02 May 2024

Thailand

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Battle of the beaches

They are magnet for camera crews, boasting the most photogenic of beaches, Survivor was filmed in Malaysia, with a back-drop of savage beauty. The Beach was filmed in Thailand, with a scenic location almost too heady for the senses. So how do you choose? Easy, you don't. You get sand between your toes at all of them.

1 Krabi Beach 2 An Thong Beach 3 Datai Bay, Langkawi

THAILAND BOASTS ALMOST 1,500 miles of uninterrupted coastline. On one side is the Andaman Sea, on the other the Gulf of Thailand, and choosing between them is no easy thing.

They both have superlative beaches; an easy-going pace of life; smiling friendly locals; and restaurants where you can try the classics of Thai cuisine - curries and noodle dishes fragrantly spiced with lime and lemon grass, for just a few pounds.

The east coast, in the islands of the Ang Thong national park is where Alex Garland set The Beach, and the west coast is where it was filmed. When you go could prove to be the decisive factor. From May to October is the rainy season on the western coast, and high season on the east with the situation reversed during the winter.

Krabi

This is the place to come if you like your beaches to have a touch of drama. Limestone cliffs rise almost vertically from the sea, covered in dense vegetation and home to calling macaques, sea eagles and the occasional intrepid rock climber. It’s dominated by the Laem Phra Nang headland - a spectacular sliver of land accessible only by boat, with beaches on all three sides.

Just offshore are Bamboo Island and Mosquito Island, clumps of jungle-covered rock rising sheer from the sea, that Leonardo Di Caprio and Co made a swim from for The Beach. However there are so many such islands, mostly tiny, mostly uninhabited, that they will all look familiar, not least because another of them was Scaramanga’s secret HQ in The Man With The Golden Gun.

Laem Phra Nang has the laid-back feel that every visitor expects Thailand to have. There is one ultra-luxurious hotel and hundreds of bungalows, but none of them intrude upon the beaches. Sunset on west Railay Beach still offers some of the best free entertainment in Asia.

As soon as the heat starts to die down, the beach fills with locals playing football and volleyball, backpackers throwing frisbees and crowds of people juggling balls of fire - one of Krabi’s unlikelier crazes.

Koh Phi phi

The spectacular beauty of Koh Phi Phi Leh was exploited to the full by the makers of The Beach, although as it’s a nature reserve, you can’t actually stay here.

The neighbouring island of Koh Phi Phi Don is, however, equally if not more beautiful. The islands consist of two sides, both equally mountainous and covered in the same lush vegetation, joined by a slender isthmus. The main town and port, Tonsai, has become one of the identikit backpacker’s resorts that are found all over Asia, but the rest of the island is almost entirely unsullied.

There are no roads through the jungle-like hinterland and the only way around Phi Phi is by long-tail boat. Reefs ring the island, making it a popular place to scuba dive, and there are only a handful of hotels on the eastern coast and none on the western. Increasing sophistication of the tourism business on Koh Samui means no hotel is higher than a palm tree. Inland are thickly forested hills, but it’s the beaches that have made Koh Samui’s name.

Chaweng is the pick of the crop, although the most developed, and a lively and fun place to hang out, while the south coast is where to go to avoid crowds. Take a boat trip out to the Ang Thong marine park, a pristine natural environment among whose island’s Garland located his beach, or try one of the other 80 islands in the archipelago.

Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur may be one of the fastest growing cities in the world, but away from its high-rises and five-lane highways, you’ll find tropical rainforests, old-style charm and any number of world-class beaches.

The food is as diverse as Malaysia’s people - you’ll find Indian and Chinese food here as well as such Malay staples as satay. Watch out for the monsoon season, which affects the east coast from November to February. The west coast does not have a monsoon season.

Langkawi

Langkawi isn’t so much one destination as 104. It’s the name given to the archipelago off the north-western tip of Malay peninsula where you can find everything from Robinson Crusoe-style desert islands, to the more rumbustious duty-free environs of Pulau Langkawi, the largest of the group. Although it’s now home to some of the most sophisticated hotels in Malaysia, a visit to Pulau Langkawi does not involve sacrificing natural beauty. Development is confined, the way of life still largely traditional, and the inland a mountainous wilderness of rugged limestone cliffs and lush vegetation.

Sabah

Dominated by the 4,000 metre-high peak of Mount Kinabalu, inhabited by 30 ethnic groups speaking more than 80 dialects, Sabah, at the northern end of Borneo, is separated from the rest of Malaysia both physically, culturally and temperamentally. It’s here that you’ll find Pulau Tiga, a national park slap bang in the middle of the South China Sea that plays host to a wealth of unusual wildlife, vegetation, and in the case of Survivor, TV game-show contestants.

Pangkor

Despite it’s easy accessibility from the mainland, Pulau Pangkor is an island that still has a traditional feel to it. It’s the perfect marriage of convenience and isolation: with a couple of low-key resorts, a thick jungle interior and a handful of wonderful desert island-style beaches. The best are along the western coast. Teluk Ketapang has white sand and palm trees and is also home to the increasingly rare leather-back turtle.

Terengganu

Terengganu, on the east coast of the Malay peninsula, is the springboard for some of the country’s finest island destinations. Lonely Planet calls the Perhentians ‘arguably the most beautiful islands in Malaysia with crystal-clear aquamarine waters and white sand beaches’. There is, however, the proviso that the island’s strongly Islamic culture makes obtaining alcohol well-nigh impossible.

Redang Island is a designated marine park where the coral reef lies just a few feet beneath the surface of the sea, and it has been a popular destination for divers for years. Further south is Tioman Island, a beautiful unspoiled idyll. It is another popular diving spot with the added bonus of a dense jungle interior teeming with Jurassic-looking lizards, macaques and multi-coloured birds.

0330·100·2220i 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X 0330 calls are included within inclusive minutes package on mobiles, otherwise standard rates apply. X