How do I get to this undiscovered paradise?

The best way to reach Koh Jum is by one of the twice/daily ferryboats from Krabi to Lanta Island which pass KJum and stop in front of the resorts at both Koh Jum and Koh Pu. Longtail boats from the resorts come out to greet The SuperConcorde and take you to your bungalow. The other way is by bus or taxi from Krabi to Laem Kruat and then by taxi-boat over to Baan Koh Jum or Baan Koh Pu. That's the long and wrong way during high season, but it's the only way to get here during the rainy season as the ferryboats stop running when farangs stop coming late Spring/early Summer.

FERRYBOAT SCHEDULE 2009-2010

Ferryboat schedule between Ko Lanta and Krabi

I've heard that Ko Jum is a very quiet place. Is that true?

Yes. If you want to partypartyparty and get drunk and throw up on the beach (or on a fellow traveler) go down to Koh Lanta, PP Island, or Railay Beach. They got plenty of places there just waiting for you. In fact, I've met a few people who stopped and stayed at Koh Jum on the way to Krabi from Koh Lanta just to recover. Without exception the bars and nightlife-in-general is fairly subdued, and hopefully it will remain that way. You want to disco 'til dawn? Go someplace else.

What's the #1 complaint from travelers to Ko Jum?

That it's a little too quiet. Really, that's the #1 complaint.

Ko Jum was destroyed by the tsunami, right?

No. There was a lot of damage at some of the resorts (see Koh Jum Lodge, Season Bungalows), but the clean-up has been completed and 5 years on Koh Jum has been returned to it's pre-tsunami beauty. I have pictures of the wreckage at my KoPu 2005 page.

Speaking of Koh Pu, what's up with all the rocks?

When Mother Nature was doling out the rocks at The Beginning she gave Koh Pu an extra couple handfuls. When She felt that there just weren't enough She threw a tsunami at the island just to add some coral to the mix. A common first impression of Koh Pu is "Ewww it's kinda ugly at low tide and there is just no way the swimming is good here." But of course that is completely wrong. A couple of the nicest, prettiest little beaches in S. Thailand are on Koh Pu and the sunbathing and swimming is as good as any you'll find at The Big Places. But, the rocks do exist and that's why longtail boats are made out of very thick wood. Please mind your step on Koh Pu. On the other half of the island, Koh Jum has fewer rocks, is flatter, and the swimming is better. Snorkeling anywhere on Koh Jum is magnificent

Can I afford to go to Koh Jum?

Perhaps the better question would be: can you afford not to go. Prices range from a low of around B300/night (Peace Paradise, Koh Pu Valley), to B500-B1200 (Ting Rai Bay Resort, Luboa Hut) to B1200-B1500 (Andaman Beach Resort, Woodland Lodge) to B5000/night at Koh Jum Lodge. No matter how much or how little you want to spend there is a place you can afford on Koh Jum. Ask not what it costs, ask what it's worth.

Can you give me some idea what it's like there?

There are no cars or paved roads on Koh Jum. Getting around the island is by walking or by motorbike taxi. Every bungalow has one.....There is no island-wide electricity yet, but it's coming starting in 2009-10. Some of the bungalows have their own generators which operate from sundown to sunrise, some operate only from sunset until midnight. The native Koh Jum culture of fishing and rubber cultivation has not been destroyed by the lure of tourist money and the whole island has a Land That Time Forgot feel to it. For the most part (and for now, anyway) it remains undeveloped, but that's changing quickly. In a country known for it's friendliness, Koh Jum might be the friendliest place.

OK, I'm sold. Can I make a reservation thru KohJumOnline.com?

No and yes. No, for the foreseeable future KJO.com wants nothing to do with the making reservations/making money action so popular with some websites. It's a Whole Other Thing that I just don't want to deal with. I'm a budding web designer, not Reservation Central. On the other hand, Yes, we do have information/links to booking Koh Jum and you can go to our bungalow page for more on how to do that.

I just got back from Koh Jum and I had more fun than even my wedding night. I have pictures (of the island, not wedding night) that I want to share. Can you help me?

Sure! We have a Friends of KJO.com page devoted to pictures taken of you and your new friends during your stay on KJum. We also have added a Gallerys section in case you feel the need to send me a LOT of pictures. Simply email me your favorite pix and I'll put them on the site. What could be easier? Or fun?

So what's in it for you, Kn. Webmaster? Why KJO.com?

That's an excellent question and the answers are simple. I love Koh Jum. After watching what the tsunami did to the people and the economy of KJum (the farangs who were here on T-Day took their money and fled to The Gulf, leaving the resorts of KJum without any business income) and I thought that if I could build a colorful and fun website with lots of pictures and information I could help the situation in a small way by making people aware of what a wonderful place KJum is and maybe convince a few people to come here and spend money. Additionally, directly after the tsunami I spent a lot of time Googleing around the web trying to find information on what was happening on KJum, any information at all, without much success. As I looked thru the existing web I came to the conclusion that most of the big websites "serve" Koh Jum only as an afterthought to Phi Phi Island, Railay Beach, Koh Lanta, and Phuket. On top of that, they are (for the most part) really awful, poorly designed websites with very little actual information on Pu Island, it's people, or the bungalow operations here. They are rarely updated and are never current. It's all about selling ads and making money. I felt like I could do it better.

So here I am ready, willing, and able to fill a niche that desperately needs filling. I hold no illusions as to trying to compete against big, well funded Thai travel websites, but I can say with absolute certainty that no one online has as many pictures and as much basic information about Koh Jum as this site has. In fact, I expect this site to double in size over the next year, thanks to some new ideas I'm kickin' around.

Building this site was a challenge which I couldn't back away from. As I said before, I'm a just a little indi web designer that needed something big to get my juices flowing. This site has done that, for sure.

I hope you enjoy what I've put together here, and I hope you'll find your way to Koh Jum this winter for the best holiday of your life. It happened to me two years ago. It can happen to you too.

Questions about the site? Comments? Flames? Email them to me.