You know life is tough when you got to head to a remote island in South East Asia to do a party and get paid well too. Well Trix has assumed the responsibility of hyping up the island night life on Koh Toa for the week and we get everyone update with party pics and info when he gets back.

Imagine a remote tropical island with incredible beaches, exotic scuba diving, a rich jungle in the centre and surrounded by remarkably quiet, palm tree laced white sand beaches. This is Koh Tao, a small island off the southern coast of Thailand not far from the better known and much more crowded Koh Samui.

Koh Tao (Thai: เกาะเต่า) literally translates to Turtle Island. It is hidden near the eastern shores of the Gulf of Thailand and is a spec in the sea; 20 km². Koh Tao forms a tambon within the district (Amphoe) Ko Pha Ngan of Surat Thani Province. As of 2006 it’s official population number in 1,382. Trix may try to become number 1,383.

Koh Tao caters toward the scuba divers of the world and is the heart of the islands economy. Koh Tao recieved its name from its first settlers for the island’s turtle-like geographic shape. Coincidentally, the island is an important breeding ground for Hawksbill turtles and Green turtles. A coalition of local scuba diving centres has reintroduced hundreds of juvenile turtles to the island’s ecosystem.

The island remained for a long time inhabited except for the occasional fisherman or lost sailor that would stumble along its shores trying to reach the neighboring islands. On June 18, 1899 the much loved King Chulalongkorn visited Ko Tao and left as evidences his monogram on a huge boulder at Jor Por Ror bay next to Sairee Beach. This place is still worshiped today.

In 1933 the island was actually used as a political prison - maybe one of the only prisons in the world that I would actually try to get into. In 1947 Khuang Abhaiwongse, prime minister of Thailand at that time, pleaded and received a royal pardon for all prisoners on the island. Everybody was taken to the shore of Surat Thani and Ko Tao was abandoned again (Surat Thani however was stuck with all these freed prisoners but thats another story).

In the same year Khun Uaem and his brother Khun Oh reached Ko Tao from the neighboring Ko Phangan by trying out their traditional sail boat, for that time a quite long and dangerous journey. Even thought the island was still under royal patronage, it did not stop these pioneers claiming themselves a good part of the land on today’s Sairee beach. Having brought their families over, they began to cultivate and harvest the excellent soil, forming the first generation of the present-day community. They lived a simple and tough life harvesting coconuts, fishing and growing vegetables, which were also traded with Ko Phangan. Despite the difficulties in reaching the island, the population grew steadily.

In the 1980s the first travelers discovered Ko Tao and their special backpacker network quickly made it widely known and a popular destination. As a consequence, bigger, faster and safer boats were used to allow easier access to Ko Tao. In the 1990s the island finally became known as a diving site.

Any divers or backpackers in the area be sure to stop by Trix’s bungalow for a chill session and drop by to catch the a great show that has be growing in quick popularity in Bangkok’s Music Underground community.

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