With season three of The White Lotus drawing fresh waves of visitors to the already bustling shores of Phuket and Koh Samui, a very different story is unfolding across the Gulf of Thailand.

As season three of The White Lotus prepares to thrust Thailand's islands into the global spotlight, drawing fresh waves of visitors to the already bustling shores of Phuket and Koh Samui, a very different story is unfolding across the Gulf of Thailand. Here, a speck of an island named Koh Mak has quietly positioned itself as a model for sustainable tourism, offering a rare vision of what the future of travel in Thailand could be.

Heading towards Koh Mak's southern shores by speedboat, my first impression was disarmingly simple: golden sand curving into clear shallows while coconut palms leaned towards the sea as though caught mid-bow. There were no high-rises, no blaring beach clubs. Instead, low-slung bungalows peeked through the trees and bicycles outnumbered cars on the island's quiet roads.

I checked into the Makathanee Resort next to the jetty and studied a map to get my bearings. Just 16 sq km in size, Koh Mak is flat apart from a few gentle hills, perfect for exploring by bike. Eager to tap into the island's slow rhythm, I pedalled north-east through plantations of rubber trees and coconut palms to Laem Son beach. Here, I found little more than a shack made of coconut trunks and fronds and a few deck chairs facing a blissfully empty stretch of sand. I ordered a coconut shake and enjoyed a delicious half hour soaking up the silence before heading across to the settlement of Ao Suan Yai. Even here, there was little to detract from the island's natural beauty, just several tastefully designed, low-key resorts tucked away behind a white-sand beach and a line of palms all leaning at the same angle towards the sea.

As I completed my brief tour, I was amazed to realise that during my bike ride I had seen no international hotels or shopping malls, no McDonalds or KFCs and not a single 7-Eleven, which seem to be on every street corner throughout the rest of Thailand.

Promoted by the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) as the country's first low-carbon destination, Koh Mak has become a testing ground for how small islands can thrive without sacrificing their soul to mass tourism. Unlike its larger, better-known neighbours ­– party-friendly Koh Chang to the north and exclusive Koh Kood to the south – Koh Mak is charting a slower, quieter course. Its approach, driven by the island's long-time landowning families, has earned international recognition for sustainable tourism. But it is the lived reality that truly sets it apart. This is not an island clinging to an imagined past; it's one that is actively shaping a different kind of future.

Green Getaways

Green Getaways

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