Three Islands, a Birthday, and the Best Pad Thai of My Life

If I had to summarize this trip in a single breath, it would be this: great island time, riding mopeds, eating incredible food, hanging out with good friends, playing dominoes, and drinking cold beer.

Of course, Thailand always makes you earn your relaxation. Getting to that state of zen required surviving a brutal transit day, a lost bag in Singapore that necessitated a 9:00 PM mall sprint for a new wardrobe, and a few ferry rides of questionable comfort. Once the logistics faded away and I was sitting by a pool looking out at the ocean, I missed Karthika—wishing she were there to share it—but I was grateful for the downtime all the same. That was when the whole trip shifted into a restorative gear.

Trip Overview

The itinerary, in brief: Bangkok overnight -> Trat -> ferry to Koh Chang (five nights) -> Koh Mak (two nights) -> Koh Kood (three nights) -> Phuket (four nights) -> Singapore layover -> home.

Three islands, one birthday, a waterfall, three ferry companies, at least one moped each, too many massages to count, and a cooking class I had to tactfully escape. Julie and Ethan were with me for the islands; Kelsey flew in from Japan for Phuket. The vibe across the whole thing was genuinely restorative - warm water, good food, unhurried days - with enough adventure threaded through to keep things interesting.

Most Memorable Moments

The Private Pool Room, Koh Chang

The Santhiya Tree Koh Chang Resort was already beautiful - a stunning infinity pool overlooking the ocean, excellent staff, solid food - but then I saw the room. Third floor: a private plunge pool, ornately carved wooden surround, and a view straight out to the mountains. I stopped walking and just stared for a moment. It felt like the trip announcing itself: okay, this is going to be good. The pool was barely big enough to actually swim in, but that's beside the point - I spent a lot of time sitting in it, watching the light shift over the hills, doing nothing productive.

Mopeds and a Waterfall

I'd never ridden a moped before Koh Chang. Turns out: terrifying for about four minutes, then absolutely exhilarating. We rode out to Klong Plu Waterfall in the national park, hiked up, and had the genuinely strange experience of letting the fish clean our feet. Dozens of tiny nibbles on dead skin - exactly as bizarre as it sounds. Then we swam in the pool below the falls and jumped off the rocks. One of those mornings where everything just goes right. (I'm still tempted to get a moped at home - electric version. Does that help my case?)

Scuba Diving the Koh Chang Wreck

We did a three-dive day out of Indie Beach: a local reef, the Koh Chang wreck, and a smaller reef in between. The visibility was great, but what got me more than anything was the sheer volume of fish. Coming from Seattle diving, where we're mostly focused on invertebrates and macro life, being surrounded by thousands of fish moving in formation was something else entirely. Giant fan corals, brain corals, anemones threaded throughout. Ethan came along on the boat even though he wasn't diving.

Siam Kitchen in a Tropical Storm

We found Siam Kitchen on Kulong Koi Beach almost by accident, and it quickly became the group favorite. The food was exceptional - the kind of Thai cooking that makes you want to cancel your flight home. The second night we ate there, a tropical storm rolled in while we were mid-dinner. We watched it come across the water, ate through dinner, and walked back to the hotel when it finally let up. A perfectly relaxing way to end a day.

The Cooking Class Incident

A cooking class on Koh Kood sounded like a great idea - beautiful mangrove setting, homemade curry paste, pad thai, spring rolls. Everything was going well until the raw chicken appeared. She cut it up - fine. Then used the same knife to chop the vegetables going into the uncooked spring rolls. Then wiped down the board with the chicken rag and used that same rag to clean the rest of the counter where we'd be working. I did some quick mental math - raw chicken cross-contamination, Thailand, my stomach's recent track record - quietly made an excuse and left early. No food consumed. No regrets. I made it to I-Yar for dinner that night, and the day recovered just fine.

Birthday Scuba Diving, Koh Kood

March 18th was the whole reason for the timing of this trip. Julie and Ethan had been building it up in the days before - little mentions, fun snacks and treats - and we started the day with scuba diving, a birthday plan I could not improve. Excellent visibility, beautiful coral variety, and we saw cuttlefish - a first for me. Those colors, that alien way of moving. A better morning couldn't have happened. The afternoon brought mango sticky rice, dominoes, and dinner with a small cake and a candle. It sounds simple written out. It felt genuinely special.

The Longtail Boat Day, Phuket

Jo at Tours with Jo arranged a private longtail boat for our ocean day, and it delivered. We stopped at Ko Hong for canoeing through sea caves and limestone formations, passed through Crane Cave, and saw Khao Phing Kan - James Bond Island, yes, the one from The Man with the Golden Gun, and yes, it lives up to it. We ended at Koh Panyi, a fishing village of nearly 3,000 people built entirely on stilts over the water. That last stop hit differently - the ingenuity and complexity of daily life out there stayed on my mind on the boat ride back. Oh, and both canoe guides independently assumed Kelsey and I were a couple and kept prompting us to kiss for photos. We are not a couple. We played along anyway.

Phuket Elephant Sanctuary

There is a real conversation to be had about elephant tourism in Thailand - I would encourage you to research it and form your own views. The camp we visited focused on letting elephants live their lives rather than performing or being ridden. It meant more observation than interaction, which I thought would feel like a letdown, but it didn't at all. Watching them just be elephants - unhurried, enormous, completely unbothered by us - was its own thing. The brief feeding session was a nice bonus.

Logistics & Practical Information

ACCOMMODATION

Santhiya Tree Koh Chang Resort: Probably the favorite property of the trip. Warm staff, beautiful ocean-view pool, and genuinely special rooms (ask about the private plunge pool suites). Food is solid. Highly recommend.

Indie Beach Bungalows & Cafe, Koh Chang: Friendly staff and a great food menu. Good location near a larger beach and a small town, and convenient for scuba departures. No pool, and rocks just under the sand make wading difficult. Rooms are a slight upcharge for what you get, but not a dealbreaker.

The Mak Trat, Koh Mak: Striking design and genuinely good pool views. But the beach is extremely shallow at low tide (a long walk just to reach the water), the staff was inattentive, and food and drinks were expensive for the quality. Go in with low expectations.

Koh Kood Resort: One of the trip's favorites. More rustic rooms, but the resort is well-maintained, the beach is genuinely beautiful, snorkeling is decent just offshore, and the food is solid. Worth noting: despite the mid-tier rooms, this had the highest food and drink prices of any property we stayed at. The massage here was also the best of the trip.

The Boathouse Phuket: Good location, nice staff, easy pool and beach access. On the pricier end for the area - if I were doing it again I'd find something similar for less. That said, if budget is not the concern, it is a comfortable base.

TRANSPORTATION

Getting to the islands involves a layered journey: fly Bangkok to Trat, take a shuttle van to the pier, ferry to Koh Chang, then a songthaew (a pickup truck with bench seating in the back - effectively a shared taxi) to your resort. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but it becomes routine.

For inter-island ferries, the experience varies dramatically by company.

Koh Kood Express (Koh Chang to Koh Mak): Cramped speedboat, no room to move. Avoid if you can.
Boonsiri Ferry (Koh Mak to Koh Kood): Comfortable catamaran with AC. Much better.
Seudamgo (Koh Kood to mainland): The best of the three. Modern, spacious, great AC. Worth routing your return through Koh Kood for this boat alone.

NOTABLE FOOD

Siam Kitchen, Kulong Koi Beach (Koh Chang): Best food on the islands, full stop. Go twice.
I-Yar, Koh Kood: Fantastic vibe, great food, friendly people. Excellent dinner spot.
Toh Daeng at Baan Ar Jor, Phuket: Michelin Bib Gourmand, and it earns it. Jo from Tours with Jo brought us here - worth making a reservation.

ACTIVITIES

Scuba diving (Koh Chang): Multiple operators depart from near Indie Beach. Three-dive days are standard and include the Koh Chang wreck, which is excellent. Great visibility and remarkable fish life.
Klong Plu Waterfall, Koh Chang National Park: Hike up, swim below the falls, jump off rocks. The fish-feet cleaning experience at the base is optional but highly recommended for the story alone.
Tours with Jo, Phuket: Jo runs private guided tours in Phuket and is excellent - great logistics, genuine local knowledge, and she will take you to places you would never find on your own.
Phuket Elephant Sanctuary: Ethical, observation-forward experience. Worth visiting with an open mind about what the interaction will look like.

Tips for Travelers

Bring your own sunscreen

Sunscreen in Thailand is noticeably expensive compared to what you would pay at home. Stock up before you go.

Invest in sun-protective clothing

Long-sleeve UPF shirts sound miserable in 35C heat - they are actually the best solution. More comfortable than reapplying every hour, and your skin will thank you.

Bug spray at dusk and dawn

Sandfly bites are small, silent, and itch for days. If you are near a beach at either end of the day, cover yourself completely in DEET-based spray. Do not skip this one.

Buy drinks and snacks off-property

Every property we stayed at had a fridge, and local shops or 7-Eleven charge roughly half what you would pay at the hotel. Stock up and keep the fridge full - it adds up over two weeks.

Pick the right ferry companies

Take the Boonsiri or Seudamgo ferry over the Koh Kood Express whenever possible. The comfort difference is significant.

Consider skipping Koh Mak if time is tight

Beautiful and peaceful, but knowing what I know now, I would have spent those two days on Koh Chang or Koh Kood instead.

A Note on Phuket

I will be straight with you: the two guided days with Jo were genuinely worthwhile - the longtail boat day especially - but Phuket as a whole felt more commercial, more expensive, and less like the Thailand I had spent the previous ten days in. Knowing what I know now, I would probably trim it to two days instead of four and spend the rest back on Koh Kood.

If you do go: the Phang Nga Bay longtail day and Old Town Phuket are the highlights. The Big Buddha is worth seeing once. And get Jo to take you to Toh Daeng.

Reflections & Final Thoughts

By the time I was on the flight out of Phuket, I was genuinely, enthusiastically ready to go home. That is not a complaint - it is actually a good sign. You know you have done it right when you hit the natural end of the thing and you are not grasping for more days.

I surprised Kelsey with a business class seat swap on the flight to Singapore, which was a good note to end on. Long layover, good food at Changi, a full night of sleep, and then home.

The islands were the best part. I am already thinking about going back.