Greetings from coastal Thailand, where we’ve gone a whole week without a serious shipwreck and some tourists from abroad *might* be allowed to visit a couple of Thai islands before the year is done. Those stories join your weekly dose of sea turtles, whale sharks and king cobras in this edition of the Island Wrap.
Last week I published an updated version of my first ever paid piece of writing, based on a 2011 interview with Wally Sanger of Paradise Lost on Ko Kradan. Thanks to those who got in touch to share their memories of Wally. I miss him too.
For this Friday I’m working on a story about Ko Wiang, the largest in a group of karst islands in a remote corner of Chumphon. The group also includes an islet with something (or someone) that makes it unique among Thai islands.
Over on Couchfish, Stuart chose some memorable moments from 100 days of virtual travel before outing a few travelers who behave badly (some wacky shit in that one). True to Travelfish form, he also shared “the benefits of slowing down.”
Hat Bang Berd (or Boet) / Tham Thong is only a few km away from the Ko Wiang group of islands.
Pick of the week: BEACH
Traveling Thailand’s mainland coasts will introduce you to a lot of not-so-dazzling beaches. Yet every so often, dedicated beach hunters find a truly special stretch of sand. That was how we felt when striding on to the squeaky white grains of Hat Bang Berd, known as Hat Tham Thong at its southern end. Why the two names? Because it’s shared between Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chumphon provinces.
This 10-km expanse leads to shallow water with a backing of casuarinas and other trees providing some shade. A narrow road runs behind the beach, though only one motorbike passed over the course of the two hours we spent here. This is a remote area, with the only development being a small fishing village at the southern (Tham Thong) end. We spotted several sea eagles along with a single family of humans enjoying a picnic out of their pick-up truck. It was blissful.
Weather news
Last Tuesday, divers retrieved the bodies of the last two victims of the Raja 4 ferry which sank in rough seas on August 2nd off Ko Samui. A salvage operation is expected to begin on August 28th, if the calm weather holds. All told, the tragedy took five lives and left 11 survivors. All passengers have now been accounted for.
Nearly all of coastal Thailand is enjoying a rare rainy season stretch of wonderful weather. I’ll leave it to these folks to show you what I mean…
First on Phuket in the Central Andaman:
Then on Ko Samui in the Mid-Southern Gulf:
And finally, on Ko Chang in the Eastern Gulf:
Every guidebook ever written about Thailand says that the best weather comes in the cool and dry season around January and February. In truth, nothing beats the handful of idyllic days that come during rainy season, when the forests are green and the sky free of haze. If you’re lucky enough to be here, enjoy it while it lasts.
Wildlife and environmental news
Another whale shark was accidentally caught and freed from a fishing net last week, this time near Ko Lanta. Efforts to release the big fish were caught on video. Meanwhile, footage of whale sharks swimming safely away from the fishing boats surfaced near Ko Phangan and Ko Phi Phi over the past week.
Sadly, the remains of two bottlenose dolphins washed up near Thai Mueang Beach in Phang Nga province, and on nearby Phuket’s Kamala Beach.
Precisely 838 sea turtles have hatched so far this year on Ko Samui, writes Rebecca Ratcliffe in a story for The Guardian that quotes several marine biologists. In not-so-feel-good news, a green sea turtle washed up dead on Thung Thale Beach north of Ko Lanta. Yet again, it appears that plastic debris is to blame.
Speaking of ocean rubbish, dozens of Thai and foreign divers united to remove debris from reefs off Kata Beach on Phuket; around Ko Phi Phi; and among the wee islands of Mu Ko Chumphon Marine Park. On land, a clean-up effort on Phuket’s Mai Khao and Nai Yang beaches netted 1.5 tons of rubbish. Volunteer groups on Ko Lanta, Ko Chang (Trat) and many other islands picked up loads of trash as well.
Volunteer divers on clean-up duty around Ko Phi Phi this past week. (Source: Phi Phi Tourism Business Association)
One group led by Nattapong Nithi-Uthai, a science and technology professor at the University of Pattani, is showing that some sea garbage has more value than most people think. Writing for CNA, Pichayada Promchertchoo explains:
“His team chose to develop a business model that would turn discarded flip-flops from Thai beaches into new ones of higher quality and value … Their signature is a colorful insole made of tiny pieces of discarded shoes. Each one of them is unique and carries a message about the waste problem.”
Now let’s shift gears with a video from Thai Mueang of a snake catcher named Bam Similan capturing a 3.2-meter king cobra in theatrical style.
Don’t click on this video if big venomous snakes give you nightmares. (Source: Thairath)
Further down the Andaman coast in Krabi, two more wranglers apprehended a pair cobras that were wreaking havoc in a chicken coop. It’s good those serpents didn’t go near the 40 rare Nicobar pigeons that were recently spotted on Ko Rok.
Meanwhile, an inspection revealed that some of Phuket’s 34 elephant camps are in need of donations to keep their combined 246 elephants nourished. An article by Tanyaluk Sakoot in The Phuket News has details on how you can help the jumbos in distress. In related news, a wild bull elephant sadly trampled an elderly rubber farmer to death in the hills of Khao Chamao, Rayong province.
In other environmental news, tourists are complaining about the wastewater being piped into Prachuap Bay; forestry officials repossessed 200 acres of mangrove forest that have been illegally used for aquaculture in Samut Songkhram; and sleepy Ko Sukorn made a rare appearance in the news when villagers joined experts from a university in Trang to develop a coastal resource rehabilitation plan.
Social media corner
When I’m in the mood to see weird-looking sea critters, which is often, the first Facebook page that I turn is Kata Beach Shore Diving. You’ll meet thuridilla gracilis sea slugs, bumblebee shrimp, painted frogfish and many other colorful species found in this alien world that exists right off one of Phuket’s most popular beaches. (Thanks to @lana_gophuket for sharing this page a while back.)
Tourism industry news
A limited number of foreign tourists will be allowed to visit Thailand via Phuket as early as October 1st, according to statements by Thailand’s tourism minister and the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand last week. Reporting for Reuters, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng broke the story:
“Tourists will have to stay for at least 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine in a limited vicinity of their hotel … Visitors will have to take two coronavirus tests during quarantine before they are able to travel to the rest of the island … Visitors will have to take an additional test and remain within the province for another week before they can travel to other parts of the country.”
Subsequent articles in Bangkok Post, Bloomberg and Thai Examiner provide more details on this “safe and sealed” model. More than 80% of Phuket residents responded favorably to the plan in a poll, though some doctors oppose it.
An op-ed in The Thaiger and Stuart’s take in the latest Travelfish Weekly argue that the plan, as described by officials so far, won’t do much to rescue Thailand’s struggling tourism industry. While I agree with many of their thoughts, I do think that some allowance of foreign tourism is better than none. Hey, it’s a start.
Meanwhile on Ko Samui, government officials joined local business owners and residents to continue hashing out ideas for their own “bubble model.”
Exactly how the return of foreign tourists will play out remains unclear, but many onlookers expect Phuket and Ko Samui to be used as “test run” venues relying on hotels that have already been cleared or are currently being assessed as alternate state quarantine sites for foreign tourists. If all goes well, the model will likely be extended to destinations like Pattaya and Krabi before too long.
In a story for The Telegraph, Chris Schalkx revealed the grim situation on Phuket and Ko Yao Noi. According to The Phuket News, taxi drivers and transport operators are pleading for loan repayment relief. And more than 100 tour buses are sitting idle as “monuments to Pattaya’s dead tourism industry,” reports the Pattaya Mail.
Meanwhile, the government’s tourism stimulus package worth $718 million USD has received a “poor response” from the public, writes Panithan Onthaworn for Thai Enquirer. Some feel that the money allocated towards travel vouchers should have been distributed directly to small tourism business owners and workers, many of whom are still finding it difficult to access financial aid.
If you want to dive deeper into Thailand’s fraught economic situation, check out this detailed report by Thomas Parks for The Asia Foundation.
In other news
It appears that the worst economic crisis in Thailand’s modern history will not stop the Royal Thai Navy from spending $714 million USD of public funds on two Chinese submarines, angering many Thai citizens. An analysis by Cod Satrusayang of Thai Enquirer asks, does Thailand need a submarine force?
The sub deal is not the only case of big government spending in Thailand recently. Pattaya is launching a 160-million-baht “facelift” while also planning a monorail project. Krabi is spending 30 million baht on synthetic rubber guard rails for some of its roads; and a 48-million baht renovation of Bangkok’s Khao San Road is complete. In the Deep South, an airport in Betong is expected to open later this year.
Foreign tourists who have been been riding out the pandemic in Thailand are getting antsy about the expiration of a visa amnesty slated for September 26th. Thai agents are now working overtime to arrange long-term visas in categories such as education and business for those who wish to stay in Thailand. Several tourists have reported being scammed by a fake agency calling itself “Fast Visa 24.” An open letter by a German tourist evokes the anxiety that many are now feeling.
The annual sand harvest is underway in Trat, which “is said to produce some of the best sand in Thailand,” says Ian of iamKohChang. Speaking of digging, excavations in Phetchaburi have unearthed part of the ancient city wall.
And finally, activists in Chonburi released fish into puddles that form in deep potholes to protest the state of their roads. Pattaya Mail reports that “if their fishy protest goes unheeded, they will turn the entire street into one big fish pond.” 🌴