T.I.C.D.: Ko Tarutao & Mu Ko Sarai

Thailand's largest national park island and an obscure chain of isles, condensed.

Welcome back to the Thai Island & Coastal Directory, a book-in-progress that promises to be the most complete guide to coastal Thailand ever written in English, covering more than 800 islands. For info on how to use the T.I.C.D. and a working Table of Contents, paddle over here. Thank you for reading!

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T.I.C.D. ticker (New!): So far, we’ve covered 255 islands and 53 notable mainland areas in 18 sections, including this one.

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Resuming Satun province…

47 more islands are found in the groups named after Ko Tarutao and Ko Sarai, which join Mu Ko Adang, Mu Ko Bulon and Mu Ko Khao Yai, plus a few others closer to the mainland, to give Satun a fabulous set of islands.

Ko Tarutao group

This group encompasses not only Ko Tarutao itself, but also a number of satellite isles off the eastern shores and the pretty islet of Ko Lela a little further northeast. All of these fall under the purview of Mu Ko Tarutao NP, though local fishers from Mu Ko Sarai can often be found in their longtail boats around Tarutao.

With a Malay-rooted name that means something like ancient, primitive or mysterious, Ko Tarutao has always been rightfully viewed as a wild and untamed place. It also has a checkered past, with a recent history that includes the 2002 season of the show, Survivor, and the gruesome 2013 discovery of a prison where human smugglers had kept Rohingya refugees imprisoned.