Our close friend Bee invited us to the secluded Surin islands that are supposed to have some of the best snorkeling in Thailand.
You guys remember Bee don't you? "An isolated thunderstorm rises high into the atmosphere"
All you got to do to get there is first fly to Bangkok. Heads up the customs line can be penny dreadful
Then catch a plane to Phuket
Next rent a car maybe a scooter with a groovy sidecar and drive up the coast four or five hours
Then hop on a speedboat for about an hour
Transfer to a smaller wooden boat and then transfer to a smaller rubber boat that will drop you off at the Mo Ko Surin National Park
Once there get some food, rent a tent, and get some rest. You're gonna need it.
Our first morning on the islands we woke to find that creatures had slithered through our camp while we slept
Was this island crawling with monster snakes?
We'll worry about that later. Time to meet up at the gang and see what's swimming in that crystal-clear water
This is Bee's beaux Ben.
Ben has an eye for spotting things underwater. He spotted the Moray Eel and the octopus and the iPhone.
The iPhones waterproof case had algae growing on it, so it must have been down there a while
This is Kat. When Kat isn't breaking guys wrists arm wrestling
She's solving tech issues. So she plugged in the phone at the islands only public outlet and wouldn't you know it, it still worked?
But it was locked
Kat was determined to figure out who the owner was and returned it to them just to see the look on their face
I've never seen so many different fish species and the sheer numbers of them was astonishing
After an afternoon of coral reef paradise we went searching for whatever animals were slithering in the sand
We searched through the grove of man, up the mountain and around the island. No sign of any man-eating snakes
This is Ahlee. Ahlee is Moken. The Moken are a tribe of semi-nomadic sea hunters and gatherers
Many Moken are born live and die at sea, but this band has permanently settled here at the Surin islands.
Ahlee honored us by welcoming us to his village.
This is Josh. When Josh saw the Moken children selling souvenirs and trinkets he saw an opportunity to make a few, baht.
While the adults are out fishing and doing chores that children rule the village
When I saw two of them carrying a human-sized spit, I wondered if they were planning on roasting us.
We pretended like we were teachers, but really we just used that as an excuse to be kids ourselves
I showed them a video of a wild snake and Josh taught them violets.
After wearing us out we said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to camp
It's plausible that goodbyes might have gotten lost in translation among a few
Hey guys
We're in Surin Islands in Thailand route without good buddy Hank Schyma...
Famous snake catcher and tornado chaser, and we're going out to look for some some of Thailand's beautiful snakes
So he's just told us that we should be watching where we step first of all. Bee do you wanna pick him up?
I do not want to pick him up. Ouch! oh
Wow, that hurts... like something just flew into my nose.
What in the heck is that?
Last I saw him he was right here.
Oh here he is.
Oooo. OH! AHHH!
Sorry friend I had to do that.
Is that like an Eel?
It's like a froggy eel. Wow!
If he goes under something he might chill.
Ooo!
We have caecilians... it's an amphibian
He's hiding. Yeah
What a crazy animal!
Slimy snaky amphibian thing. They're so slimy, you can't hold them.
But it did make you very happy.
Nice spotting Kat. Yeah that was cool.
Again the next morning our camp was slithered with tracks. This time I was determined to follow them to the culprit
The Asian water monitor is the world's second heaviest lizard after its cousin the Komodo dragon
These dinosaurs easily grow to 2 meters sometimes larger
Serrated teeth, powerful jaws, sharp claws and a snaky forked tongue
These magnificent creatures are just as at home in the trees and in the water as they are on land
It was our last day on the Surin islands
Not sure where the snakes were hiding but after seeing so much other amazing wildlife. It was impossible to feel disappointed
Apparently I was just looking in all the wrong places while out on our last High Noon swim, Ben shouted snake!
This is the banded sea Krait a close relative to the cobra. It has one of the most
potent neurotoxic venom's in the world and the cutest little paddle for a tai.l
This snake is extremely docile and human envenomations are extremely rare. Still, this guy's
Curiosity can be a little unnerving. I was so excited. I forgot to hit the record button
Luckily Bee was shooting b-roll
Ahhhhhhh! Ben you're my hero.
Ahhhhhh! How does it make you feel?
Banded sea Krait!
Thank you Buddha, God, Allah.
hahahaha!
After another epic snorkel session we thought we'd swing by the Moken village and see if maybe a couple children were interested in joining us
for one last swim
Our trip to the Surin Islands was beyond words Bee and Ben and Ahlee from
Sun Tan Tours showed us that time of our life. As we were leaving early that next day
Ahlee brought the Moken children out to say goodbye.
Sewadee crub!
Auf wieder sein!
I'm so sad.
So, As you know we found this
Sunk at the bottom of somewhere near Surin island on our first day of snorkeling
And then we picked it up and then found the phone number of the owner
I don't know how my friend Kat found it, and then this is the owner. We got in touch with him!
Hi! Thank you very much.
Ok. in one piece.