Calming palms

By Marianne Macdonald 19.01.09

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Deep in the heart of the jungle, watching candlelit lanterns float across moonlit palm trees in front of a spectacular firework display, is a pretty good way of seeing in New Year. I was on a break organised by the holiday company Skyros, in Thailand, during the dismal non-time from just after Christmas until ten days into January, on the dense green island of Koh Chang, almost 200 miles southeast of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand. Billed as a 'community and singles' holiday, this fortnight's break, bookended by a night at the luxurious Sofitel Silom in Bangkok, is for anyone, from Christmas-stressed wives who want to hit a luxurious spa, to holiday-makers with a yen to learn Thai massage or improve their singing (there were afternoon courses daily), those who want to detox in colonial-style comfort and anyone with a personal issue to resolve (psychotherapist, author and Channel 4 presenter Malcolm Stern runs daily three-hour personal development sessions).

It's an unusual holiday. For one thing, the setting is exquisite. Koh Chang is Thailand's second largest island, after Phuket, and offers 430 square kilometres of virgin rainforest and white sandy beaches. The Aiyapura resort spills down a jungle-covered hill to the sea, and is festooned with orchids. Posses of miaowing peacocks peck around the paths, and the view across the lagoon to humped green islands is spectacular. It's perfectly feasible to not leave the hotel at all for ten days, simply floating from the beach to the bar to the spa in a languid waltz.

The spa is stunning, boasting smooth, glossy teak floors lit by tiny jewel-coloured candles and scented with orange oil. The Thai massage in a candlelit room with an elegant, balletic, completely silent Thai masseuse teases out knots you didn't know you had - without pain. There's everything from aloe and lavender body wraps to facials and milk and floral baths. You won't get out cheaply (a 90-minute Thai massage costs just over £20, with the Skyros discount of 35 per cent in the morning and 20 per cent in the afternoon), but you will feel like a new person. That's before you start on the reflexology, Thai herbal massage, scalp massage and a detoxifying body wrap that kicks off with a seaweed exfoliating body scrub and moves on to a tight plastic wrap to boost circulation and detox.

Those searching for a new year detox are aided by the early-morning yoga classes with Bali-born Hatha instructor Khun Dada, who snapped through the crow, downward dog and other advanced and not-so-advanced moves by the pool, taking the occasional call on his mobile phone (this was rapidly discouraged by the facilitators). Clients seeking emotional detox are also in luck. Skyros has been going for 30 years: it calls itself Europe's leading alternative holiday company, and offers that rare opportunity, to explore your personal problems on holiday and in a group setting. If you want to. You can do as little or as much as you like on a Skyros holiday - this is one of its selling points. But most people sign up for Malcolm Stern's powerful threehourmorning sessions, in which, using personal sharing, psychodrama and Malcolm's coaching (based on 30 years as a therapist), relationship dilemmas are unravelled, marriages put on track, past catastrophes resolved and fear and self-esteem issues conquered. I hadn't planned to do his course (entitled The Courage To Change), but I thought it was brilliant, and if something has been holding you back or troubling you, perhaps even for decades, there can be few better places to dare to take it out, look at it, and lay it to rest.

Offering the chance for both physical and mental detox, this holiday is not for everyone, and there's no denying the hefty jet lag that can send sleep to smithereens for the first few days. But Skyros regulars keep coming back. Named after the Greek island where the original (and more basic) resort is to be found, the company now offers holidays to Cuba (where you can learn to salsa), Cambodia, or this five-star destination in Koh Chang. A fellow holiday-maker, Stephanie Carlton, a former letting agent, was on her 12th Skyros holiday. Her first was 26 years ago, and she now wants to make her home on the island of Skyros. She sees the holidays as an opportunity for growth, and 'a place where people can be by themselves but know they don't need to be alone'. The big plus for a man, if his wife is keen to get him along, is that he would be perfectly able to spend the whole time kayaking, sailing, biking in the jungle and drinking Singha beer at the wet bar, leaving his partner to do her stuff at the spa and in Plub Plueng II, the businesslike meeting room where most of the self-development courses are held.

The participants are mostly professionals aged from 20 to 70-plus, with most in their thirties, forties or fifties. The ratio is about three to one women to men. Although I would never normally have chosen a holiday that included such a strong therapy/ personal development option, Malcolm Stern's class was the thing I found most remarkable and rewarding. The other great plus about this holiday is the option of having company when you want it and not when you don't. The resort has dozens of nooks, from the silent coves dotting the 40-acre beachfront to the jungle paths populated by cheerful macaque monkeys, and air-conditioned bedrooms.

The downside, if you are not a particularly clubbable person, is the unwieldiness of the group. It took me a few days to understand what Skyros is trying to do: create a community in which people are encouraged to be emotionally 'authentic' and consciously caring, which is very nice. But sitting through the necessary negotiating and planning that a 26-strong group requires, at what seems to be an endlessly long table, was not my cup of tea. Fortunately, people tended to go their own way and separate into smaller groups at dinner.

The good news for those who don't fancy a new year detox is that cocktails, wine and coffee are freely available all over the resort - from room service, in the grand foyer and even in the surprisingly efficient business lounge, where you can catch up with your e-mails while watching the sun set over the palm trees. Foodies probably wouldn't be mad about the catering, but the Thai buffets definitely pass muster, and they do apparently use ingredients from the organic garden. But anyone looking for a physical, mental or emotional clear-out will find the perfect crucible for just that. A significant number of people seem to go on what amounts to a healing roller coaster, with the result, from what I could see, that they went home suntanned, a good deal more optimistic, and considerably more confident. While some sessions were undoubtedly challenging, they were also enlightening and moving. People discovered the real reason they didn't want a baby, or how to express their feelings without upsetting their partner, or they simply acquired more confidence by revealing things to strangers without being judged. 'I have seen people gain huge insight into their personal dilemmas,' is Malcolm Stern's take on it, 'and effect an authentic shift in their lives as a result of daring to share their issues in a safe group format. They gain confidence and release in finding a new way forward.'

The new way forward for me is undoubtedly a visit to one of Skyros's other holiday destinations this time next year. •

NEED TO KNOW: AIYAPURA, KOH CHANG

DECOR Nestling in jungle foliage and bougainvillea, the hotel comprises a central, tiled-roofed, wooden-floored restaurant and spacious lobby surrounded by tiny bungalows amid the palm trees in which guests stay.
ROOMS Glossy teak floors; large, comfortable beds; built-in, interior-lit wooden wardrobes; thick cream curtains and mosquito-screened windows; a classic colonial look. The holiday ethos is that you share a room to help create a sense of community, but you don't have to. There's a single supplement of £425.
BATHROOMS Efficient and Western, with Jacuzzis and/or baths or showers, well lit and with fairly hot water (this is a remote island, after all).
FOOD A huge buffet breakfast offering everything from eggs and bacon to fruit and Thai dishes. There are Thai stir-fries, satay, curries and rice for lunch or dinner in the main restaurant, and decent European food in the hotel's beach restaurant on the lagoon: pizza, pasta, burgers, BLTs, ice cream, chocolate cake and banana fritters.
TREATS Bikinis, shirts and dresses from the hotel shop; banana milkshakes or strawberry daiquiris from the wet bar in the beautiful turquoise pool; free kayaks, mountain bikes, and a catamaran; waterskiing; trips to nearby waterfalls and jungle elephant treks a couple of miles away; Thai cooking, batik painting and fruitcarving classes; boat trips to diving and snorkelling sites.
SPA Out-of-this-world Thai massage, as well as oil massage, Swedish massage, facials, hydrotherapy, reflexology and body scrubs and wraps.
FELLOW GUESTS Not many in this hotel, given the credit crunch, and Skyros had pride of place. There was a smattering of German, Swedish and Thai families.
TARIFF £1,195 for 12 nights in a twin room, but prices vary depending on the courses included in the holiday and the season (01983 865 566; www.skyros.com).
GETTING THERE Designated flights on Eva Air or Thai Air from Heathrow to Bangkok are met by a Skyros rep. The Skyros-organised transfer consists of six hours by coach from Bangkok to Trat on the mainland and then a short ferry crossing to Koh Chang. Or you can organise your own transfer and fly from Bangkok to Trat which takes 45 minutes. The Skyros transfer costs £155 and includes two nights' shared accommodation in the five-star Sofitel Silom in Bangkok, on the first and last nights of the holiday.
OUT AND ABOUT You can go punting in the mangrove swamp or view the fireflies in the mangroves from a cruise boat. And you can visit the shrine of Chao Po, a temple-like structure on the west coast of the island. This is Koh Chang's deity, and is especially revered by fishermen.
CELEB SPOTTING Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio.