Travelfish #322: Island hopping in Thailand + On booking online + The Beach

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi all, This week we have an epic post by David, which we’re going to call a “definitive guide to Thailand’s islands”. How definitive? Well he touches on 109—we’d call that definitive. So [please give it a read]( and share it widely. Are you an island counter? If so, [let us know how many you have stepped onto here](. Stuart is busy writing up his Mekong Delta trip before he heads back there next week. While this week’s newsletter has a distinct island vibe to it, landlubbers may want to have a look at our revised [“Bangkok to Chiang Mai the slow way”]( itinerary. New on the site this week, it outlines the many ways it's possible to slow down between two ever-popular Thai destinations. Skip the low-cost carrier and do it the slow way! This week’s Soapbox is a bit of inside baseball explaining how we go about choosing which properties we list on the site. The book review is another repeat, sticking to our theme: The Beach. Good travels Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. Soapbox On booking online We received some negative feedback regarding Travelfish a week or so ago while I was travelling in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The reader complained that we focus solely on hotels, guesthouses and hostels that can be booked online through online travel agents (OTAs) like [Agoda]( and [Booking.com]( claiming this is because we make money doing that (through affiliate commissions). While I explained to the reader by email why this is not actually the case (we do make money through commissions but that isn't why we choose particular properties), I thought it would be a good one to cover for all our readers. When we started Travelfish shortly after the dinosaurs became extinct (at least in internet years) back in 2004, online booking of hotels was growing, but not nearly as comprehensive as it is today. More often than not, places we listed, especially in the more “still developing” countries like Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, could not be booked online. There were any number of reasons for that—perhaps they had never been approached, had no internet (or reliable electricity!) or had just decided that handing a hefty commission over to an OTA for a booking wasn't their thing. If anything, especially in the more rural areas, it was a surprise to find a place that could be booked online. Fast forward 14 years and it is a different kettle of fish. The OTAs have spent the last decade or so hoovering up business contracts with hotels, and if anything today it is a surprise to find a place that cannot be booked online (in one way or another). This is all out of our control of course, but what is under our control is our research process. So to be clear, we don’t match up a hotel with a book online link until the editing process (that is, it isn't done by the researcher). This is partly because matching the properties can be tedious and boring and we would prefer our writers to be out doing fun stuff rather than pouring over spreadsheets, but also to separate the research process from the “making money” (at least in theory) process. Yes, of course a researcher may peruse listings on Agoda or Booking to get ideas of places to look at, but that is far from the only methodology they follow. Over time, the number of places we review that can be booked online via an OTA has increased. Currently the proportion sits at around 75%. We expect this to continue to grow—not because we only list places that can be booked online, but rather because the vast majority of places worth looking at can be. But, more generally, the reason we choose to list a property is because we believe it to be a great fit for a Travelfish reader—and that’s it really. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to drop me a line. And, as a footnote, when/if you are booking hotels, please consider doing so through a link on Travelfish as the reality is the commissions do help us stay in business! Good travels, Stuart Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2018. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( What we’ve read The Beach by Alex Garland Garland used novels Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness as well as various Vietnam war movies as inspiration for his novel, which sees protagonist Richard search for that most mythical of all things travel: [a perfect, pristine beach, known to next to nobody](. Featured Island hopping in Thailand “Welcome to our full-service overview of Thailand’s tropical islands, from tourist hotspots to obscure fishing isles and blips of sand set far out to sea. In total we mention 109 islands by name, slicing the whole papaya down into helpings that we hope will help you hit the beach.” When I first sat down to read this piece, in the first few paragraphs David mentioned there being hundreds of islands in Thailand’s gulf and hundreds more on the Andaman coast, that didn’t sound right so I sent David a query and then continued to read. Reading on, it didn’t take long for me to realise that there are hundreds of islands in Thailand—sure many are uninhabited, but plenty are, and are just not on the traveller’s radar. So this is our attempt to put a few more on your radar. Near everyone recognises names like Ko Chang, Ko Samui and Phuket, but what about Ko Bubu, Ko Phi Tak, Ko Mun Klang or Ko Kradat? The list goes on. David breaks the islands into six distinct regional areas (along with one bonus section you’ll need to read the story yourself to find out about) and we’ve added a map to each section showing you where each set of islands are located. We figure if you’re already going to Ko Kut for example, [you can look at our map of that area]( and see what other islands may be worth a looksee. While we have very limited coverage to the areas around Pattaya on Travelfish, David has managed to unearth [a bunch of islands down that way]( some of which sound pretty great, though we were unconvinced about Ko Samae San, where “bikinis and alcohol are forbidden and foreigners need to be chaperoned by a Thai person”. Takes all sorts we guess. Further south we have the silly islands, [the Samui cluster]( but again we have some new ones, including a few spots out of Chumphon and Bang Saphan on the mainland—and of course the lovely [Ang Thong Islands](. On the west coast, well it is an island extravaganza, with eight clusters on the [Northern Andaman]( 16 around [Phuket]( and a whopping 28 groups in the [Southern Andaman]( it is time to revisit that annual leave form you were about to submit to the boss—you will need longer...far longer. With this piece we’re not suggesting you embark on covering all 109 islands that we have mentioned (though if you do, please let us know!) but rather to give you a primer to look a bit further and perhaps peel yourself off the beach for a few days to look a bit further afield. And, the thing is, the list of 109 islands in Thailand is not exhaustive. There are more. Welcome to [the Travelfish society of island nerds](. Travelfish partners [Browse the internet safely]( When we travel we always use TunnelBear VPN to secure our browsing. This reduces the risk from dodgy WiFi networks and idiotic ISPs who inject ads into our browsers. Use the internet safely with TunnelBear. TunnelBear offer a free 7-day trial or use it selectively and enjoy [500meg of data per month for free](. News from the region BURMA I: Tatmadaw leaders must be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes “The Mission also concluded ‘there is sufficient information to warrant the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in the Tatmadaw chain of command, so that a competent court can determine [their liability for genocide]( in relation to the situation in Rakhine State.’ ” BURMA II: Facebook bans Myanmar army chief, others in unprecedented move “It was the first time Facebook banned a country’s military or political leaders, according to Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhraja. [She said the bans could not be appealed]( BURMA III: For Rohingya, years of torture at the hands of a neighbour “In Chut Pyin and other villages in the region, Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya villagers [have long lived in uneasy segregation beside one another]( competing for access to rice fields, fishing ponds and lands to graze their cattle. The distrust bloomed into hostility during World War II, when the Rakhine and Rohingya supported opposing sides in the war: The Buddhists supported Japan, while the Muslims helped Britain.” CAMBODIA: Last hope for Indochina, or on its last breath? “But ecotourism, it seems, can’t satisfy everyone quickly enough. Local villagers living on the outskirts of the Phnom Tnout forest began petitioning to have Ben and Sharyn Davis, the couple who run Betreed, and their family evicted to enable the locals to cut the forest down to plant more crops. The petition-gathering back in April began to look a bit rowdy, with tensions beginning to spill over, [and things have got progressively worse in the months since]( INDONESIA I: China’s tourism boom prompts fears that Bali is being ‘sold cheap’ “Gou is so concerned that he has asked that stakeholders including tourism organisations, immigration, police, hotels and restaurant groups and government officials meet to [discuss ways to tackle the problem]( INDONESIA II: Indonesian earthquake death toll reaches 555 “Whole communities were flattened, leaving cracked streets lined with rubble, caved-in roofs and collapsed buildings. Some [390,000 people remain displaced after the quakes]( the disaster agency said.” INDONESIA III: Concerns rising in ASEAN over Borneo fires, haze “Southeast Asia has experienced annual haze during the dry season since at least 2005, in part because of agricultural producers [using burning as a cheap and effective way to clear land]( INDONESIA IV: Meiliana’s blasphemy conviction ludicrous “Amnesty International Indonesia has demanded that the Chinese-Indonesian woman be immediately released from prison, saying that complaining about the volume of a loudspeaker [was not a criminal offense]( INDONESIA V: Politics Trumps Human Rights in Indonesia “Jokowi’s controversial choice now [presents a quandary for Indonesian voters](. Jokowi and Amin will face off against former major general Prabowo Subianto and former deputy governor of Jakarta, Sandiaga Uno, whose human rights records aren’t any more encouraging.” LAOS: NGO coalition boycotts prior consultation process for proposed Lao dam “The main reason that the coalition is [boycotting the process]( is because the Pak Lay dam and other dams in Laos will destroy the environment, ecosystems, and livelihoods of many people in the region, he said.” MALAYSIA: Penang Hokkien and its struggle for survival “A number of factors are responsible for the decline in use of Penang Hokkien among the young. One such element is the informal policy [banning students from speaking dialects]( in Malaysian Chinese schools.” THAILAND I: Cops probe Koh Tao rape claim A concerning story [with many different versions]( floating around. THAILAND II: Thap Lan: Thailand’s unsung forest gem under threat, but still abrim with life “Ask Gai, or any of the other wildlife rangers working with the DNP, [what they fear most]( in Thap Lan’s deep forest, and it isn’t the possibility of encountering armed illegal Siamese rosewood loggers or the deadly king cobra, the longest venomous snake in the world: it’s Thap Lan’s biggest resident, the Asian elephant.” VIETNAM: Saigon presents detailed proposal to ban motorbikes in central districts by 2030 “The project will be divided into three main phases, with the most prominent change to the local road system being [a complete ban on motorbikes by 2030](. During the first phase, which will take place from now until 2020, the city will limit bikes on Truong Son and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai streets during peak hours.” Travel writing BOOKS: The most influential books on Southeast Asian Archaeology (a crowdsourced list) “This list about the most [influential books on Southeast Asian archaeology]( originated with a paper I am preparing for the conference on Decolonising Southeast Asia’s Past.” FOOD: The Disneyfication of China’s minority foods “Perhaps the strongest argument in favor of these restaurants lies in the food they serve. For centuries, Han Chinese would never have touched minority foods, many of which were considered taboo. But at these restaurants, [tourists feast on a wide variety of local dishes]( INDONESIA: 36 things to do in Bali Yes, we know, it is a listicle, but it is a decent wrap on [Bali stuff]( and we get a mention at number 30. LANGUAGE: Endangered languages & evolving Thai with linguist Rikker Dockum “After discussing this unusual dialect, Greg and Rikker chat about the modern Thai language and how it has slowly splintered and changed over time, including a few interesting tidbits into why Thais call Google ‘Uncle Goo’ and why the Thai translation of the Forrest Gump novel used [a very specific spelling of a particular word]( MALAYSIA: Kuala Lumpur: The big stopover “So pull on some comfy shoes and elasticated-waistband trousers, and [hit those steamy streets]( OVERTOURISM: How tourists are destroying the places they love “The rest are stuck with the noise and the mess, the high rents and the feeling of being a stranger in their own country, [like being an extra in some Disney World for tourists]( SINGAPORE: 252 pictures of chicken rice and counting “See, for 252 days, at the time of this article, an Instagram account called Kuey.Png has been painstakingly uploading [pictures of chicken rice]( onto his account.” THAILAND I: Off the beaten track in Koh Mak “The fact that you can have [a beautiful beach like this]( all to yourself on Koh Mak is something that makes it one of my favourite islands in the country.” THAILAND II: Try soap made from Bangkok street food oil [No.]( TRAVEL GUIDES I: The travel guides that charted our world “First-hand knowledge gained through seafaring, commerce, geographical discoveries, complex mathematical calculations and even religious pilgrimages to the Holy Land came flooding in and [changing the outlines of the maps of the times]( TRAVEL GUIDES II: Can travel books enter the 21st century? “One of [the classic problems]( with all tourist information is it seems to be written for people on their first overseas trip.” TRAVEL TECH I: How to protect yourself from a sim card swap “A sobering caveat: If a skilled SIM hijacker targets you, [there’s realistically not much you can do to stop them]( says Allison Nixon, threat research at security firm Flashpoint.” TRAVEL TECH II: The best travel accessories of 2018 “Unusually for multi-purpose gadgets like this, [it actually does everything it’s supposed to]( at a remarkably good price, without being too big and heavy.” VIETNAM: Haunting portraits of Vietnam’s disappearing tribes “Réhahn’s [patient style of working]( means he often spends days or weeks with the tribes that he is photographing, or strikes up relationships and makes repeat visits.” Interesting site Betreed Adventures “BeTreed Adventures is working on the frontline to protect 6,400 hectares of Cambodian’s “savannah” land, or dry dipterocarp forest. Through visiting, you will support these conservation efforts, encouraging the will of the people to preserve and protect their forest as they realise that [conservation can provide a tangible and immediate benefit to them]( Travel shot [Ko Poda. Damn. Photo: David Luekens] Ko Poda. Damn. Photo: David Luekens Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! If you're a Gmail user and would prefer your Travelfish newsletter in your Primary in-box rather than Promotions, just drag this email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, and click "yes" when it asks if you want to do that for all of our emails. 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