Pakweeb Beach

Aow Thong Beach

Because of the north-west position of the beach, you cannot really see the sun sinking into the sea (left picture), but (a 10 minutes bike-ride away) there’s a great place for sunsets at Laem Pakarang or Coral Cape (right picture) - stop about 300 meters before the end of the street at Pakarang Cape and you are alone, except for some water buffaloes, fishermen and mosquitoes.

Update January 2009:

The Prayod-family, nice and friendly Chinese people, has build another couple of bungalows in their two resorts.

Now they rent 5 bungalows at "Oaw Thong Beach Restaurant and Bungalow" and about 8 at "Oaw Thong Bungalows" (1500 Baht/night).

But the place is still very calm from evening to morning. Though during the day, the parking place behind the Oaw Thong restaurants resembles sometimes the central bus station of Krabi ;-).

Most of the (expensive) hotels in the wider area offer a daily taxi service to White Sand Beach (knowing that their own beach doesn’t compare). So there is a continual coming and going of taxis, songthaews and motorbikes.
But you don’t hear them around the restaurant area and of course not on the long secluded beach.

Moreover, many people of the upmarket Le Meridien Hotel (on the next beach about 1,5 km working distance away) use White Sand Beach for sunbathing, swimming and lunch (which affects the prices), luckily they keep staying mostly around the restaurants.

The Similana Resort is still closed and fallow  - nature is about to reconquer the whole area. No building activity is observable at the time. However, new hotel buildings are emerging close to the beach right in the (left) front of the Sarojin, what makes it surely more difficult for them to attain again the "Luxury Hotel Award" as "Luxury Romantic Hotel" or "World Travel Awards" as "Asia's Leading Boutique Hotel 2008".

The people of the simple but good "Boatyard Restaurant" (about one km further left) are also thinking about building some bungalows.

Update January 2010:

No spectacular news. They built some new bungalows last year. "Oaw Thong Beach Restaurant and Bungalow" arrange more and more sunbeds on the beach in front of the restaurants and -  now they charge for them (if you don't stay at their place)!

No (visible) changes at the Similana area, but beside and behind the Sarojin are a lot of terrific (hotel-) building activities. 

The Boatyard Restaurant still has very good soups (and no bungalows).

New pictures will follow soon.

Update January 2011:

The beach is changing quickly. The building-activities of the "Kantary Hotel and Serviced Apartment"-Group came to an awful end. The new ugly and sterile Kantary Beach Hotel has opened business and offers "Villas and Suites" on a large bare area between the Sarojin and the Boatyard Restaurant.

Fortunately there is no much to see right from the beach, except the new sunbeds and of cause the many (and new kind of) guests. But you cannot avoid passing this complex driving to Oaw Thong Beach, Goon & Gib or Boatyard and – it looks during night like a closely guarded prison

:-(

There are still no (visible) changes at the Similana area and around Boatyard. But the owner of Boatyard seem to support her relatives with questionable jobs (managing new long and empty rows of colored sunbeds).

But after talking to her it was for customers of her restaurant possible to use "the blue once free of charge".

Still a nice and relaxing place!

Near alternatives:

If you prefer even more secluded places, I recommend Pakarang Villa on the access road to Cape Pakarang with 20 bungalows in two rows, managed by the friendly and helpful Montha (from there it's only a 20 minute walk to White Sand Beach), Khaolak Riversite Bungalow (with the new attached Sabai Dii Restaurant) or the Lake View Bungalows. The last two are only a few miles away from White Sand Beach (and managed by Germans).

 (Khuk Khak, Takuapa, Phang-Nga, Thailand - geo-coordinates:  8°44'21.17"N    98°14'36.99"E)