New Thai PM big on tourism, "severe water shortage" on Ko Samui, giant Rafflesia flower under threat, and more
Thai Island Wrap #68: A curated spin through the most consequential news and other media from September 2023 in Thai 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 some chocolate wafer cookies (the large bag!) on Ko Ngai.
September was a month of change as Thai people got acquainted with their new Prime Minister, who visited Phuket and Phang Nga for a second time in as many months, highlighting his prioritization of tourism. At the same time, a legacy travel media outlet singled out three Thai beach destinations as the “most overcrowded spots in the world,” although the study cited looks a tad dubious. Welcome to the eccentric world of Thai tourism, in this edition of the Island Wrap.
I’ve returned to Thailand at long last and am about to embark on a swing through the South, where I’m excited to (hopefully) ride a longtail boat to obscure Ko Lo Lo in Trang and then peruse ancient giant elephant fossils in Satun before shifting to the Gulf coast to hit some Songkhla Lake islands along with most of the Nakhon Si Thammarat coast — and we’ll see from there. During the trip I’ll be publishing another piece in the new “Extraordinary Spots” series, following the first installment on a little-known yet absolutely dazzling hidden beach near Ko Samui.
I also turned a critical corner in the Thai Island & Coastal Directory by completing Phang Nga Bay with its many upper islands and splendid Mu Ko Yao and Mu Ko Hong. New sections on Phuket province and its 50 some-odd islands will be sailing into inboxes later in October. The T.I.C.D. ticker stands as 699 islands and counting. Originally I mentioned “800+ islands” in total, but I now estimate the final count to be closer to 950. Nearly a thousand islands, folks, in a single guide.
Now in weather news, much of Thailand is in the grip of flood season with deluges reported in parts of Satun, Trat, Phuket, and, of course, Bangkok. Rough seas sadly took the lives of two small-boat fishermen near Ko Aew, south of Phuket, and yet another tourist drowned while swimming off Phuket’s west coast. RIP.
Something nifty
In a much earlier edition of the Island Wrap I featured Soi Dog Foundation, the Phuket-founded and Bangkok-active charity that recently reached the milestone of spaying / neutering a million dogs since 2003. Incredible work. Between the Soi Dog crew and the momentum behind the Ko Samui dog lover featured in last month’s Island Wrap, maybe Thailand really does have a shot at sustainably managing its strays.
Tourism watch
Much happens in Thai tourism on a monthly basis, hence this new occasional column dissecting the latest news from Thailand’s endless tightrope walk between economic growth and environmental conservation. New Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s early steps indicate a tilt towards the growth side of that balance, exemplified not only in his government’s positions on expanding tourism, but also in its proposed loosening of laws criminalizing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing — and its support of the so-called “land bridge” project between coasts in the South.
Tourism is clearly a key pillar of Srettha’s plans to ramp up Thailand’s economy. Walking the talk, he recently “chaired an airport welcome” ceremony in Bangkok marking the launch of visa-free travel from China and Kazakhstan. He then jetted South to again throw his weight behind plans to build two new airports, a second one for Phuket and another to serve Khao Lak and the rest of Phang Nga province. Don’t be surprised to see that Phang Nga Airport project start materializing soon.
Meanwhile, the new terminal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport is all set and ready to serve a big chunk of the traffic flowing through BKK.
Back to Srettha’s tourism growth goals — they took a hit when “research conducted by MoneyTransfers.com” and cited by Travel & Leisure marked out Phuket, Pattaya and Krabi as numbers one, two and three on a list of “the most overcrowded spots in the world.” Supposedly, on Phuket at any given time, there are 118.5 travelers per every one local. That ratio seems unbelievably high to me, but who am I to challenge some dodgy research pasted up online by a major travel mag?
For its part, Ko Samui is experiencing “severe water shortages” at a “crisis” level as tourists return to Thailand’s second largest island, reports CNA.
But it’s worth pointing out that Thailand has drawn only 19 million inbound tourists this year through September 17th — no trifling amount but still trailing far behind the nearly 40 million who visited in 2019. The Bangkok Post reports that a price war is still raging among hotels in many areas, particularly in the fancy-pants category. “The country faces a challenge over the next two years as another 13,000 rooms from at least 50 hotels are scheduled to be added, mainly in the luxury segment,” THA president Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi told the Post.
Westerners, Russians and many Asian travelers are back, or so it seems, but the China market has been slow to rebound due to the economic downturn there — and the apparent negative fallout from a popular new Chinese movie that depicts Thailand in a rather dangerous light. The TAT’s natural response to a withering number of China arrivals is, of course, to court more Indian travelers.
An influx of long-staying Russians and their considerable wealth continues to be a big story for Phuket. Officials were on the defensive after locals voiced their anger over the development of “a booming Russian-only economy that covers everything from hair salons to taxi firms” on the island, according to Aljazeera.
Finally, a pair of posts from the TAT’s news outlet display long boat races and festivals happening this month, including one in Samut Prakan where I once got hit by a flying lotus. Also note that Ko Phi Phi’s Maya Bay and Trang’s Ko Kradan have both reopened. The latter was closed for the first time ever in June after ranking first place in a popular “best beaches” list from a UK-based website, prompting mass-tourism crowds to descend on this tiny and formerly low-key island.
News wire picks
Senior Thai national park official, 3 others, acquitted in 9-year-old case of missing activist (AP)
Despite evidence implicating him in the 2014 forced disappearance of Karen activist Porlajee ‘Billy’ Rakchongcharoen in Kaeng Krachan National Park, the DNP official was acquitted of murder while receiving a three-year sentence for “failing to notify police of Porlajee’s actions after detaining him.” The official, Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, has a lot of clout as the current chief of the DNP and he might very well end up with a suspended sentence. So the verdict was a far cry from the justice that Billy’s family and supporters had hoped for, but it is nonetheless noteworthy that this was the first time a Thai court assigned a measure of guilt, however small, to any DNP official for being involved in the gruesome crime. (Billy’s charred remains were later discovered in a barrel in a part of the national park that is popular with tourists.) Without a doubt, the still officially unsolved murder of Billy, as well as other alleged mistreatment of the native Karen, will continue to hang over this newly UNESCO-minted park.
Most species of ‘world’s largest flower’ risk extinction (Thai PBS)
A new study suggests that the Rafflesia, a so-called ‘dinosaur flower’ that still exists around Khao Sok National Park, is on the decline in most of its native habitats of Southeast Asia. “The research points out that the plant is believed to grow in fairly limited areas, making it particularly vulnerable to habitat destruction.”
China’s LGBTQ tourists flock to Thailand to be themselves, ‘forget all upsetting things’ (SCMP — paywalled)
”LGBTQ people from China, frequently scorned and ostracised at home, are coming to Thailand in droves, drawn by the freedom to be themselves.”
The future of Koh Chang (iamKohChang)
It’s nice to see a report on how future development might shape ‘Elephant Island,’ which is often overlooked by the news in its sleepy corner next to Cambodia. Among the potentially impactful alterations under discussion is a bridge linking the island to the mainland, and the long-delayed completion of a road extension in the far south that would enable motorists to do a full loop around the island.
‘They’re all dead’: Severe plankton bloom in Thailand killing marine life and people’s livelihoods (SCMP — video)
In addition to damaging the fishing and aquaculture industry in Chonburi, the plankton bloom is hurting tourism operators in Bang Saen as beachgoers stay away due to the algae. Not helping matters is an entirely separate oil spill, albeit a relatively small and controlled one according to reporting, off nearby Ko Si Chang.
Thailand gets ready to sparkle (The New York Times — paywalled)
Featuring photos of a local gem mine in Chanthaburi province, this in-depth piece on Thailand’s well-established gem trade is revealing. Did you know that “Thailand is the world’s third largest exporter of colored gemstones”?
Nakhon Si Thammarat: Thailand’s eco-friendly haven (Thai PBS)
It “has remained relatively undiscovered, catering primarily to savvy international travellers and locals. However, this is changing. A harmonious collaboration between the public and private sectors, combined with improved transportation infrastructure, is set to reveal this ecological paradise to the world.”
Wildlife sightings
Researchers in Phang Nga discovered an “electric blue tarantula species.”
A 10-year-old Olive Ridley sea turtle is undergoing treatment on Phuket after it was found ailing on the shores of Hat Mai Khao.
Hundreds of migratory Asian openbill storks thrilled onlookers in the Phoot Anan wetlands of Sattahip.
And in Pattaya, a three-meter python sparked a blaze after slithering onto electrical lines — and it survived, reports The Pattaya News.
In other news
Body of Russian tourist hit by speedboat at Koh Larn recovered (Thai PBS)
Bali Hai Pier speedboat operators banned from approaching customers, standard ticket prices set (The Pattaya News)
Fire partially destroys Pattaya floating market (Thai PBS)
Thailand’s food delivery drivers feel pinch as Grab, Line rack up losses (Aljazeera)
Underwater power line planned for Koh Lon (the Phuket News on bringing power to this sparsely settled island in Phuket province.)
Thailand walks diplomatic tightrope as it races to recover stolen treasures (The Straits Times on looted artifacts of Si Thep, an ancient site up in Phetchabun province that recently won UNESCO World Heritage status.
Thailand to launch its second Earth satellite next month (Thai PBS)
Intensive course on snake handling for foreigners (The Nation just throwing out first-date ideas in Bangkok, at the renowned Queen Saovabha Institute.)
I leave you with…
A peculiar piece from The Nation explaining how Bangkok’s first organized police force formed with an Englishman as its chief and Malays filling many of its rank-and-file roles, in 1860, by order of King Mongkut. The force was met with skepticism as residents felt “that the police did not take their duties seriously, lacked courage, stole people's food, did not pursue criminals, and slept on the job.” 🌴
Thank you for reading Thai Island Quest, an independent e-newsletter / online resource written with love of the islands. Yes, all of them.
Here in Hua Hin, my Thai friends have fingers crossed for a big influx of visitors this high season. So much of the local economy is tourism based, and there just aren't many options for pivoting towards other ways of making a living.
i'm doubtful that a Phang Nga airport would ever be close to successful, methinks will meet the same fate as Betong: a lovely area served by an airport that nobody uses! there just aren't enough popular destinations in the province to justify it- yes, you've proven that there are stunningly beautiful destinations there, but there's not the preponderance of options that exist in Phuket or Krabi!
hmmmmm: 'the police did not take their duties seriously, lacked courage, stole people's food, did not pursue criminals, and slept on the job.' sounds as if nothing has changed, except now the cops have become the biggest criminals, the higher the rank the ranker the stench of the corruption...