Koh Tarutao or Tarutao island is located in the Andaman Sea, off the coast of Satun Province of Southern Thailand. It was a former penal colony in the late 1930's for Thai Political prisoners. It was said that the existence of snakes , crocodiles and sharks in the surrounding sea ensured that only a few could escape alive.

During World War II, food and medical supplies became scarce for support from the mainland was cut off. In desperation, the prisoners and their guards banded together and raided passing merchant ships, and so the legend of the piracy began. With all these, the waters around Tarutao Island became one of the most feared in the Malacca strait.

An Asian Alcatraz, this remote island will be the home of our first Pinoy Castaways for 39 days as they battle out mother nature, each other and themselves, for the chance to be the first Pinoy Sole Survivor.


* photos by Alex Dionisio