Thailand's Maldives
White sand and turquoise water.
Sharon Hahn Darlin — CC BY 2.0 · Vyacheslav Argenberg — CC BY 4.0 · Vyacheslav Argenberg — CC BY 4.0 · Piith.hant — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vyacheslav Argenberg — CC BY 4.0
A small island at the far southern end of Thailand's Andaman Sea, near the maritime border with Malaysia, within Tarutao Marine National Park, often called Thailand's Maldives for its white sand and clear turquoise water. It is home to the Urak Lawoi sea people and has three main beaches joined by a little pedestrian street of restaurants and shops. Right opposite lies the big, mountainous, forested island of Ko Adang, with no villages or hotels beyond the park headquarters, a long white beach and a sandbar reaching into the sea, and a forest trail climbing to a viewpoint over Ko Lipe and the islands around. Coral reefs sit very close between the islands, making the snorkelling some of the finest in Thailand, and longtail boats ferry visitors to the surrounding islands. The national park fee for foreigners is paid on arrival, about two hundred baht in known listings. Speedboats run from Pak Bara pier in Satun in about an hour and a half, or from nearby Langkawi in Malaysia, with passport stamping on the island. The island has mosques and many halal restaurants, as most people in Satun are Muslim. Boats thin out or stop in the monsoon from May to October. It deserves at least three nights rather than a day trip, with options from guesthouses to resorts.
White sand and turquoise water.
The forest island and viewpoint.
Some of Thailand's best snorkelling.
Adang-Rawi archipelago, Tarutao National Park, Satun province, near the sea border with Malaysia
Yes: boats from Langkawi in the dry season, with passports stamped at the immigration office on the island.