Saving James Bond Island, a tiger shark at Ko Surin and an aerial dugong survey
Island Wrap #36: Travel & Environment edition for April 9-22, 2021
Welcome to the Island Wrap, your bi-weekly window to coastal Thailand. This environment-focused edition includes a push to save an iconic island landmark from erosion, a record-breaking sea turtle hatching, breathtaking aerial photos of marine life and the first known tiger shark sighting in Thailand for a while. You also get my picks of travel stories and other news from the past two weeks.
Also look for the health and tourism edition of the Island Wrap. Coming soon, it updates you on Thailand’s battle with a widespread Covid-19 outbreak along with closed islands and other related travel restrictions and containment measures. It also looks into Thailand’s vaccination progress and the now-threatened efforts to reopen the country to inbound tourism without quarantine by July 1st.
Thai Island Times turns one year old this Tuesday! Whether you’ve been reading since day one or recently discovered the newsletter, THANK YOU very much for being a part of it. I’ll reveal more about the future soon, but for now, here’s to uncorking another year dedicated to all Thai islands and coastal areas. 🍾
Most recently I published two stories on Ko Kradan, a small and idyllic island in Trang province’s portion of the Andaman Sea. The first has background on the island’s name, geography, conservation status, development and environment above and below the clear turquoise sea. The second takes you on a beach walk that shows off why Ko Kradan is often lauded as one of Thailand’s most attractive islands.
Over on Couchfish, Stuart McDonald recently shared some Mekong River vistas on the road to Sangkhom and recalled what Nong Khai was like when nearby Laos was opening its borders to foreign tourism in the early 1990s. He also took a deep dive into the memory of “a bird that barked like a dog” in Hawaii, and recollected meeting a woman whose plane hit a cow upon landing in Gorontalo.
Pick of the Wrap: ISLAND
Ko Phra Thong is one of the few Thai islands that genuinely qualifies as ‘unique.’ Set in the northern Thai Andaman, it’s the only one with an interior composed primarily of a flat and sandy savannah. Then you have the name, meaning ‘Golden Buddha Island’ after a legend that a valuable Buddha image is buried somewhere in the landscape. Ko Phra Thong also has an unusual accommodation scene ranging from the stylish beach house community at Golden Buddha Resort to a homestay in the ‘Lion’s Village’ built by charity workers after the 2004 Asian Tsunami.
Save WFFT
In a recent Island Wrap I wrote that Phetchaburi-based Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) had rescued some ill-treated simians on Ko Samui. What I didn’t know then is that WFFT faces potential closure, or worse, due to the duel threats of the pandemic and, in WFFT’s own words, “a lawsuit by a Bangkok-based politician and two local government officials for alleged false accusations made years ago and seeking 50 million Thai baht, or $1.6 million, in damages.”
Click here to read more about WFFT’s situation and, if you’re able, please consider donating towards the rescue of this crucial non-profit organization so that it can keep rescuing animals in Thailand.
Unseasonably rough seas
Hail and heavy rain fell on a bunch of the upcountry provinces recently, and scenes of flash-flooding that are normally reserved for rainy season came out of Pattaya. A video also shows four waterspouts at once off the coast of Ko Lipe, though it’s mislabeled as Ko Mak and I couldn’t confirm that it happened recently. Thrilling, nonetheless.
Tragedy struck Khanom during the Songkran holidays after a family of tourists from Kanchanaburi ignored or didn’t notice red flags warning against swimming due to powerful waves. Rescuers on jet skis reached a 12-year-old boy unharmed, but they could not save his 37-year-old uncle, who later died in hospital, nor his 15-year-old brother who sadly drowned while being swept far out to sea. A search team found his body floating more than three km offshore on April 16th.
A group of 11 tourists are lucky to be safe after a two-meter wave snapped the engine propeller off the longtail boat they were riding in during an attempted tour to Ko Hong during Songkran. National park officials retrieved all passengers unharmed, including a one-year-old baby. Here’s footage of the rescue.
James Bond vs erosion
A mission to save the speck of limestone that served as remote hideaway for James Bond’s evil-scientist nemesis in the 1974 film, The Man with the Golden Gun, is underway in Phang Nga. Known as Khao Ping Kan and set off Ko Tapu, also known as James Bond Island, the 31-meter-tall natural karst tower is in danger of collapsing as the sea wears at its delicate 3.6-meter-wide base. The site is a mainstay on tours of Phang Nga Bay, attracting many thousands of tourists each year.
A need to sure up the site’s structural integrity became apparent after parts of several larger limestone islands cracked off and fell into the sea over the past year. Officials are conducting a “geotechnical survey” of Khao Ping Kan “to calculate the rate of erosion by use of a 3D-scan, geophysical measurements of wave undulation, marine seismic activity, an echo sounder and hydrographic surveys,” reports The Phuket News. Similar efforts are underway at other karst sites, including a lagoon on Ko Khao Yai where a large chunk of limestone cracked off earlier this year.
Rethinking rubbish
Before you dig into the fun marine life content below, take a look at a pair of articles spotlighting two sides of a problem which is destroying marine life. First, The ASEAN Post reports on how wealthy countries like Japan and the US continue to illegally export huge amounts of garbage to China, India and Southeast Asia. Despite facing its own waste crisis, Thailand is one country where foreign trash ends up.
In a more uplifting article for Southeast Asia Globe, Ryan Anders displays how Tlejourn, a for-profit company based in Pattani, “is not only making profits but inspiring other companies — from young Thai fashion designers to large corporations — to also try and use waste as a raw material (for products).” Known for its sandals and other items crafted out of recycled sea rubbish, Tlejourn is showing Thailand how a circular economy can deliver real value through smart recycling.
This collection of bottles that Ian and friends collected on a small island near Ko Chang (Trat) hints at the international extent of the ocean rubbish problem.
Deploying the reef balls
The Dept. of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) is preparing to drop hundreds of semi-circular containers with holes like Swiss cheese into the seas off Phuket, Phang Nga, Pattani, Chumphon and Chonburi, among other provinces. Known as ‘reef balls’ and first used in Thailand near Ko Raya in 1994, these odd-looking objects are invaluable tools from the coral rehabilitation kit.
Designed to stay in tact for up to five centuries under the sea, the reef balls are outfitted with coral fragments and larvae that expand out of the grooved interior surfaces. The holes and an opening on top enables seawater to flow through in weak currents, nurturing the coral within. The structures are also used in oyster farming, mangrove planting and erosion control in dozens of countries.
Aerial dugong survey
If you’re only going to click one link in this Island Wrap, make it this collection of aerial marine life photos shot recently by Tom Potisit in collaboration with researchers from the DMCR. Conducted via a two-seat airplane that methodically criss-crossed over the sea around Ko Si Boya and Ko Jum / Pu, the survey aimed to assess the area’s roughly 20 dugongs and the seagrass that nourishes them. Also pictured are sea turtles, dolphins and a whale shark.
Potisit’s photos will help a campaign by conservationists to establish a dugong sanctuary near Ko Si Boya to mirror the one which protects Ko Libong’s dugong herd further south. The proposal is part of a national dugong plan currently being drawn up by Thai marine researchers from the public and private sectors.
Calls for better protection of the Ko Si Boya herd grew louder after the fifth dugong carcass of the year was found floating with its guts hanging out on April 15th (warning: graphic images). Autopsy results have not yet been released.
Sharks, porpoises, dolphins
Diver Waraporn Sawangnam got a surprise and a fright after encountering a tiger shark near Ko Torinla, an islet at the southern end of the Ko Surin group. She managed to video this potentially dangerous species that, according to marine biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat, has not been seen at Ko Surin for two years. The last known tiger shark sighting came near the Similans over a year ago.
A whale shark makes a close pass by a diver’s camera in footage recently shot near the Hin Daeng dive site west of Ko Lanta Yai. Meanwhile, Bryde’s whales are still hanging around the mid-southern Gulf after first appearing in the Ang Thong Islands a couple of months ago. The latest sightings came in Mu Ko Chumphon Marine Park and further east between Ko Tao and Sail Rock, a popular dive site.
Not too far from Ko Tao in the Gulf waters near Don Sak and Khanom, researchers reported good health in the dozen porpoises they encountered. Humpback dolphins toyed with a boat down in Pattani, while bottlenose dolphins appeared five km off the west coast of Ko Chang (Trat). Though it was posted in February, I’m also sharing this video of dolphins leaping high up into the air off the Ranong coast.
Translation of the Thai text: “Hatchlings of a leatherback sea turtle mother emerge to greet the world in Khao Lamphi - Hat Thai Mueang National Park. The nest had 65 hatchlings at a 92% incubation rate and an 86.7% survival rate after 60 days of incubation between February 7th and April 8th, 2021.
Record-breaking leatherbacks
The 18th and (most likely) final leatherback sea turtle nest of the season hatched April 8th, sending 65 hatchlings wobbling into the sea at Bang Kwan Beach north of Phuket. They upped the season’s leatherback hatchling numbers to 908, crushing the previous record. (Here are some more cute videos of the hatchlings.)
A reader asked how I can be sure that only 18 leatherback nests have been laid this season. For one, these turtles grow up big and bulky, making them hard to miss during their hours spent laying eggs. To get a sense of their size, watch this video showing a mature leatherback that was mistakenly caught by fishermen in Satun and released unharmed in July 2020.
Fact: The largest leatherback sea turtle ever found was a three-meter-long, 970-kg male that beached on the coast of Wales in 1987.
More importantly, leatherback sea turtles are remarkably predictable in their nesting habits. Between the ages of 15 and 25, pregnant leatherbacks return to lay their eggs at the very beaches where they hatched. No one knows quite how they navigate back to such a precise location, often coming within meters of the spot where they were born after venturing thousands of km into the open ocean.
Fact: Leatherback sea turtles can dive up to 1,000 meters deep in search of their primary prey, jellyfish.
Leatherbacks have only nested in three fairly specific areas of the Thai Andaman coast since researchers began keeping records on their nests three decades ago. As seen in the map below, their primary nesting spots in Thailand are the west coast of Ko Phra Thong, Hat Mai Khao on Phuket and, in particular, beaches like Hat Bang Kwan in Phang Nga’s Khao Lamphi - Hat Thai Mueang National Park.
The leatherback nest laid on Phuket’s Kata Beach shortly after midnight this past January 1st was a bit of anomaly — and not only for the timing.
More sea turtle action
Speaking of surprising turtle nests, Olive ridley sea turtle hatchlings recently emerged out of the first nest from that species found on Phuket’s Mai Khao Beach in two decades. Currently classed as a vulnerable species, Olive ridley sea turtles are almost as rare as their leatherback cousins in Thailand.
A green sea turtle nest hatched at Thap Sakae on the upper Gulf coast to continue a productive season in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, where hawksbill sea turtles also nested in recent months. Back in the Andaman, the green sea turtle mama whose nest hatched a few weeks ago on Ko Huyong returned to this protected island in the Similan group to nest again. Her egg-laying was caught on video.
Laem Phai Beach on Phuket is another site of a green sea turtle nest, laid this past Sunday. A green sea turtle that’s presumed to be the same mother that nested at Laem Phai was spotted again in the south of Phuket recently. It did not lay eggs, meaning that it will probably find sand to nest on soon. Keep an eye out for it if you’re on the island, especially in the vicinity of Rawai and Nai Harn beaches.
On the upper Gulf in Samut Sakhon, a hawksbill sea turtle is in treatment after it washed up sick from ingesting plastic. Graphic photos show it defecating plastics in what must be an excruciating process, caused by humans. In Khlung on the eastern Gulf, a green sea turtle must have been confused while in the back of a pick-up truck surrounded by curious people and cameras. Found beached in a mangrove forest along the Welu River, it’s being nursed for some wounds and bruises.
Wrapping up the reptilian realm is funny footage of a monitor lizard joining some tourists for a swim on Ko Hong during Songkran. These harmless yet large and intimidating lizards slink around at the top of the food chain on Ko Hong and several other Thai Andaman islands. With the pandemic keeping the usual tourist crowds away, I reckon they’re feeling as comfortable as ever in their homes.
Social media corner
While I want to give a shoutout to @Pdouble0k for the marine life videos she’s been sharing on Twitter, including the whale shark footage mentioned above and a very close encounter with a sea snake, I had to go with a post by @anapaht_ featuring three nifty aerial shots of the ‘ghost ship’ of Ko Chang (Trat).
The ‘ship’ is a derelict room block built as part of a long-defunct resort to resemble a cruise ship. It never floated, and today it collects dust in a murky pond beside a terrific beach near Khlong Kloi on Ko Chang’s south coast. If you pay 100 baht to enter the property, do wander around to see other bizarre design aspects like a ‘floating swimming pool.’ They all came from the imagination of a Thai billionaire whose vision caused no shortage of environmental damage in the early 2000s.
Click here to see the full-size photos on Twitter. Translation of the Thai text: “Ko Chang Grand Lagoona Resort was designed in the shape of a large ship and left abandoned for many years. Entrance is 100 baht and the atmosphere is haunting. Don’t come alone, especially at night.
Food and travel
After centuries of nomadic living, Thailand’s ‘sea people’ adapt to life on land — Austin Bush for CNN Travel
This captivating story shows how the stateless Moken people are faring more than 15 years after Thai authorities forced them to settle in a permanent village on Ko Surin Tai. Now the pandemic is bringing unexpected challenges.
The world’s worst cruise? Sailing from Singapore to Thailand complete with monkey attacks, sexism and even a punch-up — Lee Cobaj for South China Morning Post
“The Wednesday night talent show was enjoyable in the same way that watching a YouTube video of someone diving onto solid ice is enjoyable.” Oh boy, this hilarious story starts with a vicious monkey on Ko Adang and goes downhill from there.
Exploring islands less known — Karnjana Karnjanatawe for Bangkok Post
After publishing a story about Ko Phaluai two weeks ago, Karnjana offers a look at the even more obscure island of Ko Nok Phao in the same area. Both accessible by a 1:00 P.M. ferry from Don Sak on the mainland, these islands offer an alternative way into the marvelous Ang Thong group of islands west of Ko Samui.
Six beautiful “hidden” Phuket beaches — Dose of Life
Checking out spots to find quietude on Phuket, and then hop over to another of Shayan’s recent posts covering his first visit to Ko Phi Phi.
A wild time in Khao Sok: five days of fun in the jungle — Mark Burton for Thai Spicy
In addition to featuring the spectacular scenery of Chiew Lan Lake to go with a jungle-draped waterfall that’s not easy to reach, this in-depth article includes five scenic hilltop pagodas that I’ve yet to visit in Khao Sok valley.
Ko Phangan’s first cannabis restaurant! A chat with Loris from Mamma Mia — Phanganist
Food cooked with cannabis is hardly a revelation on Ko Phangan and the leaf that’s legal for cooking, while packing a punch of umami, does not get you high. Still, this is an interesting read with a rundown of the hoops that Loris had to jump through to get certified to legally cook with cannabis leaf in Thailand.
Video corner
This Wrap’s video pick takes you on a tour of one of the largest floating solar-panel arrays on earth. It’s part of Thailand’s push for alternative energy.
(Source: Reuters)
In other news
Thailand floats hydro-solar projects for its dams as fossil fuel supplement — Reuters
The video above has the broad strokes on this project at Ubon Ratchathani’s Sirindhorn Reservoir, which I mentioned in an Island Wrap back in January. The short article has more details on the 144,417 solar panels being installed on a 300-acre floating array with a capacity to generate 2,725 megawatts.
Temple cable car falls, kills two merit makers — Bangkok Post
Tragedy hit Wat Uthai Tharam in Phatthalung when two tourists in their eighties sadly died after the cable snapped on a cable car that they and others were riding up to this 300-meter hilltop temple for merit making during Songkran.
Abandoned pier collapses on Ko Khon Thi, killing one — Thairath (Thai language)
In another Songkran tragedy, a 20-year-old woman was sadly killed and four of her friends hurt after the old pier they were walking on collapsed on the island of Ko Khon Thi at the mouth of the Kraburi River in Ranong. While having fun after dark, the group didn’t realize that the eight-meter-high pier was unstable.
Phuket yacht delivery to Samui stumped by pedestrian bridge — The Phuket News
A trucker didn’t get very far when the luxury yacht he was supposed to pull all the way to Ko Samui smashed into a pedestrian bridge on Thepkrasattri Rd on Phuket. Maybe next time the owner will opt to travel there by sea.
Phuket’s pink buses make way for EV — Achadthaya Chuenniran for Bangkok Post
A fleet of 24 electric buses are set to take over for pink Pho Torng songthaews, which have “faithfully served the public” since 1947.
An 11-year-old boy from Chonburi devotes his time while out of school to sell boiled corn everyday to support his family during Covid-19 pandemic — Nop Meechukhun for The Pattaya News
One of the countless stories of Thai people doing what they can to survive.
Coastal oddity
I’m keeping it simple this week with the story of a man, 30-year-old Anurak Kriengkrai, who turned his jet ski into a motorbike to make the people of Pattaya smile. I wonder if he asked organizers of the Jet Ski World Cup if he can be the sole competitor in a land-based race during the competitions happening in Jomtien this week. No spectators are allowed, but I reckon Anurak has a few. 🌴