Ko Pha Ngan (Thailand)

Yet again, I’m back with more gushing reviews of what I consider to be one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen. Thailand was by far my overall favourite country in South East Asia, combining lovely people, excellent food, fantastic places, peaceful religious beliefs and a wonderful way of life that we westerners can only aspire to. Last year we took a break from work and the UK weather to languish on sunny beaches, climb volcanoes, eat fried bugs (he did, I did not), ride elephants, eat well and relax – and experienced all of these. The reviews I have written around SEA are all ... more

Thailand is probably most famous, in terms of tourism, for the beautiful islands that adorn both the east and west coastlines of the southern part of the country. To the west lies the massive tourist resort of Phuket, the dramatic scenery of Koh Phi Phi (where The Beach was filmed) as well as several smaller less developed islands. To the east Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao are potential destinations each offering different attractions with Koh Samui being the most developed and largest of the three, Koh Pha Ngan smaller but lively and Koh Tao a more tranquil island surrounded by great ... more

Ko Pha-Ngan is one of the 3 islands that makes up the Ko Samui Archipelago and is home to over 10,000 people. This population is, however, enhanced almost year round by budget travellers. The fact that there is no airport means that mass tourism has not fully arrived and there is a distinct lack of top end hotels. With a youthful clientele this means that the islands main centres are throbbing with life 24 hours a day. Ko Pha-Ngan lies in the gulf of Thailand and means lots of different things to a lot of different people. The most common perception of Ko Pha-Ngan is that of the infamous party ... more

You look down the paradise beach, there’s about 6000 travellers all cooped in clusters around low tables as they perch on rush mats in the sand. Music of all sorts is blaring out from several uniquely constructed wooden night-clubs. They are all drinking from straws of communal buckets on the tables that contain Sang Som a Thai amphetamine whisky, coke and proper red bull that’s more like rocket fuel in syrup form not the rubbish placebo like fizzy cans you get here. People have paints on that glow magnificently when hit by the UV lights that are littered all along the beach ... more

My roomate and I flew over to Thailand when we were living in Japan. A friend of ours recommended Ko Pha Ngan and I have to say we had the time of our lives. We flew Thai Air over to Thailand and the service and the flight in general was excellent. We stayed the night in a youth hostel in Bangkok (to be avoided at all cost no matter how cheap the prices) and flew down to Ko Samui the next day. The flight was around 100 dollars each way but was so much shorter than going by bus which would have cut into our two week holiday too much. The airport at Ko Samui has a wooden sign saying 'airport' ... more