Thread: Songkran 2008 on Koh Tao

After the previous nights drunken steak and wine orgy at Timbas with Noodles and da boyz the walrus and his merry clan wearily boarded the 6am bus to Chumpon (possibly still pissed) to head to Koh Tao for Songkran.

As they say 'no pain, no gain' ...

After a nights rest the next day was Songkran day on Koh Tao which consisted of the usual water fights and painted faces and then the majority of the day was spent here at the Asia Divers resort drinking copious amounts of beer in their lovely swimming pool.




As the afternoon wore on we meandered down to Sairee beach where a fully fledged Songkran party was in prgress.




More beer was consumed and the night ended in a 2-1 win for Man Utd against Arsenal so a very constructive Songkran day indeed

The following day was spent cruising around Koh Tao (the island is only 7 kms long so easy to get around by moped and by foot).

Heres a couple of views from the north end of Sairee beach.







We headed over the the south of the island (Chalok Ban Kao) and proceeded by foot past Viewpoint resort where we found a small grassy knoll with a lovely lookout.










After a full day sightseeing it was time for some traditional Thai food at Farangos restaurant and a few cheeky beverages.



We were up early the next day for a couple of dives.

The weather was scorching and the sea was like glass ... perfect condtions for a walrus.

We headed to Chumpon pinnacle for the first dive and then twins for the second dive ... the visibility was close to 30 metres the water temp like bathwater (30 degrees) and teeming with tropical fish ... beautiful



Happy divers !

Nice pics, Walrus.

Good looking pizza

The Buddha View dive boat.



The walrus in action.



No farkin worries mate, its like a swimming pool in here.



The next day we went offroad with 4WD to the remote Lighthouse bay on the east coast of Koh Tao.



Not much going on at lighthouse bay except jungle, more jungle and surprisingly a small lighthouse.



These are the fruits of the cashewnut and theres load of these here.



Back to civilisation for a game of crazy golf where the walrus retained the Koh Tao open.



I used to live on Koh Tao and have many friends here so in the evening went to a friends house high up on the road between Mae Haad (the port) and Thanote bay... heres the morning view from the veranda.



Local produce drying at the market.



No stinky fish for this walrus who instead went for a big bowl of Ba Mee Moo Deng ... I havent eaten in this restaurant for nigh on 6 years but mama recognised me immediately and loaded the dish.

The wandering continued, heres Sairee beach again with Koh Nangyuan in the background.



This is the beach area near the port of Mae Haad.



Further round the coast and you come to the secluded Jansom Bay and their very own private beach.



A wedding was taking place in the afternoon and the beach was festooned with flowers ... nothing like a secluded tropical beach for a bit of romance.



We headed over to the Rocky bay area where you will find the most luxurious accommodation on 'the rock' ... Jamakhiri resort.
Heres the view overlooking Rocky bay.



Not a bad pool for a morning swim.



One of the lovely Jamakhiri villas.



Back to Budda View dive resort for the best barbecue on Koh Tao.



The chilled out Buddha View bar above the waters of Chalok Ban Kao.



One of my best friends ...



Its a tough life ... happy Thai new year to all at Teakdoor !

I must say Walrus, you are a very sexy looking beast with those white legs of yours, Give me a chubby you did.

Great pictures mate, the Tao is a cracking spot so best we keep it for our self.

Have a green.

After a full day sightseeing it was time for some traditional Thai food at Farangos restaurant and a few cheeky beverages.

Farangos does some great Italian food. Lovely salmon pasta.

Never really heard about this place, might go and check it out. It looks like a nice place to relax, reminds me a little of Koh Samui, but with the lager louts.

Nice pics.

Nice trip report! How much do you think you spent each day on the island?

^ Interesting question Hillbilly but difficult to give an objective answer as I didnt pay for any accommodation, moped rental or the diving and many of my beers were taken care of also ... as I said earlier in the thread I used to live on Koh Tao and have lots of good friends there hence the freebies.

Saying that I probably spent about 8,000Baht during the 8 days I was there.

I think realistically I would have doubled that figure otherwise.

Fantastic pics Walrus!
I'm thinkin of heading down there in a few weeks....
Even more so now I've seen your adventure!

Looks great.

Great Pic. I will be heading there to further my Scuba education.

I would just like to highlight that the Walrus erroneously commented on the result of the Koh Tao Open, in two respects. One - as this was the inaugural event it was impossible for him to 'retain his title'. Two, the event was not completed and remains to be finished in the not too distant future, possibly at a more convenient location.
Other than that the trip report was accurate and well put together with some excellent photos.

Well done Walrus, don't go counting those chickens though.

^ If I had played the year before I possibly could have won it and if we had played the last few holes this year I possibly could have won it so thats good enough for me ...

nice pics, will need to check it out,

I see the place is full of hippies, that's the only negative I see here

^ Its now a hippy free zone Butterfly as we all came back to Bangkok after songkran

Thanks for the thread Wally.