travel

It's no accident that Ko Kut -- Thailand's fourth-largest island, with a population of 2,000 -- has dodged the country's notorious trend toward overdevelopment. "People are afraid of the environmental destruction they've seen in the region, and they're actively working to prevent it here," said my guide, Jeremy Morin, when I met him for lunch my first day (011-66/87-083-1404, full-day tours from $25 per person). He told me about the island's solar-power plant and noted a few other, smaller, ecological triumphs. When one of the resorts brought in Jet Skis, residents were up in arms and successfully blocked their use. The Koh Kood Beach Resort, where I spent the night, has launched its own initiatives: The owners are installing recycling bins in their eight thatched-roof Balinese-style bungalows and eight Thai-style wooden houses, and their dive shop's instructors teach guests how to collect plastic waste underwater

It only took a few hours of exploring Ko Kut's west coast on a motorbike -- driving along unmarked, sandy tracks to crescent-shaped beaches -- to pinpoint what made this island so special. Wherever I went, I was utterly alone. Where were all the sunburned tourists, souvenir shops, and bars selling cheap beer?