All starts with 2 Germans

Khao Lak Beaches 1987

All starts with two Germans and their Thai wives

The honor to be the founder of Khao Lak was awarded to the pioneer Gerd Serucnik. Gerd and his friend Wolfgang (called Hans) built and named the Khao Lak Bungalows in the year 1987 (the Thai year 2530).

Khao Lak Bungalows
For the first time Khao Lak was mentioned in a tourist guide book in 1988 in the second edition of the German "Traveller Handbuch Thailand" by Stefan Loose Verlag.
Also in 1988 the English translation was published by the UK publisher Springfield Books Ltd. as "The Traveller's Guide" - "Thailand and Burma", written by Richard Doring, Stefan Loose, Ursula Spraul-Doring and Renate Ramb.
According to the philosophy of the publisher Stefan Loose not to promote undiscovered areas, Richard Dorings short German text was translated into four meagre sentences about Khao Lak (page 432):
"You will reach the KHAO LAK NATIONAL PARK 33 km before Takua Pa, on the left hand side (beautiful beach). The brand new KHAO LAK BUNGALOW* resort is 1 km further on, to the left, on the beach. Simple huts and a restaurant in a lovely environment. A bus from Phuket will cost you 25 Baht (102 km)."

In 1988 the * category by Loose meant a room for two persons for under 100 Baht. Then the exchange rate for 1 US$ was 25.90 Baht and for 1 DM only 15.20 Baht. In comparison in 2012 the exchange rate for 1 US $ is about 30 Baht, for 1 Euro (= 1.96 DM) about 40 Baht. A tourist gets today about 20 to 30 % more Baht than in 1988.
As the inflation rate for food stuff in Thailand was also about 30% in these 23 years, a tourist pays today roughly the same amount in foreign currency as 25 years ago -- quite remarkable.

In 1987 the nine 80 Baht huts of Khao Lak Bungalows were situated under old cashew nut trees in the location of Khao Lak Resort today, still today one of the most beautiful forest areas of Khao Lak where squirrels frolic in the trees and hornbills and monitor lizards are a common sight. The bathrooms were in a separate building which in the night involved an adventurous walk with a torch among the trees.
The owners were the two young couples Gerd and Noi Serucnik and Wolfgang (called Hans) and his Thai wife.
They lived in a two storey building that they had built with their own hands. The ground floor doubled as the resort restaurant. The atmosphere among the mainly German backpackers was very relaxed, the always helpful Gerd and his very joyful wife Noi were splendid hosts, happy to make their dream come true. We never met Wolfgang, though, who was always busy elsewhere.
Travelers who knew how to read their "Loose" soon discovered the hidden treasure of the Khao Lak Bungalows and the perfect beaches that extended to the north. For many years every second guest of the Khao Lak Bungalows carried the "orange bible" written by the Dorings. Many guests soon became friends of Gerd and Noi and returned to this peaceful place year after year.

A severe hindrance for further development of Khao Lak were the tin mining ships that dug out the sands a few kilometers in front of Khao Lak in search for the valuable tin ore. The vibrating sound of their huge Diesel generators was an unbearable noise in the night for many travelers, and they did not stay for long.