The secret Thai island hiding in plain sight

Last year, Phuket, Thailand’s most popular and developed island, welcomed an estimated 13-14 million foreign arrivals.

Around half a million visited Phang Nga Bay, the spectacular body of water between Phuket and the Thai mainland where limestone cliffs and islands rise out of the sea like giant pieces of chess.

But only a fraction of that number, an estimated 20,000 people, set foot each year on Koh Yao Yai, one of the two main populated islands in the bay.

Divided by a sandy channel that, according to legend, was formed by battling sea serpents, Koh Yao Noi to the north is smaller and more developed, with luxury hotels speckling its shores.

Koh Yao Yai, by contrast, looks like King Kong’s island, a rift of foreboding mountains that tumble down to the sea. But this 29km long stretch of concentrated jungle does have basic infrastructure and some very beautiful and empty beaches.

Our journey to Koh Yao Yai begins in Phuket, where my girlfriend and I spend one night at an airport hotel. The following morning we hail a taxi for the 20-minute drive to Bang Rong Pier, a sleepy little river port on Phuket’s west coast. It is December 22, nearly the peak of the end-of-year tourist season, yet there is only one other couple aboard the speedboat that whisks us out into the island-studded waters of Phang Nga Bay.

Koh Yao Yai is only about half an hour from Phuket but it may as well be on the other side of the moon for how different and chilled out it is. At the jetty, local men doze under shaded verandas, a dog wanders down the main street, and the odd ute coasts by; we pay $5 for a ride to our hotel, Koh Yao Yai Sea Breeze House, 3km to the south.

Camera IconQuiet times with a great view. Koa Yao Yai Sea Breeze House. Credit: Ian Neubauer

There, $100 per night gets us a modern bungalow with a large waterfront balcony, one of four set on a big plush green lawn edged by a seawall and small beach. On the watery horizon there are 20-something limestone towers and islands, shimmering in the haze like dominoes of the sea. Scenic it is but the beach here is part of a tidal flat; the water is murky and no good for swimming.

So we decide to visit the newish Anantara Resort next door, the first and so far only five-star resort on the island, where we spend the afternoon chilling in the pool and on their sunbeds. We order sandwiches and drinks; they stuff up our order twice. When they finally get it right the third time around, they tell us it’s all on the house. The guest reviews here are good but, holy cow!

The next day we hire a scooter and ride south on a quest to find a unicorn — a beach all to our own during the peak holiday season. We glide along a quiet country road, past comatose Muslim villages, ghostly rubber and cashew plantations, water buffalos and gangs of monkeys.

Camera IconRiding a simple track. Credit: Ian Neubauer

An unmarked turnoff takes us to a patch of sand, where a few scooters are parked. We park our scooter alongside them and walk down a rocky embankment to Ao Sai Beach. The sand is white, the water is turquoise and warm. There is a small whitewashed bar almost entirely made out of driftwood, and three other couples on the beach. We go for a swim, leaving our bags on the beach without fear of losing them. It is said there is no crime on this island.

The following day we go on a mission to the remote west coast of the island, where, according to the map app on my phone, there sits a lone beach bar. The road swirls along the coast, past the main jetty and little town, along another palm-fringed coast and then into the jungle.

There, the concrete road ends and we find ourselves on a rough dirt track hewn into the jungle. It is hard going with two adults on a scooter and, on one especially steep downhill, we go down into the dirt.

No one is hurt but the repair bill will cost us $100. And when we finally get there after half an hour of off-roading under the hot tropical sun, there is no beach or beach club at all — just a rocky shore.

We backtrack in defeat but then veer onto another dirt track that takes us to Coco Beach on the west coast, a long, lonely stretch of golden sand lapped by baby waves and shaded by pine trees. There is a swing beneath a tree but no one else at at all. We’ve found the unicorn. And it only took two days.

Camera IconEmpty beach. Credit: Ian Neubauerfact file

+ Koh Yao Yai is a low-key tropical island east of Phuket in Phang Nga Bay. Speedboats connecting the two places leave several times daily from Phuket’s Bang Rong Pier. phuketferries.com.

+ There are about 30 hotels on the island, ranging from farmstays to five-star. See online booking sites like booking.com and agoda.com.

+ The best time to visit is during the dry season from December to late May.

Camera IconThe Anantara luxury hotel. Credit: Ian NeubauerCamera IconLocal life. Credit: Ian NeubauerCamera IconPostcard-pretty coast. Credit: Ian NeubauerCamera IconPostcard-pretty coast. Credit: Ian Neubauer

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