Heading to an island in the Andaman Sea for Yoga

I had been lookinig forward to the Yoga Retreat on Golden Buddha Beach for a long time. An email from the Yoga teacher had let me know that about 30 people would be taking part. Wow. I had only expected about 10 - 15, this was way more Farang together in the one place than I had anticipated or had been around in a long time.

One description of GBB goes "Golden Buddha Beach is a sweeping green lawn under the coconut palms overlooking a serene bay with two gem-like islands. A remote island where the wildlife population far exceeds the human". And it's true.




I can't improve on the descriptions already about GBB so here's more:

"Koh Phra Thong, so the story goes, is named such because the hidden treasure of the Golden Buddha is buried on the island. Apparently many years ago, pirates came here and hid the solid gold statue of the Buddha. But the question is, does it still remain hidden?

Fishing is an important industry for the island. The island has three fishing villages and they are reliant on the resident squid, shrimps and jellyfish of the Andaman Sea for their livelihoods. A famous delicacy is gabi, (fish paste) where at certain times of the year, shrimp appear near the beach, where the boats scoop them up in their spool like nets. Islanders then ferment the shrimp into a paste and they will trade it on the mainland.

Communities on the island prosper and in recent years, the local government enlarged the three schools, one for each village. Every year, volunteers conduct conservation classes in the schools, sponsored by Golden Buddha Beach Resort. This ensures that outsiders' influence and impact is as positive as possible."

THIS IS THE POST I HAD PREPARED BEFORE THE TSUNAMI HIT THAILAND.

Clubhouse Before Tsunami






Clubhouse After Tsunami - view of pond





Clubhouse After Tsunami - Entire building is gone