Ko Mak ( th, เกาะหมาก, ) is a small island of Trat province,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. It is a subdistrict (''tambon'') of

Ko Kut district Ko Kut ( th, เกาะกูด, ) is a district ('' amphoe'') of Trat province, eastern Thailand, consisting of a group of islands. With a population of 2,894 in 2011, it is the district with the smallest population of all Thailand. History ...

. The island is named after the

areca nut ''Areca'' is a genus of 51 species of palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia and India, across Southeast Asia to Melanesia. The generic name ''Areca'' is derived from a name ...

(หมาก), also known as the "betel nut".

History

The first settler on the island was Chao Sua Seng, a Chinese Affairs Officer during the reign of

King Rama V Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

, who established a coconut plantation. He sold the plantation to Luang Prompakdii, also a Chinese Affairs Officer whose descendants still own the land to this day. Luang Prompakdii and his children are known to have established more coconut and

rubber plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, effectively covering most of the arable land in these two sought-after exports. The first attempt at attracting a tourism market was in 1974, when bungalows were built at Ban Ao Nid on the east of the island. Infrastructure, specifically transport and telecommunications were in their early stages and as a result, the tourism industry on Ko Mak took some time to become established. By 1987 certain beaches and land were cleared and the first resorts were built. Originally the area of the

Ko Kut Ko Kut ( th, เกาะกูด, ), also known as Koh Kood, is an island in the Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern s ...

district was part of the subdistrict (''

tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district ('' amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 '' khwaen ...

'') Ko Chang, Laem Ngop District. In 1952 the subdistrict Ko Mak was established covering the whole island, at that time divided into four villages ('' mubans''). In 1980, three villages of Ko Mak were split off to create the subdistrict Ko Kut. On 1 April 1990 the government upgraded ''tambon'' Ko Kut together with ''tambon'' Ko Mak to a minor district (''

king amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', th, อำเภอ, )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to counti ...

''). On 15 May 2007, all of Thailand's 81 minor districts were upgraded to full districts. On 24 August the upgrade became official. As local government entities, two

tambon administrative organization ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng' ...

s (TAO) were created in 2003 and 2004 respectively. The Tambon Council Ko Kut was upgraded to a TAO in 2003, and for Ko Mak in 2004.

Geography

The island of Ko Mak is in the east of the Gulf of Thailand, 35 kilometers from the mainland, and is the third largest island in Trat Province, after Ko Chang and

. With an area of 16 square kilometers, Ko Mak has 27 km of coastline, many long sandy beaches, and a few hills. The island is home to approximately 400 locals and renowned for its beautiful beaches, having been included in the UK's ''Sunday Times'' 10 most beautiful beaches list in 2006. Ko Mak has a temple, a primary school, three fishing villages, a market, and a health center. It is possible to walk to Ko Kham, a smaller island less than 1 km northwest of Ko Mak during low tide.

Tourism

The island is small and flat with coconut plantations and mangrove vegetation along the coastline. There are approximately 15 small scale resorts on Ko Mak. Both Ko Kham and Ko Phi can easily be reached with

sea kayak A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the man ...

or boat rental from the resorts on the northwest coast and are snorkeling destinations. Ko Mak has no pubs, bars with noisy music at night, or liquor stores. The campaign of use less plastic is promoted and plastic can be recycled. Locals encourage tourists to collect trash from the beach every Saturday as part of Ko Mak's Trash Hero activities. The descendants of the five original families of Ko Mak still live on the island. The occupations of those ancestors was collecting ''mak ling'' (''

Areca triandra ''Areca triandra'', the wild areca palm, is a palm which is often used as ornamental plant. It is native to India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is also reportedly naturalized i ...

''), and cultivating coconut and rubber plantations.

Gallery

File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Sunset on the beach.jpg, Hills on the west side File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Palm trees on the beach.jpg, Palms on the beach File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Coconut palm plantation.jpg, Coconut palm plantation in the south File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Western beach.jpg, Western beach at low tide File:Koh Mak (island), Thailand, Solitary tree in lagoon.jpg, Shallow waters of the Gulf of Thailand, eastern lagoon

References

External links