Travel Theme: Simplicity

Simplicity is a theme that is supposed to be inherent in tropical islands. Although most that I have been to thus far have been every bit as hectic as other spots for tourism. An exception to this was Koh Phayam along the Indian Ocean coast of southern Thailand.

Koh Phayam doesn’t boast the mountains or the diving or the parties that other islands in the region do. Instead it’s a calm island absent of the many of the well-known distractions. There are no cars. Roads are only a meter in width, wide enough only for bicycles and motorbikes. The power is generated by a solar farm, and often goes out at night. The main economy of the island is cashew farming. The silhouettes of fishing boats crawl along the horizon looking quite like snails.

And it’s shaped like a kangaroo . . .

Kangaroo Island!

I went during August, a time of year when more than half of the places to stay on the island are boarded up and abandoned for the slow season. The few that were open only had a handful of other travellers at them each. This meant that the roads and the main beach were left nearly empty.