The question is, when is the best time to go to the sea?
The answer is, whenever you go with her.

Honestly, we think that no matter where you go, whether it's the mountains or the sea, if there's someone you want to spend time with, the atmosphere will be better than traveling alone. Getting lost together, finding a restaurant that's not delicious, and then laughing at each other's grumpy faces, it's a good memory.

This time I had the opportunity to visit Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi for a long trip of 5 days and 4 nights. Was it tiring? Well, it was tiring, but it was also fun. This time I went with a group of friends, there were a lot of us. It was fun in a different way, but I still want to come back with someone special. : )

This trip started from Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok one day before our friends. Actually, we made an appointment with our friends from our bachelor's degree program. This time, we had the opportunity to try staying at a newly opened hotel near Silom called Red Planet Surawong.

Getting there is very convenient as it is located on Surawong Road. Get off at BTS Silom and walk through Thaniya Alley to reach the hotel. It's not far from the hotel. Coming from Don Mueang Airport is also convenient as there is a bus service from Don Mueang to Silom. From Don Mueang, you can board the bus at the exit and it will stop in front of Lumphini Park.

Red Planet is a hotel that is suitable for people who focus on travel. It is easy to travel and affordable. It is a hotel for sleeping only, as the hotel will only have the necessary amenities.

What we really like about Red Planet is the use of technology in its room service. When we stay there, we can download the Red Planet app to contact the reception without having to use the hotel's internal phone.

That night, my friends and I went for a leisurely stroll around Silom. The area in front of the hotel is great, with restaurants and a 7-Eleven. It's super convenient, and if you get hungry late at night, you can just pop down to the 7-Eleven.

The next morning, we left the hotel early to pick up our fellow travelers at Don Mueang. We arrived at Don Mueang at 9 am, but the flight to Phuket was not until 3:30 pm. Haha, why did we rush? Anyway, since we had a long time at the airport, we walked around and took pictures in the terminal. At first, I was excited because Terminal 2 was newly renovated. The check-in counters were beautiful, but once I went inside, it was the same as before. The only difference was the newly opened gates 51-56. Oh, Bonchon is also located in front of gates 51-56. Walking around made my legs hurt so much. TT Because we had too much time, we used our fellow travelers as models for our portrait photography.

We arrived in Phuket around 5 pm and the hotel van picked us up at the airport. The hotel we stayed at was called D Varee Maikhao Beach Phuket, located at Mai Khao Beach, not far from the airport. We liked it, it was quiet and private. We stayed there for 4 days and 3 nights. The room was very comfortable. We stayed in a Deluxe Pool View room.

CR . agoda.com

This time we came to Phuket, we planned to go to Koh Tachai. Actually, we wanted to go to Koh Mai Thon more, but we saw that there were fewer activities than at Koh Tachai. Let's save Koh Mai Thon for next time (but I really want to go, it's so beautiful). This time we went to Koh Tachai with Love Andaman, the service was as good as its reputation. If we go again, we will probably choose to go with Love Andaman again. Everyone served us very well, from the guides to the captain.

At the pier, there were snacks and refreshments available before the trip. Our favorite was the seasickness medication, but we forgot to pick it up before boarding the boat. As a result, when we arrived at Koh Tachai, we were terribly seasick and couldn't go diving because we were so nauseous.

Before we set off, we had to receive a briefing from the guide first. They told us which diving spots we would be visiting and the rules of the island. The main rule was that we should not damage, collect shells, sand, or leave garbage on the island. We also received wristbands for our group, which we had to wear because they would call us to the boat by color. Oh, before boarding the boat, we had to take off our shoes at the pier because if we wore shoes on the island, the sand would get dirty. We really liked this way of taking care of the tourist attractions. It means we will have nature to visit for a long time to come. We took a boat for almost 2 hours. Let me tell you, it was a long time. Anyone who is afraid of seasickness should take medicine. I was careless and didn't take any medicine, and the result was that I got really seasick and couldn't go diving. This time we went with the Venus boat. Captain Palm was very kind. He saw the Xiaomi camera in my hand and volunteered to take it underwater to take pictures for me because he probably knew that I wouldn't be able to dive. Haha, I was so sad. I had practiced diving for nothing. TT This time we didn't see any sea turtles, but my friend saw a lionfish. As for me, I went diving again near the shore. Hey, I saw a shark! It was swimming around the rocks and came to the shore without being afraid of people. Oh, and when I was diving near the shore, I saw a clownfish too. : )

I'm sorry, Xiaomi's photos are all I could get. T_T After our dive, it was time for lunch. We walked to our resting point. Oh, there are many tour companies on Koh Tachai. They will divide the zones for us to sit and eat. But Love Andaman is easy to spot because the guide will call us to get our food and sit down to eat together. The food is delicious, especially the brownie. As for drinks, they are unlimited.

After lunch, we went to wash ourselves. There is fresh water available on the island for washing, and there are also toilets. However, we wouldn't recommend the toilets. We suggest washing yourself with the outdoor shower and then changing your clothes at the Love Andaman pier. The reason we washed ourselves was so that we could put on new makeup for photos. Haha, we really went all out!

Koh Tachai has so many photogenic spots! I loved it, although it was a shame the sky wasn't very clear that day. There were a lot of clouds, but the upside was that it wasn't too hot. : ) Around 2:30 PM, the guide called us back to the boat because the captain informed us that after 3 PM, the waves and wind would be strong, making the boat ride bumpy. (On the way there, the waves and wind were really strong, and we were literally bouncing around in the boat.) On the way back, I didn't take any chances and immediately took some motion sickness medication. I slept all the way back to Thap Lamu Pier. When we got off the boat, they had our shoes lined up according to the boat we were on, and they also gave us each an ice cream cone. In short, we all crashed that night, and the next morning we had to continue our journey to Krabi. Before we left, we had to cross the Sarasin Bridge. The van driver asked if we wanted to stop for photos, and I was initially indifferent until we got out to take pictures. Wow, it was beautiful! There were quite a few locals fishing in the area, both people fishing and the fish they caught.

The journey from Phuket to Krabi takes about 2 hours. However, as we only had 1 night and 1.5 days in Krabi (as we arrived at noon), we couldn't travel far due to various concerns. This time, we chose to stay at a hostel called The Best Time Hostel.

CR : https://www.expedia.co.th

After packing our things, we hesitated for a while, wondering where to go next. It was already past 1 pm, so we couldn't go too far. My friend suggested going to Railay Beach. The hostel manager also said, "Go ahead, the pier is right behind the hostel." The six of us walked to the pier, but we were starting to get hungry. What should we eat in Krabi? We couldn't find a roti shop, so we ended up at the Chao Fah Pier. There was a dim sum restaurant right across from the pier called Pheng Ang. The reason we went in wasn't because of the dim sum, but because the vendors were all so hot! >///<

Everything was delicious, especially the fried spring rolls, which were amazing! What's more, the prices were very reasonable. After our meal, we headed to the pier, where a boat driver approached us. The standard price for a round trip from Krabi to Railay is 300 baht on a long-tail boat. We agreed, thinking, "Why not?" The boat ride from Krabi took about 20 minutes to reach Railay. The long-tail boat stopped at Railay East. If you want to go to the beach, you need to go to Railay West.

We soon arrived at Railay Beach, and let me tell you, it was stunning. We walked along the Railay West side and found that the sun was scorching, the sand was hot, and most importantly, there were only foreigners around; we couldn't find a single Thai person. But we liked it, especially the atmosphere of the shops along the way as we cut through to Railay West.

After experiencing the scorching sun at Railay Beach, everyone lost their motivation and decided to head to another destination: Phra Nang Cave. It's just a short walk from Railay West (well, not really that short, haha). Along the way, we encountered only foreigners, as usual.

When asked if there was much in the cave, the answer was not really. There was a little lighting in the cave, and the cave was not very big. However, we liked the bridge at the entrance to the cave because we thought it looked nice in photos. When we came out, we sat down to rest because it was very hot. We talked to the park ranger who was looking after the cave and asked if there were any other places worth visiting. He suggested that foreigners like to climb up to the lagoon, which is on the other side of Phra Nang Beach, but it might be a bit difficult to get up there. Since we had some time before we had to leave, we decided to go and have a look. Phra Nang Beach is on the south side of the island, and we walked past the pier where we had got off the boat. It was only a short walk, and of course we met some of the locals.

The locals here are monkeys, both monkeys and gibbons. There are so many of them that we are scared. Along the way we will walk to Railay Beach, there are really a lot of them. But we haven't seen them bite anyone yet. But if anyone is holding food, be careful. We saw a baby monkey climb onto the back of a foreigner. It was cute (the monkey, not the foreigner). We walked in a little bit and then we found the way up to the lagoon. Oh, the way up is quite tough. Today it's not convenient to climb because we have a backpack with us. See you next time.

So we passed this point, walked a little further and then we found Phra Nang Beach. But there were a lot of monkeys along the way, so we had to be careful while walking.

Upon encountering Phra Nang Beach, I could only utter one word: beautiful. It's incredibly stunning, like a hidden gem nestled within a forest. It felt like we stumbled upon a secret paradise. As expected, there were many tourists, but what bothered me was the lack of cleanliness among some visitors. Phra Nang Beach offers various activities, including rock climbing.

After sitting and walking to the sea, it was time to go back. I was hungry again. Luckily, the place we stayed was right next to the walking street. You could say that when we went down, we found a market. There was so much food! I love it! Haha!

The next problem is, where are we going to eat? Because we were confused and didn't know what was good to eat in Krabi, we walked around in a daze and ended up at a food stall near the pier. There were a lot of restaurants and they weren't expensive. Oh, and by the pier where we got on in the afternoon, there were lights and local music playing at night. It was so good. Standing there, I felt like I was in Chiang Rai.

While in Krabi, you shouldn't miss out on eating roti. The roti that Krabi locals recommend is Roti Kroman Yong, a roti stall located at the Kroman Yong intersection. It's incredibly delicious, crispy, and affordable. I regret forgetting to take a picture of the roti, so here's a picture of the stall instead. Haha!

The next morning, before we boarded our flight back to Bangkok, we saw a southern Thai curry restaurant across from the hotel that looked very tempting, but the price was a bit steep. That morning, the weather was very hot. The fried egg with sweet and sour sauce and the stir-fried curry were very spicy.

This trip was another one where we didn't plan anything in advance. We just went with the flow, and ate whatever we wanted. We're starting to fall in love with the southern region of Thailand. There are so many places we want to visit and we're planning to go back again soon. The south seems far away from our usual backpacking destinations in the north and northeast. It's not as familiar to us, but now that we've been there, we're hooked and want to go back again and again.

I hope next trip we can go to the Andaman Sea together : )

fahpawa*

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