The most visited of the bay, Sairee Beach most of the time are crowded with sun worshippers but there's also quieter, more hidden beaches and bays. The islandwas still under Royal Patronage in those days, but it did not put off those fortune hunters from staking their claim. The first generation of today's community started to settle when they brought their families to Koh Taoand began to farm and harvest the rich earth and natural resources on offer. Notwithstanding it still being under Royal Patronage, pieces of land were claimed, and cleared for plantations. You can still see loads of evidence of the large plantations everywhere on the island. Now a days, you can find everything from cheap simple bamboo bungalowswith palm leaf roofs to elegant up-market villas with their own private swimming pool. In the late 1990's Ko Tao's very first, and until recently, only road was laid, it runs South to North from the far side of Sairee to the southern settlement of Chalok Baan Kao. A new road is being developed on the way to Tanote Bay, and once completed it will open up the far side of the islandfor better development, it is accessable with care at the moment with 4x4.
