Thailand Island Update + Ranong Area, 22-Jul-00

KO SI CHANG = Ko Sichang (Island in Chonburi, nr Si Racha = Siracha)
Ferry from Si Racha to Ko Si Chang is B50 for locals, B100 for Farang.
Bulky items like mountainbikes and kajaks are carried for free.
If asked to pay extra, ignore it.
On the island, coming from the jetty into town, you will walk into Kanjana Camping where you can rent all sorts of stuff. Typical prices are: A so-so mountainbike B20/1h, B50/3h, B120/1day, a locally-made 2-person tent (not very watertight) B150/day, Fishing gear (rod, ...) B80 to B100/day.

Up the hill (towards Tiewpai GH) and right into a small lane, there's Wunsi Hao Bike Rental (K.Guan) who offers bikes similar to Kanjana Camping, prices the same.

The "Green House" (coming from the jetty to the junction turn right, walk 500m, turn left and ask) rents out basic but OK doubles with fan and traditional bath for B200/night.

On Tham Pang Beach (westside) you can rent Kayaks for B40/1h. There are also some pricy bungalows and a restaurant.

The Tuk Tuks on Ko Si Chang use car engines, they are a lot less noisy than the Bangkok ones. I wished these Tuk Tuks were used everywhere in Thailand. The most disturbing vehicles are the 2-stroke motorcycles ridden by islanders. You can rent one somewhere in the village, B250 / half day, price is negotiatable.

Beaches on the island are blessed with garbage. In the morning, local kids spend an hour cleaning up the daily floatsam. It's being carried off by the garbage truck and incinerated on the island. You can follow the truck and reach that spot in the southern part of the island, on the way to Ta Yai Tim Pier. It's an extremely unspectacular spot.

Caves: Saowapha Cave is easy to get to but is less visited today and many locals don't know where it actually is. Refer to my GPS data. I was told that some time ago, one could walk into this cave and come out in Tham Pang Cave on Tham Pang Beach, the other side of the island. Today, no way. Both caves are closed not too far in (maybe intentionally), and a stream is flowing in one arm of Saowhapa Cave. Tham Pang Cave gets a lot of floatsam from the sea and can be flooded, depending on the tide. Both caves are rather unspectacular.
The central hermit caves are off limits to tourists. There is no attempt to inform visitors where this is. When you eventually find it, there's a Thai sign that says this is not for tourists. You go further and find more signs, barbed wire fence, a gate, a dog. At that point I turned back, afraid there could be landmines... Obviously, the French monk who the children said would stay there does not want to be disturbed.

One of the little tempels in the palace park has been nicely rebuilt and has just been officially opened, with a TV team visiting the site.
Some stairs in the palace park have gone forgotten and badly overgrown / blocked with fallen logs, I've not found the bell rock, that paragraph of the book could need a little map.

The San Jao Phaw Khao Yai Hill Tempel reminds me of Mandalay Hill in Central Burma. Small version, though. On the level of the caves, children await visitors, telling them they need to leave their shoes at the entrance and pay B5 for parking. It's rubbish, when no visitors are around, most locals walk in with their shoes on. The caves are very short, nicely done with floor tiles, Buddhist altars inside.
Note that the monkeys on top of the hill are rather aggressive, they approach from behind (and from the top), watch your stuff. I don't go up there again.

Quite a number of mountainbikers come over from the mainland. Biking is probably a better activity than swimming, since the beaches are not so nice. Traffic on the island is little, there is quite a bit of off-road opportunity and where there are roads, they are good. The central mountain is quite a challenge (staminawise).

It appears possible to walk around the northern part of the island, not on the beach, but on top of the cliff and through the forest. I haven't completed the loop, but it appears possible and is a bit adventureous. Need some climbing and crawling under trees, plus a good eye for the trail. The trailhead is at the back of the tempel right below the San Jao Phaw Khao Yai Hill Tempel.

In the South there's Ngu Headland which can be reached on foot during low tide. Beyond that is another island, it looks like one could swim there, I haven't done it.
On the way to and a few meters from Ta Yai Tim Pier (see GPS) is a small and not-so-clean waterfall. It's running down from some pools atop the hill and it feeds several man-made pools that have fish inside. There's an abandoned and dilapidated house nearby and all is overgrown with green. It's definitely not worth a visit.

****************

KO CHANG (Island in Andaman Sea, nr Ranong)
In the off-season, you won't easily find a boat to take you there and the bungalow operations are all closed.

KO PHAYAM (Island in Andaman Sea, nr Ranong)
Ko Phayam can conveniently be reached by public boat in a 2hour trip from Ranong:
Departure from Ranong port: 4pm
Departure from Ko Phayam jetty: 8am.
Cost: B50 for locals, B100 for foreigners. No extra charge for bicycles.
On Ko Phayam, motorcycle taxis badly overcharge foreigners. A ride from the jetty to the other side of the island should be around B20 but B100 are commonly charged. Either you walk, bring your own bicycle or contribute to the relaxed lifestyle by paying B100.
Island population: 200 Thais, 700 Burmese, many dogs. (Burmese do the work, dogs do the barking, Thai deal with the whiskey).

Accommodation: During the season (Nov - Jul), there are a number of bungalow-style places on beaches around the island.
Locationwise JPR looks best, but now, at the end of the season, it's closed.
Places like Gao, Vijit and JPR can only be reached by walking along narrow trails that branch off the mainroad. Signs on the mainroad indicate the trailhead.

The only place I found open was Bamboo Bungalows: Israeli-Thai-managed, not a bad place, expanding. Yuli's clean wooden huts on stilts go for B150 (with shower / toilet) and for B100 (shared bathroom).
Electricity by generator, but this is far in the back and not disturbing.
Snorkeling equipment is for rent. A Zodiac inflatable is available for tours to nearby snorkeling places.
A 3-night snorkeling excursion to Ko Surin costs roughly around B2500 per group of around 4 people. Diving possible, but equipment to be rented elsewhere.

If coming at this time, it's good to have a tent and a bicycle, food can be bought on the island. Though one has to expect rain, camping is well possible. Just pitch the tent under a roof, let's say in the restaurant of one of the closed places.

Cycling on the island is fine, it has scenic, hilly, shaded allweather roads plus dirtroads. Nuisances are the dogs, the noisy motorcycles and the slippery parts of the road.
The northern part of the island is rather unexplored and difficult to ride. Biking there, I met a Burmese lady who threw up her arms, screamed and ran away when she saw me (I think I missed the shave, that morning).
Another weird thing that happened to me: I was on a perfectly lonely beach below JPR, when a group of people came. Kind of a special situation, on such a lonely beach. They were Moslems and not into drinking or shouting "you from !" and "falang !" which made me curious and I asked them where they came from. Well, they spoke no English and I speak no Thai. Actually, they didn't speak much at all, even not amongst each other. More for fun, I addressed them in
Indonesian and to my surprise, got a polite response in clean Indonesian. They claimed to be a Thai family on a weekend trip in their fisherboat and as I talked with one of them, the rest of the family stood there and gaped at me in surprise.

*****

Ranong:
The hot springs in Ranong are so hot that you can't bathe inside. The large pools further down the hill are not in use any longer, there has not been water in them for around a year, the people said.

Laem Son National Park:
I came in the middle of the night, it was all dark, I convinced the guard to let me thru and cycled straight for the beach following the GPS. Next morning, I realized that I indeed had set up my tent in the right spot under the casuarina trees.
Before entering the Laem Son NP, there are several restaurants and resorts.

"Andaman Peace Resort" can be reached from a turnoff near the park entrance.
Solid bungalows with bathroom go for B300 / night.
A boat rents for B2000 / day / group of 6 including snorkeling equipment.
Activities include trawling / fishing / snorkeling. Best time for this is Nov-Jan.
The resort is at the hight of Ko Phayam, a boat takes 20 minutes to reach the island.

******

Attached GPS files are in OziExplorer format.

Regards,
Martin