Ko Mak in Thailand -
Virtual Reality Panoramas (VR), Panorama Pictures, Photos &
Information about Infrastructure, Population, Visitors, History,
Activities, Travel Times, Banks & Money, Sights and More. |
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Current Page:
Ko Mak Special
--> Worth
knowing about Ko
Mak in Thailand |
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Worth knowing about Ko
Mak in Thailand
- Ko Mak Special
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(Picture of a fisher hut at
Aow Nid on Ko
Mak)
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The school on Ko
Maak |
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At the eastern end of Ko Maaks west coast
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Ko
Mak (often also written Ko
Maak), the betel
nut island, is the third largest
island
of the province of Trat after Ko
Chang and Ko
Kood. The island,
resembles a shamrock in shape, lies about 350 kilometres
southeast of Bangkok
and 35 kilometres from the mainland. It’s size
is about 16 square kilometres and a radius of about
27 kilometres and it is not part of the Mu
Ko Chang National Park.
Besides, Ko Mak
is the biggest private
island in Thailand. |
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Arrival
& Departure to & from Ko
Mak
Ko Mak
can be reached either from Baan Bang Bao in the south
of Ko Chang
or from Laem Ngop Pier at the mainland.
Ferries
from Ko Chang (Baan
Bang Bao Pier):
From November to May there are daily boats starting
from Baan Bang Bao (south of Ko
Chang) to Ko
Kham and back. As the departure
times change quite often please ask on Ko Chang (tickets
are available in almost all travel-agencies). |
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Khao Beach in the south of Ko
Maak |
Khao Beach |
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Ferries
from the mainland (Laem
Ngop Pier, also called Khrom Luang Pier):
At 9.30 am, 11 am, 1.30 pm and 4 pm speedboats leave
the mainland from the Laem Ngop pier. The boats will
bring you to Ko Mak,
duration about 1 hour. The times for the return trips
are available in all resorts on Ko
Mak.
There are also several daily fishing boats to Ko
Mak, duration about 3 hours. Because
the departure and arrival times change quite often,
please ask at the Laem Ngop Pier. |
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Aow Nid Pier in the east of
Ko Maak |
In the north of Khao Beach -
in the background Ko Rayang Nai |
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Between Mai/June and October/November
there is no regular boat service from Ko Chang to Ko
Mak and back! Also the boats from the mainland don't
leave regularly so it may happen that you can't reach
or leave Ko Mak!
(October 2007. All information refer
to high-season between November and May. Occasionally,
due to high waves, the boats are even unable to leave
at this time of the year.
Depending on the weather conditions, boats often can't
leave to Ko Mak in low-season between May/June and October/November.)
If you want to come directly from Bangkok
to Ko Mak
you have to start early to avoid spending a night on
Ko Chang
or at the mainland. |
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Khao Beach |
Coconut plantation |
Arrival by Airplane
If you come by plane you have to get the morning flight,
otherwise you will not reach Ko
Mak at the same day. At the airport
in Trat you have to rent a mini bus to bring you to
Laem Ngop Pier where the boats to Ko
Mak leave, price 1500.- Baht (June
2008). |
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Beaches
on Ko Mak
Ko Mak
is in contrast with Ko
Chang a flat island, only at the
southwest there are a few hills. The beaches
of Ko Mak are, like everywhere
in the region around Ko
Chang, flat and withdraw at low
tide. A few of them are stony or muddy and therefore
not suitable for swimming. But most of them, especially
the 2 wonderful big main beaches
"Suan Yai Beach”
in the west and "Khao
Beach” in the south of Ko
Mak are sandy and excellent for
bathing and swimming. At these two beaches
you also find most of the bungalow
resorts. |
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Khao Beach |
Suan Yai Beach in the west of
Ko Maak |
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Infrastucture on
Ko Mak
Meanwhile there are a lot of roads and paths that branch
over the whole island
so almost all beaches and villages are easy approachable.
Only at the north coast of Ko
Mak, where you hardly find accommodations,
there is a jungle path that runs parallel to the coast
and that is quite difficult passable. The important
routes on the island
are of tarmac or concrete but some of the other ones
are still dirt tracks. But Ko
Mak is easily passable with rented
scooters for those who have a little bit of experience
in riding motorbikes. And because of Ko
Mak is not too big you can explore
it easily on foot. |
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In the meantime there are a few "exotic”
vehicles on Ko Mak.
They are mainly taken to bring tourists to the bungalow
resorts or drive them around the
island
and are very popular with Farangs (western tourists).
Ko Mak is not connected to the
power supply at the mainland but there is a big generator
that supplies the whole island
24 hours a day with electricity. Also mobile phone connection
is available at most of the places on Ko
Mak.
Ko Mak
was the first island
in Thailand to have wireless Internet,
but it was stopped again at the beginning of 2006. Currently
there are internet cafes located at Ko Mak Pier (west
coast) and at Aow Nid Pier (east coast). |
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Also a central dump was
built in the interior of the island
so there is less waste on Ko
Mak as years ago. Beside a little
post office at Ko Mak
Pier at the west coast, there is a police box located
at the road to Aow Nid. There you also find a clinic,
the island
school, a new built kindergarten and a beautiful temple.
In the interior of Ko Mak there are more shops, gas
stations and restaurants. You can also find pool tables,
mainly used by locals, at the roundabout at the main
road that connects the west coast with the south coast.
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The generator |
Family grave |
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Population
on Ko Mak
Most of the island
inhabitants, at the moment around
700 people, are fishermen or make their income from
the profit of the coconut and rubber plantations that can be found all over Ko Mak. But
because of the increase in tourism
since the 80’s, more and more of the locals earn
their money from the bungalow-resorts
and restaurants on Ko
Mak. |
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Storeroom for rubber |
Fishing nets at the north coast |
Visitors on Ko
Mak
Due to the rising level of awareness of Ko Chang also
the popularity of Ko Mak is growing. The number of visitors
is rising continuously. 2006 almost 71.000 guests came,
in 2007 already almost 103.000 made their way to the
island. Like on Ko Chang also on Ko Mak there are about
double as much Thai visitors compared to foreign guests.
Though the number of foreign visitors increased more
than 100 % compared to the preceding year the growth
of Thai guests was just about 25 %. The average duration
of stopover of the non-Thai holidaymakers amounted to
almost 5 days in 2007 while the Thai visitors spent
not even 3 days on Ko Mak. As on Ko Chang also on Ko
Mak there will be more visitors coming within the next
years.
(Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand) |
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Fishermen at work |
Fisher hut at Laem Son |
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Travelling-Time
for Ko Mak
The best time for a visit on Ko
Mak is between the beginning of
November and the end of February. At this time it is
relatively cool, dry and mostly sunny.
It gets hotter and hotter until the end of May, but
a visit during these months is still pleasant. Even
during the monsoon
Ko Mak
is worth a journey because it usually doesn’t
rain every day all day long (see also "Travelling-Time
and Weather on Ko Chang"). |
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History
of Ko Mak
Ko Mak is the biggest island
in Thailand that is privately owned.
It is reported that Ko
Mak was populated first by Chao
Sua Seng, who ran a coconut plantation at the end of
the 19th century, during the term of King Chula-Longkorn
(Rama V). Later Ko
Mak was bought for 300 Chang (the
former currency in
Thailand, 1 Chang = 80 Baht) by
Khun Mae Mulee, the wife of Luang Prompakdee (Plian
Taveteekul). Their descendants, who belong to the "Taveteekul
Clan”, still own the biggest part of Ko
Mak.
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At the temple |
Island crossing with roundabout |
Banks and money on
Ko Mak
In November 2007 there were neither banks nor ATMs on
Ko Mak,
so you should take enough cash money with you if you
want to stay on this wonderful island.
Some of the bungalow
resorts change money and / or traveller
cheques but the exchanging rates are worse than in the
banks at the mainland or on Ko
Chang. Activities
on Ko Mak
Besides relaxing and reading at the beach
you can swim and snorkel at one of the beautiful beaches.
There are also 2 diving schools located on Ko
Mak to discover the beautiful dive
grounds around this wonderful island, At some of the
bungalow resorts kayaks and surfboards can be rented
as well as scooters and mountain-bikes to explore the
island
on your own. The small villages, the tempel
at Aow Nid and the view points on Ko
Mak are worth a visit. There is
a surfing school, boats can be hired and boat tours
to the nearby islands
can be booked. Also apparently archery is possible on
Ko Mak
and of course traditional Thai
massages can be enjoyed. |
In the interior of Ko Maak |
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Village at the north coast of
Ko Maak |
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House boat in the north |
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