This used to be Thailand’s version of Devils Island, the infamous French prison off the coast of South America. Like it, Koh Tarutao was surrounded by sea and totally removed from public scrutiny. Fortunately, things change and Tarutao is now a pristine national park. Gone are its prison guards and convicts, but not the bizarre tale of how they teamed together during World War II to become pirates. Continue reading “Koh Tarutao National Park: prisoners & pirates to paradise”
Tag: national parks
Camping in Koh Laoliang, a hidden gem in Trang
Award-winning Australian travel writer Louise Southerden tries “sea camping” on Thailand’s hidden island paradise, camping in Koh Laoliang.
You’ve probably never heard of Koh Laoliang. I hadn’t either, until a fellow traveller recommended it to me as an idyllic place to spend a few days camping in Thailand. It’s The Beach, he’d said, minus the hand-drawn map, the suicidal Scot, the despotic Tilda Swinton and, as I would soon discover, the hordes of sun-seeking day-trippers who daily descend on Koh Phi Phi (in neighbouring Krabi province), where the movie was shot. Continue reading “Camping in Koh Laoliang, a hidden gem in Trang”