Koh Phayam - Ko Phayam like the adjacent Ko Chang (Andaman) is a small attractive island situated near Ranong and the Burmese border, with several very nice beaches and a surprising amount of old style budget bungalow resorts.
A small slow ferry shuttles people out from the SAPHON PLA pier in Ranong - the trip takes approximately 2 hours and cost me 150 baht in March. There is also a faster speedboat service
a faster speedboat service from the TON SON pier further south which takes 20 minutes at 350baht. I also saw a sign at the Saphon Pla pier advertising a speedboat leaving about 30 minutes after the 0930 slow ferry. For people swapping islands, the early shuttle long tail from Ao Yai beach on Ko Chang got me into Saphon Pla about 15 minutes before the Phayam ferry left.
When the ferry reaches the island, representatives from the bungalows are waiting with their picture books - I liked the look of COCONUTS and was directed onto a waiting motorcycle taxi for the 10-15 minute trip across to AO YAI beach (yep, another Ao Yai) on the western side of the island. I think the standard fare is 50 baht but the last 500m was along a tricky sandy track and I admired the skill of the girl pilot with such a load, so I paid a bonus.
Ao Yai is the most popular beach on the island with about 8 places spread along its 3 km length, plus a couple of small bars. It faces slightly south of west, with good views of the sun setting over the big Burmese islands further out. It has no problems with lack of sand at high tide or rocks at low tide, and the water was deep close offshore at lowest tide. The sand and water seemed to be very clean. There was a lot of shade at the back of the beach from trees at Coconuts. And hey, no long tail boats, so this beach was really quiet. Lots of big fishing boats working at night way offshore with the usual display of magic lights.
Something I’ve rarely seen in Thailand dry season - there was a small wave breaking, held up nicely by the offshore easterlies and good for body surfing. I usually get bored body surfing, but I must admit I enjoyed a half hour session several times a day. Board riders should not get excited - the waves tended to close out and had no workable shoulder. However a couple of locals were having a great time on Bamboo Bungalow’s wave-ski. Wave-skis are like that.
Those waves made for a nice noise at night.
COCONUTS is a pretty good place to stay. The bungalows are located not too close together in 3 rows just behind the beach in a fairly nice garden setting . I got me a 300baht one - which was typical Thai timber beach bungalow style. Not huge but not too squeezy for two people and their gear, with a queen size bed (double+), mosquito net in good condition and sufficient hooks and shelves for your stuff. There was no fan on account the generator does not run all night. This did not worry me, I never run a fan at night . The place was clean, but was showing a bit of wear and tear.
The bathroom was big, but had a squat toilet. Once again this doesn’t worry me, but I know some people freak. There was a big mirror over the basin.
The bungalow’s verandah was a good size, had a broom but no light. Mine was the only 300 without a hammock. Whaah!!! Away for cleaning, they said. I love swinging in a hammock late afternoon with a bottle of Mae Khong. Until I fall out.
Coconuts also had some big attractive 400 baht concrete bungalows, and 200 baht bamboo style ones at the back. These were a bit smaller than mine. They had a verandah light - go figure.
The restaurant was the usual spacious open sided set-up, with views of the ocean thru the beach front trees. Food was quite nice, maybe a bit more expensive than most budget places, but not excessively so. The family running Coconuts is friendly and gave good service.
The other main tourist beach on Phayam is AO KOA KWAI, in the north west of the island. This is a similar size to Ao Yai, has around the same number of bungalow places, and seemed even quieter and more laid back. The bay is sheltered from any swell coming up from the Indian Ocean and was dead flat. Some big offshore fishing boats use it for a daytime anchorage.
Two concrete motorcycle tracks are the main means of transport around the island. Smaller dirt and sandy tracks branch off for other locations. There are plenty of motorcycles for hire but I couldn’t find any rent bicycles. I didn’t see any 4 wheeled vehicles during my visit.
One concrete track goes from the village/pier to the center of Ao Yai beach. About 300m short of the beach is a small collection of restaurants and stores and about 2 km up the track is a slighty bigger collection called Central Village or similar. The main village at the pier has 3 or 4 small “supermarkets”, some restaurants, motorcycle hire etc, and Richard's Bar (or similar name) run by a Brit and a popular hang for long term traveller/expat types. I took refuge there during a mid-afternoon downpour, sat in a huge old leather armchair under shelter in the outside beer garden with a lovely glass of Aussie red and was immensely entertained as these characters shot the bull .
I didn’t notice any banks or ATMs in town. Note that there are beaches both sides of town, fairly good but not as nice as Yai or Kao Kwai, with a couple of other bungalow places.
Altogether, a pretty nice island to spend time, ideal for those people looking for places similar to how the better known islands were in the days before they took off.
