Southern Thailand

Favorite Food

Fresh fish BBQ; coconut milk, vegetable and tofu curry and rice; penang curry with chilis

Cost of Goods and Services

Singha Beer in Restaurent: $US2.25; in store:$US1.15

Average long tail boatride to a beach: $US2.00 per person

Pot of coffee: $US1.10

Beach bungalow at Koh Railay, 2 DBLs w/shower: $US31

Beach bungalow at Koh Lanta, 2 DBLS w/shower: $US15

Beach bungalow at Koh Samet, 1 dbl and 1 single w/shower: $US15

Favorite Places and Reflections

The limestone rock formations around the Krabi coastline is stunning; the incredibly beautiful Ao Phran Nang beach. This pure white sand beach and cystal clear water is surrounded by limestone rock monoliths, which harbors rock climbers from all over the world; If you are active or love climbing, Railay beach area is the place; Koh Lanta was great for long beach walks/runs, swimming and lazy days on the beach in a much more affordable setting; the disappointment of having so much rain during our precious 16 days on the beaches of southern thailand; our volunteer experience at Khao Lak with Scott at the Cape Pakarang  boat yard will last a lifetime; our 2 hour truck drive pulling a long tail boat to a fisherman through the driving rain and back that night; taking a 3 hr bus ride to Surat Thani and book the ferry to Koh Phan ngan and then discover it has been raining for a week solid and the island is flooded. Then immediately taking the night train to Bangkok, arrive at 7:00am and take the bus to Koh Samet, 3 hours away and hit a sunny beach by early afternoon.

Krabi/Railay beach

Krabi is the main jumping off point for the Andaman, or west side, beach areas. From Krabi, there are a multitude of destinations available, including Koh Phi Phi. The scenery around this area is dramatic with limestone rock outcroppings and monoliths dominating the scenery. Add pure white sandy beaches and crystal clear WARM water and this combination is a winner when it is not raining. No wonder people from all over the world show up here from Nov – March. We went to Railay beach, which is known as a rock climbing and sea kayak mecca for adventure enthusiasts.  Railay has two main beaches, east and west, which are separated by a strip of sand of approximately 200 meters. The west side has very expense and exclusive resorts, while the east side is more affordable, but still expensive for the backpacking budget. However, the best beach, maybe in the entire region, is between east and west Railay beach. Ao Phran Nang is stunning. Of course, it is crowded, but walking in the early morning to take pictures I had the beach to myself and was able to experience the magic of this beautiful seascape.  Also, within easy long tail boat reach are numerous islands to experience the robinson cursoe feel.

Koh Lanta

About 2 hours south of Krabi is the island of Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta is more rustic, more affordable and more laid back then the Railay area and is an easy way to spend several weeks just taking it easy. There are numerous snorkeling trip options from this island and a daily ferry to Koh Phi Phi. We went to a southern beach known as Kangtian beach. This 2 kilometer beach has 3 guesthouses and is a perfect destination to relax at the beach and do nothing. There were no rip currents and swimming was excellent. Also, for the budget traveler the cost was half of the immediate Krabi area.

Khao Lak Volunteer Project at Cape Pakarang

Our time at Khao Lak was dedicated to tsunami volunteer work at the Cape Pakarang boatyard under the direction of Scott Carter. The projects mission is to build long tail fishing boats for local fisherman who lost their boats during the tsunami. These boats are paid for by donations from all over the world. Scott has built a fully operational boatyard and has hired 15 Thais to perform the boat building and to supplement the volunteer effort. To date, 47 boats have been built and donated to local fisherman, we helped delivery 2 during our short stay.  The work atmosphere and relationships were incredible. Several people have been there for months and Scott dissolved his engineering business in South Carolina and will donate 2 years of his life, unpaid, to fulfill this mission. This is one of the best projects I have come across in a long time that directly helps impacted people.

Koh Samet