We traveled to Thailand in Dec 2011 - Jan 20th. Poured over pages of air brushed photos on internet sites, got our hopes up and read the Lonely Planet guide until we could recite it by memory! Yet apart from Bangkok we were left feeling less than the holiday of a lifetime....Bizarrely we are planning to return next year as we felt like we missed something. What did we get wrong?
We traveled from Bangkok, Krabi, Ao Nang, Phi Phi - Koh Lanta, Koh Samui and Northern Ko Pannang.
I guess we were searching for ( the impossible) clean beaches. Agreed it was peak season, and everyone is searching for a quiet secret island. I know we choose very touristy islands, partley as it was our first time and wanted to navigate easily. I am aware it is incredibly popular and westernised. Something that will increase each year.
Phi Phi was obviously packed, but it had a nice atmosphere here - that is probably the one place we'd return to.
Bitterly disappointed by much talked up Koh Samui. Lamai beach was filthy along with Chaweng.
We now wish we tried Koh Lipe, maybe koh Jum and Ko Tao.
We are now saving again and planning our trip back next year, as we feel like we have missed something!
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you
Reply to this I understand your frustration, if you go to Koh Lipe, go there fast, they will over built the island, but this is still my prefered place....if not, there is always Malaysia, way less populated by tourism....
Reply to this Can understand, Thailand is heavily touristed, and during the peak season (around Christmas) it is worse. Most of the resorts in that part of world will be packed over the week following Christmas.For me, I prefer to visit places that are less of a tourist destination and less developed, which is why I was at a beach area in Myanmar over the Christmas break, and it was very quiet during that time - I could stand on a long beach and see no more than a handful of people at times.
Agree with PA, an alternative for nice beaches is Malaysia, where there are less tourists, and some areas of Indonesia (but not the main tourist areas of Bali).
Reply to this Well you certainly went to the places where all the nice beaches were. Chewang beach was awesome 25 years ago. I loved Lamai beach 20 years ago. But I certainly wouldn't go to any of the main islands to look for a nice beach now. Your best bets would be Koh Chang, Koh Samet, and Koh Mun Nork. Or to go to quieter beaches, try Koh Adang, Koh Kho Khoa, or Koh Kradan. And that's just the islands. With 3,219 km of coastline, Thailand has a heck of a lot of beaches that are beautiful and hardly visited. And clean.
It may be worth making a list of the most popular beaches in Thailand, and cross off the top 30. Then you can start with clean beaches.
Reply to this As we have traveled around the world we are sometimes surprised that the beaches are not as clean as we expected them to be. That has been true for us in Thailand, Vietnam and Bali. What we had to realize is that the countries do not have the infrastructure to dispose of garbage the way modern countries do and there is not yet the awareness of how trash on the beach curbs the tourist and non-tourist dollar.
Reply to this hiya, i am not sure where you are from but as Dave has sort of hinted you might be better off to try a more developed country. Australian beaches (south of brisbane and exmouth though - the rest are mudflats with crocs and stingers) are pretty awesome and always yellow sand, no garbage, blue water, sometimes nice green grass on the banks or big sand dunes to slide down. The carribean and bahamas had similar beaches but thats all that has stood out from memory.
It does make it difficult when we go overseas and the beaches are dirty sand and full of garbage. We just got back from Bali and people were going mad on the beaches there but they really are quite dirty - both sand and rubbish. But great surf if youre a surfer. I think the loveliness of the thai beaches is more about the amazing rocks coming out of them so more of a landscape thing than the actual sand and cleanliness.
Maybe change what you are after...dont even visit the beaches and instead opt for jungles, temples, local food and getting in to the spirit of the locals.
tam
Reply to this As No 3 mentioned you might consider less touristy areas. In 2008 we spent several days on Ngapoli Beach in Burma, on Bay of Bengal, and it was cleanest beach I have ever spent time on probably due in large part to very small numbers of tourists. Spent a couple of months in Thailand in late 80's and Koh Samui was nice then but still found Chaweng and Lamai beaches busy and dirty in sections.
Reply to this A big thank you to all that has taken the time to write their comments. I agree a little naivety came into the equation. Food for thought for our next trip!
Reply to this Hi becky
why don't you visit Andaman Islands, you can't find better beaches than the beaches of Havelock & Neil Islands. i mean they are awesome.
Reply to this Just a question..when you were in Ao Nang..did you venture up the road to Noppharatarra? Or around the bend to SusanHoi?
Without sounding mean I tend to stay away from beaches listed in LP..If they are in LP means theres a million travellers also going..hey that sounds nice, lets add that to the list.
I like to ask locals their favourite beaches. Sometimes right great beaches are right under our noses if we look..eg Nai Yang beach - 2 minutes from Phuket airport. Lovely beach and not a single person asking if we want massage or jet ski..in fact we often had to wake up the local store keepers to get anything before 10.30am...and they didnt mind being woken up at all.
I dont recall ever having been disturbed by the sound of jets leaving the airport although I did have a laugh with a dive guide about instant new wreck dive site. Nai Yang had surfers and kiteboarding and diving and 5 star hotels to beach huts. Noppharatara is often where the locals go for their time at the beach in Krabi.
There are still great beaches in Thailand. They just take a bit of finding.
I guess it depends on what you are looking for. Neither of the above have a night life scene. I think having it all results in the quick decay of beaches as the perfect beach. Theres beaches for partying like Gili Trawagan in Indo and theres beaches for robinson caruso-ing...like PS in Sulawesi Utara.
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