Thailand: Islands - February 2009

Cigarette packs sold in Thailand feature a series of gruesome photos showing the consequences of smoking. Smoking kills... or worse. How effective are these images?

No camera, no underwater photos... A look back at my photographic setbacks with my Canon Powershot A95, in Thailand.

It was on that wonderful Similan dive cruise. Our encounter with a turtle at the East of Eden site. A magical moment! That day, my camera was still working. This is the only underwater video I managed to bring back.

Now I'm making a bit of progress sorting out the photos... I've just put online my underwater images taken during the Similan diving cruise. In the absence of the much hoped-for "big" encounters (mantas, whale sharks), I've concentrated on the "small". Nudibranch lovers will appreciate!

To forget the gray skies, the crisis and the conflicts, here's a small gallery of images full of good humor, brought back from my escapade in Thailand... It's not for nothing that it's called the land of smiles!

I haven't had much time to myself since I got back... I'm just starting to sort through my photos from Thailand. And I can't believe I've managed to bring back so many images, despite the vagaries of my camera. To begin with, here are my underwater photos of Koh Lipe.

It has been more than a week since I came back from Thailand. But I propose to return to the fabulous bay of Phang Nga, with this small video. A long-tail boat ride from island to island, what do you think?

I do not like Patong. But it is still there that I chose to ask for this final night in Phuket.

Farewell Koh Lipe! I left the island and my bamboo bungalow on Sunrise Beach this morning, reluctantly. Despite a few disappointing dives, Koh Lipe is really pretty and deserves a relaxing stay of a few days.

I drooled, but that's it ... I'm Rescue Diver, "lifeguard". The training is physical, exhausting, but exciting.

Three days I've been on Koh Lipe, a tiny island in the very south of Thailand, on the edge of the Malaysian border. My camera is dead, but I've still got pictures. That's right! Solidarity and the D-system came into their own.

Just for fun, a first image of Koh Lipe... This is undoubtedly the island's best-known beach. This small spit of white sand is located at the northern end of Sunrise Beach, on the east coast, as its name suggests. Photogenic as can be.

I have just returned from a four-day dive cruise to the fabulous Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea, Thailand. Here are some pictures, above and underwater.

Here are new pictures of the peaceful little island of Koh Yao Noi, in the bay of Phang Nga, Thailand. Authentic atmosphere, nothing to do with Phuket.

In the heart of Thailand's Phang Nga Bay, Koh Yao Noi is an unknown, peaceful island. Remains authentic despite the proximity of Phuket an hour by boat.

Here I am in Bangkok, in the tourist district, for a short night. I take off again early on Friday for Phuket. Heading for Koh Yao Noi, my first stopover, in Phang Na Bay.

Are you the type to plan everything before you leave, or to improvise as you go along? I tend to fall into the second category. In a week's time, I'll be in Thailand. I haven't planned or booked much, apart from the essentials: plane tickets, a room in Bangkok so I don't have a hard time arriving in the evening, and a diving cruise in the Similan Islands.