Koh Tao, Thailand: Picturesque Disconnect

Getting to the tiny island of Koh Tao from Bangkok was relatively easy - Solar Air sells through tickets that take you from plane to van to ferry for one price, and all went fairly well. The plane was the smallest I've ever been on, seating 15.

But, sadly, we did NOT like Koh Tao.  

And you are going to look at these pictures and think that we're crazy.

What the pics DON'T show you about this tiny island is how completely it's been overrun by mediocre businesses; nasty fly by night hotels just out to make a buck, travel agencies that also happen to sell brightly-striped juggler's pants and keychains, restaurants serving crap renditions of Thai food on a ten-page menu that includes fish & chips, or vegemite sandwiches, or burgers and fries; the trash lining all the roadways and beaches; in short, a tourist ghetto that has taken over most of the island.

I hear it used to be different, ten years ago. It's still apparently one of the cheapest places in the world to get your scuba certification, which is what brought us there originally; but after two hours of poking around and seeing what was up, Logan and I had had enough, canceled the rest of our stay, and booked a high-speed ferry leaving for Koh Samui the following morning.

But not before we enjoyed a beer with the sunset, surrounded by Europeans with crisp sunburns, and picked at our plate of flavorless curry.

So sorry, Koh Tao. You coulda been a contendah.

Comments

[Terri]

You're right. It doesn't sound fun at all, but it sure is beautiful. I always feel like the only one blogging about travel who's never really been to Southeast Asia (only Bali). :)

[Amy]

I was not a fan of Koh Tao. In fairness, I probably didn't give it a chance. I was there for one thing and one thing only: our scuba certifications. We didn't do much exploring otherwise, but nothing about it suggested that we missed out on anything. Turns out we could have gotten scuba certified for the same price on the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia (where we got our advanced certification and which we enjoyed much more).

[Amy]

Forgot to mention your pictures look beautiful though! We didn't even come away with a single photogenic moment on Koh Tao.

[Boots in the Oven]

Terri, Bali counts! And there are plenty of travel bloggers with tighter focuses than we have!

Amy, maybe Logan and I need to go back to Malaysia for the scuba certifications! Logan hated Koh Tao so much that I'm surprised we even stayed one night. Hilarious that you didn't end up with even one picture!