Thailand, Koh Samui

I went snorkelling in Redang Island for about 2 hours at its Marine Park. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera with me because I thought it might get wet. If only I had those waterproof cameras... I really wanted to capture the life under the sea, which was really amazing.

From Redang, the ship set for Koh Samui, an island close to the mainland of Surat Thani province.

Taken from: http://www.mynetbizz.com/pages/koh-samui/koh-samui-travel-package.cfm

We were very near to the Gulf of Thailand. At one point of time, I remembered standing on a beach at Chantaburi Province, facing the Gulf of Thailand. The beach there is really spectacular, with shimmering turquoise water.

This was at the Lomprayah jetty, where we disembarked from the boat. Pretty excited here because this is the beginning of our island exploration.

I had the impression that most of the islanders must be fishermen, since there are many fishing boats on the shores. The scene here looks so tranquil with small waves and soft breeze, accompanied by the mountains in the background.

Later, I was told that the island has a thriving coconut industry, exporting about 2 million coconuts a day to other parts of Thailand and Southeast asia, namely Singapore. One of our itinerary is therefore to visit the coconut plantation. Coconut plantations used to cover 90% of the island, but now some of the lands had been cleared to make way for the booming tourist industry.

The coconuts here were plucked by this skillful little fellow..

Featuring Jas with one of the monkeys. At the end of this trip, I bought quite a number of organic coconut products. I now know the difference between products made from real coconut and those made from a concoction of various chemicals. My only regrets is that I didn't buy more of those organic products.

Also, spotted at the plantation is a bull. Not the kind that is used for ploughing, but for bull fighting. It's a popular sport in Koh Samui.

Stay tuned for more updates on Koh Samui.