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Exploring remote islands & beaches is the adventure
part of a Thai vacation.
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There are many small islands in the Andaman sea north of Phuket ..
drive north toward Ranong These are remote & mostly unspoiled islands.
many
small cottage based resorts are on these islands.
The Phuket - Ranong Thai coast is as unimproved & unspoiled as you
can find in Thailand |
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Surf trip to remote beach with Elephants .. try to forget that day!
Note beautiful Royal White Elephant in the rear. As usual, the Thai waves were only a small
part of that surf trip
Road Map Thailand South + Map
Phuket
Ferry
between Phi Phi Island, Phuket Island & Krabi Island
(long tail speedboat available)
We were 'alone' enjoying a "10 out of 10" sunset w/ no one else visible in any direction &
here comes a guy with 10 elephants truckin' down the sand .. TIT!
No idea where they were going or why, but quite a memorable
sight. I'm talkin' a "technicolor high definition" memory!
They were just traveling on the beach instead of the road
.. less traffic on the beach, makes sense to me!
Quite spectacular beach front along this stretch of coastal
road.
Tuk Tuk along til you hit a stretch of beach that meets your
immediate needs .. stop at a restaurant or pack your gear to the sand.
Ready to move on? .. out to the coastal road, 100 meters from
the flat beach, & wait for an empty tuk tuk to motor up.
- You can have a delicious 3 course gourmet meal (w/ Heineken) for
4, catered on the beach under
palm trees & an umbrella, for 800 THB $20. US
- Elephants pass by, jet skis whirrr by, para-sailors fly by .. as
you devour
jumbo prawns & slurp coconut chicken soup.
- Or you can get you hair or nails / hair done .. under an umbrella on
the beach! .. 200 Tbt .. $5. US
Pattaya at night 2008 ... & Pattaya in the mid '60s & 2007
.. below Jomtean Beach looking to Pattaya.
The savings provided
by Thai Medical Tourism can pay for a tropical vacation.
Thailand's best beach
(??) is on Phuket Island & the Indian Ocean's Andaman sea.
- Leam Sing Beach is about 20 minutes north
of Phuket's tourist center Patong Si (via pick up tuk tuk) .
- Chill in the tuk-tuk & enjoy the ride with occasional
hill view ocean vista before you arrive at the Laem Sing Beach trail head.
- Enjoy!
- On the south side of Leam Son Point... north of Kamala
& south of Surin .. roadside dirt parking area .. poorly marked trail head &
'somewhat unimproved' dirt trail to to the sand.
- The road from Patong Si to Liam Sing is kinda
undeveloped with hilly ocean vistas. Few hotels or restaurants for miles!
- Laem Sing Si lies at the foot of a 100 foot cliff at end of a 400 yard steep
trail through tropical forest. (excuse me, but,
"WOW"!)
- The mostly unimproved beach is wide & the sand beautiful.
- Steep sloped sand bottom w/o coral.
A dressing room is behind a boulder &
a shower is the
natural waterfall!
- The waves are less somewhat than "killer dude",
similar
to Makapu'u on Oahu's East coast for you surfer types ( better than Sandy Beach
but not the North Shore, thank God & Buddha. :-).
Laem
Sing Beach & Kamela Beach, just to the south of Laem Sing Bay, provide the
best surfing in Thailand.
I've seen Laem Sing pics w/ 10'/3m
waves .. best I've seen is 4'/1.2m Hey, I should have been there that
day!
Look for a
storm in the northern Indian Ocean.
& here. Sumatra acts as a barrier island & blocks
swells coming from the south.
- Thailand's best snorkeling and scuba is in the Krabi
area.
- Thailand's most scenic and relaxing island is Koh
Samui. On the peaceful Gulf of Thailand
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For short trips to the beach from Bangkok we now recommend
Hua Hin.
Safe,
cleaner, more scenic and less expensive + Good 4 lane expressway
all the way to Hua Hin.
Hua Hin is superior to Pattaya in every
way! A clean city, beautiful white sand beach & crystal
clear water.
.Bangkok
/ Pattaya / Hua Hin Road Map |
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2006:
We can no longer
recommend Pattaya Beach, previously a recommend day trip from Bangkok.
Email Inquiry
or call
our Bangkok representative
for rates & options
<66> (02) 229-4681 (2)
Need to telephone Thailand?
Complete 10
digit dialing directions here w/ local time clock
Thai visas come in 4 basic
flavors: Tourist, Work, Retiree & Marriage.
Phuket houses from 10,000 Tbt per month. ($250US, EU 200)
Tsunami waves coming in.. before the 1st land fall .. viewed from
an Thailand Island hilltop hiking trail ..pics from
Khun Toi, a premiere guide
The waves coming in .. viewed from
an Thailand Island hilltop hiking trail ..pics from
Khun Toi, a premiere guide
so calm & serene the beautiful islands
were that morning ... December 26, 2004.
December
2, 2006: Thailand has deployed the 1st buoy in the Indian Ocean!
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Only small sections of Thailand were affected by the December,
2005 event.
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Pattaya Beach & Koh Samui on the Gulf
of Thailand are 100% un-affected ..
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NO DAMAGE: Hua Hin, Koh Chang (Elephant
Island), Pattaya, Rayong ..
Much of Phuket was unaffected, 99% of hotels
& restaurants are open in 2006 .. & are crying for tourists.
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The Pattaya City & beach front, on the
Gulf of Thailand, is like Santa
Monica on acid.
Jomtean Beach, further west from
Bangkok, or just around Pattaya Hill from Pattaya Beach, is much more
relaxed.
Some amazing beach front hotel rates are available.
Thailand Apartment & Hotel Links
Thailand newspapers
Have a yen to travel?
TESOL
/ TEFL
On Phuket Island in the Andaman Sea you will find pristine deserted beaches surrounded
by tropical jungle a few miles from tourist dominated beaches.
- Patong Si is the tourist hotel center of
Phuket Island. Hotels for $12 per
night literally next to hotels for $250 per night.
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Our hotel of choice in Patong Si, a
900 Thb ($22., 18EU) per night hotel 1 block from the main beach.
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Break Point Hotel, owned by a New
Zealander & his Thai wife.
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Rooms have everything down to a
video player & stereo system.
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Custom bathrooms .. marble with
lots of mirrors .. decadent shower stalls ....
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The folks in the $150. per night
Hotel must walk past Break Point to reach the sand.
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Excellent full size pool tables ( free! &
not snooker!! ) in
the lobby restaurant / bar.
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If you have extra Thb .. that you do not want to
keep .. challenge the owners to a game of pool!
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Combination of New Zealand Meat
pies & excellent Thai menu.
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Espresso coffee available
after 10 AM.
I personally love rural tuk tuks rides..
Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive.~
Robert
M. Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Road maps of Thailand
Thailand Newspapers in English
Thailand Medical Tourism (
the savings on 1
tooth repair can pay for an economy vacation! )
Thai
Contact Email
PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters) -
A government marketing blitz and range of cheap room deals are luring tourists
back to Thailand's hard-hit Andaman coast, but visitor numbers are still well
down on a year ago, hotel operators say.
Months after the killer wave,
occupancy rates on the resort island of Phuket, which has 32,000 rooms, had hit
40 percent from single digits in January but were still well under the 75
percent reached last March, Phuket Hotel Association chief Pattanapong Aikwanich
told Reuters.
On Phuket you can get a house near the beach for a month for what one night
at Club Med costs.
Thai Hotels near the beach are under 700 baht, $20. per night as
low as 400 baht, $10 per night.
For 22000 baht ( $600. )per month you can have a 2 bed room high rise
apartment with a sea view in Pattaya or for 500 baht, $15, per night you can have a
small hotel room near the beach.
