This is Bottle Beach, one of the most remote beaches on the backside of Koh Pha Ngan, the island in the Gulf of Thailand where Leonardo Dicaprio’s The Beach was filmed. The island is infamous for its monthly full-moon parties, which can attract as many as 40,000 ravers at a time. Most of that insanity happens on the opposite side of the island. Bottle Beach is quiet, sleepy and cheap.
The only luxury here is exclusion. There are no cars. No motorbikes. No air-conditioning. I probably couldn’t survive here more than a few hours, but it makes for a beautiful day trip from Koh Samui. The snorkeling is great.
In March I was in the midst of planning a return trip to Thailand, including a few days back in Koh Samui, plus Bangkok and farther north across the Laos border. But then the pandemic hit, and I had to put all that planning on hold. I don’t know when we’ll ever be able to travel safely again, but that day will come. It has to. And when it does, a return to Thailand will be my top priority.
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