Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Most resorts send vehicles to meet the ferries - a free ride to your resort. In the opposite
direction expect to pay 80B to 350B. Alternatively, you can take a motorcycle taxi from
opposite the 7-Eleven in Ban Sala Dan; fares vary from 50B to 350B, depending on dis-
tance.
Motorbikes (250B per day) can be rented all over. Unfortunately, very few places
provide helmets and none provide insurance, so take extra care on the bumpy roads.
Several places rent out small 4WDs for around 1600B per day, including insurance.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Ko Jum & Ko Si Boya
Just north of Ko Lanta, Ko Jum and its neighbour Ko Si Boya have surprisingly little de-
velopment; what's there is tucked away in the trees, making the islands look and feel
nearly deserted. Although technically one island, the locals consider only the flatter
southern part of Ko Jum to be Ko Jum; the northern hilly bit is called Ko Pu.
Ko Jum was once the exclusive domain of Lanta's
chow lair
people, but ethnic
Chinese began arriving after Chairman Mao came to power in the 1950s. At the time
there were no Thai people living here at all, but eventually the three cultures merged into
one, which is best sampled in the warm early morning, amid the ramshackle poetry of
Ban
Ko Jum
, the island's fishing village. It has a few restaurants, an
internet cafe
(Ban Ko Jum; per min
3B)
and one dive shop,
Ko Jum Divers
(
08 2273 7603;
www.kohjum-divers.com
; Ko Jum Beach Villas)
.
Sleeping & Eating
Ko Jum
Upwards of 30 properties are spread out along Ko Jum's west coast. Some places rent out
sea kayaks and most have a restaurant. Public transport to Ko Jum and Ko Si Boya is
limited in the low season, so some resorts close between May and October.
Bodaeng
( 08 1494 8760; Hat Yao; bungalow with/without bathroom 200/150B)
A good old-fashioned hippie
vortex with dirt-cheap lean-to wood and bamboo bungalows sprinkled in the trees. It ain't
BUNGALOWS
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