Koh Yao is one of the very first places I visited in Thailand. This is common practice today, as Koh Yao islands are currently a fairly common destination in the world of international tourism with an interest in Thailand. They can even offer its visitors hotels of a certain level on both Koh Yao Yai (the Big island) and Koh Yao Noi (the Smaller island).
But if we analyse my visit to Koh Yao Noi in 1993 (I have been living in Thailand for almost thirty years…), then certain perspectives change. The visit of a foreigner who went to the island with the need to get a tetanus vaccine due to a monkey bite could then appear as a fact out of reality.
Actually, a monkey bite was a completely natural occurrence, as I was volunteering at a gibbon rehabilitation center and was seconded to a deserted island in Phang Nga Bay called Koh Boi, which is much closer to Koh Yao Noi than it is to Phuket. The strange fact was that on this then completely unknown island, inhabited only by fishermen, rice farmers and water buffalo herders all strictly Muslim, there was a public clinic where I could get vaccinated.
In my opinion, Thailand is generally quite ahead in certain things, and back then every district had a clinic (albeit simple). I cannot even complain about its efficiency, since in the end I did not get tetanus.
There was even more to Koh Yao than a clinic, buffaloes and rice fields. There were shops where we, like some Di Caprios ahead of their time, would make our ‘rice rush’ to buy food and comfort items. In short, after a few days’ stay on that lonely island where we were 2 or 3 volunteers feeding some free monkeys, going to Koh Yao was for us like when you leave the village to go to a fair in the town.
Personal memories aside, that vintage Koh Yao still evokes in me bucolic images that have been part of a natural and social heritage that has conditioned my choice to stay in this country. I am hence reminded of the bright green of the rice fields, with women wearing traditional cone-shaped hats, bending to collect the precious grains. I also remember would-be restaurants where I ate the most suitable foot to my taste-buds at that time: an egg with a strange colour coming from god knows what kind of bird, which in the end was not bad at all.
I am reminded of the island’s shirtless inhabitants, with sunburned skin and wearing only a sarong, lazily leading cows or buffaloes to pasture. And finally, the inevitable kids in school uniforms or in kids’ clothes, depending on the time of day, who filled their days with games from bygone times. There were so many kites up in the sky in that version of Koh Yao.
Today the two Koh Yao islands continue to be one of my favorite periodic destinations, even if there fewer kites flying.
Reachable in less than an hour by traditional boat from Krabi, the place where I live, and despite the relentless signs of modernity on them, the two islands still exert on me that charm typical of my first time. After all, the rice fields with the women at work and the buffaloes with their herdsmen are still there, the former always with their cone hats, the latter always shirtless, with tanned skin and sarongs.
Of course, the surrounding environment has changed a bit. Tourism, albeit with naturalistic pretensions, has begun to spread over the two islands and, as mentioned earlier, 5-star hotels have also sprung up, and they promise to experience nature in comfort. This is the case, for example, at the TreeHouse Villas. With their rooms located above the trees, they allow you to spend a holiday as Tarzan and Jane, but with a sea view, private dining room and other comforts. Nature, tropical vegetation and those pockets of local life that make the two islands a corner of a ‘return to the past’ eventually become the main attraction.
Diving into a peaceful corner aboard a modern scooter represents the best way to get around each of the two islands: you will be able to admire truly enchanting views of rural southern Thailand and, although it might be difficult to find those local restaurants that fed me thirty years ago, it will not be a problem to eat anywhere on the island. Both for those who want to venture into local cuisine, which here is truly local, and both for those who prefer international food. For the latter there is Ciao Bella.
The last topic to discuss are the beaches. These do not enjoy the fame of white tropical beaches, nor are they equal to the other Thai beaches of the Andaman Sea – apart from Laem Haed beach, a small strip of sand located on Koh Yao Yai, in a channel that separates the two islands. Laem Haed has its white sand and palm trees, perfect ingredients for a postcards or an Instagram shot, and it is very pleasant to spend a couple of hours there. I am sure it is not the only tropical-looking beach, but we will verify this at another time. The next trip to memory lane will stop at lots of beaches for a full immersion.
Watch Fantasia Asia video on Koh Yao HERE
Photos by Guglielmo Zanchi (Pluto)
