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Diving with the giant whale shark
There are over 41 islands in the Chumphon Sea; however,
only 7-8 islands have popular and beautiful diving spots, especially Ngam
Islands. The undersea world around the Koh Ngam Noi and Koh Ngam Yai is full
of huge brain coral, staghorn coral and colorful sea anemones dancing along
the rhythm of the stream. These corals and sea anemones provide food and
shelter for various species of colorful sea fish, such as butterfly fish,
clownfish, angelfish, and rabbit fish. If you are lucky, you might see the
friendly giant whale shark swimming around looking for food under the sea of
these two islands.
The most beautiful diving spot in the Chumphon Sea is at
Koh Lak Ngam with the approximate depth of 9 - 20 m. Here you will find the
amazing colorful branches of one of the thickest black coral reefs in
Thailand. You can also see the red sea whip, large colonies of sea anemone,
schools of different species of fish and a large number of phyllidia
coelestis (sea slug).
About a 100 m away from the North of Koh Ngam Yai, you can see a pile of
rocks known as “Hin Phae”. This area is full of black coral, sea whip and
corallimorphs. It is a home of big fish like the whale shark, barracuda,
round batfish, red snapper, jackfish and large schools of yellow striped
trevally swimming around, as well as leopard sharks and stingrays.
Ran Pet & Ran Kai are two small islands that have very
rich deep-sea coral reefs containing coral in different colors - light
yellow, white and gold, as well as red Neptune’s cup sponge, red sea whip,
yellow-band fusilier and saw blade shrimp.
Koh Mattra is the best snorkeling spot in the area with massive coral and
brain coral reefs, white clownfish with black spots and small rabbit fish.
Moreover, there are several small coral reefs under the sea around Koh Thalu
and Koh Langka Chio which are homes of big fish, including schools of rabbit
fish, fusilier and sometimes black tip reef sharks.
Know before you go: You can most often see the whale shark in April. By the
way, the National Park does offer boat trips for tourists.
Recommendation: Stay over at Mattra Island.
Travel info
From Chumphon town, drive along Highway 4001 for about 7 km to Tha Yang
Pier. Lots of local buses and taxis can take you there. An easier way might
be to book a tour package with Chumphon Cabana Resort.
GPS Location: N10° 23.799’, E99° 21.079’
Contact:
Mo Koh Chumphon National Park +66 7755 8144-6
TAT Chumphon Office +66 7750 1831; +66 7750 2775-6
Chumphon Cabana Resort +66 7756 0246 to 7;
www.cabana.co.th
Facilities & Services: Diving centre, guide, boat, accommodation and
restroom. (TAT)
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THAI and TAT welcome over 21 million passengers in Thailand
Dr. Sorajak Kasemsuvan (second left), president of Thai Airways
International Public Company Limited (THAI), and Surapol Svetasreni (far
right), governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), joined together
to welcome over 21 million passengers traveling to Thailand. Together, they
led the public and private sectors of the Thai tourism and travel industry
to welcome passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport with commemorative gifts.
The first group of passengers that reached the 21 million mark arrived in
Thailand on THAI’s flight TG551 from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
Bangkok listed as 6th most popular
international destination at Gogobot.com
2012 was a record-setting year for tourism as an estimated 1 billion
vacationers went abroad worldwide and seemingly just as many documented
their trips on social media.
Gogobot.com, a site designed specifically for people to share their travel
experiences, has released their list of the most “shared” places in the
world and Bangkok came in as the 6th most popular; no surprise as over 21
million tourists visited Thailand last year.
As reported by CNN Travel, the list is a popularity ranking of cities across
the globe based on the quantity of stories, photographs, and “virtual
postcards” - an app that allows travelers to document the sites they are
visiting and post them to Facebook. Bangkok, which is no stranger to top-10
rankings in travel-related polls and surveys placed sixth, just behind #5
San Diego, USA and ahead of #7 Rome, Italy. Leading the way was Paris,
France.
Bangkok’s entry indicates that over 459,000 people in the Gogobot.com
community have visited the city and features recaps of its hotels and
vibrant restaurant scene, and countless images of famous temples and other
landmarks, floating market and nightlife scenes, and river life on the Chao
Phraya.
The rankings are derived from over 10 million travel “documents” from the 2
million+ users connected by the growing social travel platform, and other
cities making the list include Barcelona, New York and Venice.
Here’s a look at the top-10 most shared destinations:
Paris (France)
Las Vegas (USA)
San Francisco (USA)
Barcelona (Spain)
San Diego (USA)
Bangkok (Thailand)
Rome (Italy)
New York (USA)
Venice (Italy)
Marrakech (Morocco)
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Bt20 promotional fare
ends for airport link service
The Bt20 promotion fare for the airport rail link service between the city
centre and Suvarnabhumi airport which expired this month will not be
extended, according to an executive of the state corporation.
Chamroon Tangpaisarnkit, chairman of the SRT Electrified Train (SRTET) which
operates the airport link, said the collection of Bt20 fares in the 11am-2
pm timeframe from September 30-December 31 last year had not significantly
increased the number of passengers but instead created a monthly loss of
Bt1.8 million.
The marketing department was instructed to come up with a new promotion to
attract more passengers, he said, adding that the Bt20 promotional fare will
be suspended temporarily.
Unlike the Skytrain, widely known as BTS, which runs in the city centre, the
airport link operates in the suburbs and is crowded during the morning and
evening rush hours, Chamroon said.
He predicted more airport link passengers this year after an improvement of
facilities at most stations.
The improved facilities include more elevators at stations, expansion of
entrances and exits at Makkasan station and construction of a walkway
connection between the airport link and underground train at Petchburi
station.
SRTET has also sought permission from the Airports of Thailand to sell
airport link tickets at Suvarnabhumi airport’s arrival hall to attract more
passengers, he said. (MCOT)
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