Back to Koh Phangan and exploring Thong Nai Pan, Bottle Beach View Point (Thailand)

Part 1: Travel Journal
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Journal

Restrictive travel restrictions

Overnight, Koh Samui becomes a cluster, with over 100 Covid cases (out of 616 contact cases) following an infection at a nightclub. Koh Phangan treats Koh Samui as a dark red zone (even though they’re in the same province), requiring visitors to provide either a Covid test or vaccination certificate (xxx days after Sinovac, xx days after Astra…).

Luckily, they’re not too familiar with Janssen (the embassy allowed us to get this vaccine but it’s not used for Thais) and simply ask that all doses be administered. But there’s only one dose, so just 2 days after vaccination, we can already hop on the speedboat to Koh Phangan.

Anyway, all my precautions paid off: after the vaccine, I planned to stay a few days on Koh Samui and I’m glad I did because (1) we only got the certificate in the afternoon due to a computer glitch. If I had headed straight back to Koh Phangan, I wouldn’t have had that famous Thai certificate that lets me move around freely, and we wouldn’t have known who to pester to get them by email (2) I had a fever after the vaccine; they would never have let me take the speedboat with a fever, and I risked ending up in the hospital for a mandatory PCR test.

Here is the Thai vaccination certificate. Just scan a QR code that links to this page.

After vaccination, you feel relieved and lighter because more borders will be open to us in the future.

Those without a test or certificate are sidelined and taken to Koh Phangan Hospital for a free antigen test. On our speedboat, there’s a farang who complains loudly and gets severely reprimanded by immigration. We prayed hard that she wasn’t Covid positive because if she were, the whole speedboat would go into quarantine at home or in a super expensive hotel for 7 days. But the afternoon passes and no one contacts us, so the whole speedboat must be in order or negative for Covid. Phew. We won’t leave our island anymore with increasingly complex travel restrictions (we talked about it here). Even our unvaccinated friends from Koh Samui won’t come if they have to get swabbed.

Right now, all domestic flights have been suspended to contain the current Covid wave hitting Thailand, it’s safer to stay here. Even just going to Bangkok is too risky. Every time you need an antigen test or PCR test, there’s the risk of a false positive and ending up in the hospital, locked up for 14 days. This risk is real and costly in Thailand. That’s why if we can avoid taking PCR tests left and right, the better off we’ll be.

Phuket Sandbox is also currently suffering from a Covid wave, and they’re isolating the island by only letting in and out those who have a reason to be there. If case numbers explode, they’ll stop Phuket Sandbox altogether. Those who managed to do Phuket – Koh Samui after Phuket Sandbox had to pay for a private driver + ferry. Anyway, we’re still privileged knowing that on our islands, 70% of people are vaccinated – so restrictions will always be much looser than, say, Bangkok, which is in strict lockdown for 2 months.

The Cabin

Usually, we’re in Chaloklum up north, but we’re back for a week at the hotel The Cabin in the south of the island, which we discovered and really liked.

Because of the wind, there are waves and I can’t paddle, but the hotel is pleasant and the food is good. We do room service in the evening and have lunch at the restaurant at noon. There are two desks in the room, so we work directly from the room, but I could have set up at the restaurant too. They gave us two comfortable chairs so we could work better.

After a week, we rent a scooter to go to the immigration office for our 90-day report (you have to report your address every 90 days to immigration). The hotel gave us a TM30 (residence certificate) for that. And we spend a day exploring the Thong Nai Pan area, which we didn’t know at all.

Thong Nai Pan

There’s no shortcut to get here. You have to start from Ban Tai and travel a long way to this beautiful beach. There are 3 beaches in the area, all accessible by taxi boat from Chaloklum. But also accessible by scooter by taking a big detour. That’s why coming from Haad Rin is actually the shortest route.

Unfortunately, we miscalculated the gas needed to get all the way. With easy but constant climbs, our gas indicator is blinking. Luckily, we find a shopkeeper on the roadside selling gas in glass bottles. Generally, you should avoid such shops because you don’t know if the gas has been diluted/mixed, but given the price of the bottle (50 baht for barely 1 liter), I think she didn’t mix anything at all and was just happy to make money off the price difference between buying and selling.

Arriving at Thong Nai Pan, we fill our gas tank to the max.

We go to see the 4-star hotel Panvinam Resort which offers day passes at 600 baht for two, to enjoy all its facilities and get a 600 baht voucher to spend at the restaurant. Unfortunately, there’s only one restaurant open and the pool is in full sun, so we just come to chat with the General Manager, try the path that stimulates meridian points on the soles of your feet, then leave.

There’s an adult pool (1.2m deep) and a kids’ pool with a jacuzzi area. It feels super relaxing here.

The beach is gorgeous, but since it’s rained a lot these past days, the visibility isn’t great. Some box jellyfish have come in, so with poor visibility, swimming is not recommended. All hotels and bars on Koh Samui and Koh Phangan are equipped with vinegar for first aid in case of contact with box jellyfish. While you could actually risk death if stung, most of the time people are rescued in time but left with a nasty scar that lasts a lifetime.

On the right side, you can see the hotel Panvinam 4-star, which we visited in the morning. On the left, another hotel with a more Thai style Santhiya Resort 5*, but it no longer deserves its 5 stars due to lack of maintenance.

The path is marked and fairly easy to spot. Just follow the signs view point. 500m downhill and uphill. With a somewhat sporty section over the rocks at the end where you shouldn’t be afraid of heights.

And here’s the viewpoint!

On the left: Bottle Beach

On the right: lots of coconut trees

On the way back, we spot two dogs being transported in the back of a pickup truck. Another dog runs after them to defend its territory 😀 it’s so cute

Time to head back to Chaloklum, where we have more restaurant options and snorkeling spots.

Part 2: Practical Tips

Budget

• The Cabin:
  • 13,000 baht per week
  • 250-300 baht/dish
  • 300 baht/1hr massage
• Scooter rental: 150 baht/day
• Gas: plan on 80 baht
• 90-day report at immigration: free

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