Ko Tao
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KoTao
The leading Island for Dive Training -- and a Haven for Snorkelers
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Ko Tao (turtle island) is a small mountainous island in the Bay of Thailand, situated 38 km north of Ko Phangan and 74 km southeast of Chumphon.
Ko Tao is app. on Latitude 10.08506, Longitude 99.82482.
The Island is about 8 km in length and 3 km in width, with a circumference of about 26 km, of which about 4 km are beaches. Ko Tao covers an area of about 21 square kilometers.
Forested mountains reach up to 379 meters.
Ko Tao is a worldwide leading island for dive training. Those tourists who are neither interested in diving nor in snorkeling sometimes feel to be in the wrong place - even though the island has many other activities to offer.
Ko Tao is world famous for the triple island Ko Nang Yuan, three islets connected by a perennial sandbar. |  |
Mae Hat Beach
|  Sai Nuan Bay
|  Ao Tanote
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About 550 locals live on Ko Tao. They used to earn a meager living with coconut plantations in former times. Fishing was mainly practiced for their own supply. The hard life has shaped the slightly rough character of the locals.
Nowadays, most of them draw part of their income through tourism. Hardly any of the islands inhabitants long for the toilsome life in the 'good old days'.
Some craftier people even hogged some land, 'legalized' the property and sell it now at high prices to tourist companies. Plots of land on the hillsides are being cleared, and more and more forest disappears. Dirt roads that are recklessly carved through the hillsides cause catastrophic erosion which is a shocking sight for ecologically aware tourists. | 
Ko Tao = Turtle Island
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 Typical mountain road |  High class bungalow
|  Local fishing boats
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 Empty map
|  Basic map
|  Complete map
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