Feb. 11, 2006
Bangkok to Hat Yai
Shortly after 3 p.m., after saying “Have a good long weekend” to colleagues, I boarded a BTS train heading for the airport. The Air Asia flight was late again as always. Around 8 p.m. I landed at Hat Yai International Airport where a bomb was detonated 10 months ago. This had been my 3rd time to this transportation hub in Southern Thailand. Nothing special except for Asian tourists speaking Chinese on the main streets in the downtown tourist area.
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| There is a considerable Thai Chinese population in Hat Yai |
Feb. 12, 2006
Ko Tarutao National Park
The air-conditioned mini-van to Pak Bara Pier has been moved to opposite the train station. Although I was told it was about 70 baht to the pier. They insisted on charging me 100 baht. Not wanting to kill my cells, I didn’t negotiate and handed over a 100 baht bill. The mini-van left around 7:30 a.m. and arrived in less than 2 hours. It was a little messy at the pier. There were a few companies offering different boats to various islands. To my destination, Ko Tarutao, there are usually 3 types of boats taking 0.5, 1 and 1.5 hours to arrive. I decided to take the slow boat leaving at 11:00 a.m. (they increased the price from 300 baht to 400 baht for this boat). To my great surprise, immediately after I bought the tickets, the saleslady told me that boat was cancelled and asked me to upgrade my ticket to the 11:30 a.m. boat that takes 1 hour to arrive. What could I do? I paid 50 baht more and took the “faster” boat that actually left at 12:00 noon and arrived on the island at 1:30 p.m.
After paying the 200 baht fee for foreigners, I was given the key to the bungalow I booked in Bangkok in advance. The bungalow was 800 baht for 4 beds. It was very clean (a norm for a place targeting Thai tourists). Although it was a long weekend, there were still rooms available on the island. Actually as the guidebooks explained, this island is quite quiet compared to other popular islands in Thailand. I charted a long-tail boat to Ao Sone (500 baht one way, 800 baht return at the park information desk. Vehicle can also be hired for 400 baht return. Same rate for the boat to Crocodile Cave). The boat passed a few empty beaches before reaching Ao Sone, a larger beach with a ranger station, a restaurant and the starting point for 2 trials to 2 waterfalls. It was the first time I saw a beach in Thailand without anybody. The whole beach belonged to me! I enjoyed swimming for 30 minutes until it started to rain. Walking back to the park headquarters took me about 2 hours. It was an easy walk with so-so forest views. Resting 2 minutes in my bungalow, I climbed to To-Boo Cliff to see the sunset. It took me only 10 minutes although the sign said 20 minutes. The view was nice though not superb. I treated myself with fried fish (200 baht) at the only restaurant at the park headquarters. It was a big fish, reasonably priced with average taste. My last activity of the day was walking 20 minutes alone the beach to let the fish digest faster in my stomach.
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| Ao Sone (Ko Tarutao) |
Feb. 13, 2006
Ko Tarutao to Trang
The boat back to Pak Bara left around 12:00 noon and arrived on the mainland about 1:30 p.m. After having the worst hamburger I ever had at a restaurant near the pier, I joined a couple to take a taxi to Trang. You can hardly call it a “taxi”. The car was probably 20 years old. There were no seat belts, no air-conditioning and many things were not working. I paid 100 baht for it (an air-conditioned mini-van seemed to cost 200 baht and bus 50 baht) and it took less than 2 hours to arrive. Trang, perhaps the nicest town in Southern Thailand, is really pleasant. I visited several travel agencies to check information for my trip to islands the next day and everybody was very nice and helpful. One guy even spoke fluent Mandarin. Yamawa B&B seemed to be gone and replaced by some other hotels. I actually stayed at Ko Teng Hotel. For 180 baht per night, it was quite clean by backpackers’ standard. As Trang is increasingly getting more foreigner visitors, Thai massage is available at Thumrin Thana Hotel on Thanon Huay Yod for 300 baht for 2 hours and there is another one opposite the hotel which is slightly cheaper. Apart from the 5:30 p.m. train to Bangkok, day and night buses (from VIP to 2nd class) are also available with the last night bus leaving at 5:30 p.m.
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| Parade in Trang |
Feb. 14, 2006
Trang Islands
The tour I joined was organized by KK Travel just opposite the train station. It started at 8:30 a.m. and we were taken to Pak Meng Pier, a picturesque little town where we boarded a medium sized boat. There were about 10 people in the group with 1 couple from Norway and myself being the only foreigners. It took almost 1 hour and half to reach the fist destination, Emerald Cave of Ko Mook (you have to enter it at low tide). Emerald Cave is appealing to tourists as everyone needs to swim for 80 meters in the dark to reach it. It turned out to be extremely easy if you join a tour. The tour guide will lead the group using a life ring and everyone is holding the person before him/her therefore a line of people is formed. With life jacket on everyone, I can see that even non-swimmer can enjoy the cave this way. It was really an interesting experience to swim (or passive swim) in darkness for a few minutes. The cave itself is small but nice. We happened to be the first group of the day so I had a chance to enjoy the lagoon without too many people.
The second island we visited was Ko Kradan. Although it was said that more than 10 couples got married under the water near the island on this Valentine's Day, I didn’t have a chance to see any of them. But this island is quite beautiful and looks like those in the movies. Best of all, I did my first snorkeling in my life. It was an unforgettable experience.
Later on we visited 2 more smaller islands and did more snorkeling before heading back to Trang town. We arrived at the train station before 5 p.m. Before starting the tour, I advised the tour guide that I had to catch the 5:30 p.m. train. He had been the driver and the guide for cave and snorkeling and was quite helpful. I thanked him and said good-bye to some tour members. Although I rarely join tours, this one was quite necessary (if only for swimming and snorkeling) and quite pleasant. The tour cost 850 baht including lunch and equipment. For some reason, the 200 baht supposed to be paid by foreigners was never collected by anyone on any of the 4 islands on that day.
As I prepared to get my bag from KK Travel, the lady who sold the tour to me hurried to me and said: “Hurry up, the train stopped running today due to flooding and we are transferring you to a mini-van to Surat Thani.” Initially I thought it might be another rip-off since there was no sign at all of any flooding in Trang. I went to the train station only to find out there was no train. I bought the last sleeper ticket from Surat Thani to Bangkok and jumped to the mini-van. Although I had to pay 750 baht for the inconvenience (450 baht to upgrade to 1st class sleeper from Surat Thani and 300 baht for the mini-van), I was quite happy that I could still get to Bangkok the following morning.
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| Emerald Cave (Ko Mook) |
Overview
Although Ko Tarutao is relaxing and with less tourists, the view is so-so and there seem to be some hassles at the pier. Trang Islands offer better views with just slightly more tourists. The Emerald Cave is an experience not to be missed. Trang is a lovely little town in Southern Thailand. With a train station, a bus terminal, an airport, plentiful friendly English speaking people, you really shouldn’t miss this part of Thailand.
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