I had booked tickets from Bangkok South bus station to Ranong online via 12go agency. I used them a lot for train and bus booking in India and found them very reliable ( I learned about them from another website: ‘The man in seat 61’. This provides invaluable information about train travel all over the world).

We had checked up on how to hail a taxi driver in Bangkok and were hoping to get one who would offer us a fair price. Our hotel receptionist said we could be charged anything from 200 to 500 baht and that the drivers who lurk around Khao San Road tend to overcharge. In fact we struck lucky. We stationed ourselves at a junction facing in the right direction out of the main Khao San area and indicated towards the ground. Our driver immediately offered us the trip for 200 baht. On the half hour ride we established with our very limited Thai and his much better English that he was from Ranong! He was very happy that we were visiting his home town.

At the bus station we had time for a breakfast of fried veg and rice before boarding our bus for the 9 hour journey to Ranong. The bus was luxurious with tilting seats, plenty of legroom and Thai snacks included. I only ate the pea crisps. Tim ate the other stuff and regretted it – he said he had a funny taste in his mouth for the rest of the day! We stopped about half way at a service station for 20 minutes. Delicious Thai food was available by exchanging money for tokens.

Ranong is a fairly large town on the Myanmar border. We didn’t have time to see a lot of it, but we plan to spend a few days there on our return from Ko Phayam. We saw a few other western tourists when we went out to eat, but it seemed a quiet provincial place. It is possible to enter Myanmar from Ranong, which is tempting…

We had a bad night in Ranong, as the room we had chosen at our hotel had a terrible mattress, but breakfast in a Japanese owned cafe was delicious. The owner was very friendly and served us fried egg and homemade bread. I then managed to flag down a songthaw (shared rickshaw like vehicle) to the pier. Unfortunately although we knew there were two piers, one for the slow boat and one for the fast boat, we still managed to get dropped at the wrong place. Luckily we intercepted another songthaw bringing foreigners from the bus station to the slow boat pier.

Waiting at the slow boat pier was an interesting experience in itself. It is right next to the local fish market, where lively trading activity is going on. A very young attractive and assertive Thai woman was in charge, standing in the middle of the chaos and shouting orders to all the boat hands and traders.

The boat was scheduled to leave at 9:30, but by the time it had been loaded with goods and set off it was almost 11. We and a few other tourists sat on deck while goods to be unloaded at the island were stored below. It was a pleasant 2 hour trip, passing alongside Ko Chang. We spotted flying fish and a couple of sea eagles soared overhead. The alternative to the slow boat are motor boats provided in season by various resorts in Ko Phayam, but I was happy with our more chilled out choice.

At the port we easily managed to get a Songthaw to Rabbit bungalows which rents dorm rooms and simple huts. I had booked a deluxe bamboo hut for us in advance. It has a hammock, bed with mosquito net and cold water shower, which is all you need in Thailand. The bungalows are slightly inland, but it only takes about five minutes to walk to the beach. The surroundings are beautiful with a lake which is covered in pink lotus flowers each morning. Lek, the owner, runs an efficient operation, sitting in the centre of things all day and late into the evening. There is a cafe on site – as always in Thailand the food is delicious. When we arrived Lek gave us a map of the island and information about various beaches and sunset spots.

We immediately set out for the beach. It is gorgeous – a classic white sand bay backed by mangrove. It is very undeveloped with one beach bar and a few bungalow complexes that are a bit more upmarket than Rabbit. The only disadvantage is that at low tide it is not possible to swim. The peace and seclusion make up for this and there are other beaches nearby that are swimmable all day.

That evening we sat overlooking the lake and eating green curry. We felt our holiday within a holiday had truly begun.