The December trip to Taiwan had us routing through Bangkok — and once we saw the connections, Thailand wasn’t an afterthought. We built eight days into the itinerary on purpose, flying into Phuket and moving through the Andaman islands before heading to Taipei. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we’ve made — sometimes a simple layover leads somewhere unexpected.
This wasn’t random island-hopping. Every stop was planned — a mix of well-known islands and quieter, lesser-known places. A lot of that came from Aditi, who spent days researching the details most people miss. So when we finally got on those speedboats and saw the Andaman Sea in that unreal December blue-green, it felt familiar — like something we had already imagined, but still better in real life.
This was just the first half of the trip. Thailand came first — eight days of water, sun, and seafood — before everything shifted to mountains and tea villages in Taiwan. It was a combination that worked perfectly.
In This Post
Koh Lanta — The Long Island
We flew into Phuket and took the morning speedboat south from Satun Pakbara to Koh Lanta — about an hour and a half on the water, watching the limestone karst islands slide past on either side. Koh Lanta is long and relatively thin, with the west coast facing the Andaman and a series of beaches running down its length, each with a slightly different character.
The first evening we rented a scooter and drove the length of the island. This is the correct way to see it. The west coast road follows the shoreline, and at sunset the light on the water is extraordinary — orange and gold over the Andaman, the kind of thing that makes you pull over and just watch. Lanta Old Town is at the southern end: a wooden boardwalk village built over the sea, with shophouses dating back to when it was a trading port. Worth an evening wander.
The west coast of Koh Lanta at sunset. Renting a scooter and driving the length of the island in the late afternoon is worth doing on day one.
On the second day on Koh Lanta we made it to Kantiang Bay in the south — widely considered the island's most dramatic beach setting, with a curve of sand backed by forested hills. The Marine National Park at the southern tip has decent snorkeling off the rocks. We found a clifftop café we didn't want to leave, ordered too many coconut drinks, and watched the water for longer than was entirely reasonable.
Koh Lanta's café scene is better than you'd expect for an island this size. There's a genuine creative culture here — places with good coffee, interesting food, and design sensibility that isn't trying to be a beach shack. If you're used to the more developed Koh Samui or Phuket, Koh Lanta feels significantly more real and relaxed.
Koh Mook & the Emerald Cave
The speedboat from Koh Lanta to Koh Mook takes about 45 minutes, which is enough time to watch the islands change character entirely. Koh Mook is smaller, quieter, and has a large Muslim fishing community that gives it a completely different feel to the more tourist-oriented islands. The village in the evening — fishing boats coming in, the call to prayer, families on scooters — has an ordinary, lived-in quality that we appreciated.
But the reason most people come to Koh Mook is Morakot — the Emerald Cave. And it earns its reputation entirely. The approach is by longtail boat from the beach, then you swim through a sea cave in near-total darkness for about 80 metres, the cave ceiling dropping lower until you can hear your own breathing very clearly, and then suddenly the cave opens into a hidden lagoon — a circular chamber open to the sky, with white sand and water that is, genuinely, the exact colour of emerald. We swam in silence for a long time.
"The cave opens into a hidden lagoon — a circular chamber open to sky, with white sand and water that is, genuinely, the exact colour of emerald."
The hidden lagoon inside Morakot Cave. You swim through 80 metres of sea cave in darkness to reach it. Timing your visit to low tide is essential.
Emerald Cave Timing
Go at low tide — the swim is much easier and the cave opening is less submerged. Most longtail operators know the tides. Arrive early to avoid groups. Take a waterproof bag for your phone. The cave is perfectly safe but genuinely dark — just swim steadily toward the light ahead.
Charlie Beach on the western side of Koh Mook has the island's best sunset, and it's a proper beach — wide, clean sand with good swimming. We spent our second afternoon there and barely moved. The seafood from the small restaurants backing onto the beach was some of the freshest of the trip.
Koh Ngai & Koh Kradan
Koh Ngai is reached by longtail boat from Koh Mook in about 20 minutes. It's small, almost entirely undeveloped, with coral reefs accessible directly from the beach — no boat needed, just walk in. The water clarity is outstanding. We spent a full day snorkeling and swimming, eating at the single beachside kitchen, and not thinking about anything in particular. It was very good for us.
Koh Kradan, a short hop from Koh Mook, is the one we'd heard the most about, and it delivers. The beach is consistently listed among the finest in Thailand and the water is — this is the only word — impossible. The kind of turquoise that makes you think someone has added something to it. The reef comes right up to the beach, the sand is white, and the island has minimal development. Casuarina trees provide the only shade. We arrived mid-morning and stayed until the last boat back.
Koh Kradan. The water colour is not enhanced in photographs. It actually looks like this, and the reef is accessible directly from the beach.
If we could choose only one island from the five, it would be Koh Kradan. Not because the others weren't beautiful — they all were — but because Koh Kradan has that quality of a place that feels complete. Nothing missing, nothing excessive. Just water and sand and sky.
Bangkok — One Night Only
The speedboat from Koh Kradan to Trang pier is about 40 minutes, followed by a transfer to Trang Airport for the domestic flight to Bangkok. We arrived in late afternoon with one night free before the connecting flight to Taipei.
One night in Bangkok is not nothing. We took a river taxi to Wat Arun, which is best seen from across the water at night — lit up in gold against a dark sky, reflected on the Chao Phraya. Walked past Wat Pho. Then into Yaowarat — Bangkok's Chinatown — for the late-night street food that the city is famous for: grilled seafood on the street, congee at a plastic table at midnight, the noise and energy of a city that clearly never sleeps.
Would We Go Back?
Koh Kradan alone would bring us back. There's also a whole other coast — the Gulf of Thailand side with Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and the Angthong Marine Park — that we haven't seen. And Bangkok deserves more than one night. Thailand is a country that rewards returning.
