Island Wrap #89: A look at 'Breast Milk Island,' wild tigers on the rise, kayaking to a Bangkok lighthouse, and more
A free monthly spin around the most intriguing and consequential news and other media from Thailand's islands and coastal areas.
Greetings island lovers and welcome to your free monthly news review from Thailand’s islands and coastal areas — and sometimes beyond.
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Catch of the month
Recently from Thai Island Quest…
Mainland capes: The most notable and extraordinary in Thailand (Part III)
Mainland capes: The most notable and extraordinary in Thailand (Part II)
Weather and shipwrecks
Most of Thailand is now entering the wettest months of the year. Flooding was reported last month in Trat province on the Eastern Gulf, Yasothon and Sakhon Nakhon in the Northeast, and the western hinterlands of Hua Hin district where the popular Pala-U Waterfall was temporarily closed to visitors. In Bangkok, a woman kept on conducting her banking when a storm dropped a banyan tree on the ATM she was using, leaving it leaning against a pole with her still inside.
A Thai fisherman tragically died after his small boat capsized in rough seas a km off Phuket on June 23rd. Meanwhile, Thai authorities are seeking 12 million baht in compensation from the owners of a Myanmar-flagged cargo ship that sank into a reef amid the protected national park waters of Mu Ko Surin last month. Divers there have been trying to refloat the vessel using barrels of compressed air.
Travel and food
Love-seeking Thai women visit breast-shaped island, offering bras as thanks if wishes granted (SCMP spotlights the riveting legend of Ko Nom Sao, the ‘Breast Milk Island’ of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.)
This Thai island of 8,000 residents attracts 120,000 visitors without losing its soul (World Day visits splendid Ko Yao Yai, where “the economy remains 65% dependent on fishing, rubber, and coconuts, with tourism accounting for just 35% of local income – a balance that preserves cultural integrity.”)
Thailand’s natural wonders take centre stage in new Jurassic World film (The Straits Times lists filming locations — including Ko Kradan and Ko Mook’s Emerald Cave along with Phang Nga Bay and Huai Toh Waterfall in Krabi — that appear in the latest installment of this long-running dinosaur series.)
In search of heat - The wonderful world of Isan (CNA with a mouth-watering 22-minute video exploring the food and music of Northeast Thailand.)
Tourism
Why is Thai tourism stuttering and will its renewed focus on ‘quality over quantity’ work? (CNA with an excellent report explaining that while inbounds from China have plummeted, “tourist arrivals between Jan 1 and Jun 9 from a number of countries had risen, compared to the same period last year. These included Germany, Italy, multiple Gulf nations, the United Kingdom and Australia.”
How Thailand is betting on digital nomads to offset tourism dip (Skift on why the TAT is promoting Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai as fantastic places to “work from the country, stay longer, and spend more.”
Transport
Krabi airport spreads its wings (Bangkok Post explains that “five international airlines applied for landing slots” at the recently expanded airport, with several others expressing interest in KBV as it competes with HKT in Phuket.)
Exclusive Royal Blossom train trip from Hua Hin to Bangkok announced (Hua Hin Today anticipates the luxury train’s first departure from this popular beachfront city, which is scheduled for July 12th.)
Phuket’s pink ‘Pho Thong’ are gone (The Phuket News with a heavy-hearted goodbye to the pink buses “that for decades trundled along the streets of Phuket Town” before Chinese-made electric buses fully replaced them.)
Environment
Land bridge a disaster in waiting (Bangkok Post with a scathing opinion piece warning that this proposed mega-project to create a shipping corridor between Thailand’s Andaman and Gulf coasts would “disrupt ecosystems, cripple tourism, and erase local livelihoods in exchange for enriching investors.”)
Marine expert warns of possible undersea volcanic eruption in Andaman Sea (The Nation on how another destructive tsunami along Thailand’s southwest coast might come from a volcano rather than an earthquake. “However, he stressed that there is no definitive sign of an impending tsunami at this stage.”)
Wat Khun Samut Chin: Graphic indicator of Bangkok being reclaimed by the sea (The Nation relays erosion concerns from an expert who says “that the temple used to have 76 rai of land around it, but now most of the land had been reclaimed by the sea, leaving only five rai of dry land for the temple grounds.”)
Incinerator on Pattaya’s Koh Lan set for trial (Bangkok Post on a popular island that’s finally dealing with its decades-long rubbish crisis.)
Wildlife
A hawksbill sea turtle nicknamed “Mae Sri Siam” laid her ninth nest of the year on Ko Thalu in southern Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Down in Phuket, locals and tourists jumped into action to rescue multiple sea turtles that washed up tangled in discarded fishing nets. One of them, a large Olive’s Ridley, is now undergoing treatment at the local marine research center.
Despite facing the risk of an attack from an elephant herd, locals and officials from Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary in Chanthaburi rescued an elephant calf found trapped in a large pond. “Using ropes and gentle pushing, the team managed to guide the young elephant out of the pond and back to the sanctuary where its mother was waiting,” reports Bangkok Post.
A remarkable fivefold increase in the wild tiger population of the Western Forest Complex over the last 15 years is being credited to the steady release of sambar deer as prey for the tigers — part of a collaboration between Thai wildlife authorities and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In one stretch of this vast forest that straddles the border with Myanmar, researchers caught a rare glimpse of a wild tiger silently watching them on a Friday night.
Society
Thailand’s cannabis ‘clinic’ transformation explained (Bangkok Post on a Health Ministry prediction that only 2,000 out of the roughly 18,000 cannabis shops in Thailand will survive due to new rules requiring a prescription from a doctor or traditional medicine practitioner. Meanwhile, cannabis activists are protesting the sudden ministerial decree that’s upending their industry.)
Crunch time for eateries (Bangkok Post on how the many thousands of people who appear set to lose their jobs in the cannabis industry are unlikely to have much luck transitioning into Thailand’s struggling restaurant sector.)
In other news
Bangkok building collapsed after Myanmar quake due to construction, design flaws, probe shows (AFP via The Straits Times)
Abandoned sea gypsy ‘cultural centre’ rots in ruins (The Phuket News on the derelict condition of an expensive 2010-built structure that was supposed to serve and promote the Urak Lawoi community of Ko Sirey in Phuket.)
Ex-Kaeng Krachan park chief fired over alleged corruption (The Nation on an official who had risen to the top job in the DNP despite being “previously linked to the disappearance of Karen activist Porlajee ‘Billy’ Rakchongcharoen” in Kaeng Krachan National Park over a decade ago.)
Thailand to invest 1.34 trillion baht to build EEC’s new smart city in Huai Yai, dubbed ‘Bangkok 2’ (Pattaya Mail on an ambitious idea to build an entire new city near Pattaya — file this one under “believe it when you see it.”)
I leave you with…
A nifty Bluesky post from a Bangkok-area expat who often shares photos from his solo kayaking expeditions around the Thai capital. In this case he visits the Bangkok Bar Pilot Station Lighthouse, which towers over a sandbar just off the eroding coast of Bang Khun Thian in Bangkok’s only coastal district. 🌴
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