Situated along the Andaman coast, Trang province features a spectacular karst dotted coastline, a string of islands ideal for sun-seekers, and a forested interior.The islands of Trang have developed into an ideal alternative destination for those who want an island getaway but don't want to share it with 10,000 others.
The region is famous for being home to a large population of dugongs, the Indian Ocean cousin of the manatees. Like manatees, they're docile animals that spend most of their day grazing at beds of sea grass. They're increasingly rare in the wild, with the sea near Koh Libong being one of the best places to see them in the Thailand.
Dugong has been adopted as a symbol of the province, and appears on everything from the official Trang seal, to boxes of local Trang cake.
The eponymous provincial capital is an old seaport, and echoes of a lingering history can be seen in the crumbling wooden houses that dot its avenues. It's a laidback place, where architectural development seems to have stopped in the 1970s, and the town's taxi fleet (Toyota Crowns and Datsuns) also appear to mostly have been procured during that decade.
But the increasing number of tourist have resulted in development and upgrades. So where I used to enjoy sipping the local coffee at a kopi shop, these small charming shops have increasingly been replaced with modern places more palatable to the taste of Western tourists.
