Greetings from coastal Thailand, where divers are searching for the last two missing passengers on the ferry that sunk last week off Ko Samui. Read on for details about that story and many more in this edition of the Island Wrap.
I’m finally heading south on Wednesday after the trip was delayed by Tropical Storm Sinlaku, which whipped up the sea, damaged houses and kept boats moored all around coastal Thailand (more on that below). I’m hoping to find the Mid-Southern Gulf calm enough for a boat trip or two later this week.
The story I published last Friday on Thailand’s zero-sum approach to Covid-19 has received six times more views than any previous post here on Thai Island Times. Thanks to everyone who gave it a look, and especially to the readers who reached out to me afterwards. Let’s hope this pandemic gets sorted.
This Friday I’ll let you know why I love Ko Mook so much, and how the time I spent there in 2011 changed the course of my life. You will meet a mermaid.
Ko Mook on my mind.
Over on Couchfish, Stuart recalled the night his guesthouse caught on fire in Hanoi, while the talented Cindy Fan “geared up” in the first of a series of guest posts. (For more from Cindy, check out So Many Miles.) Stuart also went on two island diversions, first to Koh Rong in Cambodia, and then to Ko Tao. His early 1990s recollections of that “Death Island” are both jarring and fascinating.
Pick of the week: WEBSITE
I’m venturing beyond the Anglophone travel world this week to spotlight Mundo Nómada, a Spanish-language online travel guide by Pol Comaposada Vilar. A Thailand resident since 2010 who also runs a travel agency, Pol is a fellow island nerd whose wrap on more than 30 Thai islands includes some obscure spots, like Ko Samae San. And with the translation functions now available on some web browsers, you don’t have to be able to leer Español to explore Pol’s fabulous site.
Raja 4 shipwreck
Technical divers from Ko Tao are joining Navy SEAL divers on recovery missions into the Raja 4 ferry, which sank in rough seas earlier this month. They’ve found the bodies of two more passengers, bringing the death toll to four with another two still missing. Please spare a thought for those who were lost.
This video shows the dark and dangerous conditions that the brave divers are encountering within the wreck. Footage has also emerged from inside the 1978-built Raja 4 as she began to take on water and tilt on the night of August 2nd.
On Ko Taen, Ko Samui and elsewhere, locals are cleaning up some of the 90 tons of compressed garbage that plunged into the sea along with the Raja 4. This is an environmental tragedy as well as a human one.
Things got even worse this week for the Raja Ferry company. The ramp on another of its ferries gave out during loading last Tuesday, leaving a truck lodged between the ship and the pier in an accident that was caught on video. And later in the week, the flagship Raja 1 car ferry was forced out of service after it started dipping noticeably to the left. It’s now undergoing maintenance.
Aftermath of Tropical Storm Sinlaku
The storm took two more lives on top of those lost in the Raja 4 tragedy: an elderly fisherman whose boat capsized near Ban Phe in Rayong province; and an unidentified foreign man whose body washed ashore near Ko Si Boya in Krabi. On Phuket, a man injured his head when he was swept off a fishing ledge. He’s lucky to be alive after lifeguards at Nai Harn Beach rushed out on jet skis to save him.
Residents are now rebuilding along several stretches of both the Andaman and Gulf coasts in Thailand. Among the damaged properties were 100 houses and 300 rubber trees in mainland Trat province; power lines on Ko Chang; 20 coconut trees on Bang Saen Beach; 30 houses in mainland Surat Thani; a toppled break wall in Takua Pa; and several resort restaurants in the Khao Lak area.
Some of the worst of it came in Ranong province, where a storm surge pulled multiple houses into the sea in Ban Bang Kluai. Down in Krabi, locals rallied to help a boat driver after fallen trees left his house badly damaged in Khao Thong sub-district. He’s now dealing with the dual tragedy of a smashed-up home and the loss of income that he used to earn from driving a longtail boat for tourists in Ao Nang.
On the bright side, seaside residents in Phang Nga were delighted to see delicious tower shells wash up on their beaches. Following up on a similar story from last week, a marine biologist warned that locals in Pattaya were putting their health at risk by eating mussels carried ashore by the waves.
A look at an angry Andaman Sea crashing up to resorts on Bang Niang Beach, north of Khao Lak. (Source: Thairath)
Wildlife and environmental news
Writing for Traveller, Josh Dye drew on interviews with “eight conservationists, tour operators and travel experts” in Southeast Asia (including yours truly) to explain how the recent lack of tourists has made poaching and illegal fishing easier in some parts of Thailand and elsewhere. In a separate story published by Asia Nikkei Review, Tom Vater and Laure Siegel pointed out a number of environmental issues that Thai islands are facing, from inadequate waste management to water shortages.
Following up on an environmental story from last week, 60 divers took the plunge in Songkhla to clear debris off the reefs around Ko Nu and Ko Maew.
Many people think that the only dugongs left in Thailand are found around Ko Libong in the Lower Andaman. However, as captured in some recent drone photos, a smaller herd of dugongs lives off the seagrass near Ko Si Boya in Krabi as well. In fact, the dugong calf Mariam that captured hearts last year came from this area, and specialists only transferred her to Ko Libong later on.
North of Ko Lanta, park rangers untangled yet another hawksbill sea turtle from discarded fishing nets that washed up on Thung Thale Beach. And up in Thai Mueang, locals discovered another leatherback sea turtle nest near the Khao Nayok headland. (If you think these stories sound almost identical to the sea turtle stories that I shared in last week’s Island Wrap, you’re right.)
Worrying that the choppy sea would carry the latest 115 leatherback eggs away before they hatched, park rangers moved them to safer ground. The chief of Khao Lampi – Hat Thai Mueang National Park, Haritchai Rittichuay, told The Phuket News that his agency is so keen to protect the nests that they’re offering a reward:
“If anyone does see a turtle trail or nest then please do call us (at 081 619 9962). The nests are always worth saving and there is a reward of 20,000 baht per nest.”
Sliding into the serpentine realm, a chihuahua saved the day in Krabi when it yipped at the cobra in the kitchen. It’s probably for the best that the petite canine didn’t confront a 4.5-meter python that had been devouring roosters nearby.
In related news, Phanganist recently interviewed two of the folks behind Reptile Rescue Phangan. As someone who prefers to steer clear of harmless golden tree snakes, let alone giant pythons and lethal cobras, they have my respect. Don’t hesitate to contact them the next time a snake invades your hut on Ko Phangan.
Venomous spiders also caused a scare in Krabi recently, forcing an elderly woman and a young girl to seek medical care after being stung. One of the arachnids in question looked like no match for the cobalt blue tarantula featured in this video from a Ko Chang (Trat) survival master. Watch where you sit!
Social media corner
Since we’re nearing the end of Bryde’s whale watching season in the Upper Gulf near Phetchaburi, check out this mother whale enjoying a bite with her calf. Thanks to @Pdouble0k for enduring the choppy seas to bring us this footage:
Tourism industry news
Not surprisingly, things are still bleak. A deputy governor from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (T.A.T.) said that he’s seen “no signal from the government that the country will open this year.” Meanwhile, the T.A.T. governor is bracing for a tourism revenue drop of up to 75% in 2021. And an in-depth Skift story by Raini Hamdi clarified just how dire things have become for in-bound travel agencies in Thailand.
Bangkok Post explained how the government’s domestic tourism stimulus package is far from being a savior. The Phuket News reported that many hotel owners are facing loan defaults; and how the Tiger Group in Patong has failed to pay workers months worth of wages. Citing the inaccessibility of “soft loans,” one group submitted a petition signed by 4,600 business owners on Phuket who need help.
Further south in the Andaman, business operators on Ko Lipe are asking how they’ll survive if foreign tourists don’t return for high season later this year. The situation is also depressing on Ko Samui, according to a reader who knows the island and sent me this report after his latest visit last week:
“Now it is dead. Shuttered hotels and businesses. Only a few restaurants catering to retirees are surviving. I had to close my eyes and try to remember the Lamai of last year. It is that unrecognizable. No songthaews or motorbike taxis are available. They have no customers so they all left.”
In better news, some of Thailand’s last coronavirus restrictions are being eased. Phuket’s water parks can reopen, and spectators will be allowed at sports matches again. It’s crucial timing considering that the Thai Football Association had to borrow money for the first time in its 104-year existence. Still, as this Richard Barrow tweet from a beach concert in Rayong shows, things are still far from normal.
In other news
Ian of iamKohChang.com revealed that work on the enormous and long-stalled “Aquarius” luxury development in southwest Ko Chang may be moving forward soon. If built at the proposed scale, it would drastically change sleepy Bang Bao.
Officials in Pattaya are finalizing plans to revamp the primary pier on Ko Larn, which is expected to service six to eight tour boats at once when it’s finished. Back in town, the infamous Walking Street is now open to 24-hour auto traffic.
Also in Chonburi province, Nong Nooch Gardens is getting in on Thailand’s medical cannabis rush by developing its own strains. The news came less than a week after the government moved to allow more private enterprises and “folk healers” to grow cannabis for medical use in Thailand.
A 1.2 billion-baht ($38 million USD) project to build a conch-shaped aquarium in Songkhla might resume after work began a decade ago and then stalled. One official predicted that it will be ready in three years. I’m not holding my breath.
Down in Sadao, an 18-year-old mother was reunited with her six-month-old son after the closure of the Thailand-Malaysia border forced their separation back in March. The infant is healthy, reported Abdullah Benjakat. Speaking of motherly love, a woman on Phuket jumped into a 30-meter well to rescue her three-year-old son.
Mainland Satun province doesn’t often make headlines but I have two stories to share about it this week. Construction is set to begin on a bridge connecting the remote riverine island that hosts Ban Sungai Muso to the rest of La-Ngu district. In nearby Ban Bo Chet Luk, locals and the T.A.T. are now promoting a set of old wells as a new tourist attraction. According to INN News, village ancestors dug six wells with no luck before finally striking water on the seventh try. Thrilling stuff!
And finally, Thailand enjoyed a comedy break after President Donald Trump mispronounced the country’s name as “Thighland” in a speech last week. While many hilarious jokes came out of it, no one poked fun at him with more wit than the Thai Enquirer. It even renamed itself Thigh Enquirer for the day.🌴