THAILAND 2

PHANG NA BAY

The starter motor is starting, the dinghy has been repaired, a few minor problems resolved, and we are ready to explore this beautiful country. Things can only get better right? They sure can!

Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is the only south-east Asian country to escape colonisation by a European Power, mainly because it was politically relatively stable and managed to become a buffer between the English and French.

The Kingdom of Thailand as it is officially known, is mainly Buddhist, with a population of 64 million people. They are the largest exporter of rice in the world, and are a popular tourist destination. The most popular being Phuket, the largest island in Thailand.

TSUNAMI SIGN

In 2004 Phuket was devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami, but despite widespread damage the tourism industry was up and running a mere matter of days later, within twelve months all damage had been repaired, except for some very remote communities.

The cuisine in Thailand is renowned, and we are busy working our way through the food on offer.

YACHT HAVEN

We left Yacht Haven Marina on Thursday afternoon and anchored just outside for the night. After a leisurely start to the day, we ambled to our first anchorage just 12 miles away.

KO PHANAK ENTRANCE

STUNNING WALLS

Koh Phanak, like many other islands here, is made of limestone, and has many passages and lagoons known locally as “hongs” (which literally means room) and make for interesting exploring by dinghy. Unfortunately everyone else thinks so too, and by day hordes of tourists in inflatable canoes descend on the islands. The advantage we have is that by late afternoon they have all returned to their air-conditioned hotel rooms and we have the place to ourselves.

KO PHANAK TUNNEL

After exploring the hong, which is only accessible through a pitch black tunnel at half tide, we up anchored and headed three miles further north to Koh Hong.

 

 KO HONG

KO HONG

KO HONG

This particular hong is a stunningly beautiful, enclosed pool with a large chimney opening to the sky. Truly magical.

KO YANG

Our next anchorage was Ko Yang, near “James Bond Island”. This is where the movie “The man with the Golden Gun” was filmed and as a consequence has become very commercialised and swamped by tourists. There is a lot of concrete rubble at the base of the island, reminder of the devastation caused by the Tsunami. 

 

JAMES BOND ISLAND

Anchored outside the route to the island, this was a delightful, peaceful spot, enticing us to stay an extra day. We packed a picnic lunch and found a tiny secluded beach on an uninhabited island where we spent a couple of lazy hours relaxing. It's called living the dream.

Our five day National Park pass was up, so we headed back down to Ko Rang on our way to Ao Chalong, the main anchorage on Phuket. We even managed to sail a large amount which put the skipper in a good mood. We spent five days at Ao Chalong catching up on chores, catching up with friends and just chilling out. There was a great little restaurant on the beach which served fabulous Thai food for great prices.

KO ROK NOK

After checking out, a tedious procedure but a necessary one, we day hopped our way to Ko Rok Nok. A tropical paradise with crystal clear water, not too many tourists, another little restaurant and while the coral wasn't much, the fish were many and colourful. After spending two nights there we left with the promise to ourselves to return for another visit.

After a less than memorable night at Ko Bulon due to all the thunderstorm activities, we arrived at Telaga Harbour at 3.30 pm on the fourth of April.

Check in was quick, easy and free. No problems!

Spent two days at Langkawi, mainly to stock up on alcohol, as Langkawi has the cheapest beer and spirits anywhere. Two fairly big days and one very short day saw us back at Marina Island Pangkor, ready to haul out (again) and tackle some major jobs.

But that is another story.