About Koh Ra

Koh Ra is located in Phang Nga Province on the Andaman Sea coast of southwest Thailand and as a proposed national park it is one of the last island-gems in Thailand; a large (12 km long running northeast-southwest) and remote, mountainous (up to 250m, 830'elevation) island that has yet no development.

Various terrestrial and marine habitats can be found, waiting to be explored and in need of research and conservation. These include lowland tropical rainforest, beach fringe forest, freshwater streams and marshes, coral and rocky reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds. Because of its high intact forest coverage, Koh Ra abounds with birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians including several species of hornbills, broad bills, pitas, bee-eaters, doves and pigeons, hawks and eagles, wild pigs, deer, otters, pangolin, leopard cats, flying squirrels, lizards, gliding gekkos, tree frogs of all sorts, to name just a few that we normally encounter. Part of our goal is to have a net positive benefit to Koh Ra from our presence here, and so we are seeking biologists, ornithologists, and herpetologists to help us catalogue all the species present here.

Koh Ra = Ra Island

What is "Ra"? According to historical information, before a coastal road stretched between Ranong in the north, on the Burmese border, and Takua Pa, the major coastal town of Phang Nga Province, people had to make the long overland journey, some 120km away as the drongo flies, on foot or elephant. As they approached the area of Koh Ra, nearing the last quarter of their journey they found a wild herb known as "bai ra" from which they made a spicy curry to warm them selves and prepare them for the final march through the thick jungles to Takua Pa. The herb was much prized and may have also led to the naming of "Ra-nong". The nearby town of Kuraburi, the present day fishing port and pier from which we access Koh Ra is a derivation of Koh Ra, "koh-ra-buri", "buri" meaning town.

In the 1980's and 1990's Koh Ra was also locally known as Koh Yippon, the Thai word for Japan, because a Japanese pearl farmer who grew famous pearls in the area until the tsunami.

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