You beauty Tonsai

Unfortunately Mandy and I were quickly running out of time as our Thailand visas were nearing expiration. So we could only spend 5 days on the islands around Krabi Province in southern Thailand. You would of heard of the islands, like famous Phi Phi, or the island from the movie “The Beach” that starred Leonardo Di Capreo. Although we wanted to go and check out Phi Phi etc, we knew there would be high chance of being disappointed. As like all great spots in developing countries, as soon as tourists hear about these great places, we want to go there, and the locals see the opportunity to make money there, everybody flocks there, and it all spirals out of control with no development restrictions.

So although most of these places are beautiful, it’s hard to really appreciate the true beauty when you have the Irish pubs blearing loud music, flash resorts, crowds, litter, row upon row of long tail boats, hawkers trying to sell you tours or trinkets. You go to these places more for the party scene as opposed to relax, and that’s what we were after.

We wanted a safe bet. We decided on Tonsai, which neighbours stunning Railey beach. They are on the mainland, but can only be reached by long tail boat due to the towering limestone cliffs that act as a natural fortress.

We found a rustic bungalow set back in the jungle up a muddy track. Tonsai beach is more mud flat than beach, but it’s only a 20 min walk over to beautiful Railey. We spent the afternoon on Railey admiring the cliffs and watched the sunset. Then attended a reggae party with fellow travellers we had met earlier on in the trip.

The local people on Tonsai were very welcoming and it attracted a chilled group of travellers. All the guys and girls staying in Tonsai looked like me if I was to take steroids. Why? Because Tonsai is a rock climbers paradise, and everybody staying there has travelled long distances specifically to climb the limestone cliffs.

We were torn between staying there the whole 5 days and going climbing or heading to the remote island of Koh Jum that we had heard great things about. As much as I wanted to go climbing, my heart was telling me, “oi Hap, go to bloody Koh Jum”. Like a serial killer trying to find his next victim, I was craving a bungalow where I could walk out of my bungalow onto a remote beach. Good bye Tonsai – and that’s a rhyme.