I met Mr. Chaturong this morning. It was 6:30am and he was waiting with his taxi and his 7yr old son to drive us to our dive spot. It was a peaceful morning, up a small mountain, some dew still on the broad green leaves, away from much of the bustle of Thailand (if Koh Tao can be said to have any bustle at all). He might have been about 40 years old, I didn’t ask. I did ask if he was from Koh Tao, I hadn’t yet met someone from Koh Tao in the 4 days we’d been here, but I kept asking, here is what he answered.

“I’m from Koh Tao, people come from lots of places, all over, to find work with the tourists, but it was different when I was young. When I was young there were only 700 people on the island, it was quiet, no trucks, no motor bikes, we walked everywhere, it was nice, my dad was a fisherman, sometimes made coconuts, everyone was a fisherman or made coconuts. It was quiet.”

If you need a taxi in Koh Tao his number is 089 0049117.