October 11, 2010 – Thailand has a border with two oceans: Indian and Pacific. Islands are located along all the shore on both sides; however it is possible to show 6 main groups of islands, 3 on the Andaman side, and 3 on the side of the Gulf of Thailand. The Thai name for an island is koh, sometimes written simply ko.
Andaman Sea, north islands
North islands are, among other, Ko Surin and Similans. These islands are small, not very populated, and serve as a tourist base for divers. Similans are ranked in top 10 diving sites on the earth. More north is Burma and the Mergui Archipelago. This archipelago is not very well known, it is one of the less developed places on the earth, maybe one of the last relatively wild paradises.
Andaman Sea, Phuket
Phuket, the biggest Thai islands, is surrounded by hundreds of smaller islands of the Phang Nga bay and Krabi region, Ko Lanta Yai and Ko Tapu among many other. Phuket is one of the world capitals of tourism and the richest, after Bangkok, region of Thailand. There live about 300 thousand people and over 3 millions of tourists come every year.
The center of nightlife and entertainment with Thai girls is located near Patong Beach Hotel. As to the islands around there’s a famous James Bond Island with its characteristic rock and Phi-Phi, probably one of the most beautiful places on the earth. James Bond Island is located in the Phang Nga bay, Phi-Phi half way from Phuket to Krabi. Ko Lanta is much more quite, a better place for families with children. A big minority of Sea Gypsies still live there.
Andaman Sea, south islands
More south, near Malaysia border some less known islands are located: Ko Sarai, Ko Tarutao, and Ko Lipe. Does the close neighborhood of the south Muslim country influence tourist sector? After all Muslims have a little bit different idea about woman’s nudeness for instance. Koh Tarutao offers a limited hotel base, but beaches are wild, big, almost deserted.