Blogs from Ko Tarutao Marine NP, South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

I could wax lyrical for hours about the tropical idyll that is the island of Koh Tarutao. Former prison and setting of TV's 'Survivor' (2002), this island is a place where we homo sapiens are in the minority. As we pitched our tent on the white sandy beach of Ao Pante, mike and I felt like tiny solitary specks amongst the craggy hillsides, dense jungle, miles of empty beach and tranquil turquoise seas. We had found all we had been looking for...nature, solitude, beauty and not a bar, Tuk-tuk, hawker or neon light in sight. Bliss. Because tarutao is a protected National Marine Park, mankind has not been able to spread his grubby paws too wide, which means flora and fauna are abundant and diverse on this unspoilt island. We stayed a week in all so ... read more

The archetypal image of Thailand is of deserted, white sand beaches and coral filled seas. Unfortunately due to the number of tourists (approx 14m per year) these beaches are no longer deserted and every man and his dog is trying to get there. We decided to buck the east coast trend and instead hit the far west Andaman coast area. As we arrived at the harbour our dreams of an unfound island paradise were dashed as hordes of fluorescent white tourists scrambled to get on their speedboat. There are however more islands than Tarutao such as Koh Lipe, an island newly opened to private development and marketed as the 'Maldives of Thailand', that the majority seemed to be heading to. This was reinforced as our ferry to Tarutao was actually a supply boat for the hotels ... read more

The options were simple: a tent or a sparse, over-priced room. We chose the tent (surpriseeeeeeee). A short walk from Koh Tarutao’s ranger station revealed 4 more tents set up under the shade of a few trees in a designated camping area. We chose to ignore the designated area (surpriseeee) choosing instead to pitch tent amidst a cluster of trees a good way upwind. Like seasoned troopers, we laid out the tent, fitted the ‘rafters’ and carefully tied down. Then we strung up our hammocks and stood back surveying our handiwork and thinking “…brilliant”. And ‘brilliant’ it was. We were set up just off the edge of a long, curving white sand beach. The entrance of our abode opened up to luscious views and cooling winds from the turquoise Andaman Sea. A sizeable piece of driftwood ... read more

We got off the ferry on the island of Ko Tarutao, a national park area. One of the things Tarutao is known for is a prison that was on the island. They actually had one prison for political prisoners and one for regular prisoners. Apparently the main security on the island was deadly saltwater crocodiles and Sharks. However, there were escape attempts, some successful, and eventually a mutiny where guards joined with prisoners and got into piracy in the area. Many prisoners died of malaria as well. Sounds lovely doesn't it? That's why we went there, figured we'd avoid all the tourists. Well, we certainly avoided the crowds! All the vendors at Pak Bara tried to tell us there would be nowhere to stay on Tarutao except tents, which we were willing to do, and told ... read more

Sawatdee, everyone! Sawatdee means hello, not some Thai vulgarity, I promise - or do I… We are at present BACK in Bangkok @ Lily’s house. We arrived yesterday afternoon after some brutally long travel, but I’ll get to that later. Since the last blog I posted, we have since disappeared to one of Thailand’s National Marine Parks located west of the Thai-Malaysia border, Tarutao National Marine Park, for about a week and a half (10 days or so). I’m pumped on coffee, loads of green curry, and have a gang of time on my hands (we have two more days here till we fly to Italy). SO…we all know what that entails: a ludicrously extensive blog and a horde of pictures. Boo-yah. Adventures in Hat Yai ---After posting a blog @ an internet café, I returned ... read more