The Andaman coast is Thailand showing off: limestone towers rising sheer out of green water, water so clear that anchored longtails look like they are floating on air. From November to April the sea is calm and every island connects to every other by ferry, which makes this the easiest island-hopping of your life. The trick is sequencing it so the crowds crescendo early and the trip ends mellow.
Phuket as a launchpad
Use Phuket as exactly that. Fly in, and instead of the Patong madness, spend your night in Phuket Old Town, a grid of Sino-Portuguese shophouses painted in sherbet colours, with a Sunday walking street market and the best cheap food on the island; moo hong pork belly stew and oh tao oyster pancakes for a couple of dollars each. Dorms run 300 to 450 baht. Next morning, ferries leave Rassada Pier for Koh Phi Phi, about two hours and 450 to 600 baht.
Phi Phi: beautiful chaos, managed
Koh Phi Phi is a gorgeous problem: an hourglass of an island between two turquoise bays, no cars, and a party scene that never sleeps. Take it on its own terms for a night or two. Climb to the viewpoint in late afternoon for the postcard look down over the twin bays, then book the sunrise tour to Maya Bay on neighbouring Phi Phi Leh, around 1,200 baht; going at 7 a.m. instead of midday is the entire difference between transcendence and a boat park. Since its long closure and restoration, Maya Bay allows no swimming at the main beach, and the sharks have returned to the shallows, which you can see from the walkway, small blacktips patrolling glass-clear water. Dorms from 400 baht; sleep away from the beachfront bars unless you plan to be in them.
Lanta: the exhale
The ferry south to Koh Lanta takes about an hour, 400 to 500 baht, and the island decompresses you on arrival. Lanta is long and low, a west coast of successive kilometre-wide beaches, Long Beach, Khlong Khong, Khlong Nin, each sleepier than the last, with beach bungalows from 500 baht and dorms from 300. Rent a scooter and ride the single road south to the lighthouse in Mu Ko Lanta National Park, stopping at Old Town on the east coast, a century-old sea-gypsy and Chinese trading village on stilts over the water. Book a four-island longtail tour or, better, the day trip to Koh Rok for the coast's best snorkelling, about 1,500 baht. Evenings are barbecued fish on the sand and phosphorescence if you swim late.
Railay: the karst finale
Backtrack by ferry or minivan-plus-longtail to the Railay peninsula near Krabi, cut off from the mainland by cliffs and reachable only by boat. Railay is the Andaman condensed: four beaches walkable in fifteen minutes, the Phra Nang cave beach with its unusual shrine offerings, and some of the most famous sport climbing in Asia. A half-day beginner climbing session runs about 1,200 to 1,500 baht, and topping out fifty metres above that water is worth every trembling move. Stay on the cheaper east side among the mangroves, or bail out nightly to Ao Nang town, ten minutes by longtail, where budget rooms are plentiful. From Ao Nang, Krabi airport is 40 minutes away, or buses run anywhere in the south.
Season and money
November to April only; in the green season ferries thin out and seas get rough. Expect 1,300 to 1,800 baht a day on this coast, the priciest of Thailand's backpacker regions, with ferries as the recurring cost. Buy boat tickets a day ahead in peak weeks, keep electronics in dry bags on longtails, and always, always check your beach's tide before planning a swim; the Andaman's tides go out a very long way.
