An unexpected overnight guest arrived – a school friend of our daughter’s who by chance was in Phuket having dental work done – so we had a longer stop in Ao Chalong than first anticipated. But it gave us a chance to do a few things, including change the filters on the water maker and give it a little bit of an overhaul.
It also gave our daughter a chance to regain her sea legs and get over the journey from India after a busy term teaching.
The weather wasn’t brilliant (grey and a bit dull) when we left Ao Chalong but we had a good trip to Koh Mai Thong and on arrival headed to anchor near the abandoned hotel development (as suggested in the SouthEast Asia pilot).
The jetty and surrounding area were busy with a fair few tourist boats coming and going but we anchored anyway to go and have a look at what is described as “a small, beautiful island”. However, our attempt to get onto the island were thwarted when we went to the jetty – we were told we would have to pay 2,500 baht ($95) if we used it! We were horrified but undaunted headed for the beach.
As we approached a guy started yelling and gesticulating, telling us in no uncertain terms that we weren’t to land our dinghy on the beach. Not a welcoming kind of experience!
So we got back on board and anchored off away from the resort and went for a walk to enjoy the glorious views followed by a swim off the boat.
Salty tales from Bali Hai on Sunday 
That’s disappointing that you can visit the island. Why don’t they just put up a sign and save us yachties the hassle of finding out the hard (and often rude) way!
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Thanks for your comment. Yes we were quite upset as it was just so unexpected. The security person was even shaking his fist at us so we felt awful. Have had the opposite behaviour everywhere else. The Thai people are generally very kind, gentle and welcoming!
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