Thailand's Koh Pha Ngan island (also spelled Koh Phangan) in the gulf of Thailand is everything you ever dreamed about for a cheap holiday on a faraway paradise alike Thai tropical island.

- Friendly beach resorts and hotels
- Golden sandy beaches
- cartoon alike waving coconut palms
- stunning tropical beach weather
- ideal for swimming, snorkeling and diving
- Ibiza alike beach parties
- Mouth-watering Thai cuisine
- Spa and massage facilities
- And more....more....more
- But the most important...
it's cheap and this paradise really exists.

Koh Phangan island in Thailand has long been the castaway secret of traveling hippies and backpackers, but lately Thailand's Koh Phangan island has come out it's secret hiding. The island is a holiday paradise on a shoestring but with the newly booming tourism to Koh Phangan this means it will not stay a paradise for long.

Located in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Pha Ngan island has a mild temperate tropical climate. Which principally means that you will never be caught with too many clothes on, especially during Thailand's monsoon season at the end of the year, when you will mostly be soaked to the bone, daily, around lunchtime, between contented sunning sessions. Beside that, never forget it's always summer time on Koh Phangan island.

Beaches of Koh Pha Ngan
Beaches all around Koh Pha Ngan island and are as it should be for sunbathing, snorkeling and swimming, many of those picture alike beaches have excellent snorkeling and diving sites with a loads of tropical fish in paradise-lost aquamarine waters. The fact that the sea around Thailand's Koh Pha Ngan island is always lukewarm and smooth as a lagoon doesn't hurt either. Although the island of Koh Tao in Thailand, more to the North, is more famous for diving, a number of diving schools also now operating on Koh Phangan island.

For the less adventurous travelers or those Thailand tourists that are looking for a bit of self-discovery, a yoga school has opened its doors on the west coast of the island. For meditation sessions, there is also a Buddhist Retreat in the centre of Koh Pha Ngan island, but bear in mind that joining the retreat may involve a couple of days of fasting, an important downside to meditating after tasting the local culinary miracles of Thai food.

Around Koh Phangan island
Heading away from Koh Pha Ngan beaches, the interior of this tropical island consists of dense semi-jungles which slowly ascends to hamstring-shredding heights. Everywhere in between, the prime business of the island, the coconut palm industry, is everywhere to be seen. In Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia, the coconut palm fulfills a abundance of purposes, from house roofing to serving as flower pots.

After one week on Koh Phangan island, the modest coconut palm also seems to be appreciated in the succulent dishes of Thai food, but for most locals of Koh Pha Ngan, the coconut palms are the source of coconut oil that brings the income for the island's economy outside the high tourist season.

For a long time in Thailand, the main attraction of Koh Pha Ngan island was it's famous Full Moon Parties that turned the island into a bewildered Asian Ibiza once every month. Half moon parties and Dark moon parties are now an equally valid excuse for those Ibiza-alike party gurus.

Thailand's world-renowned Thai massage techniques have become the final ingredient to this little seaside Shangri-La paradise island. Thai traditional massage is nowadays being offered in most villages of the island, but also by beach wandering masseuses on all popular beaches of Koh Phangan practitioners on popular beaches. The systematic process of having your body bend and twisted will certainly straighten out any tensions, not yet dissolved in the island air. Many Thai massage converts even say that the more the massage hurts, the better the afterglow. Either way, having a Thai massage on the beach is a fine way to feel like a Prince.

Thai food and local drinks
With tourism booming, many restaurants on the island try to cater to Western tastes while keeping their core of traditional Thai food. A significant expat community on the island ensures that you can also find a variety of European, International and Mediterranean cuisine. Despite this fact, it is the local Thai food that will change your idea of what eating is all about. The sublime and mouth-watering blends of curry and coconut, chili and lemongrass result in undiluted culinary ecstasy of Thailand's cuisine. More that a few travelers have turned into creative Thai cooks on returning from Koh Pha Ngan island in Thailand.

Getting around Koh Phangan island is no problem at all. Transport facilities range from simply walking, though this can be tricky on uncharted jungle paths in the blazing midday heat; Song-Taew taxis, which are pickup trucks fitted with 2-rows of seats; And boat taxis around the island. Motorcycle rental on the island is very reasonably priced, which makes buzzing around on your rented scooter one of the most popular options on Koh Pha Ngan.

Not only is Thailand's Koh Phangan island ideal for a paradise holiday, but it is very affordable as well.
Bungalow accommodation on the beach range from 200 to 300 baht (US$ 5 to 8).
Island taxis (Song-Taews) come to 50 baht a trip (US$ 1.30).
A fantastic Thai meal, including drinks is around 100 baht (US$ 2.60)
A traditional Thai massage, with royal treatment costs around 200 baht (US$ 5.25)

Western and Oriental style clothes, accessories, travel gear and local Thai handicrafts plus souvenirs are available around the island, sold in true Asian style, which include negotiating the price as a entertaining social ritual.

And as the remote island of Koh Pha Ngan has now also entered the digital-satellite communication trend, money spitting ATM tellers are available on the island for any holder of an international credit card.

And there you have it. For now, Koh Pha Ngan is still a dream come true for the budget travelers with imperial tastes.

But please, keep it as a secret, else this Paradise on a shoestring budget will get overrun by tourists.

Taken from a travel-story by Marie-Therese Le Roux