THONG SALA is a port of entrance and little more, where the incoming ferries are met by touts sent to escort travelers to bungalows elsewhere on the Pha Ngan Island. In front of the pier, transportation to the rest of the island (songthaews, jeeps and motorbike taxis) congregates by a dusty row of banks, travelers’ restaurants, supermarkets, scuba-diving outfits and motor bike and jeep rental places. If you go straight ahead from the pier, you can turn right onto the town’s high street, a leafy mix of shops and houses that’s ghostly and windswept at night. A short way down here you’ll find laundries and, set back on the west side of the street, the multitalented Phangan Batik, which, besides selling batiks, rents out good-quality nountain bikes and offers internet access. Further on are a couple of clinics and, about 500m from the pier, the post office. Thong Sala’s sprinkling of travel agents can organize train and plane tickets, and visa extensions, and they sometimes put together trips to Ang Thong National Marine Park. The island’s hospital lies 3km north of town, on the inland road towards Mae Hat, while the police station is nearly up the Ban Chaloaklam road.
Pha Ngan Map
