From Ko Pha-Ngan we took an overnight bus to Bangkok. The journey was about 13 hours and when we arrived we jumped into a taxi so we could reach our hotel for a well earned rest. Unfortunately our taxi driver didn't have a clue where our hotel was even though he said he did when he took the fare and we drove round and round in circles for about 30 minutes. We could see the driver was getting a little irate. He was a small old Thai fella who sat very close to ...

After spending one night in Krabi we began our journey to Ko Pha-Ngan. We had already learnt that travelling in Thailand was never straight forward. Even though they tell you its only one air-conditioned bus its never true. In this case we were picked up from Krabi in a truck where all the travellers sat in the back in the open air with their backpacks. Needless to say it was very cramped and a little scary when going around corners. After this we were transferre...

After recommendations from a few travellers who had been in Thailand for months, we decided to head to Ko Lanta next, just south of Ko Phi Phi. We checked in to the Ko Lanta New Beach Resort and tried to book ourselves onto a snorkel trip, but speaking to the English girl who ran the dive shop we were told that the South Thailand islands are not great for snorkelling, and that they are basically all geared up for diving. Generally you can only go on an island ...

Arriving in South Thailand was a bit overwhelming, as it seems that there are so many islands to choose from, all of them supposedly idyllic and with some of the best beaches and diving in the world.Speaking to other travellers though we'd heard the best ones were Ko Phi Phi on the West Coast, and Ko Phangnan and Ko Tao on the East Coast. Ko Phi Phi was our first stop, a couple of hours by boat from Krabi (after being crammed onto the back of a bus with peopl...

Leaving the Perhentians we began another mammoth day's travel, starting with a taxi boat from the island onto the bigger boat (this time minus the 30 villagers), then a shared taxi with an Irish fella from Kuala Besut to the Thai border, then after border control a two kilometre walk (in midday heat carrying 20-plus kilograms) to the minivan station, then an uncomfortable minivan ride for a few hours to Hat Yai (tourists seem to have to sit in the back seat w...