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TonyT's 9th Thailand blog:
18 days in and around the country:
Christmas 2025 to January 2026.
Page 4
KO KOOD (continued)
SUNDAY 28th DECEMBER
Rise and shine at 7am and across to the cavernous breakfast area.
Usual breakfast fayre on offer; usual by High Season's 5-star that is. Anything from wines, Prosecco, Stilton cheese down to bacon, egg, hash-browns. Add to this the usual array of Thai cuisine; you really could be a pig here.
A few basics to sort out once we got back to our villas such as packing backpacks containing masks, snorkels, change of clothes and the like.
First choice of destinations was a mundane trip to a local laundry to drop of a large bag of mucky clothing.
This morning, we headed north out of the resort and went looking for something totally different from sand, coconut tress and seawater. We wanted to see the two huge trees called Makka:
The Makka Tree (or Makkayuk) refers to a specific, revered ancient tree, often a giant fig or banyan, located on Koh Kood island, estimated to be 500 - 700 years old, known for its massive roots, spiritual significance, and offerings left by locals.
They took a bit of finding. Having to stop several times and ask for directions.
We followed dirt a track which stopped abruptly in the middle of dense jungle. Barely discernible paths wound under the canopy and then suddenly, in a clearing created by the tree itself stood this truly mighty tree; it was breathtaking and difficult to take in the sheer enormity. Photographing a thing this size was impossible. Some of upper branches were easily as thick as the biggest tree in all of UK.
The second banyan is called Big Chai tree and similar to the Makka Yuk is equally impressive.
[Photos of the trees below].
Back on the coast again after our jungle visit. This time we headed to the beach at Ao Noi and chilled out here for some time doing the usual beachy stuff.
Back to High Season in time for a latish 5:30 happy hour which did not impress me as they'd run out of favorite beer, Chang... forced to drink Singha. Drinkable, of course, but not as tasty as Chang, IMHO.
Big dinner at the Mermaid this evening just a stroll away from our resort.
At this point I was casually reading bits of info on my phone and stumbled onto BBC News.
I had to do a double-take as the headline that jumped out at me read:
”Thailand, Cambodia agrees a Ceasefire”
This was fantastic news for us as it now means we can head up to Surin to visit our family.
You may recall me stating the change to our original itinerary due to the armed conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. This forced me to book into a hotel in Pattaya to use up the days of prohibition. This can now be changed and it basically means the Surin visit will be at the end of our time here instead.
The only drawback is the loss of the hotel booking in Pattaya which was non-refundable. A small price to pay.
MONDAY 29th DECEMBER
After yet another superb breakfast, we were back on our bikes. This time the aim was to get some better snorkelling in. A place just to the south of Ao Noi looked promising. Getting into the water was a bit of a scramble but once clear and the water deep enough to actually swim it was pretty clear water. This was a dumb move as just further along the beach we could have entered the sea on clear sand.
We snorkelled out into deep water and noted lots of fish, brightly coloured clams and watched an octopus prowling about the corals. These corals were not spectacular, at least not by Red Sea standards but were good to see.
The snorkelling stint took up a good hour followed by drying off under the palms along with some soft drinks at the Ao Noi resort.
Stopped off at High Season for a brief stay and it was off on the bikes again for a return visit to Rimlay beach.
Had lunch at the Rimlay Café/beach bar and chilled until around 4pm.
Dinner off-resort again. The Mermaid was still considered the best option; good atmosphere, friendly staff and good food.
Now came the mundane bit of packing the cases ready for an early check-out in the morning.
I'd originally booked the 11:30 ferry back to Laem Sok which would have been followed by a leisurely 2 hour drive to Pattaya but with the change of plan to travel the 450km/6 hour drive to Surin I had to change to the earlier 09:00 ferry. This still meant not getting on the road until at least 10:30. (1 hour ferry crossing then a pick up from High Season shuttle bus to our parked car).
Below is a host of photos around the island of Ko Kood:-
Rise and shine at 7am and across to the cavernous breakfast area.
Usual breakfast fayre on offer; usual by High Season's 5-star that is. Anything from wines, Prosecco, Stilton cheese down to bacon, egg, hash-browns. Add to this the usual array of Thai cuisine; you really could be a pig here.
A few basics to sort out once we got back to our villas such as packing backpacks containing masks, snorkels, change of clothes and the like.
First choice of destinations was a mundane trip to a local laundry to drop of a large bag of mucky clothing.
This morning, we headed north out of the resort and went looking for something totally different from sand, coconut tress and seawater. We wanted to see the two huge trees called Makka:
The Makka Tree (or Makkayuk) refers to a specific, revered ancient tree, often a giant fig or banyan, located on Koh Kood island, estimated to be 500 - 700 years old, known for its massive roots, spiritual significance, and offerings left by locals.
Back on the coast again after our jungle visit. This time we headed to the beach at Ao Noi and chilled out here for some time doing the usual beachy stuff.
They took a bit of finding. Having to stop several times and ask for directions.
We followed dirt a track which stopped abruptly in the middle of dense jungle. Barely discernible paths wound under the canopy and then suddenly, in a clearing created by the tree itself stood this truly mighty tree; it was breathtaking and difficult to take in the sheer enormity. Photographing a thing this size was impossible. Some of upper branches were easily as thick as the biggest tree in all of UK.
The second banyan is called Big Chai tree and similar to the Makka Yuk is equally impressive.
[Photos of the trees below].
Back to High Season in time for a latish 5:30 happy hour which did not impress me as they'd run out of favorite beer, Chang... forced to drink Singha. Drinkable, of course, but not as tasty as Chang, IMHO.
Big dinner at the Mermaid this evening just a stroll away from our resort.
At this point I was casually reading bits of info on my phone and stumbled onto BBC News.
I had to do a double-take as the headline that jumped out at me read:
”Thailand, Cambodia agrees a Ceasefire”
This was fantastic news for us as it now means we can head up to Surin to visit our family.
You may recall me stating the change to our original itinerary due to the armed conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. This forced me to book into a hotel in Pattaya to use up the days of prohibition. This can now be changed and it basically means the Surin visit will be at the end of our time here instead.
The only drawback is the loss of the hotel booking in Pattaya which was non-refundable. A small price to pay.
MONDAY 29th DECEMBER
After yet another superb breakfast, we were back on our bikes. This time the aim was to get some better snorkelling in. A place just to the south of Ao Noi looked promising. Getting into the water was a bit of a scramble but once clear and the water deep enough to actually swim it was pretty clear water. This was a dumb move as just further along the beach we could have entered the sea on clear sand.
We snorkelled out into deep water and noted lots of fish, brightly coloured clams and watched an octopus prowling about the corals. These corals were not spectacular, at least not by Red Sea standards but were good to see.
The snorkelling stint took up a good hour followed by drying off under the palms along with some soft drinks at the Ao Noi resort.
Stopped off at High Season for a brief stay and it was off on the bikes again for a return visit to Rimlay beach.
Had lunch at the Rimlay Café/beach bar and chilled until around 4pm.
Dinner off-resort again. The Mermaid was still considered the best option; good atmosphere, friendly staff and good food.
Now came the mundane bit of packing the cases ready for an early check-out in the morning.
I'd originally booked the 11:30 ferry back to Laem Sok which would have been followed by a leisurely 2 hour drive to Pattaya but with the change of plan to travel the 450km/6 hour drive to Surin I had to change to the earlier 09:00 ferry. This still meant not getting on the road until at least 10:30. (1 hour ferry crossing then a pick up from High Season shuttle bus to our parked car).
Below is a host of photos around the island of Ko Kood:-