Ko Tarutao island () is the largest island of the Tarutao National Park in Satun Province of

southern Thailand Southern Thailand (formerly Southern Siam and Tambralinga) is the southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand by the Kra Isthmus. Geography Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bo ...

. The island is long and wide. It is one of the most unspoiled islands in

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...

and in all of Thailand. Ko Tarutao is located about north of

Langkawi Langkawi, officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah (), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) located some 30 km off the coast of northwe ...

Island in Malaysia. The Malay word ''tertua'' or ''tarutao'' means ''old'' and ''primitive''.

Overview

There is a concrete road running through the island, but the terrain is rugged and mountainous with several peaks stretching more than high. The highest peak is high. Most of the island territory is covered in dense, old growth

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

Mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

trees and limestone cliffs cover much of the island shores. The western coast has long and wide white-sand beaches which are historical nestling ground sites for turtles.

Langurs The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a family (biology), subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genus, genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. So ...

crab-eating macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settlem ...

s and wild pigs are common on the island. Ao Son beach on the west side of the island is over long and over wide. From its eastern side the larger island of Ko Tarutao is encircled by over 10 smaller offshore islands and limestone

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

islets, such as Ko Sing, Ko Kaman, Ko Ko Lo, Ko Klang, Ko Pulao Na, Ko Daeng, Ko Laen, Ko Lek, and others.

History

Ko Tarutao is a place of historical importance. Between 1938 and 1948, more than 3000 Thai criminals and political prisoners were held here, including Prince Sithiporn Kridakara a member of

Chakri dynasty The Chakri dynasty is the current reigning dynasty of the Thailand, Kingdom of Thailand. The head of the house is the Monarchy of Thailand, king, who is head of state. The family has ruled Thailand since the founding of the Rattanakosin era and ...

who would later serve as Minister of Agriculture of post-war Thailand under the third premiership of

Khuang Aphaiwong Khuang Aphaiwong (also spelled Kuang, Abhaiwong and Abhaiwongse; , ; 17 May 1902 – 15 March 1968), also known by his noble title Luang Kowit-aphaiwong (, ), was the founder of the Democrat Party and three times the prime minister of Thaila ...

. During World War II, food and medical supplies from the mainland were depleted and many prisoners died from malaria. Those who survived, both prisoners and guards, became pirates in the nearby

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

. Later they were suppressed by British troops in 1951 to deter the rise of more prisoners. In 2002, Ko Tarutao was used as the filming location for '' Survivor: Thailand''. A 16 August 2013 ''

Bangkok Post The ''Bangkok Post'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is published in broadsheet and digital formats. The first issue was sold on 1 August 1946. It had four pages and cost one baht, a considerable amount ...

'' editorial said human trafficking gangsters "use the southern tip of the island to incarcerate and torture Muslim

Rohingya The Rohingya people (; ; ) are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who predominantly follow Islam from Rakhine State, Myanmar. Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 1.4 million Ro ...

boat people to extort ransom money before selling them into slavery".A nightmare in paradise
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References

External links

*{{Wikivoyage inline, Ko Tarutao Islands of Thailand Islands of the Strait of Malacca

Overview

History

See also

References

External links