Phuket Day Trip to Khao Lak, Ranong and Kathaung, a great Thailand motorbike drive.
This travel is between green jungle and the emerald Andaman Sea. Most people make the trip for the visa run when the stamp will expire. Unfortunately since a few years ago the Thai land border immigration only issues 2 week visa. |
| Thailand Motorbike or Scooter has 125 cc and 11.7 HP and cant get beyond 100 km/h there is some limiter installed. But anyway it really works very well and has a great acceleration.When bought new, with similar data and equipment as it is delivered elsewhere in the world the price is almost exactly Euro 2000,-.The rented version (this one) comes to Baht 200,- per day. |
From down town the first leg is until the Sarasin Bridge which is the only land connection into the rest of Thailand and is the same routing as from Phuket to Krabi. The ride is over a 4 lane highway which merges into a 2 lanes after about 40 km.
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| Under the Sarasin Bridge |
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| Sarasin Bridge |
From the island it's almost exactly 100 km over an excellent almost straight road, only when approaching Khao Lak it gets very winding because of the coastal hills, here is the first view at the beach.
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| Khao Lak Beach |
Once through the hills it gets into the very long town straight again for about 20 km until Takuapa.
After the bridge here is again the first view over the Andaman Sea.
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| Similan Island Beach |
Probably the most interesting from a travel point of view are the Similan Islands, they can be reached from Thap Lamu Pier a few kilometers before the town or just book from any hotel or travel agent. The islands can be accessed only by speedboat or the diving tour vessel from the jetty. A alternative would be a live aboard cruise with a yacht starting at Phuket.
At the end of town is the Meridien Resort one of the best around.
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| Meridien Beach Resort |
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| Meridien Beach Resort |
The next town is Takuapa and I fill up the tank, the total petrol costs for both way to Ranong and back are around Baht 600,- which almost exactly matches the bus fare. The main difference is, to drive the 300 km one way it takes more than 5 hours with the bus and less than 4 hours with the scooter.
Some time ago the bike broke and I got stuck, as I found out the belt in the transmission just burst. It was not a good situation, after looking around I went to a house, the women called someone who came with a pick up, we lifted the heavy thing onto the back and he carried my to Takuapa into a Honda shop. The guys there fixed the whole in about one hour, I gave Baht 800,- for the pick up ride and 600,- for repair and kept on driving to the north. Sometimes things work perfect in the country of smile.
Beyond Takuapa is Muslim county,
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| Buddhist temple near Ranong |
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| Mosque at Ranong |
mosques become a common view and continuously the minarets pop out from the green environment and women wear scarfs, there is no burqa visible. Naturally Buddhist temples are still visible and there are no problems at all with anyone as it is at the border to Malaysia in the very south of Thailand.
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| Colorful south Thailand |
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| Surin pier Phuket day trip |
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