Koh Tao Food & Social Scene Walk
Eat and socialise on Koh Tao — the island's food scene ranges from the authentic Thai food stalls serving the dive industry worker community to the international restaurant operations catering to the diverse nationality mix of the world's most international dive training destination.
- 1
Sairee Beach Restaurant Strip
The restaurant strip on Sairee Beach road is the most internationally diverse food scene on any Gulf of Thailand island — the competition between dive school-affiliated restaurants (which operate as social hubs for their own student and staff community), the independent Thai food operators, and the international cuisine restaurants (the Italian, Mexican, Israeli, and Indian operations that have established themselves to serve the multi-nationality dive tourism market) creates a food diversity that is unusual for an island of Koh Tao's small size. The social function of the restaurant on Koh Tao is as important as the food quality — the dive debrief over dinner, the comparing of underwater encounters between tables, and the planning of the next day's dive sites create a specific social dynamic that makes the Sairee restaurant strip a genuine community space rather than simply a row of eating establishments.
- 2
Mae Haad Thai Food Stalls
The Thai food stalls concentrated in the Mae Haad village area behind the pier serve the most authentic and most affordable Thai food accessible on Koh Tao — the pad kra pao (holy basil stir fry) prepared in the open-air kitchen cart, the khao man gai (poached chicken rice) from the steam tray operation, and the various curry and noodle preparations that constitute the Thai worker's standard lunch are available at prices that are a fraction of the resort restaurant tariffs. The Mae Haad stalls serve both the Thai resident community and the longer-stay budget visitors who have learned that the best and cheapest food on the island is not on the beach road.
- 3
Dive School Social Bars
The bars affiliated with the major dive schools on Sairee Beach (Big Blue, Crystal, Master Divers, and others) serve as social extensions of the dive school educational programme — the happy hours (typically 5-7pm, with the two-for-one cocktail offer attracting the dive course graduates celebrating their certification), the dive debriefs conducted over beers with the instructors, and the social networking between dive students from different countries create a bar atmosphere that is specifically unique to the dive school environment. The social culture of the dive school bar (where dive students compare experiences across different schools, where instructors socialise after their working day, and where the dive community's social hierarchy is navigated) is the most distinctively Koh Tao social experience available to visitors.
- 4
Freshwater Resources
The freshwater situation on Koh Tao is one of the island's most pressing practical challenges — the island has no natural surface water and depends entirely on rainfall collection (the rooftop tanks visible on every building), the groundwater extraction from shallow wells (of limited and variable quality), and the imported freshwater shipped from the mainland on barge services that operate several times weekly. The freshwater price on Koh Tao (significantly higher than mainland Thailand) and the periodic water shortages during extended dry periods reveal the infrastructure limitations of a small island accommodating an enormous tourist influx, and the water management practices of the dive schools and resort hotels (the recycled water for equipment rinsing, the restricted shower times during shortages) provide a practical education in island resource management.
- 5
International Dive Community Food
The food preferences and cultural practices of the international dive instructor community have shaped the Koh Tao food scene in ways that are specific to the destination — the Israeli-style falafel and hummus operations that have appeared on Sairee Beach reflect the historically large Israeli post-military-service traveller community, the Australian-style café breakfast operations serve the Australian dive instructor population, and the Thai-Western fusion cooking that characterises several Sairee Beach restaurants reflects the mixed nationality kitchen teams that are common in the island's restaurant operations. The Koh Tao food scene is simultaneously more diverse and less authentically Thai than the food available in the Thai provincial towns to which the island's ferry services connect.
- 6
Full Moon Night Scene
Koh Tao's nightlife during the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party (the island is a 20-minute speedboat journey from Koh Phangan's Haad Rin beach where the party takes place) creates the island's most unusual social event — the party boats and speedboats that run from Koh Tao to the Full Moon Party (departing at midnight, returning at dawn) make the party accessible from a Koh Tao base, and some visitors use Koh Tao as their accommodation base for attending the Phangan party while avoiding the overcrowded accommodation in Haad Rin itself. The Full Moon Party night and the following morning's return (with the boat full of party-goers arriving at Mae Haad pier at dawn to collapse into their bungalows) is the most visually dramatic single night in the Koh Tao social calendar.