'Carmageddon' in Phuket, cleaning up Loi Krathong, remembering Tak Bai, and more

Thai Island Wrap #70: A spin through the most consequential news and other media from the last month in Thailand's islands and coastal areas.

Welcome to the Island Wrap, a free monthly round-up of Thai island and coastal news and other media. To also access the entire Thai Island & Coastal Directory as it’s published along with many other in-depth articles, welcome aboard for the price of a bus ticket from Ranong to Khuraburi.

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This Island Wrap marks Thailand’s transition into high season as the country follows its balancing act between improving the economy and attending to the environment. Several of the stories featured below — from throwing money at the air pollution problem to rethinking a Loi Krathong tradition and checking in with the new-and-improved Maya Bay — touch on that very balance.

Here at TIQ I proceeded with the gradual publication of the Thai Island & Coastal Directory by finishing off Phuket province and diving into the Deep Southern Gulf, a less-traveled region that we’ve found extraordinary along the coast. I’m also just back from my first trip to Ko Phra Thong in a while. Thailand’s 8th largest island hasn’t changed much at all, even if 24-hour electricity is on the way.

Coming soon I have new T.I.C.D. sections covering the entire Songkhla Lake region, including on both the Phatthalung and Songkhla sides. The full chapter on the Deep Southern Gulf will be one where I think the T.I.C.D. really shines for travelers who appreciate veering off the beaten track in coastal Thailand.

Catch of the month

A glimpse up some of Ko Phra Thong’s nearly empty shores.

Something nifty

Thailand’s railways have been getting all sorts of attention lately, and rightfully so. Faster double-track lines are set to open soon, high-speed lines are taking shape (albeit slowly), and Bangkok’s new central station at Bang Sue stands as a modern monolith in a megacity that is also opening new metro lines faster than many locals can keep up with. Over the past month, both SCMP and CNA spotlighted Lopburi’s “floating train,” while the BBC included Hua Hin’s early 20th-century station as one of the five “most remarkable railway stations in the world.”

But what I’ve found most compelling in all of this train buzz has come from people who have been riding them around the kingdom for decades.

ln creating his already indispensable Thai Train Guide, writer and social-media star Richard Barrow has followed new railway developments in painstaking detail. And while he looks to the future, others take a more circumspect approach. Travel writer Matthew Woodward weaves countless hours of train travel, partly informed by a 1928 guidebook, into his new book, Bang Sue Junction. And photographer Tim Russell shows just what is being lost in the move out of Hualamphong Station in 70 poignant photos that form a new book of his own, Bangkok Station.

Wire picks

How Thailand is trying to reverse a festival’s waste problem (SCMP)
Awareness of the negative environmental impacts from offerings floated onto waterways during the Loi Krathong festival seemed higher than ever this year. Thousands went for ‘digital krathong’ in Bangkok, where revelers were encouraged to float actual krathong in parks, where they can be easily retrieved, as opposed to rivers and canals. Eco-friendly types of krathong were widely discussed leading up to the festival, and afterwards, officials in Bangkok said that most of the 664,000 krathong collected from local waterways were “environmentally friendly.”

It’s great to see people concerned about rubbish in waterways on this special day. If Thailand could replicate that concern in the other 364 days of the year while forcing big companies to cut down on unnecessary plastic use, then maybe it could stop being the world’s 5th worst contributor of sea rubbish. Wouldn’t that be a Loi Krathong wish come true?

Tak Bai — An unhealed deep scar in Patani (Prachatai)
Anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the armed conflict in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat in Thailand’s far south — an area I’ll be covering soon in the T.I.C.D. — might read this analysis of how a lack of justice for those responsible for the Tak Bai Massacre of 2004 is an obstacle to lasting peace that is coming into sharp focus as a 20-year statute of limitations is set to expire next year.

Struggling for a breath of fresh air (Thai PBS)
”This year, experts and authorities warn that the haze pollution will be worse than last year as a result of the El Nino phenomenon which has led to extreme temperature rises with little rainfall and a prolonged dry spell.” And in related news, the government “approved a budget of 7.9 billion baht in incentives for sugarcane farmers not to burn their crops, and reduce pollution.” Too little, too late?

Rising energy prices rekindle Thai, Cambodian interest in disputed waters (Nikkei Asia)
The article above is paywalled, but a separate one from The Nation explains the same issues while taking a rosier view of a long-running dispute over waters in the Eastern Gulf of Thailand. Cambodian officials no longer argue (at least not publicly) that Ko Kut belongs to them, but a huge expanse of nearby Gulf remains disputed.

History fades as rising sea levels slowly destroy Thailand’s temple murals (The Guardian)
”Wat Prasat is in Nonthaburi a low-lying province less than 60km from the coast, and is especially vulnerable. Drought and rising sea levels are increasingly causing saltwater from the Gulf of Thailand to intrude into the Chao Phraya river, the main source of water in central Thailand. The saltwater can destroy crops, at huge cost to farmers, and render tap water unsafe. It is also threatening to degrade historic temples, by seeping up from the ground, causing concrete walls to crumble, and their paintings to flake and disappear forever.”

As Phuket tourism market recovers, potential infrastructure crisis looms (The Phuket News)
"High season 2023/2024 is likely to see a 'carmageddon,' traffic gridlock scenario that will have a profound impact on tourists and residents alike." With that, C9 Hotelworks’ Bill Barnett gets the quote of the month while discussing how extreme Phuket’s traffic woes have become as new public transport projects, such as a “light rail” system, either stall or fail to become a reality.

Mii Kathi: Thailand’s sweet and sour breakfast noodles (BBC Travel)
Food and travel writer Austin Bush digs into a local spot on Ko Yao Noi.

Weekend trip ideas: The quiet islands in Thailand you may not have heard about (Prestige)
A solid wrap including several of the islands I love most.

Wildlife sightings

• A rare, endangered Blainville’s beaked whale is under treatment after beaching, weak and ailing, on Songkhla’s Hat Sakom.

• Three false killer whales were spotted near the closed island of Ko Tachai in Phang Nga.

• A dugong was helped back into the sea after beaching on Ko Libong in Trang.

• A pod of some 20 bottlenose dolphins appeared in the crystal waters off Ko Surin in Phang Nga.

• Dozens of black-tip reef sharks reappeared off Ao Maya after being a nearly constant presence during the pandemic, when the bay was fully closed, indicating that all of the efforts to better balance tourism with conservation are paying off at this famous beach on Ko Phi Phi Leh.

• And a slow loris is receiving care after being electrocuted in Phuket.

In other news

14 die in coach crash in Prachuap Khiri Khan (Thai PBS on the December 4th tragedy that occurred on the Bangkok to Songkhla route.)

Frenchman’s body found at Koh Samui waterfall (Bangkok Post on another tragic death of a tourist while climbing Na Muang Waterfall.)

Foreigner found stranded in Pattaya Bay (The Pattaya News on a man who a ferry crew found drifting between Ko Larn and Pattaya.)

Phuket boat saved from sinking after hitting rocks in Krabi (The Phuket News on the rescue near remote Ko Haa.)

Soldiers join Sia Paeng search as net tightens (Bangkok Post on the manhunt, which has been fruitless so far, amid the rugged Banthat mountains for a convict who escaped prison in Nakhon Si Thammarat early last month.)

Torching of giant statue unnerves Rayong residents (Bangkok Post on the act of arson towards an image of the giant ogress from a Sunthorn Phu epic.)

Sunbeds at Surin Beach cleared, leaving one operator (The Phuket News on the controversy over only one beach club being allowed to offer sunbeds.)

Thai Lion Air flight with engine fire lands safely (Thai PBS on how pilots kept cool after a serious bird strike.)

Raja Ferry announced new ferry service to Ko Phaluai (Ko Samui Life on how the largest island in the Ang Thong group is becoming easier to reach.)

Southern cave closed after earthquake causes cracks (Bangkok Post on the indefinite closure of Tham Phi Hua Toh, popular for its ancient paintings.)

Koh Maphrao residents want a bridge (The Phuket News)

Thailand pitches new investors in U.S. on old idea of Southeast Asia shipping route shortcut (Time with more info on the new Thai PM’s push to link Thailand’s Mid Southern Gulf and Northern Andaman Sea via a land bridge project that is already drawing resistance in Chumphon and stirring anxiety in Malaysia.)

LGBTQ advocates cheer Thailand’s latest drive for same-sex marriage law (Aljazeera)

Are high times over for weed users? (Bangkok Post not seeming to fully grasp that banning “the sale of the dried cannabis buds” would destroy the industry and prompt a serious backlash from those invested in it.)

Racha Noi cleanup nets 4.5 tonnes of trash (The Phuket News)

I leave you with…

Sad news of the death of Thai “eco-warrior” Wichai Suriyuth, “who succeeded in his ambition to plant more than three million trees in his lifetime.” 🌴

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Thank you for reading Thai Island Quest, an independent e-newsletter / online resource written with love of the islands. Yes, all of them.