I've been lucky enough to have been able to travel around Thailand, and see some of its amazing beaches first hand. Like many I was inspired to visit Thailand by the film 'The Beach' (set in Koh Phi Phi Leh). Thailand is a really popular tourist/backpacker destination now, but well worth a visit on the backpackers trail....Here is a few of the highlights.....
Koh Phi Phi Leh, Thailand
This is the small island where much of the scenes from the film, The Beach were filmed, although it was in fact filmed in many locations giving the impression it was all on this small island.
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| Koh Phi Phi Leh, Thailand, The Beach |
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| The Beach, Maya Bay, Koh Phi Phi Leh, Thailand |
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| Maya Bay, Koh Phi Phi Leh, Thailand |
Koh Phi Phi Don
Phi Phi Don is the larger of the 2 Phi Phi islands, and is the more developed of the two - having quite a few hotels etc on it and being a haven for backpackers. Phi Phi Leh has no development on it whatsoever - but can be readily accessed via a short boat ride from Phi Phi Don. Below is a photo of Phi Phi Don which was took in the 80's/early 90's I think - before it became commercialised & touristy - as you can see there are no hotels on the strip of land between the 2 higher pieces of land. I can imagine this island was a real gem of a find on the backpacker tourist trail in the early days.
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| Phi Phi Don before tourism took hold |
Angthong Marine Park, Thailand
Anthong Marine Park is off the coast of Koh Samui and is still untouched be large scale development - although lots of tourist excursions visit the place daily. Apparently Anthomg actually provided the inspiration for the original book which 'The Beach' film was based on.
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| Angthong Marine Park, Koh Samui, Thailand |
Angthong Marine Park, Thailand
Krabi, Ao Nang area, Thailand
Krabi is on the Thai mainland, and the Ao Nang/Railay area is a short boat ride from the Phi Phi Islands - so is definitely worth a visit if you are also visiting Phi Phi. For me this area of Krabi, in terms of scenery, had possibly the best beaches I seen in Thailand, certainly the most suprisingly beautiful beaches - as you expect the beaches to be amazing elsewhere - but I didn't really have any idea about Krabi until i got there, so as you can imagine it was a good suprise :)
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| Krabi coast-line |
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| Phra Nang Beach, Krabi |
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| Railay Beach, Krabi |
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| Phra Nang Beach, Krabi |
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| Railay Beach, Krabi |
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Railay Beaches & Phra Nang Beach, Krabi, Thailand
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I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and it inspires you to take the trip of a lifetime. Remember life is short - so enjoy it and fill it with lots of memories and experiences, Happy adventures...
Stuart Hodgson
