Ko Tao
Island in the Gulf of ThailandWikipedia
37
MENTIONS
11
EPISODES
11
PODCASTS
Search complete. 37 mentions across 11 episodes found for "Ko Tao".
Oct 29, 2026
Charlie WestGUEST
yeah well it's like Thailand for example everyone thinks well maybe not everyone but most people think oh yeah everyone speaks English in Thailand but it's genuinely not like that like if you got a map of Thailand and circled all the tourist hotspots it'd only be like a small amount of the country the rest of the country don't speak English There's no English.
Charlie WestGUEST
And it feels like you're in a different world to go into Bangkok where everyone speaks it or go into one of the islands like Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi.
Charlie WestGUEST
Everyone speaks English there.
Charlie WestGUEST
But if you go to some random small town, these guys have never seen... like a white person before sometimes and you'll get kids like walking running after you down the road waving at you shouting and it's it's so cool it's so cool that's the best thing about being on the bike like you see things like that which you wouldn't get if you were if you were on a bus just like going through and it's a lot slower but it's also a lot more rewarding
AnnaHOST
Robin spent several years in the Far East, including work as a foreign correspondent in Thailand for the South China Morning Post.
AnnaHOST
His latest novel, When the Darkness Swallowed the Sun, is a gripping psychological thriller inspired in part by his experiences in Thailand and the real-life murders of two backpackers on the island of Koh Tao in 2014.
AnnaHOST
It takes readers from the expat underworld of Bangkok to the dark side of a tropical paradise, exploring guilt, obsession, desire and the secrets people carry.
AnnaHOST
Robin, welcome to the show.
Robin NewboldGUEST
Thank you very much.
Robin NewboldGUEST
Nice summary there.
AnnaHOST
So your novel draws on your own experiences as a foreign correspondent in Thailand, as well as the real life murders of these backpackers in Koh Tao.
AnnaHOST
When did you first feel compelled to turn this dark subject matter into a novel?
SorayaHOST
Yeah, it's in Thailand.
SorayaHOST
So this place is in Koh Tao.
SorayaHOST
It's in Thailand.
SorayaHOST
And this is a solo diver posted in 2018.
SorayaHOST
It's taken me way too long to get around to writing this, but let me sum up my scuba shop experience by starting with, I have a rule about people approaching me to sell me something.
SorayaHOST
That rule is to just ignore them and never ever buy anything from that kind of salesperson.
SorayaHOST
So when I was approached by a Mr. X on the boat from Koh Phangan to Koh Tao, I was apprehensive.
SorayaHOST
I told him I was going to Koh Tao for diving and he gave me a brochure for this scuba shore.
ChrisHOST
My first trip, I didn't leave, like, Khao San Road.
ChrisHOST
I went to, like, Koh Tao to party.
ChrisHOST
And I went to Koh Phangan to party.
ChrisHOST
And I only hung out in this area of...
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
This is the inside story of Murder in Paradise.
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
[suspenseful music] Koh Tao is a haven for young backpackers.
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
[waves crashing] [suspenseful music] An isolated island 250 miles from the Thai capital, Bangkok, only accessible by boat.
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
More than half a million travelers come here every year, drawn to the beaches, nightlife, and hedonism.
Jack Van TonGUEST
[upbeat music]
Chris TerrillNARRATOR
After three months traveling across Southeast Asia, Annabelle, Emma, and Holly have just arrived.
Alexandra BaxGUEST
We didn't do much research into Koh Tao, did we?
speaker_6GUEST
No.
MatthewHOST
I want to know, why is this your passion? Why is holding your breath something that you've dedicated your life to and now want to teach other people?
Gert LeroyGUEST
Yeah, so I started freediving about 11 years ago now, first time in Koh Tao, Thailand.
Gert LeroyGUEST
And then I realized this was something very different than anything else I've ever done before.
Gert LeroyGUEST
It's an opportunity to be in another world, literally the underwater world.
Tyler CaveGUEST
And I didn't want to go home, right? I just wanted to stay and travel because it's such a new world to me.
Tyler CaveGUEST
And I stayed on Koh Tao for about a month.
Tyler CaveGUEST
I worked at a little... bar, basically saved enough money to just pay for my rent and my food while I was there.
Tyler CaveGUEST
And my goal was to wait until my brother came out.
Ciara O'DohertyGUEST
And we went to Thailand.
Ciara O'DohertyGUEST
We actually spent most of our time on Koh Tao, which is one of the small islands off of it-
Clare CullenGUEST
Oh, yeah
Ciara O'DohertyGUEST
... 'cause we did our diving license.
Charlie BennettGUEST
So I decided, okay, did some research, talked around, messaged a few people, asked for some advice and found a course in Thailand, which was two months of scuba diving, scientific research, everything like on the marine side of things.
Charlie BennettGUEST
and so I had some savings and I was like okay I'm gonna go and do this trip so I went over there and probably from the academic side of things I kind of figured out that actually wasn't what I wanted to do I loved diving and I loved being underwater but the research and like getting down there and taking all the data was not my vibe whatsoever but I met so many incredible people and Ended up staying a little bit longer than I originally planned and did another couple of islands because I went to Koh Tao in Thailand to do that one.
Charlie BennettGUEST
And then, yeah, went and did another couple of islands
JennySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
while I was there.
Ehdaa (Dee) Al-BarwaniGUEST
And the easiest one I could find was scuba diving, because at that point I was in Thailand.
Ehdaa (Dee) Al-BarwaniGUEST
I was in Koh Tao.
Ehdaa (Dee) Al-BarwaniGUEST
And Koh Tao is all about scuba diving.
Ehdaa (Dee) Al-BarwaniGUEST
It's about beaches.
Ehdaa (Dee) Al-BarwaniGUEST
It's about jumping on these big Thai boats, you know, going to the middle of the ocean and diving.
1 more episode mentions Ko Tao.
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