Coral spawns, a lizard stomps and Ganesha rises from the deep
Island Wrap #34: Travel & Environment edition for March 26 to April 8, 2021
The big news this week is a fast-spreading outbreak of Covid-19, including the first local cases of the more transmissible ‘UK variant’ in Thailand. The extent of this ‘third wave’ is becoming clearer by the hour as domestic travel restrictions and other containment measures shake out. I’ll cover the situation along with vaccination and tourism reopening developments in a separate article tomorrow.
Today I invite you to put down the doom scrolling and enjoy mostly good and funny news in this travel-and-environment edition of the Island Wrap. You’ll find details on protecting reefs, more sea turtle hatchings, a Hindu god pulled up from the sea and my pick of recent articles on travel and non-pandemic news from Thai islands and coastal areas. As always, thank you for reading Thai Island Times.
In case you missed it, my most recent story introduces brave civilians working to remove landmines and other unexploded ordinances from mountains near the Eastern Gulf coast. The other recent article, published on April 1st, takes you to little-known Ko Tako to meet the Sacred Pineapple. Looking ahead, I have more from Trat along with Ko Kradan and plenty of other fun stuff up my sleeve.
Earlier this week I talked sustainable tourism and some of my favorite Thai islands with Stuart McDonald, and you can now read or listen to that interview for free on Couchfish. Stuart is also celebrating one year of Couchfish; do consider upgrading to the paid version to see Southeast Asia as only Stuart can show it. Recent posts take you to Ko Bulon Leh, Ko Ngai, Phanom Rung, Buriram and Khorat.
And in a new Travelfish long read about Singapore, journalist and activist Kirsten Han peels away stereotypes while painting an honest picture of the “civil and political rights — or lack thereof” in her city-state. Give it a look.
Pick of the Wrap: BEACH
Set on the north coast of Ko Samui with an outlook to the mountains of Ko Phangan, Mae Nam strikes a balance between serenity and accessibility to more action-packed parts of the island. The area backing the center of Mae Nam Beach delivers several good restaurants, and I dig the friendly vibes and affordable bungalows at resorts like Moonhut and Treehouse Silent Beach. Mae Nam and nearby Bang Po are also good places to look for long-term accommodation on the second largest Thai island.
Plastic recycling and coral protection
Thailand’s first-ever road made from pavement containing recycled plastic rubbish opened at Noppharat Thara Beach in Krabi late last month. Serving as a footpath for beach goers and a lane to access the boat launch at the mouth of the Son River, the road contains 10,270 kg of plastic, much of it recovered from the sea. Authorities plan similar projects in other areas if this innovative pavement proves strong.
Mass coral spawning is happening in the Thai Andaman and Gulf regions, and this video shows a reef in the Ang Thong islands releasing spores into the dark of night. Taking place once a year after a full moon, this romantic process involves a mass release of egg and sperm bundles from coral spread over large areas. If they manage to avoid marine life that comes to feast in the blizzard-like conditions, fertilized planulas float for days before sinking to the seafloor and growing into coral.
A Manager report spotlights the coral rebirth at Ko Yung, a small island in the Ko Phi Phi group that was closed to tourists in 2018. Thon Thamrongnawasawat shared before and after photos of this reef rehab site, noting that virtually all of the coral was dead or in decline when marine scientists like him began working there. He also described a new plan to preserve Thailand’s coral, which was recently signed by 28 government agencies and several private-sector groups, as “the most important achievement in two decades of conservation of Thai coral reefs.”
One stipulation is that anyone caught fishing at 17 coral sites faces a 100,000-baht fine or a year in prison. Sites receiving this extra layer of protection include the majestic Richilieu Rock near Ko Surin, Ko Losin in Pattani, Ko Maphrao in Phang Nga Bay and others found near Chanthaburi, Khao Lak and Ko Tao. In related news, a tour company offering “seafloor walking” activities is in trouble after photos surfaced of its customers handling marine life near Ko Larn.
Sharks and sea turtles
A school of 30 black-tip sharks recently swam up close to the beach at Ko Hong for the first time since May 2020. Further north in the Andaman, a mature whale shark turned up in a video filmed by Ranong-based Smiling Seahorse. And in the Gulf, pink humpback dolphins appeared again in the Don Sak area near Ko Samui.
At 5:00 on the morning of March 29th, 45 leatherback sea turtle hatchlings emerged from Bang Kwan Beach north of Phuket, bringing this season’s totals to 843 hatchlings from 17 nests. At one last leatherback nest that’s taking longer than expected on the same beach, locals piled sand up to protect the nest from a strong tide that gushed worryingly close during a recent storm.
Also in Phang Nga province, a drone captured the moment when green sea turtle hatchlings flopped out to sea on Ko Huyong in what I think is the best turtle hatch video of the year so far. Found at the southern end of the Similan island chain, Ko Huyong is one of several islands in Mu Ko Similan Marine Park that are off limits to anyone except park officials and researchers with permission.
A green sea turtle also nested on Ko Ngai in the Lower Andaman for the first time in decades, while a mama turtle of the same species laid a second nest in Thap Sakae, south of the capital of Prachuap Khiri Khan on the Upper Thai Gulf. Back on the mainland in southern Krabi, a green sea turtle was taken into care at a marine research facility after locals found it beached with a broken shell.
On the Eastern Gulf coast, a hawksbill sea turtle is being treated after a fisherman found it trapped in a floating ghost net with a wounded fin in Chanthaburi. Also check out this cute video of an anxious, energetic hawksbill speeding back into the Upper Gulf at Cha-am Beach after spending a month in treatment.
Snakes, monkeys and elephants
Villagers in Ao Luek think a visit by a rare white cobra is a sign of good luck. Further south in Krabi province, footage surfaced of a man using all of his strength to wrestle an aggressive four-meter king cobra out of a house. When it comes to the fear factor, neither of those encounters match the guy in Samut Prakan whose rump made contact with the head of a two-meter python hiding in his toilet. But the scariest reptile might be the four-meter saltwater crocodile caught in a Surat Thani canal.
In another story of captive elephants and their owners struggling due to the loss of tourism during the pandemic, five natives of Surin province are now leading their five “unemployed elephants” on a 500-km walk from a closed-down elephant camp in Pattaya to their home village. “Our elephants have to walk as we don’t have enough money to hire trucks for them,” the mahouts told The Pattaya News.
One organization working to help captive animals is the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, whose founder recently posted disturbing images of dusky langurs and other monkeys being kept on short chains at a shuttered zoo on Ko Samui. His team rescued these simians and brought them to a better life in Phetchaburi, but the organization is also struggling without tourism. Perhaps you can help.
Social media corner
Storming its way onto screens around the world, footage of a huge monitor lizard rampaging in a 7-Eleven convenience store in Salaya, west of Bangkok, went viral this week. You’ll find the footage here, but do click over to the original Facebook post by Jejene Narumpa to hear the screams and comments from youngsters who were working there at the time. A bit of what they yelled: “It wants to eat! It’s destroying everything! It’s going to sleep! What are we going to do!?”
You also might be interested in drone footage of both the beauty and heavy development of Ko Lipe (below) by @WritingByMatt; a notice from @iamKohChang that monks from a temple on Ko Larn are looking for volunteers to haul bricks up to a hilltop construction site; and a thoughtful thread by @RichardBarrow with photos of Ko Samui’s once-bustling Chaweng area resembling a ghost town.
Food and travel
Is Thailand’s Full Moon Party over for good? — Duncan Forgan for CNN Travel
The short answer is no. But, as this article clarifies, some locals on Ko Phangan are rethinking the messy cash cow that has underpinned their island’s reputation for decades.
A place where time moves slow — Karnjana Karnjanatawe for Bangkok Post
This excellent piece on Ko Phaluai, the largest island in the marvelous Ang Thong group, focuses on the history, fishing lifestyle and environment on an island with little development or modernization apart from a few wind turbines.
The old-school beach town charm of Prachuap Khiri Khan — Joe Cummings for Bangkok 101
Find out why this low-key provincial capital makes a good alternative to Hua Hin, Cha-am and other more popular beach areas on the Upper Gulf.
Swampland secret — Phoowadon Duangmee for Thai PBS World
Venture into Narathiwat’s large peat swamps in the Deep South, where legend has it that a woman who never returned was transformed into a crocodile.
Islands in Thailand — Pol Comaposada for InThailand.Travel
Fellow Thai island lover Pol put together this list of 30 islands (or groups of islands) with links to the posts he’s written about each of them.
Moving to Ko Samui with family — Phanganist
Is your family looking for a change of scenery?
Where the wild beasts roam — Thana Boonlert for Bangkok Post
In an attempt to prevent elephant-human contact, which is often deadly for both species, farmers near Kui Buri National Park are switching from pineapple to kaffir lime, chili peppers and other crops that jumbos don’t have a taste for.
Where was ‘The Serpent’ filmed? — James Medd for Condé Nast Traveller
If you have access to Netflix and are interested in true crime on the 1970s ‘Hippie Trail’ in Asia, this eight-part miniseries is gripping. When guessing the filming locations, I nailed Sam Roi Yot for beach scenes but had no idea that an India lake scene was filmed at one of the reservoirs in Kanchanaburi. You also may care to know what became of the Bangkok apartment building where serial killer Charles Sobhraj lived; and how the real-life Nadine Gires, who took serious risks to expose the crimes, now manages Bamboo Resort on sleepy Nadan Beach in Khanom.
In other news
Opinion: Seaspiracy documentary shows outdated, sensationalist view of the East — Cod Satrusayang for Thai Enquirer
Though it does make a point about the destruction of commercial fishing, this film, which includes a segment about the Thai fishing industry, is awful in many ways.
Thai land bridge — James Clark for Future Southeast Asia
I’ve written a little about the proposal to link the Gulf and Andaman coasts via a new railway and highway project (in lieu of a ‘Kra Canal’) in previous Island Wraps, but this article gives the issue a deeper dive.
More international flights to Hua Hin, Thailand soon — Kristin Mariano for Travel Daily Media
After years of hibernation apart from private plane use, this airport may soon open to flights from China, Singapore and several other countries.
Pattaya city reveals Jomtien beach renovation concept designs, including skate park, bicycle lanes, public restrooms, and more — Goong Nang for The Pattaya News
“The beach renovation design in terms of concept and layout has been completed.”
Large Vietnamese cargo ship slams into riverside homes — Sutthiwit Chayutworakan for Bangkok Post
It wasn’t as bad as the EverGiven fiasco in the Suez, but this ship sent people in Bang Kachao south of Bangkok running for their lives. Here’s a video of the scary impact.
A painting of the largest figure seen in Thailand’s ancient cave art discovered in Krabi — 77Kaoded (Thai language)
With a length of more than one meter from head to foot, the painting of a human-like figure resembles other roughly 3,000-year-old works of art found in the many caves of Krabi province. Locals first discovered the painting earlier this month in Tham Khao Tip, a limestone cavern in Laem Sak near Phang Nga Bay. Little is known about the people who lived in this area several millennia ago.
Coastal oddity
An important theme of Thai folklore revolves around images of the Buddha and other religious icons that miraculously appear in bodies of water, blessing locals with good luck and protective powers. While skeptics think of some of these legends as nothing more than storytelling, a recent discovery in the Upper Gulf off Sam Roi Yot shows that deities really do rise up from the depths.
Joined by his son, 42-year-old fisherman Mr. Niphat drove his longtail boat from his house in Bang Pu and dropped shrimping nets about two km offshore, just like he would on any other morning. But when trying to retrieve the nets, the two strong men struggled to pull them up from the seafloor. After giving a few extra tugs, they pulled up some sort of statue covered in mud alongside their catch.
Hurrying back to shore, they hosed off the mud to reveal a three-foot-tall, five-headed image of Ganesha. Known for removing obstacles and supporting wisdom, art and science, this elephant-headed Hindu god is well known and frequently worshiped in Thailand. The discovery caused quite a stir as villagers and the chief of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park flocked to Mr. Niphat’s home for a glimpse.
Officials from the Thai Fine Arts Dept. are now trying to decipher the age and origin of the image. If deemed a national treasure, it will go to a museum. If not, villagers will set it up on a shrine in Bang Pu and offer milk, mangoes and other goodies that Ganesha prefers. Centuries from now, perhaps ‘tall tales’ will be told about the day a Hindu god was miraculously hoisted up from the deep. 🌴
Coral spawns, a lizard stomps and Ganesha rises from the deep
David, thanks for all the work, updates and insights! I enjoyed your short video on Koh Phayam in today's Covid update. Koh Phayam was/is one the islands Kat & I were going to re-explore as a possible new Thaidaho Vista. But now I'm reading about this 'land bridge' and deep sea ports at Ranong and the gulf side. In my mind, this may alter forever Koh Phayam--and not for the better. Your thoughts (if possible)? You can always email me at allen@thaidaho.com, if you want.