09° 10.299' N 99° 20.190' E—Surat Thani Province, Thailand - Coordinate Palindromes on Waymarking.com

This palindrome is located on a small island (no formal name as far as I could determine) near the mouth of the Tapi River, ~4kms to the north east from the provincial capital of Surat Thani, Surat Thani. Reaching this spot is only possible by boat. One will have to purchase a ride on a dragon boat (or a larger aquatic vehicle if you prefer), and travel to the island. Boats are for hire at the Surat city pier for 300 baht ($10) per hour. Take note, if you are prone to motion sickness then perhaps a larger vehicle is for you. The River here is a little choppy, plus there are numerous larger boats moving up and down the water leaving a wake—perhaps skip that buffet breakfast at your hotel. There and back from the pier should be no more than one hour.

The closest pier (9.1708 99.3403) to the palindrome is ~500m distant (in gallery). From the pier proceed inland a short distance and there, before you, is an unpaved track. Walk south-west until you reach the palindrome location. There is no distinguishing feature near the waymark, but it lies at the road centre. Keep an eye out for folk (teenagers) zooming past on motorbikes.

I had great difficulty obtaining an accurate gps fix. This may have been due to a combination of effects—the trees on either side of the road, and an electrical storm (rainy season) over the city of Surat to the west.

The gps location comes from my iphone screen. I removed the fourth decimal place from the image.

If you make it this far you might want to proceed further to the River mouth, which is also a waymark.


There are a few challenges with this palindrome. First, at this date Google maps are woefully inaccurate as to the placement of the islands at the River mouth, however, just follow your gps. Second: semi-stray DOGS. When I alighted from my dragon boat several large dogs attacked me. There are lots of stray dogs in Thailand. The problem with this is that 10% of these dogs have rabies, and these dogs perceive you (if you are a foreigner) as an outsider and a thus threat, so they attack. In the paraphrased words of a great American president: walk softly and carry a medium sized stick in your backpack. Screaming, shouting and waving you stick usually causes the dogs to back down. Be advised. However, a half hour or so later, as I was walking back to my boat, one of the locals on a motorbike came and gave me a ride back to the pier, and escorted me to my boat, shooing those annoying dogs away. Restores one's trust in human nature.

Palindrome Type: Full Palindrome

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