mallorca284673

Hi.Koh Samed Was closed from 1978 - Oct 1981 by the Thai Government due to an outbreak of malaria / dengue fever. Before this, the island was a great ;get away location for local bangkokians who used to overnight in local makeshift huts or camped out in tents, there was no electricity or running water facilities, no-one lived on the island, the visitors brought over their provisions from local shops in ban phe,& in those days there was not a regular ferry service you just gave money to the local fishermen in ban phe to take you across, i first came to koh samed when it was closed to visitors in 1979. - there were signs everywhere warning people not to enter. - we ignored these signs and explored, we first landed on saikaew beach - there was nothing only old unused huts and forrest & a pristeen beach. it was total heaven! As we went inland it was all forrest with sandy tracks and not a sole in sight - as we got back into the boat to do the island tour all you saw was the trees & pristeen coves with the odd hut, when the thai department of national parks came in 1981 they constructed a makeshift pier which is now "nadan" and flattened a few of the trees to make a road down to the saikaew beach, the island finally opened again for business in october 1981 in the beginning the park rangers made a killing ;hiring out the old huts & tents and selling whiskey / beer / water. to visitors. As time went on, three more roads were made and locals moved in paying rent to the dept national parks for the construction of small holiday resorts. Then the visitors arrived in there hundreds once the island was opened again.i have lived on koh samed since1985, although a british national, i now have thai nationality.

hope this is helpful

hi.<BR><BR>for good advice regarding this airline & what people think take a look at the forum in airlinequality.com & for seating - look at seatguru.com for pitch & seats to choose.<BR><BR>enjoy your flight<BR><BR>

Hi,

I agree with Jori, Happy dental clinic on soi 17, is very good, used them a few times - The dentist actually does the hygenist job in here Thailand .

hi,

take a look at this website for koh samed, it is run by the "president of residents association" for the island and lists ALL guesthouses & resorts with contact details - unlike most travel websites it does not list only 12 hotels who pay commission to travel agencies, it has some good accurate info. kohsamed.net.

enjoy

Hi

Take a look at promjaidental.com - this is a good dentist in the patong area it's located next to the patong merlin hotel along the beach front

tel no - +66 (0) 81-8934304 or +66 (0) 76 294381/2

Hi.

You Can do this yourself quite easily, firstly you need a Domain name & buy some small webspace from your name provider - they will give you the passwords to upload your site to there mainframe.

Take a look at a very easy & nice programme called "visual site designer" from coffeecup.com - you can trial it without buying, they have easy tutorials, it's easy & fun, also you can make all the changes yourself, without having to keep paying someone to do it for you. - website design is quite addictive!

good luck

Hi

Diver training on Koh Samet - There is a good PADI centre located at samed resorts look at their website samedresorts.com they have a centre located at AO Prao on the west coast and at other centres on the island contact them at [email protected] tel no - 038 644 100 ext 3

You Could try orientalescape.com they are a very reliable transport / travel operator based in bangkok.

take a look at the website. it will also give you a quote, you will also have to send them an email regarding taking your animals in the van.

Hi

Check out kohsamed.net, this website gives info on all guesthouses & hotels on samed with their telephone numbers.

you still might be able to find a cheap deal.

Hi

A great transport company in Bangkok is oriental escape.com contact them via email, they have good drivers who speak english and are very reasonable, ask for their driver "sonya" she is fab, her english is very good. with good knowledge about the city. we hired from this company for city tours in the past. no problems, very reliable. -

well my plan was to visit ko samet the week before or the week after songkran (avoiding weekends) so i shouldnt have too much odf a problem should i?

koh samed should be quiet the week before & after - accommodation much easier to find and at better rates. look at koh samed .net

For Koh Samed, you need to book early due to the Songkran holiday, as it fills up quickly, most resorts will only save rooms for people booking the four nights, some resorts also levy an extra songkran charge per night, on top of the nightly rate. there is a great website for koh samed which has all the hotels / guesthouses on samed koh samed.Net take a look at toks little hut quality bungalows next to the beach - short walk to saikaew for nightlife.

Hi,

Look at the following websites - seatran co th & andamanwavemaster com

these are the main phuket - phi phi operators

At Bangkok airport, signs state all monies over 1 million baht must be declared to customs on leaving the country.

Entry to the UK all currency over £7000 must be declared to customs & proof of where the money came from, this law came into force in the uk in 2007 for anti-money laundering regulations.

check out

sawasdee com - great agent for this area, now it's high season not much cheap accom available.

Hi,

Nai-thon beach near phuket airport is great, very quiet only a few hotels / guesthouses, restaurants, the water here is quite deep as the bay shelves quite steeply, ideal for peace, sun beds / parasols are 200 Baht.

Hi

Check out AO THIAN this is a quiet resort area - only 4 resorts here, a great website for koh samed is koh samed net it gives advise and direct telephone numbers to the resorts. i think it gives all resorts on samed

i agree with the other blogger Don't turn up without a reservation as it will be impossible to find accomodation this time of year.

have a great time

a great company for online bookings / telephone is sawasdee.com - fill out a booking form on line, within one hour your reply will be emailed with a link for payment - they will then email you the hotel voucher once payment has been received. they are the no 1 company in thailand for hotel bookings.

Hi,

The best area to stay this time of year on samed island is "saikaew beach area", although busy, it has some nice restaurants & bars & fire shows, some live music within easy walking distance from all hotels. a nice site to look at for more info is kohsamed.net - you'll have a nice time on the island it's a true gem. a nice small hotel is sky high inn but they charge between 1500 - 2000

One of he beest transfer companies in bangkok is oriental escape on the website click on the left hand side "transfer" bangkok & eastern region. they have cars & vans.