KOH TAO...Quite disappointing

[Stumpy]

I will not write too much but my GF and I just got back from a few island whirlwind get away. Lots happened and never a dull moment. Awesome trip, lots of fun and laughs.

But I did want to say that Koh Tao was a very disappointing island to visit. WTF?!?!....It is completely over ran by Douchebag Rasta MF's and Backpackers who come there and pollute the place and leave. Geeeeeeeezzzzzuuuuuus. It is really quite sad. The Catamaran's were rotating these fuckers in every 4 hours. The food offered is crap and way way over priced. Cab rides were 200 bht to go about 150 yards. The Thai people are hardened and rude and I understand why. All the restaurants appear to be owned by foreigners and they serve shit food trying to pretend it is like western places. Every menu was Hot dogs, Hamburgers, French Fries, Pizza all to be washed down with Thailand's finest beer at 3 times the going price on the mainland. My GF and I had hoped to take in some great seafood and that is not to be found. Boy are the advertisements on the various internet sites extremely misleading. We quickly rented a Honda Click and the search to find some dining began. We went off on a few side roads and my GF asked the local Thai people where some food with taste can be had and not at a ridiculous price. We were given some great advice and off we went. Whewww!!!!!. It was not seafood but it was very good Thai food and at prices my GF and I expected. I really appreciate my GF and her conservative spending habits. She will not let me spend a lot of money on food. She looks at a menu, mumbles "Pang" and we march on. Our hotel accommodations were very affordable and very nice, right on the beach for $68 a night. It was the Montra. Clean place. We met a very nice Thai family at the Hotel and they were set back by the place too and checked out early.

We did get out and about and saw some scenic sites but you had to work to find them dodging drunk idiots.

[khmen]

Shame, sounds like yet another island is fucked. I went there about five years ago and can't say I remember it being filled with pissed backpackers, it was just a quiet island with nice beaches mainly visited by divers.

Is there still only one paved road on the island?
Remember going over an extremely steep unsurfaced mountain road, me on an automatic scooter and my mate on a quad, on the way back up the road my scooter kept spinning out so I had to push the fucker up and came face to face with an enormous monster of a monitor lizard. Almost shat meself as I'd never seen one before.

Le mountain road


My mate on the quad

[Chairman Mao]

Sounds just like what the English tourist scum did to the Spanish Islands and coastal towns during the 70s, 80s and 90s.

[SEA Traveler]

Shame, sounds like yet another island is fucked. I went there about five years ago and can't say I remember it being filled with pissed backpackers, it was just a quiet island with nice beaches mainly visited by divers

same here khmen. I was on Kho Tao several times, no less than 4 different times, with the most recent being 5 years or so ago. Went for the diving. Had the wife along. Had the wife along each time. Had the high school son along twice. Had 2 other couples that traveled to Thailand with us for the diving once. Each time it was a grand time. Not too many back packers although there were lots of divers. Restaurants in town were a little pricy but not overly. But like everything else, things change and I guess that is what happened on Kho Tao. I've got memories and pictures. Shark Bay was a nice beach to relax at.

[DrAndy]

Our hotel accommodations were very affordable and very nice, right on the beach for $68 a night.

that is B2000, yes? good for you

I have seen islands/villages all over the world change and become tourist holes, losing whatever made them attractive in the first place

it is just the face of mass tourism, so learn to avoid those places

[Bettyboo]

I avoided KT 20 years ago, I'm presuming it has got a lot lot worse since then...

[The Fresh Prince]

I was there 2 years ago and had one of the best trips I've taken in Thailand. I'll still go back on my next break and judge for myself.

I avoided KT 20 years ago

Miserable git!

[Neo]

I thought the island and accommodation was ok. I only went once.
The biggest dissapointment were the beaches, the water was tainted with pollution, the sand had a film of waste on it and there was no inshore sealife.
Par for the course I guess in a tropical 'paradise' that doesn't have an adequate sewage infrastructure.

[Stumpy]

Let just put it this way, It was nothing like the brochures my GF and I scanned over and searched on the internet. Maybe our expectations were too high. She had never been there nor had I. I had gone to Koh Phangan 3 years ago and it was over run with about the same crowd as I witnessed at Koh Tao except they were there for the "Full Moon party" which was nuts. Lots of rapes, drug overdoses and a few deaths. it was all foreigners. I read about it on the way back.

Khmen:There is still the one road around and long sections are still washed out and unpaved. The scooter we had had nobbie tires so navigating them was easy but you had to be on your toes.

Honestly I thought maybe we had visited when it was some sort of monster Rasta or Backpacker get away but the pool guy at the hotel said this is the best time. It gets way worse and lots more problems and injuries.

I did some snorkeling but did not dive this time. On this one beach we went to I must have picked up 20 or so beer and water bottles in a 50 yard stretch we walked. I lined them up on the sea break wall. In town I saw people tossing ice cream wrappers and other things to the ground like no big deal. I am in no way a tree hugger but I do respect places I visit. Its just a sad shame what people do. Later in the evening the drunk ATV, scooter riders hit the roads heading out for fun. My GF witnessed a guy drive his ATV right into a water run off ravine. She just said "Ba" "Ba". I only saw the guy laying on the bank and the ATV ass end up.

On a few positive things that we enjoyed, we sat on a big set of rocks and watched the sunset. We also rode off into a few remote areas where people live and saw some stunning traditional Thai wood homes.

As someone said, It appears like just another gorgeous island run down to the ground. Its funny though. People will travel across the globe, trek by plane, then a bus then on a boat to get to this little island, eat western shit food, pollute it then go back and say "Yeah Man, I went and saw Thailand and Bob Marley was there......."

Koh Samui was good. Empty beaches and very clean. We enjoyed it. Koh Chang is still darn good as is Ko Kut. I think we will try Ko Mak next.

[The Fresh Prince]

I think we will try Ko Mak next.

You'll like it there. When I went there, there was only us and a couple of other people that we saw all day.

[terry57]

Koh Tao is the same as every other Thai Island to the casual visitor.

Depending on what time of the year you visit, what the weather is like , whether is high or low season, whether the tides are bad and covering the beach in flotsam, whether the visitor can find the good local Thai restaurants, whether the visitor picks a decent hotel or picks a shit one.

You get my drift ????

Every body has a different experience and story to tell.

Koh Tao can be brilliant if you know the go, same as Samui and the rest of them.

[DrAndy]

dunno about that

most visitors are casual and first time and depend on current information

expectations can be too high for some places

even the island I have been going to for years has slowly had it's charm and space reduced, although it is still OK

[Carterone]

Yeah why cant all the islands be the same, with proper tourist, not any of these rasta types or the nasty backpackers. Koh Samui is so much better now than when I first visited 21 yrs ago, then is was just young scruffy backpackers and they all swam in the sea as there were no swimming pools to sit around. At least now the backpackers are gone, and the place is full of Costa del Sol lager louts and sex tourists it is so much better.
FFS get a life mate.

[Mr Brown]

I think we will try Ko Mak next.

You'll like it there. When I went there, there was only us and a couple of other people that we saw all day.

I liked it there; couldn't understand why there were so many Germans though.

[The Fresh Prince]

I liked it there; couldn't understand why there were so many Germans though.

I think your thinking of a different island. I don't think they would have let you in unless they've lowered their standards recently.

[OhOh]

I think we will try Ko Mak next.

Excellent small island, expensive resorts or shacks available. Noise or solitude, good food, "everything" available, happy locals.

[yortyiam]

^ Terry you've got it in 1. . My all too short stay on Koh Tao was ok . My Thai gf sorted out some 500bht room and soon found a great restaurant on the beachfront, exellent cheap food, nice view ( at night ) the flotsam was bad in bits tho ! Gladly be there soon if poss.

[Mr Brown]

I liked it there; couldn't understand why there were so many Germans though.

I think your thinking of a different island. I don't think they would have let you in unless they've lowered their standards recently.

Koh Maak, as in south of Koh Chang.

The tiny, tiny strip of about 3 restaurants were full with German tourists. I remember choking on my food when I saw a Kraut lady swinging on her hammock with her arms behind her head showing off the great unshaven.

The other few resorts near the pier all have German interests too.

We stayed the opposite side of the island in 2006 and were the only people in our resort.

I really enjoyed that trip

[Stumpy]

Koh Tao is the same as every other Thai Island to the casual visitor.

Depending on what time of the year you visit, what the weather is like , whether is high or low season, whether the tides are bad and covering the beach in flotsam, whether the visitor can find the good local Thai restaurants, whether the visitor picks a decent hotel or picks a shit one.

You get my drift ????

Every body has a different experience and story to tell.

Koh Tao can be brilliant if you know the go, same as Samui and the rest of them.

Terry,
I agree wholeheartedly, each person has a completely different expectation of what they want out of the visit. We knew this time of year is rainy season and that tides and sun will have an effect on the waters clarity etc. We were actually hoping to get the lay of the place for a return visit. However like I said it was the people and the food that were the turn off for us. I am realist though. Those places are geared 100% at foreigners thus the cuisine is what it is and the over priced everything. Foreigners will just pay. The comment the pool guy said that this was a very nice time of year right now and during peak season it is worse painted a pretty clear picture for us. The Island is not very big so I can imagine the congestion. Its hard to find a good mix anywhere. Tahiti, BVI and Nassau Bahamas have always been good. Like I said, Samui was very nice and we met up with a bunch of Thai folks at the local night market, we will definitely return to the area we stayed at.

My GF and I are pretty laid back folk and love our seafood. We have yet to find a place yet to match the quality and price of what we get here in Hua Hin.

[Bettyboo]

I was there 2 years ago and had one of the best trips I've taken in Thailand. I'll still go back on my next break and judge for myself.

I avoided KT 20 years ago

Miserable git!

True.

I liked diving at the time, so went to the other side. Probably some quite decent diving around KT (found some nice diving down the East Coast of Malaysia, but the Andaman has better options for diving holidays. Maybe KT is a bit of diving and drinking and smoking for a certain type (of backpacking crusty...).

[Marmite the Dog]

Koh Lanta was OK about 10 years ago, but all islands/beach resorts are dull imo. Give me a mountain any day.

[terry57]

Expectations can be too high for some places

even the island I have been going to for years has slowly had it's charm and space reduced, although it is still OK

I was on Samui and Phan-gan in 87 and Tao in 89.

Bloody paradise on earth was a fair way to describe them but now they are no big deal to me.

Thing is I can still have a cracking time on all as I know the top spots to hang to get away from the Muppets that poor in and the prime time to visit.

[DrAndy]

there are lots of other islands that are still OK, if you are prepared to make an effort (more travel time)

[terry57]

Ive been to quite a few of Malaysia's Islands and have taken a liking to them, nowhere near the amount of Muppets running around as Thailand and easy to explore with great value.

Pangkor being one of my favorites with langkawi a close second because of the great bike riding with quality roads and friendly locals.

Also the chavs , whore mongers and piss freaks prefer Thailand much better which makes for a better experience for the genuine traveler in Malaysia.