Hidden Thailand explored on a kayaking trip up country’s Andaman coast, with untamed nature and unique lodgings en route

An 18-day kayak trip from Satun to Phuket along the Andaman Sea coast reveals beaches and islets that would otherwise go unseen in a quiet part of Thailand

On our journey we take in mangroves, estuaries and coastal villages. Some of the best views are enjoyed from affordable accommodation with plenty of character

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Kayaking past a fishing village on Koh Phu Island, along Thailand’s Andaman coast. Seeing the coast in this way enables travellers to absorb the nature and culture in a lesser-known part of the country. Photo: Ian Neubauer

Published: 4:15pm, 29 Apr 2024Updated: 6:25pm, 29 Apr 2024

In 2006, German travel magazine Hidden Europe published A Manifesto for Slow Travel – an essay that argues journeys should be “a moment to relax rather than a stressful interlude imposed between home and destination.

“Slow travel,” it continues, “re-engineers time, transforming it into a commodity of abundance rather than scarcity. And slow travel also reshapes our relationship with places, encouraging and allowing us to engage more intimately with the communities through which we travel.”

Recently, I “slow travelled” from Satun, the southernmost town and province on Thailand’s Andaman coast, to the resort island of Phuket. The journey takes seven or eight hours in a car or bus, but I did it in a kayak over 18 days.

The slow pace allowed me to completely absorb the nuanced beauty of the Andaman coast and its offshore islands, spend quality time with locals and discover a number of outstanding beaches, islets, villages and hotels I otherwise would never have seen.

Kayaking between limestone karsts along Thailand’s Andaman Coast. Photo: Ian Neubauer

I come across the first of these gems on my second day at sea after pausing for a break at an archipelago of two islets in the Mu Ko Phetra National Park. The gin-clear waters of the narrow channel between the islands are as calm as a lake and possess coral gardens alive with tropical fish.

When I land on a sugar white beach on Koh Lidi Yai, the larger of the two islets a ranger moves me on, as it is a reserve for endangered swiftlets that make edible birds’ nests, a delicacy always in demand around Asia.