Ko Lao Liang

The glamping has all been wrapped up on Lao Liang and the reef is not in great shape, but the white sand, cliff-backed beach is pretty damn spectacular. If you’re travelling by longtail between Ko Libong and Ko Sukorn, it is easy to drop by here for a swim and a walk down the beach.

Ko Sukorn

If Ko Libong is too busy for you, Ko Sukorn is the medicine you’re looking for. Just a handful of places to stay here, lined across two fairly mediocre beaches—the sunsets though, looking out over Ko Phetra and Ko Lao Liang are simple brilliant. Accommodation is flashpacker rates but the food was surprisingly affordable and good.

Ko Bulon Lae

The furthest south island we hit on this trip, Ko Bulon Lae is a great little spot with accommodation mostly ranging from flashpacker up to midrange. The white sand beach is an absolute cracker, but the other beaches are not up to much. This forms a great counter-point to the terribly over-developed Ko Lipe.

Ko Ngai

Our last stop was Ko Ngai in Krabi province. Like Ko Kradan, this is a somewhat sterile island as there are no villages on it, but the beaches are lovely and some of the snorkelling, especially off of Paradise Beach. On the downside the accommodation veers towards the higher end and the food is uniformly expensive and often terrible.

Ten things worth reading

Wild waters: Unexplored Ayeyarwady

“As for the beaches? That’s a no-brainer. If you think your options along the west coast of Ayeyarwady Region start at Goyangyi and end at Chaungtha you are in for a pleasant surprise.”

Stricter guidelines on elephant tourism put Thai travel agents in quandary

“there is confusion at elephant camps. Initially ABTA had no problems with riding, now they do. Now, they have an issue with bathing. Why? Now, we cannot use these camps. Things need to be communicated better.”

Currents of time

“For more than two years, this journey brought him through countries only just reopening to foreigners after decades of war and strife. He timed his route along the dual considerations of nature and bureaucracy, organising his shooting schedule across rainy and dry seasons and keeping tabs on where he could legally cross borders.”

To Mandalay

“At one station, the train stopped for only a few minutes. By the time we reached Taungoo, the midpoint of our journey, it was around 11 p.m., but even at that hour vendors and sellers boarded the train and hawked their goods: dried banana, mangosteen, steamed sticky rice, fried peanuts, crispy sesame. It was then time to sleep.”

The eco-option

“To the casual eye, Chi Phat could be almost anywhere in rural Cambodia. Parades of pie dogs and shambling white oxen are the closest the dusty main drag gets to traffic. But this unlikely spot is the front line in the battle to save Southeast Asia’s last great wilderness from destruction.”

Exploring spectacular caves in a quiet corner of Vietnam

“When Oxalis sought government permission to run cave tours, protections were built in. A permit for each cave would go to a sole company instead of multiple operators, so that competition wouldn’t drive down prices and fill caves with hordes of tourists.”

Why this remote gem should top your 2020 travel list

“The fields are agricultural feats of precision — rugged mountains blanketed with emerald stairways that, seemingly, ascend to the heavens above.”

The many faces of Khlongtoey

“And yet there is a real spirit, a sense of community, fostered by families living in the same narrow alleyways together since the 1950s, when the slum area first began to grow up as migrants from all over Thailand – and beyond – flooded into the area to work at the nearby docks. ”

Was Majapahit really an empire?

“The De?avar?ana is a dependable eyewitness account of the times, but its main purpose is to flatter the Majapahit king. How seriously can we take its enormous list of countries that were supposedly ‘obedient to all the commands’ of Java?”

This Vietnamese national park is a spice lover’s dream

“McElwee said the “cardamom model”—in which villagers harvest thao qua inside the national park, and park rangers mostly ignore them—has so far worked reasonably well for both sides.”

Something to read

The Rainbow Troops

“Andrea Hirata’s The Rainbow Troops, originally published in Indonesian in 2005, is a delightful and poignant coming-of-age tale set in rural Indonesia.”

Travel shot

Ko Kradan: Bloody awful. Photo: Stuart McDonald

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

https://www.travelfish.org/

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