Koh Pha Ngan A Thai Island

Koh Panang is one of dozens of islands in Thailand, located along the east coast in the Andaman Sea and off the west coast in the Gulf of Thailand. Like most of them, Koh (meaning island) Pha-Ngan is a holiday destination for flocks of beach goers from all corners of the globe. Popular with backpackers, families, solo travellers, snowbirds and the like, the islands are accustomed to foreign visitors and have really smooth operations that get you from airports to ports, on to ferries, and finally out to the islands.

From my limited knowledge I would think that Koh Panang is fairly typical. White sandy beaches, lots of excursions and activities and plenty of partying, especially notable as we were there for New Years. As evidence of some free spirited behaviour we same many bandaged people on the beaches following the celebrations. 

The main transport around the island are rented scooters and motos, which accounted for many of the bandaged limbs and heads we spotted after New Years. 

After the heat and hard work negotiating our way through Cambodia it was nice to have a few days of sun, sand and delicious Thai food.Heather had a friend from the UK on Koh Pha-Ngan and she was there with friends from New Zealand. They were a lively bunch of family and friends and were so much fun. The usual FB friends invites transpired and hopefully our paths will cross again. They come to Koh Panang yearly, for several months at a time, and I think this is true of many of the island visitors.

We stayed at the See Through Boutique Hotel which did not live up to the photos on Hotels.com. It was OK but not great in terms of the rooms themselves, in definite need of some upgrades and paint. But you couldn’t beat the location and for a small fee we moved from a standard hotel type room to a bungalow which had a veranda with hammock, a fridge and air conditioning. Right on the beach it was a short walk to their beach front restaurant which served a decent breakfast but not so great after that. Massage of course is a main event and at about $15.00CAD I enjoyed a couple of sessions. 

And now on to the real job of traveling and seeing the historic and cultural sites of SE Asia. With Cambodia done my next stop is Yangon, Myanmar, formerly Rangoon, Burma.