Welcome back to the Island Wrap, your weekly window to coastal Thailand. I’m trying a Sunday publication this week because some important announcements rolled in over the past two days. Thai citizens, expats and stranded tourists are getting antsy as more of Thailand’s usual freedoms return, drop by drop.
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This past week, in the first issue of Island Nerd, I dug into the many shapes and sizes of Thailand’s islands. Trivia buffs might appreciate the geographical facts, but there’s no shame in simply soaking up the photos of 13 beautiful Thai islands.
This past week on Couchfish, Stuart’s imagination caught a slow bus into far-flung Northern Laos, with a one-day diversion for diving in the Togean Islands of Indonesia.
Pulling up to Ko Rang.
Island of the week
The small island of Ko Rang is a beauty of the Ko Chang archipelago, with a rolling forested interior and no roads or human inhabitation save a ranger station, a pier and a Chinese shrine at the southern end. Quite a few locals on nearby Ko Mak refer to Ko Rang and its 11 satellite islets simply as “the marine park” because it’s arguably the best place to dive and snorkel in the wider Mu Ko Chang Marine Park. Most visitors come on a day tour, though tents and bungalows may be available behind one of the coral-sand beaches. I’ve written about Ko Rang for Travelfish, and it’s one of several islands in the archipelago covered on I Am Koh Chang.
Business of the week
Koh Mak Divers, a small-shop British/Dutch-run outfit, runs regular trips to Ko Rang for both divers and snorkelers on its spacious double-decker boat. This part of Thailand lacks the diving reputation of Ko Tao or Ko Lanta, for example, making it a fine option for picking up certification in a more relaxed atmosphere. Ko Mak sits at the center of the Ko Chang archipelago, placing you within reach of a couple of wreck dives and a mere six km from Ko Rang.
Soothing scenes beneath the sea off Ko Rang. (Source: ThaiScuba.com)
Charity of the week
Trash Hero gets people together to pick up trash on beaches. That may not sound like a stroke of genius, but it is. What began as a few friends tidying up beaches on Ko Lipe in 2011 has blossomed into a global movement that has removed countless tons of plastic and other waste from coastlines around Southeast Asia and beyond. These herculean efforts require little funding; social media and the odd printed poster are all that’s needed to get locals and travelers meeting up weekly to fight back against tidal garbage. Look for their yellow logo as you travel, or check out Trash Hero’s website and Facebook page to find out where you can join in.
This video shows a typical day out with Trash Hero cleaning up beaches around Ko Lipe and the rest of the Adang archipelago. (Source: Trash Hero Thailand)
Website of the week
Congrats to Phuket 101 for reaching a million Facebook followers since first launching as a blog in January 2011. The man behind the site, Willy Thuan, also administers one of Phuket’s most active Facebook groups — and works a day job! Few if any photographers have covered Phuket as extensively, or as beautifully, as him. First arriving to Thailand in 1993 with “no job, little money, a suitcase and a camera,” Willy continues to share the best of Phuket each week.
Scorching sun and heavy rain
Several friends overseas have told me how they wish they were in Thailand, but, let me tell you, it is damn steamy over here. Heat in excess of 41 C (106 F) bore down on parts of the country this past week. Meanwhile, rainy season plowed into the Eastern seaboard, causing flash floods in parts of Chonburi province. The Southwest Thai coast also saw some of its first major storms of the year.
Two month closure for national parks?
Nothing is set in stone yet, but Thailand’s minister of Natural Resources and Environment hinted that, in the future, all national parks may be closed for two months per year. The move would be based on “the re-emergance of many wildlife species during the past two months,” reported Thai PBS.
Though many Thai marine parks normally close for three to six months each year, shutting all 157 national parks for two months annually would represent a big step up for natural conservation in Thailand. Presumably, the closures would take place during the rainy season. I do wonder, however, how this would work for national park areas that also host private resorts, like Ko Samet and Railay.
In the sea, more wildlife resurgence was documented this week. A starry pufferfish was spotted in the Ko Chang archipelago for the first time in 13 years, reported Karnjana Karnjanatawe for Bangkok Post. A little further east, a whale shark swam up to a boat near Ko Samet, where these gentle giants are not often seen.
The plastic waste situation
It’s not all good news for Thailand’s environment. “Bangkok’s plastic waste soared 62% in volume in April, as more people opt for food and goods to be delivered to homes,” reported Patpicha Tanakasempipat for Reuters. Though data is limited, it’s likely that plastic waste from all over Thailand, as well as other countries in the region, is pouring into the oceans at a higher clip than expected this year.
When hitting Thai beaches, quite a few travelers mistakenly assume that locals are to blame for the trash often found on the sand. Littering does remain a problem in coastal Thailand, but the truth is that the vast majority of beach garbage washes up with the tide after originating from inland river towns and other parts of the region. It often floats for many miles before ending up on a random beach.
The bright spot in this mess is how several Thai island communities have taken advantage of Covid-19 tourism lockdowns to remove loads of coastal garbage. Such efforts are taking place on Ko Samet, Ko Lan, Ko Tao, Ko Phayam and Ko Phi Phi, where dive instructor Andrew Hewett told Phuket News, “We collected another 937 kilos (of waste), including 16 tires,” in a single day. Around Phi Phi, these deep cleanings are taking place both on land and below the sea.
Tidal garbage blighting the otherwise lovely Thong Yang Beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat a few years ago. Sadly, similar scenes are common across coastal Southeast Asia and beyond.
Hungry elephants
Given the many images of needy people in the news and social media, it’s easy to forget that captive elephants and other animals are at risk of starvation due to the lack of tourists who typically fund the camps and zoos. Initiatives to keep elephants nourished have sprung up in Ao Nang, Phuket and Ko Samui, where a pineapple company sent its scraps to feed the elephants this past week.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that an American, an Australian and two Thais snuck into the permanently closed Phuket Zoo to feed a tiger and subsequently raised more than $45,000 USD to assist animals that, they claimed, had been abandoned. An update this week explained that the group is still being investigated for trespassing and breaching computer crime laws, but have not yet been charged.
Covid-19 update
The virus appears to be fizzling out in Thailand. A full 50 of the 77 provinces have not reported an infection for at least four weeks. Krabi province now has zero Covid-19 patients in its hospitals. Ko Samui has not reported a single case for 35 days and counting. Also in Surat Thani province, it looks like a brand-new Covid-19 field hospital will never need to be used for its intended purpose.
Nationwide, zero new infections were reported on two of the last seven days, and most of the new cases were Thais who were immediately placed in quarantine after returning from abroad. Some of the exceptions involved Phuket, including four cases uncovered there last Monday and another two detected among Thais who recently traveled from Phuket to their native provinces. One of them was an asymptomatic case discovered by proactive health volunteers in Chiang Mai province.
Only 114 Covid-19 patients remain in hospitals nationwide. Thailand has reported a total of 56 deaths out of 3,025 cases since the first infection was found on 13th January. No Covid-19 patients died in the country this past week.
More restrictions lifted
On Friday the government pushed back the start of curfew time from 10:00 to 11:00 P.M while also allowing malls, department stores, museums, art galleries, swimming pools and certain sporting facilities to reopen. Alcohol is now sold in stores in all but a few provinces, although bars and nightclubs remain closed and restaurants are only allowed to serve alcoholic drinks for take away.
Trains are once again rolling all the way down to Hat Yai in the South along with other distant parts of the country. The state-run bus company plans to re-start a handful of interprovincial routes on Monday, including from Bangkok to Chanthaburi, Ko Samui, Phuket and Trang. Bangkok Airways is now flying to Ko Samui again, although the airports in Krabi and Phuket are staying shut until 1st June. All indications had been that Phuket Airport would reopen on this week, but the government suddenly extended Phuket’s commercial flight ban over the weekend.
Additionally, it was announced yesterday that Thailand’s nationwide ban on international commercial flights will remain until at least 1st July. Thai citizens stranded abroad are slowly being offered repatriation flights, but foreigners with Thai work permits who have families inside the country are still locked out.
Some restrictions remain
While the re-launching of some public transport is promising from a travel standpoint, would-be travelers are still being told to avoid interprovincial trips unless they’re absolutely necessary. Some provinces — like Satun, Trang, Ranong, and Trat — continue to require 14-day quarantine for all arriving travelers. In practice, however, some are slipping through the checkpoints undetected.
Islands that remain off limits to non-residents without official permission include Ko Chang (Trat), Ko Samet, Ko Lan, Ko Tao and Ko Lipe. Krabi province has removed all blockades on cross-district travel with the exceptions of Ko Lanta and Ko Phi Phi, where access is still restricted. On Ko Lanta, however, freedom of movement has been restored and stranded tourists can rent motorbikes again.
Freedom of movement has also been restored on Phuket, the lone exception being the Bang Tao area. Eight Covid-19 infections were discovered there over the past two weeks. On all of Phuket, beaches are to remain closed for the time being. Elsewhere in the country, provincial officials are carefully screening anyone arriving from Phuket, which is still viewed by many as the last Covid-19 hotspot in Thailand.
Beaches are also to stay closed in Chonburi province, where violators face a fine of 100,000 baht or up to a year in jail for setting foot on the sand. In Pattaya, a trio of foreign tourists was arrested for swimming in the sea near their resort. Authorities also reprimanded Thai families for picnicking near Bang Saen Beach.
A ban on gatherings remains in place nationwide, and 22 violators were forced to pay fines of 15,000 baht and summoned to court after police caught them socializing at a beach bar on Ko Samui. The foreign parent of one teenager who was at the gathering reported being questioned for hours by a police psychologist and investigators.
Meanwhile, foreigners on Ko Tao were forced to do pushups and jumping jacks as a penalty — I kid you not — after police caught them in public without masks. (The island has not reported a single case of Covid-19 from the start.) But there is good news from Ko Tao: the dive boats are running again.
“Giving pantries” sprout up
With the Thai economy in shambles and little aid coming from the government, Thais have taken matters into their own hands by setting up cabinets full of free food and other supplies in public spaces all around the country, including on Ko Samui and Phuket. Those who can afford to give are repeatedly stocking the pantries for people in need, with both ends of this process taking place anonymously.
Joining pre-existing efforts to feed those in need, volunteers on Phuket have also begun providing free gasoline to the unemployed.
The coming return of travel?
Thailand-based tourism workers and business owners are increasingly calling for the reopening of domestic tourism, as are people who are itching to travel (hi there!). Many feel that, with close to two weeks of daily Covid-19 infections in single digits or less, it’s time for the government to remove restrictions on the domestic front.
Some have speculated that the government is keeping tight controls in place to stave off the student-led protests that had picked up pace before the pandemic worsened a few months ago. This past week, the Thai Progressive group used light projection to briefly stamp anti-government messages on buildings in Bangkok.
Meanwhile, regular people continue to struggle. On Ko Lanta, a bar owner has been supporting his family by selling grilled bananas on the street. A friend of mine who normally runs a popular beach bar on Ko Mook has been catching squid and fish to feed his family. All around coastal Thailand, tourism workers are reverting to low-paid farm work and trying to sell whatever they can craft or cook online.
In typical Ko Phangan fashion, dozens of artists led by Khun Toon have kept themselves busy. (Source: PR Surat)
International tourism is another story. The latest estimate from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) showed that foreign tourist numbers are likely to drop by 65% to 14 million this year — a number that seems overly hopeful to me. One of Thailand’s richest people “is urging the government to welcome foreign tourists as soon as possible,” reported Dumrongkiat Mala for Bangkok Post.
One possibility is a “travel bubble” that would allow largely unrestricted travel between Thailand and other countries that have also contained the virus. To that end, China and South Korea are on a short list. I’d like to see Thailand go farther by implementing a policy similar to the one that Iceland plans to enact, which would open the country to all foreigners provided they either pay for a Covid-19 test with same-day results upon arrival, or undergo a 14-day quarantine.
Whatever international tourism looks like moving forward, it’s sure to be much different than in the pre-pandemic days. Forbes published a good story by Jamie Carter on what flying internationally might be like as the coronavirus era grinds on.
Your chariot awaits on Ko Lanta.
In other news
One way that people in Thailand are weathering the economic crisis is by bartering for goods among themselves. A large-scale example of this comes from the Thai Andaman region, where Urak Lawoi and Moken island dwellers have been trading stacks of their dried fish for tons of rice provided by farmers in Northeast Thailand.
Speaking of fish, the Thai fishing industry may be looking to fill 50,000 physically demanding low-wage jobs after tens of thousands of migrant workers returned to Myanmar and other neighboring countries due to the pandemic.
Several recent reports have claimed that sea turtle populations are suddenly thriving around the world, but skeptics — including an environmentalist from Phuket’s Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation — are saying “not so fast.”
If you want to take your mind off the pandemic and get your feet (and taste buds) itching for a Thai beach holiday, check out Randy Thanthong-Knight’s new guide on how to make the most of Phuket when it finally reopens.
Finally, while this newsletter is about Thailand, I’ll occasionally share other island- or ocean-related stories from elsewhere in the world, if they’re too good to leave out. That is the case with this miraculous story by Rutger Bregman about six boys from Tonga who survived being stranded for 15 months on a deserted island.🌴
I'll join you on a cleanup excursion on my next visit! Which island???
What a perfect way to start my day - away from American politics, away from our constant barrage of bad news. I've come to rely on these get-aways you provide, and frankly, it's a bit of a surprise to me, as I know nothing about Thailand and its islands. But that's exactly why it's been so great to "escape." Both your writing and what you chose to share are terrific - and ending today's with the Tonga story will carry me this entire week. Thank you.