Phuket & Krabi 2006

After months of planning, Bunny and I finally went to Thailand (again?), and covered Phuket, Krabi and the surrounding coastal area and islands.


Instead of staying at the popular Patong beach area, we opted to stay at Karon beach, which was quieter and away from the crowd. We didn't enjoy our stay at this resort though, as the female staff there were rude and only treated the foreigners politely. Urgh.

Some pictures of Karon beach during the evening:





Day 1 - Phi Phi Island, Monkey Island, Maya Bay and Khai Islands Tour

On the first day, we went on a tour that covered Phi Phi Island and the surrounding islands. Had a great time snorkeling, although most of the time I couldn't really do so as the mask was a bit too loose, even after tightening it. Water kept seeping in through the mask and I gave up after 20 minutes of wondering around and getting surrounded by fishes.

Feeding monkeys

Approaching Maya Bay (where The Beach was filmed)


Look at the horde of tourists there. Urgh.


Squinting...

The boat brought us through the "Inner Sea" - a "room" that was created from the limestone karsts.

Viking Cave - where we get our bird's nests from



Phi Phi Island


Exploring Phi Phi


Khai Islands

Day 2 - Exploring Phuket by car

Hired a cheap Suzuki Caribian for 700baht and toured the west side of Phuket, exploring the other beaches.

Promthep Cape

Panoramic view from Promthep Cape


One of the many signposts located around Phuket


Nai Harn Beach


Kata Noi - We loved this beach


Walking along Kata Noi Beach



Kata Beach



The over commercialized Patong Beach

Driving through Patong was a bitch, especially when you're stuck in a jam in an old manual jeep with no power steering.

Lunch at Surin Beach


Surin Beach



Bunny watching the sunset from Surin Beach

At night, we had dinner at the stretch of seafood stalls at Patong. We then explored the heart of noisy Patong, Bangla Rd.

Day 3 - Road trip to Krabi, stopping at Phang Nga Bay for sightseeing

Driving to Krabi was an experience, a trip within a trip. Took us almost half a day, because we got a bit lost along the way, made a few pit stops and stopped by Tha Dan to tour around Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island by longtail boat.

We swapped the Caribian for a more reliable car (from a reliable co. - Budget), and Bunny did all the driving.

Crossing the bridge from Phuket island to the mainland

First pit stop - Sarasin Beach. Some ulu beach with nobody at all, except for a few locals.

Absolutely no one



There was a kid there who started to entertain us, or vice versa...

2nd pit-stop: Stumbled upon a cave along the way to Phang Nga, with the understanding that we were heading to a waterfall. Was rather confused then.

Sign reads, "Beware of monkey. Will catch away your things while unaware." Note the monkey sitting on it.


Apparently, the cave houses a Sleeping Buddha.

Took us a while to reach Tha Dan, which was a sleepy town without anyone at all. I've christened the place as "Silent Hill". That place freaked us out. The so-called resort there was old and decaying. I remember there was no one AT ALL when we came back from touring Phang Nga Bay. Seemed like all the few people we saw before boarding the boat, had miraculously.....vanished.

The jetty at Tha Dan

Agreeing on a price for the boat fare

Our first longtail boat ride

Our driver

Cave paintings from prehistoric times


Muslim fishing village


Cruising through a mangrove swamp...

and through a cave...


..and to the other side



James Bond island




The backside of James Bond island

I'm still wondering if this is a natural phenomenon or man-made



Making our way back to the Muslim fishing village for lunch


Continuing our journey to Krabi. I call this whole area "Jurassic Park" due to the formation of the rocks, vegetation and vibe. Haha.


Finally ! It started to rain as we were approaching Krabi and there were roadworks as well. Thank god for a safe and good driver.


We ended up arriving at the resort around 7pm.


Krabi La Playa Resort - We absolutely loved this resort as it had:


A private pool access via the balcony and...

a wonderful breakfast area


Dinner that night comprised of tom yum goong, green curry with chicken and kai lan, from local food stalls along the road.

Day 4 - Exploring Krabi, hot springs and Railey beach

First stop: The Gastropod fossil site

The fossils lay exposed on the rocky beach at low tide. Couldn't see them though as they are way too tiny.

Making our way to the hot springs...


Hot springs - natural mineral water at 40 degrees Celsius

Didn't feel like 40 degrees though

After exploring the hot springs, we headed back to Ao Nang to catch a longtail boat to Railey.

Railey West - the side with the nicer beach

Railey East - the side with the mangroves. We had to cross over to this side to get to Phra Nang Cave.


Shot some rockclimbers along the way


Cave formations lined our way along the path to Phra Nang cave, alongside the exclusive Rayavadee Resort


Phra Nang Cave


Phra Nang beach


There was a cock worshiping shrine situated in the corner of the cave.

After spending a considerable amount of time at Phra Nang cave, swimming and chilling, we headed back to the west side to catch the sunset. Railey is well-known for its sunset.

And then it started rain while we were on the longtail boat back to Ao Nang.

"Raindrops keep falling on my head.."


Seafood dinner


Our favourite pancake (aka prata) stall

Day 5 - Chicken & Poda islands

Hopped on a longtail boat to visit Chicken and Poda island. We decided not to join the tours as they were rather expensive. Saved us a lot of money in the end, plus we had the boat all to ourselves.

Soaking in the sun

Chicken Island

Chicken Island


Chicken Island is connected to another tiny island - Tup Island. To get to Tup, you'd have to walk on the sand strip to the other side during low tide. Otherwise, they're two separate islands.


Walking on water


Tup Island

I hate barnacles

We absolutely loved our time spent at Tup Island. Snorkeled for awhile, and that was the place where a pink and green striped fish started interacting with me. Either the fish was trying to play with me, or it was trying to scare me away. Hmm.

After lazing on the beach, we headed to Poda island:

And then it started to rain..again. So we headed back to Ao Nang.

...to chill in the jacuzzi.

Seafood dinner again

Day 6 - Nopparat Thara & Ao Nang Beach

On our way to Nopparat Thara beach


Nopparat Thara beach


There was nothing on the beach, except for one or two lost souls wandering around. It stank of sewage, so we left after 5 minutes.



...for Ao Nang beach

Spent some time chilling at the beach before we had to leave for the airport. =(

Bye Krabi!

All in all, we spent a total of 6 days there, covering many places we had planned to cover. We also decide to go back to Krabi one day and do more inland tours and visiting some other islands that we missed out. There are just too many to cover. Can't wait for the next trip.

This time round, we took 697 pictures! Geez.