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TonyT's 9th Thailand blog:
18 days in and around the country:
Christmas 2025 to January 2026.
Page 3
KO KOOD
WEDNESDAY 24TH DECEMBER; CHRISTMAS EVE:
Arrived at Laem Sok with time to spare. Some iced drinks down by the pier then up to High Season’s parking and transfer area.
Time to go. Leapt onto the elongated open-air bus and along the near mile long pier to the Boonsiri ferry.
Bit of a delay here setting off as a number of stragglers weren’t here.
It took about an hour to reach Ko Kood where we were loaded onto a Songthaew for a drop off at the end of a narrow concrete pier surround by mangrove trees and thick jungle. Next, we all loaded onto a long-tail boat for our transfer to the Captain Hook resort. This took about 7 or 8 minutes only and we quickly shown to our “villa”.
First impressions? Good and bad.
The good was the scenic part, the tranquillity and ambience.
The bad was the appalling shed of an accommodation. If it was for single occupancy it would be bad, but for four it was beyond a joke.
The so-called villa (shed) was a tiny room with four mattresses shoe-horned on a raised platform.
Nowhere at all to hang clothes; no storage; no TV, and worst of all, no fridge. The shower and toilet were down in a rustic cellar. Absolutely dreadful. Thank God we were only staying here a couple of days. Within minutes of unpacking a few essentials we realised it was going to be sheer bedlam with everyone getting in each other’s way.
A further annoyance as many other reviewers have stated is the fact that the Captain Hook is only accessible by boat. You are effectively stuck in the place. You cannot pop out of the resort to, say, visit another bar or restaurant for an evening's outing.
My two sons were off for a swim across the small estuary and onto the sandy beach on the other side.
Because of our confinement, we were obliged to dine on-site. This was another plus as the food was delicious with ample portions. We were back in our cramped hut by 9:30 and got an early night in…. nothing much else to do anyway after dark.
TOP & CENTRE: Various views around the Captain Hook resort
BOTTOM LEFT: My family on Christmas Day at the resort.
CHRISTMAS DAY. THURSDAY 25TH DECEMBER
Up and out of the chaotic hut at 07:30 and down the path with the mangroves on one side and a steep hill on the other with other “huts” (they call them villas… call ’em what they like but they aren’t anything resembling to what I envisage a villa to be.
Seems strange to us northern or temperate zone dwellers to see decked-up Christmas trees amongst coral sand and palm trees.
The buffet style breakfasts were not at all bad. Reasonably limited but what was on offer was very delicious.
The family were off in the canoes for an hour or so. First lot was my two sons off into the distance. Later it was my wife and eldest to paddled up and down the estuary. I didn’t get around to this as I was neck deep in water most of the time.
Some photo taking and some swims in the resort’s pool took up the day until 3pm.
It was Christmas Day like no other.
BOXING DAY. FRIDAY 26th DECEMBER
Time to try to sort out the sheer chaos caused because four people in a minute room trying to get belongings sorted. We manged to get most of it done and the cases packed and ready for collection by 10:00.
We had until 1pm to wait for our transfer to the High Season resort. First, by longtail boat to the waiting songthaew bus (Thai for "two rows"). 15 minutes took us the reception which had changed massively since we were last here (on our honeymoon) in 2024. The whole frontage had been “done-up” with the reception desk set well back. Previously, the desk was almost on the roadside.
Our REAL villas were not quite ready so we sat at the beach bar with some beers to wait out. My two sons were in one villa with my wife and I in a nearby one; sheer luxury
Once settled into our two REAL villas it was back to reception to hire a couple of motorbikes. These are essential to explore the islands winding roads.
TOP LEFT: Very Christmassy at the High Season.
TOP RIGHT: The twin palms all decked out.
BOTTOM LEFT: Those palm trees again with wife on the swing.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Beach scene near to the High Season.
This is our third stay on Ko Kood and this blog has less details about the island generally. To avoid too much repetition, far more detailed travels around the island can be viewed
here in 2015
And also
here in 2024
One thing that struck me is how more advanced the island has become. So very different to that first visit in 2015, 10 years ago. Back then there wasn’t a single ATM on the island. The only gas/petrol station was a shack dispensing fuel direct from 40-gallon drums via a hand pump. The roads were quite crude with most minor ones dirt roads. Houses were mostly wooden on stilts.
Now there is street lighting on new concreted roads with a lot of new developments.
Some things that haven’t changed which is excellent and that is 7-11’s are still banned from the island as are jet skis.
SATURDAY 26th DECEMBER.
Our first aim was to get to the far end of the island and show eldest son, Dan, Ao Yai the “floating” fishing village and port.
This has changed a lot since our first visit in 2015. Then it seemed to a bustling village with numerous small businesses mainly connected to the fishing industry; prawns by the million and many other marine beasties. However, now 10 years later there are a lot of abandoned houses; many of which have collapsed into the sea. Sad, but I guess like all over the world people cannot sustain life in these remote areas and move out to the towns and cities to make a living.
One business in Ao Yai was thriving and that was the seafood restaurant at the end of one of the piers. We gave them our custom with snacks and drinks. My wife even ventured to eat sea-urchin. Sad to say she was underwhelmed finding them a bit tasteless.
Back on the road and down a track of the main drag to a small resort, with a superb beach called Ao Jark. This is one of my favourites. 90THB for a large Chang beer in the small beach restaurant called Rimlay Cafe.
Took in a long swim in the gin-clear followed by drinks at the Rimlay.
Next port of call was Ao Bang Bao a little further along the coast. Bang Bao is a wide bay with several long jetties. There's a big beach bar/restaurant here at which we ate lunch.
This is not my favourite places on the island at all; in fact, I don't like it much. It's too commercialised and crowded. The sea is also murky probably down to the boat traffic. This spoils which could be a reasonable snorkelling area.
Took forever to extract Jack from the sea but once we had him showered and dried off we were off again.
Back at High Season it was a shower and change of clothes then down to the beach bar to catch happy hour at 5pm
We're not willing to pay for the resorts exorbitant prices for dinner so we walked down the road to a nearby eatery. Food here was tasty with ample portions. Finally crashed for the day at around 11pm.
Arrived at Laem Sok with time to spare. Some iced drinks down by the pier then up to High Season’s parking and transfer area.
Time to go. Leapt onto the elongated open-air bus and along the near mile long pier to the Boonsiri ferry.
Bit of a delay here setting off as a number of stragglers weren’t here.
It took about an hour to reach Ko Kood where we were loaded onto a Songthaew for a drop off at the end of a narrow concrete pier surround by mangrove trees and thick jungle. Next, we all loaded onto a long-tail boat for our transfer to the Captain Hook resort. This took about 7 or 8 minutes only and we quickly shown to our “villa”.
First impressions? Good and bad.
The good was the scenic part, the tranquillity and ambience.
The bad was the appalling shed of an accommodation. If it was for single occupancy it would be bad, but for four it was beyond a joke.
The so-called villa (shed) was a tiny room with four mattresses shoe-horned on a raised platform.
Nowhere at all to hang clothes; no storage; no TV, and worst of all, no fridge. The shower and toilet were down in a rustic cellar. Absolutely dreadful. Thank God we were only staying here a couple of days. Within minutes of unpacking a few essentials we realised it was going to be sheer bedlam with everyone getting in each other’s way.
A further annoyance as many other reviewers have stated is the fact that the Captain Hook is only accessible by boat. You are effectively stuck in the place. You cannot pop out of the resort to, say, visit another bar or restaurant for an evening's outing.
My two sons were off for a swim across the small estuary and onto the sandy beach on the other side.
Because of our confinement, we were obliged to dine on-site. This was another plus as the food was delicious with ample portions. We were back in our cramped hut by 9:30 and got an early night in…. nothing much else to do anyway after dark.
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TOP & CENTRE: Various views around the Captain Hook resort
BOTTOM LEFT: My family on Christmas Day at the resort.
CHRISTMAS DAY. THURSDAY 25TH DECEMBER TOP LEFT: Very Christmassy at the High Season. TOP RIGHT: The twin palms all decked out. BOTTOM LEFT: Those palm trees again with wife on the swing. BOTTOM RIGHT: Beach scene near to the High Season.
This is our third stay on Ko Kood and this blog has less details about the island generally. To avoid too much repetition, far more detailed travels around the island can be viewed
here in 2015
One thing that struck me is how more advanced the island has become. So very different to that first visit in 2015, 10 years ago. Back then there wasn’t a single ATM on the island. The only gas/petrol station was a shack dispensing fuel direct from 40-gallon drums via a hand pump. The roads were quite crude with most minor ones dirt roads. Houses were mostly wooden on stilts.
SATURDAY 26th DECEMBER.
Up and out of the chaotic hut at 07:30 and down the path with the mangroves on one side and a steep hill on the other with other “huts” (they call them villas… call ’em what they like but they aren’t anything resembling to what I envisage a villa to be.
Seems strange to us northern or temperate zone dwellers to see decked-up Christmas trees amongst coral sand and palm trees.
The buffet style breakfasts were not at all bad. Reasonably limited but what was on offer was very delicious.
The family were off in the canoes for an hour or so. First lot was my two sons off into the distance. Later it was my wife and eldest to paddled up and down the estuary. I didn’t get around to this as I was neck deep in water most of the time.
Some photo taking and some swims in the resort’s pool took up the day until 3pm.
It was Christmas Day like no other.
BOXING DAY. FRIDAY 26th DECEMBER
Time to try to sort out the sheer chaos caused because four people in a minute room trying to get belongings sorted. We manged to get most of it done and the cases packed and ready for collection by 10:00.
We had until 1pm to wait for our transfer to the High Season resort. First, by longtail boat to the waiting songthaew bus (Thai for "two rows"). 15 minutes took us the reception which had changed massively since we were last here (on our honeymoon) in 2024. The whole frontage had been “done-up” with the reception desk set well back. Previously, the desk was almost on the roadside.
Our REAL villas were not quite ready so we sat at the beach bar with some beers to wait out. My two sons were in one villa with my wife and I in a nearby one; sheer luxury
Once settled into our two REAL villas it was back to reception to hire a couple of motorbikes. These are essential to explore the islands winding roads.
And also
here in 2024
Now there is street lighting on new concreted roads with a lot of new developments.
Some things that haven’t changed which is excellent and that is 7-11’s are still banned from the island as are jet skis.
Our first aim was to get to the far end of the island and show eldest son, Dan, Ao Yai the “floating” fishing village and port.
This has changed a lot since our first visit in 2015. Then it seemed to a bustling village with numerous small businesses mainly connected to the fishing industry; prawns by the million and many other marine beasties. However, now 10 years later there are a lot of abandoned houses; many of which have collapsed into the sea. Sad, but I guess like all over the world people cannot sustain life in these remote areas and move out to the towns and cities to make a living.
One business in Ao Yai was thriving and that was the seafood restaurant at the end of one of the piers. We gave them our custom with snacks and drinks. My wife even ventured to eat sea-urchin. Sad to say she was underwhelmed finding them a bit tasteless.
Back on the road and down a track of the main drag to a small resort, with a superb beach called Ao Jark. This is one of my favourites. 90THB for a large Chang beer in the small beach restaurant called Rimlay Cafe.
Took in a long swim in the gin-clear followed by drinks at the Rimlay.
Next port of call was Ao Bang Bao a little further along the coast. Bang Bao is a wide bay with several long jetties. There's a big beach bar/restaurant here at which we ate lunch.
This is not my favourite places on the island at all; in fact, I don't like it much. It's too commercialised and crowded. The sea is also murky probably down to the boat traffic. This spoils which could be a reasonable snorkelling area.
Took forever to extract Jack from the sea but once we had him showered and dried off we were off again.
Back at High Season it was a shower and change of clothes then down to the beach bar to catch happy hour at 5pm
We're not willing to pay for the resorts exorbitant prices for dinner so we walked down the road to a nearby eatery. Food here was tasty with ample portions. Finally crashed for the day at around 11pm.