Counting down the most extraordinary spots in coastal Thailand
It's time to start zeroing in on the most notable or dazzling spots across all of Thailand's islands and coastal areas.
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A while back, I started a series called “extraordinary spots.”
The idea was to spotlight specific sites or areas, from hidden beaches to viewpoints, that deserve special coverage. I published a handful of these posts, including on a magnificent hidden beach in the Ang Thong islands and a scenic clutch of mountains in Trang province. But, while bogged down with a TICD project that had taken on a life of its own, I discontinued the series upon realizing I’d need an extra lifetime to focus a full article on every one of Thailand’s most special spots.
Yes, there are quite a few of them!
Yet the “extraordinary spots” idea hung around in the back of my mind as I worked through the TICD. Lately I’ve asked myself if, rather than devoting a single post to just one spot, I could bundle them together into articles that focus on a given category, such as capes for example, across all of coastal Thailand?
Though I hesitate to call them “listicles,” the truth is I’ve always found articles that list several different islands or beaches (or other sites) to be fun and also helpful for gaining new travel ideas quickly — if they are composed by writers who really know their subjects well. For example, in 2019, my first ever article for CNN Travel spotlighted 10 of my favorite alternative islands in Thailand.
The problem with list-based articles is that so many of them are simply awful, too often written by people (and now chatbots) who merely regurgitate the places that get the most attention on social media. It’s obvious to me that many of the writers who have penned “best beaches in Thailand” articles — including for several legacy media outlets — barely know their way around Thailand. How can anyone proclaim which beaches are the best if they’ve only ever set foot on a few of them in a country with over 1,000 islands and nearly 3,000 km of coastline?
Now, “obsessive” is an understatement when it comes to my own exploring and writing about Thailand, especially its islands and coastal areas, over the last 20 years. Through my travel writing, mainly for Travelfish and here at Thai Island Quest, I’ve ventured into nearly every Thai island group and traversed the mainland coasts of every coastal province virtually from top to tail — and then, in many cases, gone back to do it again. This methodical, leave-no-stone-uncovered experience puts me in a unique position to take a truly broad view of the many options when narrowing down specific spots to focus on in these types of list-based articles.
In fact, this was always supposed to be the endpoint of the “extraordinary spots” idea: to select and share the best of the best across various categories throughout all of Thailand’s islands and coastal areas.
My first stab at this new type of article (new for TIQ anyway) counts down the most notable and extraordinary spots in the category of Thailand’s mainland capes. I expect to include 3-4 capes per post, each with a couple of paragraphs and a photo, and I’ll keep publishing these posts until the category is complete. So if I select a dozen mainland capes in total, it will take a few posts to complete the category. Once these posts are all done, I’ll merge them into one long article for each category.
These finished articles will always be available for your enjoyment on the TIQ website. The first post on mainland capes will drop before the end of this month, and I should be able to finish the mainland cape category off in June.
So I hope you’ll jump on board as we virtually cruise through a host of truly special spots selected from all 24 of Thailand’s coastal provinces.
And to readers who are already subscribed or have made the decision to upgrade, many thanks for supporting this Thai Island Quest and its 100% independent and A.I. free focus on this extraordinary part of the world. 🌴
yes David you're obsessive, and i thank you for that!!!