Happy Island, Phranang Beach and the Thaiwand Wall...
Description
This area is new for Mountain Project, and is just getting started. Feel free to contribute!
Climbing in Thailand. Welcome to the "Land of Smiles". Thailand is quickly becoming an international climbing destination. From the Northern Province with Chiang Mai, to the Southern Province with Koh Phi-Phi and the Phra Nang/Railay Peninsula in Krabi, there is plenty to climb.
The food is incredible (and cheap) and so is the shopping. A visit to Thailand is a trip into a unique culture with some of the best limestone climbing around.
The most interesting area for climbers (versus tourists) would be Southern Thailand near Krabi and Koh Phi-Phi. However, although not a tropical beach, the rest of Thailand has something for any climber with several other areas and a vast number of other activities.
Most of the routes are bolted sport routes with anchors, so leave your trad gear at home.
Getting There
Most travelers fly into Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi International Airport BKK. With international and domestic flights plus access to the bus and train stations, Bangkok is the usual jumping-off point for many a traveler's journey.
Protection may vary from what you read in the guidebooks or here on this site as routes get retrobolted and threads/slings are added or subtracted from a route.
Climate
Thailand enjoys a tropical climate with three distinct seasons: hot and dry from February to May (average temperature 34 degrees Celsius and 75% humidity); rainy with plenty of sunshine from June to October (average day temperature 29 degrees Celsius and 87% humidity); and cool from November to January (temperatures range from 32 degrees Celsius to below 20 degrees Celsius with a drop in humidity). Climbing in Thailand is possible all year round.
Much lower temperatures are experienced in the North and Northeast during nighttime. The South has a tropical rainforest climate with temperatures averaging 28 degrees Celsius almost all year round.
Accommodations
A myriad of accommodations is available throughout Thailand, ranging from 5-star luxury hotels to simple tents and bungalows. The price and type of lodging facilities on offer is associated with location, with Bangkok and major tourist cities boasting some of the best hotels in the world, while rudimentary rooms are more common in rural areas.
Regardless, all types of accommodations in Thailand are known for being clean, efficient, and friendly, with world-class service and unbeatable hospitality that comes naturally for all Thais, being an integral component of the culture. Prices vary depending on the time of the year. Nationwide, they are at their highest during the cool season (Nov-Feb) and are less during the hot season (Mar-May) and rainy season (Jun-Oct). The only exception is Bangkok, where occupancy rate is high throughout the year and prices remain relatively fixed. Hotels in Chiang Mai and Phuket are fully booked during the cool season. From Dec 15-Jan 15, prices will increase even further as this is the peak time for tourism.
Clothing
Light, cool clothes are sensible and a jacket is needed for formal meetings and dining in top restaurants. Shorts (except knee-length walking shorts), sleeveless shirts, tank tops and other beach-style attire are considered inappropriate dress when not actually at the beach or in a resort area. Prices are low, so you'll be able to buy anything you've forgotten. Bargaining is an accepted method of doing business except in large retail stores and markets.
Quite honestly, I spent 2 weeks wearing nothing but flip-flops and board shorts while climbing in Railay Beach.
Tap Water
Tap water is clean, but drinking from it directly should be avoided. Bottled water is recommended and readily available; all the local Thais drink bottled water only. Bathing or showering in tap water will be fine.
Electricity
The electric current is 220 volt AC (50 cycles) throughout the country. Many different types of plugs and sockets are in use. Travelers with electric shavers, hair dryers, tape recorders and other appliances should carry a plug adapter kit. The better hotels will make available 110-volt transformers.
Vaccination
The following vaccines may be recommended for your travel to Southeast Asia. Discuss your travel plans and personal health with a health-care provider to determine which vaccines you will need.
Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Transmission of hepatitis A virus can occur through direct person-to-person contact; through exposure to contaminated water, ice, or shellfish harvested in contaminated water; or from fruits, vegetables, or other foods that are eaten uncooked and that were contaminated during harvesting or subsequent handling.
Hepatitis B, especially if you might be exposed to blood or body fluids (for example, health-care workers), have sexual contact with the local population, or be exposed through medical treatment. Hepatitis B vaccine is now recommended for all infants and for children ages 11–12 years who did not receive the series as infants.
Japanese encephalitis, if you plan to visit rural farming areas and under special circumstances, such as a known outbreak of Japanese encephalitis.
Malaria: your risk of malaria may be high in some of the countries in this region. See your health-care provider for a prescription antimalarial drug. For details concerning risk and preventive medications, see Malaria Information for Travelers to Southeast Asia.
Rabies, if you might have extensive unprotected outdoor exposure in rural areas, such as might occur during camping, hiking, or bicycling, or engaging in certain occupational activities.
Typhoid, particularly if you are visiting developing countries in this region. Typhoid fever can be contracted through contaminated drinking water or food, or by eating food or drinking beverages that have been handled by a person who is infected. Large outbreaks are most often related to fecal contamination of water supplies or foods sold by street vendors.
As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria and measles.
I love Tonsai but it has become an ecological nightmare. I guarantee you will have a blast climbing there and it can be done on the cheap at any time of the year, I also guarantee you will get sick. Some say this is part of the 3rd world experience. If taking 2-3 days of your trip being sick is acceptable then don't hesitate.
The problem is that the well for local water is fairly low and the hotels are fairly high. Water treatment? None. Garbage dumps are in between. So you have that leeching into the ground, waste from all the people going in the ground and into the bay, and the water pump collecting it so you can shower in it. But hey, it's cheap.
My dilemma is that without our visits they will have less money and stop any effort to clean the place. With our visits we contribute to the stew. There has been some action with cleanup efforts but if the local Thai's can make an extra $1 per day dumping the garbage in the jungle vs hauling it to Ao Nang, they will. There needs to be a long term solution to this or people will stop going to this wonderful place.
If you go, do not trust the tap water, do not swim in the bay (Amadan Sea is cleaner), do not cut your feet on the dead coral in the bay, try to help the local thais understand their home is becoming less desirable due to the trash (everywhere and easily picked up) and groundwater/water treatment. And drink lots of Chang to help fight the Tonsai Tummy.
Good comment from Patrick. I spent 3 weeks on Tonsai and was sick for 2 days. I don't think I know of anyone who was there longer than a week or two who escaped it.
Sadly, not sure how you can avoid it. Absolutely always drink bottled water, but I suspect my illness came from cooked food. Maybe vegetables washed in tap water.
But I would recommend you stay in a place with your own private bathroom for this reason!
Just got back from Tonsai. Spent 8 days with the last day and a half rendered useless by a wrecked gastro-intestinal system. Patrick pretty much nailed it. Tonsai is well on it's way to being a dump, if it isn't already. As for the locals being concerned about cleaning up the trash...they're not, they create most of it.
I was at Railay for two and a half weeks, almost two years to today... neither I nor my gf had any GI issues, and we ate the leafy vegetables, drank the iced drinks, and generally ignored that which you shouldn't do. I agree with the OPs issue against the decadence of Krabi, but I think the comments about sickness are unfounded. If you drank the water out of the tap, well then, I can't really see how'd you be surprised. Last I was there a 1.5 liter bottle of water cost less than a buck. It was simple enough to avoid the tap, though I brushed my teeth from it without adverse event.
I felt it worth stating an argument against the way this thread was drifting for potential visitors. I'm heading there tomorrow, and will report back if I find a similar experience. A case of GI or two isn't enough to cast a blanket designation of a place as unclean. Travelers stomach is quite common the world around. You had one, and Seth had a similar experience. I don't know either one of you, but I know Caughtinside enough to say that I'm sure his intestinal issues were more likely due to risque behavior with Ladyboys than drinking the water.
I wouldn't down-play the GI thing so much. I was hospitalized after my last trip there for a GI infection resulting in rather high blood loss. I can describe in detail if necessary, but I am sure you can imagine... Even my 'local' SE asian pals have gotten sick on most of their trips there. Odds are ~ 50/50.
Don't forget that the variety of responses to infection, resistenace to infection, etc... are VERY different from person to person depending on your own intestinal biology. Between people, as much as 80% of the biomass (flora) in the GI system may be completely different. I've learned that I am sensitive ever since I got Bali-Belly in 1997 which then triggered an immune-response which was quite oppressive.
People should exercise caution there, in a place where about 50% of all travelers report a GI infection during the course of their stay.
Continuing with the health issues discussion, I'd care to reiterate the warnings. And it's not simply a case of Traveller's Stomach. I've lived in Thailand for nearly 4 years now, so I'd like to think that my intestines have adapted to the new 'flora' in this part of the world.
Also, two of my four traveling/climbing partners came down with GI issues at the tail end of our stay. We were staying in different bungalows and eating at different places. No one drank the tap water. Bottom line is the place is not very hygienic.
Well, now I'm 5 months in and nothing serious to name yet - other than Dengue but I hardly think that's relevant to the stomach issue. And I pretty much only eat from street vendors. Fruits, ice, water, you name it. Damn, I know Karma is going to get me for this post.
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