Surat Thani Province is home to several great tourist destinations, including Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan, Ko Tao and the stunningly beautiful Ang Thong Marine National Park.

Although to many people the town of Surat Thani is simply a stop off point on the way to one of the area’s beautiful tourist destinations, the town and surrounding area actually has a lot to offer and is worth looking at more closely.

Worth exploring is the tiny village known as Chaiya. In the village you will find Wat Suan Mokkhaphalaram, which is a tranquil forest temple founded by Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikku, who is perhaps Thailand’s most famous monk. The temple holds monthly meditation retreats, and this is a perfect place to get in touch with your spiritual side and discover a sense of inner peace and harmony.

Also situated in the village is the Chaiya National Museum, which is a good place to discover the area’s interesting history. Another interesting place is the Folklore Museum, which is located around 300 meters from Chaiya, whilst Ban Phumriang is a small handicraft village, which can be found 6 kilometres east of Chaiya.

The stunning Khao Sok National Park features 646 square kilometres of thick rainforest and mountains. With its sparkling waterfalls, mysterious caves and cool lakes, this area has an ancient feel about it. Elephant trekking is a great way to explore, and you can spend the night on a floating lodge if you find yourself reluctant to leave and return to the ‘real’ world straight away.

When it comes to eating, just about anything is possible in this province of plenty. If you love oysters, pay a visit to the Oyster Farms, where you can buy large fresh oysters for a bargain price.

Ao Nang is the closest beach to Krabi Town. This area is mainly occupied by large, upmarket beach resorts. You can hire a sea kayak or long-tail boat and explore the uninhabited island of Ko Hong.

Just 6 kilometres away from Ao Nang is the well loved are much talked about Hat Noppharat Thara, which is a famous 3 kilometer long white sandy beach, perfect for taking it easy and soaking up some rays. Elephant trekking is popular in this area, while the hot springs at Khlong Thom are a good place to ease aching muscles. Whilst there, check out the informative Wat Khlong Thom museum.

Railay is perhaps the prettiest beach in this area. This is a great place for rock climbing, and the sunsets at Hat Rai Leh West are spectacular.

There are some interesting limestone cliffs to explore. Tham Phra Nang is named Princess Cave after a local legend. The cave is hidden in the lagoon of Sa Phra Nang (Holy Princess Pool). Climb the cliff top for spectacular views.

Nearby, Tham Phra Nang Nai (Inner Princess Cave) is a series of illuminated caverns of high beauty. A feature point is the unusual ‘stone waterfall’, which is made of sparkling golden quartz.

Khao Phanom Bencha National Park consists of 50 square kilometres of virgin rainforest and a whole host of pretty waterfalls including Nam Tok Huay To, Nam Tok Huay Sadeh and Nam Tok Khlong Haeng and it is possible to swim in most of the waterfalls. The park is also home to the cave of Tham Khao Pheung, which contains stunning shimmering mineral stalactites and stalagmites.

Another area of natural beauty is the large Than Bok Khorani National Park, where caving is the main activity. Caves of interest here include Tham Hua Kalok, Tham Lawt and Tham Sa Yuan Thong.

Hat Chaweng is the island’s longest and most popular beach. This area is party central and you will find restaurants catering to every taste, large beach bars and theme pubs and clubs. Although not as large as those on Ko Pha-ngan, there are often lively beach parties at Chaweng, especially around the full moon.

Also popular is Hat Lamai, which is famous for the Grandfather and Grandmother rocks and the slightly seedier night life.

Hat Bophut is a quiet and romantic fisherman’s village. This area is relaxed and more traditional than the larger communities, and has a number of very good French-owned cafes and restaurants.

Nearby, Ao Bang Po is a quiet bay perfect for snorkeling, swimming and meditation, whilst Ao Tong Takian is a small cove north of Lamai beach. Also known as Silver Beach, this is a good place for people who crave tranquility.

Bang Rak, is situated just two kilometers east of Bophut. The big attraction in this area is the 19-metre gold tinted statue of Lord Buddha, which overlooks the entire bay. Climb the steps to the top for an excellent view over the island.

Getting to Ko Samui is pretty simple as there is a large airport on the island with regular flights from Bangkok. The flight takes just over an hour, or you can choose to travel by train or air-conditioned bus to Surat Thani and then take the ferry.

Ko Phi Phi Don is the area’s tourist hub. This is where you will find the majority of the hotels, beach bungalows, bars and restaurants. Ko Phi Phi Don covers an area of 28 square kilometres and features the twin bays of Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Da Lam with their stunning curving white sandy beaches, the perfect picture of an exotic tropical paradise. A great way to get an idea of the island’s true beauty is to tackle the 1000 foot vertical climb to Viewpoint. Although slightly challenging, the climb, which takes you through a lush leafy jungle, and the view more than make up for it.

There are many interesting activities to engage in on Koh Phi Phi Don, and it is easy to spend a week or more there. Fire jugglers and beach bars make up the evening entertainment, and there are plenty of restaurants showing western movies throughout the day and late into the night. There is dancing on the beach most nights. To experience a true touch of hedonism, visit the island around the full moon.

The sunset yoga classes on the beach are a good way to unwind, and you can learn a new skill and impress your friends by taking Thai cookery classes.

When it comes to food, just about every taste can be catered for, whether you fancy a fish barbecue on the beach, an all-you-can-eat feast or traditional Thai cooking. There is also a small market where you can eat with the locals at dramatically reduced prices and this is a good place to buy fresh fruit.

The clear waters, beautiful coral and colourful fish mean that the area is popular for diving and snorkelling, whilst many visit the island to climb the limestone cliffs. Boat trips are extremely popular and are usually combined with snorkelling and a visit to the extremely striking island of Ko Phi Phi Leh.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT PHUKET BEACHES

Phuket’s best beaches are along the west coast, where yearly pounding from the rainy season waves have created beautiful bays with golden powdery sand. Along the south and east coast, are the stony beaches more suited for walking, shell collecting or relaxing in a restaurant enjoying the view.

All the beaches in Thailand are public but unfortunately, in some cases, developers buy all the land around the beach and do not allow access across their land to the beach, effectively making the beach exclusive to their own hotel. If you want to visit these beaches, and then try to enter through the hotel, often, they will not challenge you and the worst that can happen, is they refuse you. But you can still access that particular beach by boat.

SUN LOUNGERS

Most of Phuket’s beaches have sun loungers for rent. At the bust beaches such as Patong, Karon and Kata, they line the entire length of the beach, sometimes in rows, three or four deep. At quieter beaches, they are more spaced out and they are a handful of beaches that do not have sun loungers.

At the busy beaches, the sun loungers are grouped into blocks and a Thai manager on each block. The managers are friendly and provide refreshments at reasonable prices while keeping an eye on your possessions when you are swimming.

WATER SPORTS

There are a variety of water sports available. The busy beaches are a hive of activities with banana boats, parasils and jet skis fizzing across the water. These beaches have cordoned off sections where bathers can swim in safety. You will pay 500-1000Baht for these activities and the prices are un-negotiable.

Some quieter beaches have kayaks for rent, so you can go and explore around the headlands.

DANGERS

Rip Tides: – The biggest danger while bathing in the waters around Phuket is getting caught in a rip tide. Phuket averages around 20 drowning a year. They almost happen during the rainy season when the waves are big. If there are red flags at the beach, this indicates potential dangerous conditions and you should not swim.

Sharks: – There are a few species of sharks around Phuket’s waters but none of them are dangerous to people. They have been absolutely no recorded shark attacks.

Jelly Fish: – There are a few jelly fish around Phuket but most of them are harmless. The major exception is the box jelly fish; they are dangerous and have been responsible for much death around the world. Until recently, scientist thought that the box jelly fish were not present in the Andaman Sea, then in 2008, a box jelly fish stung and killed a tourist in Koh Lanta.

Stings :-  Occasionally, you many notice a light stinging sensation in the water but it fades so quickly, you are not even sure it happened.

So it was a delight to be back at Kamala Beach again and to enjoy a much more laidback atmosphere to the region. No go-go bars or pushy publicans vying for your custom, just a beautiful stretch of sand, calm water and reasonably-prices seafood eateries with lovely ocean views.

Although there are lots of holidaying families on Kamala, there is also a large expat community who shun the more expensive areas for a little peace and quiet. And although the sand may not be the brilliant white of Kata, it certainly is far from spoilt and there is still plenty to occupy visitors with all manner of watersports available.

So town is set to be a bit livelier from the 3^rd to the 7^th of March, as homesick sailors from USS Patriot, USS Rushmore and USS Cleveland enjoy ‘morale, welfare and recreation’ (MWR). What exactly this means is not clear, but apparently many sailors take the opportunity to go on diving trips and catch up on sleep.

Now maybe times have changed, but I’m sure that’s not the traditional image of sailors on shore leave I’ve been brought up with, and I have no doubt you will find at least of few of them enjoying the less-wholesome delights of Phuket.

Both tourists and locals have been advised not to hang bags from the handlebars of their motorcycles or leave things in the front baskets, as petty crime is set to increase on the island.

The news comes after a man was arrested on Friday after robbing the 7-Eleven on Wiset Road, Rawai, and getting away with no more than 360 baht.

He entered the store brandishing a brick at 4:00 and demanded that the shop assistant hand over all the cash.

Unfortunately for him, the small amount was delivered in 10 baht coins and he was arrested soon afterwards.

Mongkhol Pintajan, 33, was arrested after the police examined the CCTV footage of the incident.

He said he robbed the shop as he had no money.

It’s a sorry state of affairs for all involved if the current hard times lead some to such desperate measures.

 The funds from the parties, which have been designed to match the success of the Full Moon Parties on Koh Phangnan, will go towards some sort of charity which aims to help tourists ‘in trouble’.

What is meant by ‘trouble’ is pretty unclear, as is what sort of help you would received if you happened to get yourself in a pickle, but as the Full Moon Parties have been condemned in certain circles for encouraging binge drinking, it seems rather comical that the funds for this charity will increase with the amount of beer that is drunk.

I have some friends in Karon Beach who have been complaining recently about the increasing noise at the weekends from the beach parties that have been held there.

It has also been a rather long and controversial decision process which will finally result in the first official party tomorrow night.

I like a party as much as the next person, but I can’t help wondering whether this ‘Tourist Assistance Fund’ will cause more trouble than it solves.

Apparently, and unbeknown to me, Phuket and Thailand as a whole have been experience a bit of a slump in visitor numbers recently.

The latest air passenger numbers tell a different story, however. Even the recent difficulties with Cambodia and the notorious ‘sit-in’ don’t seem to have put them off.

Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, which is the main gateway to Phuket, has seen a rise of almost 30 per cent on last year’s peak season passenger figures.

In total, the amount of happy sun seekers on their way to Phuket’s sunny shores between Christmas Day and January 5^th were no less than 1,668,863 this year. Pretty amazing for just 10 days.

Apparently the biggest resorts in Phuket are already reporting a better month this February than last month, and while I’m pleased that our local business are thriving, I can’t help feeling a bit like a kid with a new toy when I hear about figures like these.

Can’t these people find their own piece of paradise and leave mine alone?