Koh Tao voted top island in Asia, despite safety concerns
The Thai island of Koh Tao has been voted ‘Best Island in Asia 2015’ on TripAdvisor despite a widely publicised tourist murder there last year.
Koh Tao is renowned for pristine beaches and superb scuba diving but last year media attention was focused on the murders of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in September.
Two men from Myanmar are currently in custody awaiting trial for the murders.
This and other recent suspicious deaths had raised concerns about tourist safety on Koh Tao and other islands in Southern Thailand.
Following the fallout, Thai authorities have considered a number of measures to improve safety, including banning some all-night beach parties, limiting bar opening hours and wristband trackers.
Globally Koh Tao also fared well, ranked as the fifth best in the world in the TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travellers’ Choice Awards.
The number one island was Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos.
In Europe, Santorini and Madeira made it to the top 10.
Here’s the full top 10 list:
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
Maui, Hawaii
Roatan, Honduras
Santorini, Greece
Ko Tao, Thailand
Madeira, Portugal
Bali, Indonesia
Mauritius, Africa
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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