Looking For Nice Island

[rickthailand]

my parents, sister and nephew(2 years) are coming and we want to go to an nice island in

thailand but we have done all the touristy ones already so want something new any suggestions???

also a place in the coastline would be great got to have resorts and a town withy markets etc and ofcourse some

restaurants and bars

cheers

rick

[WhizBang]

 Koh Lanta

[angiud]

Koh Phangan

[williamwinter]

There is a whole bunch of nice islands South of Krabi. The first one is Koh Lanta, and you can just island hop down south all the way to Koh Lipe, the last Island before Malaysia. You can fly to the area with Air Asia from Bangkok. If you wanna go straight to Koh Lipe you can fly to Hat Yai. If you want to go to Koh Lanta and area you can fly to Krabi. I don't know if you've been to Krabi yet, but that is also a very nice province.

[Genericnic]

Koh Lanta

+1

David

[Dancealot]

ko chang, prestine beaches and new experiences. It's near the cambodian border

[bangkokburning]

Definitely not Koh Lanta, Koh Phangan or Koh Chang! Lipe is a horrors how in itself although its off-season at the moment.

You will also have rain in all of these places (above) until end November.

Because of the child, I am going to say Koh Ngai (it is now closed till Nov I believe)

Edited June 26, 2011 by bangkokburning

[rickthailand]

thanks for all the replies

rick

[Atmos]

a month ago I'd be recommending the east side of the Gulf of Thailand - we live near the Chanthaburi coast, with Koh Samui to the north, Koh Chang to the south, but . . .

these two pics show the same small bay, can be a wonderful sheltered spot, clear waters, safe for children, and good for snorkeling very close to the shoreline.

But at this time of the year - as you can see in pic 2 taken yesterday, the Gulf can get rough, the water if a lovely shade of brown from so much silt washing down the rivers along the coast.

[LuukKoeyKorat]

Koh Phangan definitely - some great beaches with the whole accommodation range (Haad Yao, Haad Salad), pristine jungle and national park in the centre, great snorkelling (Mae Haad, Haad Khom), Ang Thong Marine Park for an off the track day trip by speed boat. All sorts of bars and restaurants along the west coast. Thongsala town for shopping and markets. Haad Rin town in the far south east corner if you are up for late night drinking and dancing. Sunny and hot right now until September.

;-)

[Bakseedaa]

ko chang, prestine beaches and new experiences. It's near the cambodian border

What beaches, ?

[mjnaus]

Seems like many of you didn't notice that the OP was asking for "NON-TOURISTIC" islands.... Qualifying Lanta, Panghan, Lipe, etc as non-touristic is beyond me. Lanta can be ok, depending on the time of the year and location on the island, but the Panghan and Lipe are completely ruined by mass tourism, they're dirty, overcrowded and generally overrated.

One reply was for Koh Ngai, which is indeed a real gem. There's only a handful of resorts and the island is not very well known with the western package toursits and backpackers. During the the rainy season (which should be about no, but the actual rain is nowhere to find he he...) some of the resorts on the island might close. But the biggest and most luxurious one remains open throughout the year. Go down to Trang city, get down to the pear and find a local to bring you to the island by longtail... in off season times, you might be the only people on the island (as I was several years ago, pretty awesome!).

Lipe itself has already been messed up, but between Tarutao and Lipe there are a few other, lesser known, islands which are still nice and quiet with some pretty sweet beaches.

Or you could do this: grab a map of south Thailand and look for small islands, then grab a copy of Lonely Planet and find some islands that don't appear in the Lonely Planet... go there!

[bangkokburning]

For Phanghan try the north and north west of island. Haad Khom, Bottle beach and the strip of bungalows west facing toward Samui from the village Chaloklam and Mae Had beaches. Those are nice places, cant speak for bungalows.

[bangkokburning]

I take my above post back. While I personally do not like many of the islands I had stated.

Phangan, Lipe and Lanta all have infrastucture for the kid. Lipe is easy on/off but Lanta even easier than that.

Phangan is out due to distance for your party (kid)

[doxxie]

just make sure you don't end up on an island like in the movie "island"

wonder if there's a lot of them in Thailand

[soihok]

I stayed on a very beautiful and quiet island a long way south of Koh Lanta.

http://www.andaman-island-hopping.com/islands/bulon.htm

Koh Bulon is not far away from Malaysia and the large island of Taratao is visible from the south coast. It was about 15 years ago since I visited but its hard to see the place changing so much due to it being well off a beaten track.

Only a couple of resorts on the island and extremely quiet.....wish I was there again actually.

[somo]

I visited Phuket in the early 70's and it was wonderful. Not a single hotel but the locals would put you up.

Think it may have changed a bit since then.

[bangkokburning]

I've always wanted to vist Ko Bulon. It lacks a large amount of reef, mostly sand. It is not an island known for its beauty. It can be a both pricey for a decent bungalow set up facing sunset but... it looks great for the long stayer honestly, living local.

I don't think its a good option with the kid unless you have a resort picked out.

PS: Bring a hat and lots of lotion for the kid.

[grumpyoldman]

I think this thread can be wrapped up as the OP has posted on the Phuket Forum, "what to do in Bangtao/Laguna area".

Good to see he decided on the "non-touristy" island of Phuket

[rickthailand]

I think this thread can be wrapped up as the OP has posted on the Phuket Forum, "what to do in Bangtao/Laguna area".

Good to see he decided on the "non-touristy" island of Phuket

funny maybe you dont realise that some people have a few weeks to spend on their holiday so yes we will go to bangtoa/laguna for a few days and guess what after that we will go to a nice non touristic islands so i appreciate all the replies about the islands we haven't decidedn yet which island we will go to many choices

rick

[RickBradford]

For real seclusion you could try Koh Kood.

It is the southernmost island on the east gulf, and probably closer to Cambodia than the Thai mainland. The only way to get there is from the town of Trat on a bumpy old ferry or a stomach-churning 90 minutes in a small speedboat.

Most of the food & drink outlets are to be found inside the few 'resorts' dotted around, but there are some small Thai restaurants along the road. Not many people there speak English, and I reckon there's 2 or 3 years to go before mass tourism ruins it.

Note: it is very quiet, not much going on at all.

[phuketrichard]

head Southto Satun and ask around to be taken to some islands off of there.

Note thou that now thru Oct the weather will be dicey and u might not have a good as time if u came in Jan

Some great islands thou

[bangkokburning]

I've been meaning to get out to those islands off Koh Chang for years but I never want to take time away from Andaman to go there. When I get around to thinking about them, monsoon has moved in.

Yes, islands off Satun, I camp a few of those annually.

Phuket - I have never stepped foot in that province other than driving thru and the bus station. That bus station has the greasiest people in Thailand hanging out. All want a piece of you, can't get an honest answer from anyone you ask anything of save for the people selling tickets at the windows. Most of all I just hate tourists and what mass tourism brings. It makes me very unhappy - so despite the beauty I give it all a pass.

Lipe is another great example of taking a lovely island and simply ruining it.