Ao Thong Wua Laen

Ao Thong Wua Laen Review

If you have more time, just north of Chumphon there's an excellent beach, Ao Thong Wua Laen. You can catch a songthaew on the street across from the bus station. The curving beach is 3 km (2 mi) of white-yellow sand with a horizon dotted by small islands that make up one of the world's strangest bird sanctuaries. Vast flocks of swifts breed here, and their nests are harvested (not without controversy) for the bird's nest soup served up in Chinese restaurants of Southeast Asia. It's such a lucrative business that the concessionaires patrol their properties with armed guards.