Phi Phi Island or Krabi

"Gary Fritz" wrote in message
...
"Markku Grönroos" wrote:
I was considering Ao Nang, Phra Nang, Railey, hoping to get away
from the *really* touristy areas around Krabi Town.

These *are* the touristy areas.

That's right. There are people of two categories the those who are
tourists and those who cater them.

I suspect that's going to be true in almost any beach area, isn't it? The
question is the density of tourists and how overwhelming their presence
is.

I must disgree with this. In Thailand alone there are lots of deserted
beaches. If you visit the Hietaninemi beach in Helsinki in mid February you
can find the place dead and it is all yours.

So please help me out. Is there anywhere nice to go that isn't crawling
with tourists? No (or few) high-rise resort hotels, no pounding discos,
no
hucksters on the beach trying to sell you everything, ...? Just some
quiet
bungalows on a nice beach, a few restaurants, some other activities to do
when you're tired of the beach (snorkeling, hiking, exploring, whatever) ?
Would Ko Tao be a good choice, or am I better off somewhere near Krabi??

To combine lush of tourist facilities and peaceful neighbourhood can be a
bit tricky. I must say I have always been in Thailand outside the peak
period of tourism. However, I don't see there a problem as you do. Typically
tourists funnily gravitate into small and noisy areas while outside these
enclaves there are little sign on them. For instance on Phuket Patong IS
noisy while about rest of the island remains active but reasonable (I find
Kata a zillion times more beautiful over Patong). In Samui many consider
(not me) Chaweng and Lamai noisy so they have rented a room somewhere else.
I don't know Krabi region well, but in one August I made a motor bike ride
from Ao Nang to Krabi Town and beyond. Outside the city limits I can't
recall if I saw a farang. Some 6 million foreign tourists visit Thailand per
annum. In France alone the figure is about 10 times greater......

All in all there are lots of folks, who are fond of nice beaches of Thailand
(me too even if I am less keen on them than many others). You possibly
cannot take it so that you don't have to share beaches by anybody else. You
can find tons of almost deserted beaches in east from Pattaya and in north
and south from Phuket and Samui. Go to nice beaches of Chumpon for instance
and all you can see there are local kids and fishermen. Even in Chaweng, you
should be able to ply the beach without stumbling on fellow farangs.

Thomas F. Unke wrote:
Hat Nopparath Thara, about 3 km from Ao Nang.

Hm, haven't heard of this yet. Will check it out. Do you have a
favorite place to stay there?

"Markku Grönroos" wrote:
I must disgree with this. In Thailand alone there are lots of deserted
beaches. If you visit the Hietaninemi beach in Helsinki in mid
February you can find the place dead and it is all yours.

No doubt. :-) But I was looking for something a bit warmer than that!!

All in all there are lots of folks, who are fond of nice beaches of
Thailand (me too even if I am less keen on them than many others). You
possibly cannot take it so that you don't have to share beaches by
anybody else.

No, I don't insist on a private beach, though that would be fine as long
as there was a decent place to stay and eat. :-) I don't mind other
travellers sharing the beach. I just don't want it to be packed with
people, jet skis, intrusive sellers, noisy discos, and ostentatious high-
rise hotels. I'd like a nice beach that's reasonably quiet, with some nice
bungalows and other reasonably quiet tourists. Is that unreasonable?

I don't know Krabi region well, but in one August I made a motor bike
ride from Ao Nang to Krabi Town and beyond. Outside the city limits I
can't recall if I saw a farang.

But that's August. I suspect there are quite a few more tourists in late
January, when we plan to visit, correct?

Gary

"Gary Fritz" wrote in message
...

But that's August. I suspect there are quite a few more tourists in late
January, when we plan to visit, correct?

Yes, no doubt. However, in the Krabi province also farangs mostly spend
their time on beaches and islands. And I don't believe they are too packed.
You simply don't have beach scenes similar to Coney Island, Riviera and
Costa del Sol in Thailand. I believe relatively few tourists visit famous
falls of Krabi (perhaps not in their boldest at that time). Krabi is
relatively relaxed and quiet place even during the winter.

Ao Nang is touristy...but is a great town to enjoy great resturants (Sala Thai
at the end of the beach is fantastic!!!)

Also, Ao Nang can be used as a launch spot to rent a boat to the perfect beach
of your choice.

There are dozens of uninhabited islands around Ao Nang that will cost you a
couple hundred Baht to reach....but so worth it.

I recommend staying the first night at the Ao Nang Orchid Bungalows...then
explore from there....

Enjoy...Railay is nice too....Lots of Monkeys!

On Sun, 5 Oct 2003 20:47:08 +0300, "Markku Grönroos"
wrote:

To combine lush of tourist facilities and peaceful neighbourhood can be a
bit tricky.

Yep! It is a delicate balance. I am sure one can still find wonderful
areas with no other tourist. That probably also means no western
toilets, no airfans, difficult transportation, little english
speaking, telephone or stable electricity.

I have read lots of people saying, Phuket or even Koh Chang were
completely spoiled and not worth a visit. My experience, although
limited, ist that apart from Pattaya-Jomtien, Pattong and probably Phi
Phi you must not move far to find a quiet place.

Tourists mostly concentrate narrowly, although claiming the opposite.

--
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http://huse-i-naestved.dk