Koh Tarutao

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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 on Koh Lipe and so had only us and two Finish girls on which suited us fine. The journey was beautiful with limestone cliffs jutting out of the sea around us, blue skies and free oranges.

The island is part of the Tarutao National Marine Park and so upon arriving we had to pay 200 Baht (£4) to enter before walking with all our supplies to the camping area. The long, white beach was beautiful
and deserted and we were able to pitch our tent under some trees right by the beach for free...again.

We had escaped the crowds and the beach was ours along with a few other campers. We hadn't strung our hammock up before we were joined by the other arrivals that day who pitched up right beside us. With the whole beach to aim for they chose us. It turned out to be good fun though as we all enjoyed a campfire that evening together with plenty of Sang Som whisky bought from the mainland.

That evening we all decided to hire a boat the next day to explore the crocodile caves. The island is not all beach and contains jungle, mangrove rivers and old caves. So up early, due to extreme heat inside
tent syndrome, we went by longtail boat to explore. Our group consisted of our camping neighbours from Finland and French speaking Canada as well as an irrepressible Frenchman whom they met the night
before, affectionately called Papi.

As we entered the cave we were dispersed into canoes to go in further. Inside was a staggering complex of stalagmites and stalactites that could be seen only by our torchlights. There were no crocodiles
anymore so our exploring was safe apart from lots of bats that swooped down as we swished past and a rising tide. It was an impressive sight and a very cool way to spend a morning.

The rest of the day was spent chilling on the beach, swimming in the sea and cutting each others hair, some more successful than others. We had bought some peanut butter, strawberry jam and bread from the mainland as there is only one Cafe on the island. So each day we had peanut butter jelly sandwiches for lunch and some of our Sumatran coffee for breakfast with crackers. The evening was our one hot meal a day at the low key cafe where we played cards with our French speaking friends.

With enough food (well peanut butter jelly food) to last us a week it became rather tricky storing it away from the various ants, snakes and monkeys that roamed our camping spot. We were lying on the beach one day when I looked up to see a cheeky monkey grabbing a packet of nuts we had. We chased him but he was off with his catch. I have to say I quite admired his audacity for stealing not one bag but two.

After a few days enjoying our peaceful surroundings we decided to go on a trek to Ao Song, one of the islands inland waterfalls. It was scorching hot so we started early and along the way saw a troop of
Dusky Langer monkeys, wild pigs, a mouse deer, oriental pied Hornbills and lots of birds of prey. It made the 16km round trip not quite so painful.

The fauna we saw getting there was by the highlight as the waterfall was more of a trickle due to it being dry season. There were, however, man-eating fish in the waterfall pool that as soon as we entered came
rushing to nibble on us. We have later seen people charging vast sums of money for these fish to nibble your feet calling it dead skin removal. If only we'd known that beforehand, I would of taken a bag with me. We rounded off the day watching sunset from Toe Boo Cliff which afforded great views over the island and outer islands. Thailand definitely does good sunsets.

Koh Tarutao was the perfect island devoid of commercialism. It didn't have the complete remote beauty of Masalot Island, in Sumatra, but was a damn sight easier to get there. It was low key, without bars and
restaurants and only a few government run lodges which were mainly empty. The other tourists weren't Koh Samui McDonalds munchers, just happy campers like us. How long this will continue will remain to be
seen as the success of private development on Koh Lipe may eventually bear down on this unpretentious island.

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