Travel back in time in Thailand's Sichon - with no tourists in sight

Remember when a beach was a beach, and not a shopping mall with sand? Then try Sichon in southern Thailand.

In the Gulf of Thailand, south of Bangkok, 600 kilometres by air or 780 kilometres by land. You can find it on the map just below Koh Samui island, about midpoint on the east coast of the isthmus that connects Thailand to Malaysia. Sichon is 60 kilometres north of the brand new international airport at Nakhon Si Thammarat. Ravi Chandran, former CEO of Laguna Phuket resort, describes Sichon as, "Life in southern Thailand as it was 30 years ago - naturally beautiful, culturally authentic and perfectly peaceful."

There's a scattering of three- and four-star beach resorts on this east-facing shoreline known as the "sunrise side of the Gulf". Low-rise, tree-height hotels. No condotel towers, big-name brands or whooping tour groups. An "unplugged" coast - so far. Khun Palm, manager of the family-owned, 33-room Sichon Cabana Beach Resort enthuses, as a keen waterman should, about all the aquatic opportunities his home beach offers: "There's kitesurfing, SUPs, snorkelling, diving and bodyboarding, plus cycling and inland trekking on Khao Luang mountain." Grand century-old trees, planted by his grandmother shade the seafront restaurant where we tuck into delicious crab or lobster burgers, plus quality Chiang Rai mountain coffee. sichoncabana.com

Read more on Explore:

To live for! Sichon is seafood central, especially at the estuary-side Wayo restaurant with a shared feast of grilled lobster and fried tilapia, braised pork and the south Thailand specialty, kaeng kari, chicken curry with coconut cream. Thai cuisine maestro, Australian David Thompson described his first taste, decades ago, of this Nakhon Si Thammarat fare as, "Absolutely searing." But it sealed his fate: "I became addicted, and I had to have more." The chili charge can be as spiced up or down as you like. In the morning, fishermen beach their longtail boats on the sand in front of Plai Thon market where we breakfast on grilled fish, chicken satay, banana fritters and khanom wong donuts, plus traditional cafe boran ("ancient coffee") with condensed milk. wayosichon.com

Life's still a beach at Sichon (sometimes also known as Hin Ngam beach), where the languid coastline is largely free of gonzo watercraft and hectares of deck chairs. There is limited, surfable swell during the Gulf monsoon months (November to February) but otherwise, the shallow waters are calm-as. To the north of Sichon, Khanom district's spectacular Na Dan Beach was recently recognised by Lonely Planet as the sixth best beach in Thailand. Sichon cheekily piggy-backs on that claim. "This is how Samui or Phuket looked 30 years ago," notes Ravi Chandran, adding that the locals are determined that Sichon will never resemble what Samui and Phuket have become.

Not kidding. Rare pink Indo-Pacific dolphins romp in the protected waters off Hat Khanom-Mu Ko Thale Tai national park. As they mature, they turn from grey to pink. "We are proud of our loma si champoo - pink dolphins. About 60 of them, although sadly some get caught in the fishing nets," says local skipper and veteran conservationist, Khun Daeng. We cruise Ao Ta Let bay in his longtail boat, scanning for these elusive cetaceans and are rewarded with five brief sightings. The coast of bays and islands also reveals a unique geological feature, cliff-faces formed multiple layers of folded strata known as "pancake rocks." A Thai woman onboard our boat trumps that perfectly, calls them "Pringle rocks." khanompinkdolphintours.com

Like being in Casablanca for the waters, you're not in Sichon for the shopping. Think: Bangkok for mega-malls and Sichon for southern hospitality, tranquility and the sea. The new airport's OTOP handicraft giftshop has local fabrics, silks and souvenirs, but for something special we make the excursion to InnoYa art studio at Chaloem Phrakiat, where smart young husband and wife team, Nok Thangkiew and Nui Chayachol have pioneered rice batik printing and fabric designs. Their organic dyes derived from tree bark, coconut shell and teas subtly colour fashion garments such as blouses, T-shirts, jacket and scarves. facebook.com/innoyathailand

Again, no kidding. Nakhon Si Thammarat's Wat Phra Mahathat, founded some 1700 years ago, is a focal point for Buddhist pilgrims. However, the big-draw, novelty wat these days is Ai Khai Wat Chedi, aka the Chicken Temple. Its legends of a prankster boy ghost and, somehow, of outrageous good fortune for many who've prayed here have snowballed into mass visitation by Thai supplicants. The follow-up routine to a request, or better, a lottery win, is to donate a chicken statue to the temple. See it and believe - a huge nearby field is now thronged with more than 100,000 chook statues, ranging from bantam leghorns to gaudy, mirrored, monster roosters. Needless to say, lottery ticket sales are booming at the temple.

The big regional news is the $62.5 million Nakhon Si Thammarat International Airport. It launched in December 2023 with initial flights from Singapore, Taiwan, China and Malaysia. At capacity it will handle up to four million passengers a year. Elsewhere in the province, adventurers can hike the 1780-metre Khao Luang mountain, Thailand's second-highest peak, and its namesake national park, which is home to 19-tier Karom Waterfall and 300 types of orchid and 340 of birds, as well as rare tapirs, leopards and porcupines. thainationalparks.com

Take a train to Nakhon Si Thammarat or fly (one hour 10 minutes) from Bangkok's Don Mueang airport with Nok Air, Thai AirAsia or Thai Lion Air. The 50-minute taxi drive from NST airport to Sichon Beach costs about 800 baht ($35). nakhonsithammaratairport.com

The writer travelled as a guest of Urasaya Property.