Preserving Koh Tao
Koh Tao is a tiny island, just 7 km by 3, and to this day it remains a green jewel in the clear blue waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Indeed many of the dive schools, business owners and local government officers on Koh Tao are committed to maintaining its natural beauty and bio diversity. For more information on the ecological work undertaken by the Marine Branch of the Save Koh Tao Community Group, visit: http://www.marineconservationkohtao.com. Koh Tao Star Villa would like to pay particular tribute to Dev and Chad at New Heaven Dive School and Nathan at Crystal Dive Resort for their efforts in this endeavour. The good news is that more and more dive schools and other businesses are becoming involved in these efforts.
Koh Tao Star Villa is committed to ‘Eco-tourism’ (a very much over used term in our opinion) and maintaining this tropical paradise. We would like to think that our guests will also play their part in ensuring that their visit here has a positive (rather than a negative) impact on the island. So, if you wish to get involved and get your hands dirty, let us know, and we will be more than happy to bring you along to some of the sites that we are helping to develop or protect.
Our Contribution to Maintaining The Natural Beauty of Koh Tao
At Koh Tao Star Villa we are very proud of the steps that we have taken, and continue to take, to make our Villa as environmentally friendly as possible: we use natural gas to power our hot water system – it is far, far more efficient and much cleaner than the electricity produced on the island; we are completely self suffient for water – hardly a drop of rain that falls on our roof goes to waste – so, not only do we not draw on the very limited ground water supply of the island, but we reduce the amount of run-off and surface errosion that takes place; our septic tank ensures that nothing nasty gets pumped into the ground; whilst our grey water gets used to water the garden. We look forward to the day when all the hotels and resorts on Koh Tao can boast of their ‘eco-credentials’. Untill then, we can only hope that travellers will vote with their feet and forego the less reputable operations on the island.
Please be responsible visitor – many of the shops will try to put everything in a plastic bag. If you don’t need the bag please say so. The 7-11 will also try to give you straws or spoons with just about everything. Again – if you don’t need them, tell them. In bars or restaurants, tell them that you don’t want a straw (many now have ‘no straw’ policies but by no means all). Please don’t leave litter anywhere – it sounds obvious, but we see it every day – if you go to the beach, take your rubbish home with you and dispose of it properly. Our use of plastics and our ship shod disposal of it is causing catastrophic damage to the natural world around us. Please do all that you can to minimize this damage wherever in the world you are at the time. Thank you.
Koh Tao Star Villa and its place in the natural order
Koh Tao Star Villa is set in an acre of grounds about a kilometer from the hubhub of Sairee. The surrounding jungle is dotted with banana, mango, papaya and coconut trees; and from the vantage point provided by your terrace, you will be able to enjoy the daily spectacle of the sea eagles cavorting in the clear blue skies of early morning and late evening; enjoy balmy evenings playing pool or chess and listen to the daytime sounds of the tropical jungle become even more evocative at night.
Watch the sun go down from your terrace (about 80 meters above sea level) and on clearer days you can see the mountains of the mainland in the distance. And at night, turn the lights off, lie back and watch the splendour of the universe wheel across the night sky. On a good night when the moon is new, you might see 3 or 4 shooting stars – except October when you can see a whole lot more. We have even had the pleasure of watching the space shuttle pass above our heads.
Behind KTSV is a Buddhist temple, preserved as a retreat for monks on strict sabbatical from around Thailand and Myanmar. It is even possible to climb the rock behind the Villa (from the temple side) to see a fantastic 360 degree panorama of the island.