Exploring island life

     Tho Chu Island holds a few surprises.
The eight islands that make up Tho Chu Archipelago, named after the biggest of them, are located roughly 160 km northwest of Ca Mau Cape and 100 km southwest of Phu Quoc Island’s southern tip.
Some ten square kilometers in size, Tho Chu Island itself lies 50 km from the others. The locals also call it Tho Chau while on older maps it appears as Poulo Panjang.
Tho Chu is the only inhabited island in the archipelago. More than half of the thousand-plus population are commercial fishermen from elsewhere who dry some of their catch to sell in the island’s bustling market and sell the rest to passing merchant ships.
It’s not primitive by any means. There are roads crisscrossing the island, docks and harbors along the shore, schools, markets, health clinics and post offices.
The markets, where islanders and mainlanders gather every morning to trade fish, meat, produce and the rest, are as well-stocked and diverse as any on the mainland, and the seafood is delicious.
The sea is not Tho Chu’s only source of income either; the island’s forests abound in medicinal herbs and plants that are collected by the island’s resourceful inhabitants.
Another interesting place to visit is the lighthouse, which was built in January 2000 to guide the many fishing boats that dock at Tho Chu.
Anyone thinking of going to Tho Chu needs to know that, for now, the only way to get there is by taking a long boat trip from Rach Gia, the main town of Kien Giang Province.
Like the more famous Phu Quoc Island to the northeast, Tho Chu lies within Kien Giang’s Phu Quoc District. Previously it was a part of Ca Mau Province.
Wandering around and sightseeing, observing the islanders at work and play, and enjoying their seafood make for a relaxing break.