islandguy

Ash from burned banana plants is listed as being 50% potassium.

Missing the rainiest parts of the year is something you might consider. Krabi and Samui have different rainy seasons.

Darn, missed it!

After 10 years I sort of know high and low seasons for many nationalities visiting LOS. What about the the Chinese? Would be nice to be able to plan my vacation travel for times there are les.

Yes, he was GM at two different resorts I did business with.

Not a scammer, well known on the island. Please read the article before making such comments.

Do you or anyone posting here actually know him?

(Just curious-'Once bitten' an' all that )

So are you saying, Mole, that in Vietnam everybody would have died, so lucky they were on Samui instead?

Your comments are sometimes acerbic, I have no problem with that, but this one seems to either be American bashing or an extremely weak defense of what happened with this accident.

I had some friends from the States who contacted me about coming here for their vacation, and they mentioned the Samui jungle treks like this one. I sent them some articles, and told them they were crazy to even think about it. Told them to go online and do some research about safety in Thailand. A month or so later they emailed me and said they had a wonderful time in Vietnam.

Yes, Vietnam roads and traffic is of course a lot safer than Thailand...

murricans....

These trucks often have a bench seat on top of the cab. No roll bar up there.........

Not a scammer, well known on the island. Please read the article before making such comments.

Make sure you don't end up on the slow bus to Phuket. Makes about 20 stops. This is one that after you board at the ferry they have you transfer in Surat town. A long trip. Sounds like going to Krabi on the 3rd and then flying from there might suit your schedule. Is that flight available?

Do gentle range of motion exercises to keep it from freezing up due to internal scar tissue. If painful, do gently without any weights or resistance. If there is persistent inflammation (pain without any movement or pressing) acupuncture can help to speed up recovery. Once pain is gone, the right kind of massage can break down internal scarring and adhesions so that there are no restrictions in the future. Unfortunately, this kind of massage is not very available in Thailand.

Note: You will have to arrange the taxi in advance at Donsak, there are usually none waiting. Lomprayah seems a lot better to me.

Lomphrayah ferry

Phangan (Thongsala Pier) 07:15 Suratthani (Airport) 10:45 800

800 refers to cost, 800 baht. Should be a large bus at Donsak to go to airport.

Seatran ferry

Route : Koh Tao-Koh Phangan-Koh Samui-Donsak-Andaman

Koh Phangan Donsak

08.00 10.30

If you arrange a taxi at Donsak you have enough time to get to the airport, but do web check in prior to leaving. There will probably also be a shuttle, but I wouldn't chance it myself. What you save on lower fare with Seatran you will likely spend on taxi but you leave later. Should be quite a savings on airfare going Surat to KL to Medan with Air Asia over other choices. Remember that in KL airport, while it is efficient, you will have to go into and out of Malaysia and it is a long walk. Don't book too short a time between flights. Try to get one of the electric shuttles for your family if they are not all busy with elderly pilgrims

Hawaii

Time outdoors and enjoying the ocean

Local music and cultural activities

travel every year

Yes, I can swim. I swim enough to know that the near shore waters around Samui island have little live coral, few fish, and many many fishing boats using destructive net fishing techniques. The long tail boats catch a lot of the fish that are still there and the bigger boats, which are not supposed to be close to the shore, catch even more fish and also cause a lot of damage to the sea floor dragging their big nets. Dirt and mud from construction projects on the shore killed the coral and dynamite fishing killed the larger reef fish even before that. People walk all over the reefs at low tide to pick up anything left and the coral can't grow back. Yes, Koh Tao is a better place for snorkeling.

http://www.samuiseasports.com/semi-submarine/

Don't worry, it is actually more of a undersea viewing boat that looks like a submarine

Have to wonder how much there is to actually see on the local sea floor, and not sure it is being used now for tours, but easy to spot from the road between Lamai and Hua Thanon. Anybody have a first hand account?

Pool is probably at Silavadee as they get a credit on the last frame of the video. Silavadee is on the Lamai side of the Banyan Tree Resort on Soi Renaissance. Pretty spot.

Both good and bad comments here reflect my experiences with Air Asia. I continue to fly with them. As a future strategy, their introduction of Premium Flex (PF) fares gives you a chance to leverage the risk you take with changing plans. This would not really help with the OP's particular situation, however, since that was a change in routing.

PF gives you two free change of dates, 20 kg luggage, assigned (hot) seat, and a meal. If you are going to get luggage anyway and a seat assignment, this may be close the promo fare if booked well ahead. A ticket I just booked for August was $98 with luggage and a seat, $107 premium flex. I chose the PF for $9 more. If you are a member of their mileage program, you can change your date online (manage booking) with no cost if the rebooked ticket qualifies for the same fare. I found this quite easy to do.

If your trip is cancelled, you can rebook ahead some months, and still possibly be able to use the ticket on a later trip since you still have one free change of date. I don't bother doing this with the cheapest tickets, just figure I won't actually use all the ones I purchase and I will still come out ahead.

There were earlier reports that a tout on the ferry was telling people they needed to book with him (at a much higher price). The minibus shuttle service has been waiting at Lipa Noi every time I have been there this year.

I would recommend walking Lamai Beach every morning at sunrise, starting before the sun actually rises to beat the heat, and then going to bed early to beat the night time temptations as a good plan for you. Having a solid breakfast with some protein every morning and finishing the day with a light meal would be a good thing to try as well. If you can't overcome a craving for sweets try having one square of very dark chocolate, the bitter kind.

Best of luck in your journey to better health!

Have had one hover in front of my second floor windows where my living room and bedroom are located. That felt very invasive, if it happened a few times i would be thinking slingshot with a projectile trailing a string. So I am with Roo on that one. However, last weekend was with a mate that had a very advanced drone and used to fly helicopters. He was already very good at flying it and it it's speed and range were impressive. Fantastic tool for photography and video and very fun toy as well. It's all a matter of balance.

My pet peeve regarding English language usage is the take over of English, at least where I am, by 'Globish' (look it up). While it's perfectly reasonable for Non Native Speakers to discard the bothersome bits like idiom and slang, it sure takes a lot of fun out of using this rich and confusing melange of words and usages that English had become. I say had because a real dumbing down seems to be occurring. The Indian newspapers still seem to delight in their unique take on English in a way I find very enjoyable.

Only just been last month to Luang Prabang, loved it. They even understood my poor Thai better than where I live in Thailand.....partly because they tried.

How do you arrest 3 people in four locations?

Is the Embassy in Bangkok still processing requests for visas normally and just suffering a delay in issuing the visas or is the whole process stopped/slowed down?