Tag Archives: ferries

Ban Tha Khao…

… More Than Just A Jetty.

If you want to leave Ko Yao Noi, and of course no one wants to leave but sometimes you have to, there are two main piers, or jetties.

Manoh serves Phuket, and Tha Khao is where you go if you’re heading to Krabi. But it’s worth going to the latter just to hang around and take photos…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

And time seems to be of the essence. These passengers were all off the boat before it had stopped moving, and the boat was away from the pier before they had even reached the top of the steps…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

At the side of the pier there’s a river, and someone thoughtfully decided to build a study bridge. In fact there’s so much steel in the bridge a whole herd of elephants could cross safely, and then enjoy the views back to the pier and mainland…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

I’ve been there a few times, but I hadn’t noticed the stone steps leading away from the bridge and the river. And I wouldn’t have noticed this time had it not been for some people who seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Ah, they came down those steps” I thought. Smart guy!

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river
Now, if you’re a regular reader, you know how I love climbing steep stone steps! NOT!

Wherever I go there seem to be steps, and they always look like they must lead somewhere interesting, so, I have no choice really, I have to climb them.

After about ten breathless minutes I thought “I really should buy a drone so I don’t have to climb up.” And then I remembered….!

And of course, just to confuse me, there was a choice to be made…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

I went right, since that was closer to the sea, and at the top I found this spectacular sea view…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

Yes, it was time to go back down and try the other steps, which brought me to…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

All of which proved what I call the “50/90 rule.” Whenever there’s a fifty percent chance of doing something right, there’s a ninety percent chance I’ll do it wrong. Think – USB plugs. Try to plug it in, doesn’t fit, turn it over, doesn’t fit, fiddle around some more, curse a few times, and then you discover the first attempt was the correct one. Grrr. But I digress.

If you take the left steps you arrive at what I’d call a large lookout, which in Thailand is always called a viewpoint. I went there to look out, but you can see their point of view. More pics…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

And if you are wondering where I was, you can see the lookout viewpoint at the top of this photo…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

After trotting down the steps I wandered around the “town”. Here’s 50% of the buildings…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

…behind which is hidden the river and fishing harbor. I think most people are not aware it’s there. I certainly wasn’t until I started nosing around on Google Earth…

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

thailand, ko yao noi, ban tha khao, jetty, viewpoint, river

wwiSo, as I say, it’s more than just a jetty. I went there to take a few photographs, and ninety minutes later, I was still taking them.

Oh, and of course, I do have a drone “Mimi” and she has had a good look around. You can find the video HERE.