Ko Mak (, ) is a small island of Trat province,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. It is a subdistrict (''tambon'') of

Ko Kut district Ko Kut (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Trat province, eastern Thailand, consisting of a group of islands. With a population of 2,894 in 2011, it is the district with the smallest population in all of Thailand. History Originally, the area of ...

. The island is named after the

areca nut The areca nut ( or ) or betel nut () is the fruit of the areca palm (''Areca catechu''). The palm is originally native to the Philippines, but was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 15 ...

(หมาก), also known as the "betel nut".

History

The first settler on the island was Chao Sua Seng, a Chinese Affairs Officer during the reign of

King Rama V Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

, who established a

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

plantation. He sold the plantation to Luang Prompakdii, also a Chinese Affairs Officer whose descendants own the land to this day. Luang Prompakdii and his children are known to have established more coconut and

rubber plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...

s, effectively covering most of the arable land in these two sought-after exports. The first attempt at attracting a tourism market was in 1974, when bungalows were built at Ban Ao Nid on the east of the island. Infrastructure, specifically transport and telecommunications were in their early stages and as a result, it took some time for the tourism industry to become established on Ko Mak. By 1987 certain beaches and land were cleared and the first resorts were built. Originally, the area of the Ko Kut district was part of the subdistrict (''

tambon ''Tambon'' (, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' of Bangkok, whi ...

'') Ko Chang, Laem Ngop District. In 1952 the subdistrict Ko Mak was established covering the whole island, at that time divided into four villages (''

muban Muban (; , ) is the lowest Administrative divisions of Thailand, administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet (place), hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74 ...

s''). In 1980, three villages of Ko Mak were split off to create the subdistrict Ko Kut. On 1 April 1990 the government upgraded ''tambon'' Ko Kut together with ''tambon'' Ko Mak to a minor district (''

king amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to counties. The chief district ...

''). On 15 May 2007, all of Thailand's 81 minor districts were upgraded to full districts. On 24 August the upgrade became official. As local government entities, two

tambon administrative organization ''Tambon'' (, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' of Bangkok, whi ...

s (TAO) were created in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The Tambon Council Ko Kut was upgraded to a TAO in 2003, and for Ko Mak in 2004.

Geography

The island of Ko Mak is in the east of the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

, 35 kilometers from the mainland, and is the third largest island in Trat Province, after Ko Chang and Ko Kut. With an area of 16 square kilometers, Ko Mak has 27 km of coastline, many long sandy beaches, and a few hills. The island is home to approximately 400 locals and renowned for its beautiful beaches, having been included in the UK's ''Sunday Times'' 10 most beautiful beaches list in 2006. Ko Mak has a temple, a primary school, three fishing villages, a market, and a health center. It is possible to walk to Ko Kham, a smaller island less than 1 km northwest of Ko Mak, at

low tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...

Tourism

The island is small and flat with coconut plantations and mangrove vegetation along the coastline. There are approximately 15 small-scale resorts on Ko Mak. Both Ko Kham and Ko Phi can easily be reached with

sea kayak A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak used for the sport of Watercraft paddling, paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and oceans. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They t ...

or boat rental from the resorts on the northwest coast and are snorkeling destinations. Ko Mak has no pubs, bars with noisy music at night, or liquor stores. The campaign of using less plastic is promoted and plastic can be recycled. Locals encourage tourists to collect trash from the beach every Saturday as part of Ko Mak's Trash Hero activities. The descendants of the five original families of Ko Mak still live on the island. The occupations of those ancestors were collecting ''mak ling'' (''

Areca triandra ''Areca triandra'', the wild areca palm, is a palm which is often used as ornamental plant. It is native to India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is also reportedly naturalized ...

''), and cultivating coconut and rubber plantations.

Gallery

File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Sunset on the beach.jpg, Hills on the west side File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Palm trees on the beach.jpg, Palms on the beach File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Coconut palm plantation.jpg, Coconut palm plantation in the south File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Western beach.jpg, Western beach at low tide File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Solitary tree in lagoon.jpg, Shallow waters of the Gulf of Thailand, eastern lagoon

References

External links