The Islands

[llso]

 

The Islands

 

This trip report is about 10 days spent travelling around the Islands in the Southern Gulf of Thailand in the summer of 2001. My friend?s 19-year-old son Sean had come here to spend two months with us on his summer vacation from college. He was a suitable travelling companion, because I don?t know anyone that would have cared to endure the rigors of this journey.

 

The Journey begins:

We packed up, and prepared for this trip into the unknown. Our only guide the Lonely Planet guidebook. Which proved to be invaluable, but was like an anchor. Being well traveled I had a very light pack, like a child?s school backpack. My young friend on the other hand had a large pack, as well as a small pack. Something he would later come to regret.

 

My wife/Girlfriend at the time Rak decided she would come along. I reluctantly agreed hoping she had the fortitude to make the journey. So there we go the three of us leaving our home early one hot June morning heading for the Southern bus station. We needed to take the bus South to Chumpon, and catch the overnight ferry to the Island.

 

As fate would have the buses were all sold out, and we had to wait for a couple of hours. No problem there is always a noodle stand close by. We finally got a bus heading South.

 

 

 

 

 

After about 5-6 hours on the second class bus we arrived in Chumpon, it was nearly dark. We were immediately descended upon by the touts trying to get us to buy a ticket for the boat to the island. I knew that the price was 100 Baht. There was one guy who worked for a small guesthouse in Chumphon, and we got our tickets from him. It included the taxi ride to the boat as well. They also let us stow our bags, and hang out in the guesthouse too. We had 6 hours to kill before the boat left at midnight. We all headed up the street to a Sukiyaki place, and had some dinner. After dinner Rak went back to the guesthouse and curled up on one of the little sofas and took a nap. Sean and I set out on foot to explore the town of Chumpon. We eventually wound up back near the guesthouse, and Sean started to talking to two young Thai guys that ran a little travel/tour agency. They invited us in for a drink. They were drinking Regency, it is a cheap Thai brandy. They had bought two Siamese fighting fish, and were gambling on the winner. A cheap evening entertainment I guess. I later found out it is illegal.

 

The time finally came for us to board the Songthaew for the ride to the dock. Some fellow backpackers also accompanied us. It was quite a ways to get to the boat. It was a big wooden hulled boat, and also doubled as the supply boat for the Island. There was middle deck, and the bottom was where all the supplies were stowed. It even had motorcycles going to the Island, and all of the food, and beer for the guesthouses.

 

 

 

 

We were going to Koh Tao, it is small island way out in the Gulf. At one time it was a penal colony because of it?s remoteness, and treacherous seas. The boat left at midnight, and was packed with both Thai?s, and Falangs. Rak, and I staked out a spot on the middle deck, and Sean went and sat up near the bow. Something he would later regret. The boat pulled out at midnight down a river passing fishing boats, homes, and processing plants. It was quite a long way to the open water, and we had to go slowly. It was a beautiful night, and this was Rak, and I ?s first real trip together.

 

As soon as we entered the sea, the boat started to pitch, and roll. There are big ocean type swells in the Gulf of Thailand.

At chumphon there are a lot of islands near the shore, you have to clear these before you reach open water. There were some fishing boats coming, and going from the harbor as we left. When we cleared the headlands the sea got really rough.

 

We were in for a long cruise. Most of the people had already settled down on their mats, and pillows. I went and stood up front with Sean, and gave smokes to the old Thai boat captain. He had a tough job keeping the boat on course in these rough seas. It would roll to the left, roll to the right then move forward a little. Looking over the side I could see the bilge pump shooting a steady stream of water out. If it had broke, we would have taken on water quickly. My only comfort was there were plenty of illuminated fishing boats, some we would pass within a couple of hundred feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sean was getting soaked sitting up on the Bow, but there wasn?t any room on the main deck, because it had started raining, and everyone on top moved down. Being no stranger to boats we were sitting right in the middle of the bottom deck. I decided I should try and get some sleep. I curled up next to Rak. A rather attractive 30 something year old Thai lady next to me decided I was warm, and cuddled up to me. It was a bit chilly with the wind, and sea spray. No Rak didn?t see the girl cuddling me, thank God.

 

I really couldn?t sleep, and decided to go check on Sean, and the Captain. Sean was dripping wet, and the Captain asked me for a smoke. We were far enough out now that there wasn?t any fishing boats, just some off in the distance back towards the coast. I began to think that we must have been getting close to the Island. It was pitch black, and you really couldn?t see anything. The boat was bobbing up and down with the swells. In between wave crest I thought I saw a green glimmer on the horizon, it must be a squid boat. Knowing that squid boats fish close to shore I thought that must be the Island. A bit later the green light from the squid boat came into view. It was just before sunrise, and if you looked real hard you could make out a black outline of the island against the sky. As we got closer you could begin to see some lights emanating from the Island. It was a long 6-hour cruise, but we had made it, almost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we approached the Island, it began to storm. I woke Rak up, and she was freezing. I reached into my bag, and pulled out the hooded windbreaker I always carry, and gave it to her. She put it on and just sat there with her arms wrapped around her knee?s shivering. She was a real little trooper, and didn?t complain once. We made it up to the big concrete dock at the main town on the island. It took about twenty minutes of maneuvering, and trying to throw a line to the people on the dock to get to it. Finally it was time to disembark. The tide was very low, and everyone had to go to the top deck. It was still raining a little, and the seas were rough. The boat was bobbing rhythmically about 3-4 feet. There were some Thai guys on the dock, and on the upswing you pitched them your bags. On the next upswing you jumped and they grabbed you. I let Rak go first, they had no trouble snatching her up to the dock. Next it was my turn, I timed it and I jumped. They grabbed me when I hit the dock, but I don?t think they could have got me if I had missed. It would have meant certain death or injury, as the water was about 12-15 ? down, and looked deep.

 

Whew; we made it dry ground, donned our packs and headed to the main street. It was a misty Grey just before sunrise. There were people at the pier trying to entice you to stay at this particular guesthouse or resort. So there we were my 22-year ?old Thai wife, my friend?s 19-year old son, and I. We stopped briefly at a little café for Rak to use the restroom.

 

 

 

 

 

The road up from the shore went straight up the mountain. It was full of little shops, and café?s, most weren?t open at that time of the morning. The Island is mainly a diving place, and so were most of the people there divers. I quickly noticed I was the oldest person on the Island, except for a few Thai residents. We marched to the top where it flattened out a little. We stopped to catch our breath, and decided to go north.

 

We hiked along ?til we came to a group of Bungalows. We asked the girl there if we could have a look. I asked her to go down on the price, but she refused, I pointed out the hole in the floor so we hit the beach, and headed back toward the main town. We hiked along the beach for a good while, and came up to another little resort. Up back from there was a little village, well not really a village but a few small shops. We were getting tired, and stopped for a drink. We looked at a map, and decided to try the Southern end of the Island. The lady there said she could call us a taxi that would take us there for 100 Bt.

 

The taxi, pickup truck arrived, and we climbed in. We arrived at Ban Ao Chalok. There was a beautiful little bay with Palm trees. It looked like a postcard. We found a resort that had some really nice little bungalows perched on the mountainside, there was also a little restaurant there, and Internet too. The old Chinese guy that owned the place said he had 1 room. It was still pretty early in the morning, and he would have another room ready at noon.

 

 

 

 

We took the 1 room, and went and put our bags in, and went to get some food. After eating we all went to the room, and slept. About 10 A.M. it started getting hot. The Island has a limited electric, and some places have only generator power. This place turned the electric on from 6 P.M. till 6 A.M. We got up, and decided we would go rent some motorcycles for 150 Bt/day.

Sean wanted a bigger 250 cc so we had to go back to the main town near the dock. Rak and I did some touring around the island on the motorcycle. It was beautiful. Later that evening we went to the restaurant. They had the Thai style wedge pillows, and low tables. Everynite on a big TV they would show movies on VCD. The whole place would fill up with all of the guests, mostly young backpackers. It had a summer camp feel to it. The food was good, and cheap. It was nice sitting next to the sea, and hearing the waves. The place had only a roof, and a floor with some bamboo blinds. At 10 P.M. when it closed we would buy some beer, and go sit on our balcony. It was very romantic, and was the best time I had with Rak in our entire relationship. It was really cool at night with the fan, and the room was really nice.

 

The next day Sean and I went exploring the dirt trails on the other side of the island. He found a little place with some bamboo huts, where a bunch of kids were staying. One night in a beachside bar they were having a black moon party. We went, and hung out for a while. It was like that movie ?the Beach? late at night the island seemed deserted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following day I walked over the mountain and found a place where I could rent a snorkel, and fins. There were corals in about 4-6 feet of water. It was like being in an aquarium. I got Rak to wade out in the water with me till she seen a sea cucumber, and thought it was a snake. It took a pretty good size stingray coming out from one of the big round corals to finally get me out of the water. The place is a paradise. Sean finally moved over to the hippie commune and got drunk all the time. We left him there.

 

Rak and I decided we would head over to the next island Koh Pha Ngan. It is the island in the movie ?The Beach ? where they went for supplies. We booked a ticket from where we were staying on the big speedboat 250 Bt each. The trip took 1 1/2 hours from Koh Tao. From the other side of the island you could see Koh Pha Ngan. We packed up and got a taxi truck to the docks. I got Rak some Dramamine for all the boat trips. The boat was pretty big, but was supposed to be Air Conditioned. It was incredibly hot, and people started getting seasick. After a somewhat grueling boat ride we made it. Koh Pah Ngan is a pretty big island and has just about everything. We walked through town, and headed for the bank to get some money. There were no ATM?s on Koh Tao.

We decided to rent a motorcycle for 150 Bt /day. We stopped at a little noodle stand, and had some lunch. We asked the people there for directions to Had Rinn beach. This is the place to be where they have the infamous full moon parties. The road to Had Rinn was gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It followed the coastline past little villages, resorts and coconut palms. When we were almost there we came around a bend, and there before me was the steepest road up the mountain I have ever seen. We immediately stopped got off the bike, and sized up the situation. After a while two little girls came up the road, they also stopped. I watched them the girl driving took off full throttle. Now remember these are 100 cc motorbikes we are talking about here. When they were almost to the top the bike was barely moving. It was something to watch, but they made it. I told Rak there was no way we would even attempt it. So we headed back to bring the motorcycle back. They of course refused to give us a refund including the full tank of gas we bought. The word refund does not exist in the Thai language.

 

We found a songthaew driver who was willing to take us to Had Rinn. He had an extended cab so let us sit inside. When we got to the mountain of death he too stopped. He dropped the clutch, and floored it. We too nearly stalled at the top. The view of the water was breathtaking. As it turns out there were two more climbs nearly as bad as the first one. At the bottom of the first one were some crashed up motorcycles.

 

We had made it at last. I walked up the main street, and found us a bungalow. It was a bit ratty, but for 350 Bt ($8.33 USD.) a night what do you expect. By now it was late afternoon, and we sat at the little restaurant at the bungalow and had a coconut shake.

 

 

 

 

Went back to the room took a shower, and went to dinner. Later we walked around, and bought some beer, and wine coolers, and went and sat on the beach it was quite romantic. Later we went and checked out one of the beach bars, and then went back to our room, where we had a memorable night. I was kept awake some by the techno beat of a nearby beach disco.

 

The next day I decided I had seen enough of Pha Ngan, and we headed to Koh Samui. Luckily it was just a short hike to the Had Rinn pier, and only a 30 minute boat ride to Samui.

We landed at Big Buddha on Samui. I knew the place to go was Chaweng Beach. We hopped on a songthaew with some backpackers, and the guy took to the Chaweng Garden Beach Resort. 850 Bt ($20 USD.) a night for a really nice room with A/C, big bed, cable TV, and hot water. We had been staying in little bungalows for nearly a week; I took it. We walked out to the beach, and it was beautiful just too crowded. We cut through to the main road, and there were Mc Donald?s, supermarkets, just way too commercial. We went and had a big dinner, I had a killer shark steak. Rak ate like she had never eaten before. We even stopped at another restaurant so she could eat some steamed crabs.

 

Rak went back to the room crawled under the covers, and watched TV. I think she was glad to be back to civilization. I on the other hand just had to go out and explore the nightlife of Koh Samui.

 

 

 

 

I did my usual stuff. Hit the Internet shop, go for a Thai Massage, and have a beer or two at a little Beer Bar. I didn?t stay out late, and was kind of looking forward to a little Air Con myself. The next day we were supposed to catch the ferry to the mainland at Surat Thani. I read the old lonely planet, and it seemed like it was going to be an arduous journey. The Ferry landing was quite aways from the town, and then we were looking at a 8-10 hour bus ride.

 

I decided we?d just backtrack to Koh Tao. So caught a songthaew back to Big Buddha point, and the boat back to Pha Ngan. Went back to the same little Bungalows, and hung around the island that night. Next morning we headed back to the docks to catch a boat to Koh Tao. The main Pier at Pha Ngan is pretty big, and we had to wait around for a while.

 

This time the boat was an older wooden one. The boat was full of our usual travelling companions of young mostly European kids. We were sitting inside the boat on some bench seats, sort of like a bus. We left Pha Ngan, and headed into the deep blue sea. The first hour or so was nice, but then it began to cloud up. The waves and seas got really rough, and it began to storm. All of the kids sitting on the top deck hurriedly came inside. The crew and I began closing all of the old rickety windows in the boat. The old boat began to creak and was taking quite, a beating. I looked around, and didn?t see anything that even remotely resembled a life jacket. The crew began to look noticeably worried. I was too having had my fair share of experience boating.

 

 

 

 

The storm became worse, and we where about halfway to Koh Tao. At one point a big wave hit the boat, and all you could see was water. The kids were completely oblivious to any peril, laughing and joking like it was some carnival ride. Rak became very quiet, and I never at any point panicked.

{Recounting this story I remember just what a really frightening experience this was. Upon returning to Bangkok, and telling the story to my friend Peter. He told me that his wife and him went to Samui a while back, and decided to take another boat later. The boat they would have been on sunk in a storm, and nearly everyone aboard perished.} I have a lot of confidence in these Thai Boatmen. Most of them have spent their entire lives plying these waters.

 

After a while we passed through the biggest part of the storm, and things quieted down a bit. Soon we began approaching the Island. The seas were still pretty rough, and we had to come around the island to the Pier. Off the Southern end of the island there are some huge rocks projecting out of the water. Rocks are really not a good description, more like mountains. As we came closer the seas kept pushing the boat towards the rocks. Each time the wave passed us the captain would steer the boat away from the rocks. With each passing wave though we got a little closer. At the closest point we were maybe 200 yards away from the rocks. Soon we got to the leeward side of the island where the waves weren?t as bad. The pier was in sight, and we made it back to Koh Tao, alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we hit the shore it was still raining lightly, and we headed back to the same little bungalows. I went looking for the place where we left Sean but the trails were too muddy, and slippery to make it to that side of the Island. Later that night Rak and I were sitting at the little restaurant. Eating, and watching movies like we normally did. A tremendous Squall hit the island, and began blowing things over. Everyone had to huddle in the middle to keep from getting wet. The waves were lapping at the edge of the building. It rained that entire night.

 

The next day we headed to the pier, and bought two tickets on the speedboat to chumphon. It was a nice boat about a 27? with two big V-6 outboards. We sat in the middle, and the last leg of our sea adventure began. The weather was OK. But the speedboat beat the living hell out of us. There were two little Thai girls sitting in the back, and they got drenched. A big wave hit everytime the boat came down. I really felt sorry for them they were like two little drowned rats. Their long hair stuck to them, and they were freezing. Some Good Samaritan?s on the boat gave them some towels to cover up with, since it was like a wet T-shirt contest.

 

When we approached the headlands the scenery was spectacular. I had come this way going in the dark before. We made it to the dock there, and the Thai crew unloaded everyone?s gear from the bow of the boat.

 

 

 

 

 

I got off, and started walking up the bank, and slipped in the mud. I landed on my back, luckily the backpack absorbed most of the fall. I headed to the bathroom to clean off, and change clothes. Talk about loss of face.

 

There were some rich Germans or something that had hired a minivan to take them somewhere, and they offered us a ride into town. They dropped us where we first got off when we came to Chumphon, but we needed to go the big bus station to go North to Hua Hin. I had stopped at this station before on our way to Phuket. It was a huge parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Rak got two motorcycle Taxi guys to drive us there. It was quite a long way, and when we got there she ran off to the ticket office. I asked them Taolai (how much) they said 100 bt. I gave them 100 bt, and they said no 100 Bt, 1 person. I began arguing with them, and Rak came up, and said, ?pay them?. We got right on a bus waiting way across the field, and we were on our way home. Sometime later that night we arrived in Hua Hin. About a week or so later I woke up one morning, and found Sean sleeping on our patio covered in a beach towel. He had arrived in the middle of the night, and didn?t want to wake us.

 

It was a fantastic trip, and one of my more memorable ones. I have wanted to go back to Koh Tao. It is the most beautiful place in the world, truly a tropical paradise. This time of year the sea are very rough, and my friend here who has a dive shop there says the police are not allowing the boat to go some nights.

 

LL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Excellent story llso. Ain't it great to have a little adventure in your life? Sure could do with a shot right now!

 

I also have fond memories of Koh Tao from about five years ago. We were staying on Samui and decided to get our diving license. We had two days on Koh Tao and two diving off nearby Sail Rock, where we were lucky enough to see two whale sharks.

 

I'll never forget rounding a point as we entered a bay at Koh Tao and seeing this guy perched way above the cliffs reading a book in a hammock next to his bungalow. Ain't that the life?

[Pescator]

Hi Ilso,

 

Great report. Made for a nice read with all the snow outside my windown.

 

At one time it was a penal colony because of it?s remoteness, and treacherous seas

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Are you sure that you are not confusing Koh Tao with Koh Tarutao in Satun?

 

It used to be a penal colony, never heard that about Koh Tao.

 

Cheers

Hua Nguu