1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

...but the ruination won't really take off till they complete the airport, hopefully not before next century.

The airport has been given up, both due to lack of funds, but also because part of the, presumably too short, runway was on government land. The northern beaches are still beautiful, and the villages fairly unspoiled...

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

20 years too late for the "natural beauty". I think people still go because of the reputation it gained in the olden days, and of course if you build it and put pretty photos in a travel agent brochure that'll get some, and the really expensive ones on their own little beaches will still be as nice as they used to be 30 years ago.

Last time I passed by on a ferry I was astounded at the places they build houses- all the way up steep hills.

I'm hoping that the north of Phangan isn't too ruined and pictures on the internet seem to bear that out. I hope to go again later in the year, when the monsoon keeps ( hopefully ) the party hooligans away.

Samui always had the reputation, but Phangan always had nicer beaches, if one knew where to go. Certainly different though, hillier for a start.

Sounds like the ring road around the north has been finished, which is depressing as it will be the end of the good times, but the ruination won't really take off till they complete the airport, hopefully not before next century.

 

They have created the ring road around to the north, but it is still pretty quiet. Plenty of natural beauty in KP - the whole of the middle is basically national park. Recommend walking up Khao Ra, which is a steep climb but easily doable in 3 hours. Amazing views from up there. When I went up we met a Russian guy at the top who claimed he had been living in the jungle on a detox with no food or water for seven days. He did look like a weight drained UFC fighter the day before weigh in. Hard to believe he hadn't had a drink of water, but when we gave some he drank it so quickly I'm inclined to believe him! 

 

Aside from Khao Ra there is plenty of waterfalls, and more secluded beaches such as Bottle Beach, Than Sadet and Haad Salad.

15 hours ago, RickG16 said:

Aside from Khao Ra there is plenty of waterfalls, and more secluded beaches such as Bottle Beach, Than Sadet and Haad Salad.

I loved Bottle except for the horrid concrete hotel right in the middle of it. I stayed at Smile. Very nice.

Than Sadet was always my favourite, but it's only nice because it's so hard to get to. Long may that be true.

Haad Salad was OK, but too built up for my liking.

On 3/1/2018 at 1:46 AM, Seducedbytheseas said:

I live in this shithole. Trust me, go elsewhere... too crowded with one main road, too many accidents and fatalities (just yesterday a shooting on Chaweng Beach), trash everywhere, dirty beaches and sois with no interest to clean-up, and a privately-owned airport by Bangkok Airways that makes it very expensive for a short visit (unless you have a resident card).

My family from the UK and myself (resident here in LOS for 4 years) stayed at a 4* Hotel in Maenam early december,absolutely the best hotel we all had experienced anywhere,the beach was ok after that I have nothing more positive to say about Samui....go again....no thanks

3 minutes ago, petermik said:

My family from the UK and myself (resident here in LOS for 4 years) stayed at a 4* Hotel in Maenam early december,absolutely the best hotel we all had experienced anywhere,the beach was ok after that I have nothing more positive to say about Samui....go again....no thanks

20 other islands to stay on. Pays to do some research.

7 hours ago, Justfine said:

20 other islands to stay on. Pays to do some research.

Did the research thats why we found the Hotel.....pity the rest of the island comes nowhere near

Just now, petermik said:

Did the research thats why we found the Hotel.....pity the rest of the island comes nowhere near

Research the islands. 

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I loved Bottle except for the horrid concrete hotel right in the middle of it. I stayed at Smile. Very nice.

Than Sadet was always my favourite, but it's only nice because it's so hard to get to. Long may that be true.

Haad Salad was OK, but too built up for my liking.

Than Sadet isn't so hard now, the road has been built all the way down there. It's one of my favourites too, but in terms of a view I still prefer looking across at Samui, even though obviously those areas are very built up. 

On ‎3‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 12:17 PM, petermik said:

My family from the UK and myself (resident here in LOS for 4 years) stayed at a 4* Hotel in Maenam early december,absolutely the best hotel we all had experienced anywhere,the beach was ok after that I have nothing more positive to say about Samui....go again....no thanks

Maenam beach is better than Bophut.

Try the Lamai 99 hotel, they have bungalow style rooms. Some of the bungalows front directly on the beach. On either side you have Richie's and Coconut Hotel. It is only 5 min walk to the Lamai nightlife and restaurants. Just checked prices and boy they sure have gone up 2000-3000bht/night and those aren't even directly on the beach.

Easy to save 1000 baht a night or more. Go back 100m to 200m from the beach.

Samui will be very quiet late april so options for accommodation everywhere and make sure to get a good rate.  Hardly anywhere will be even close to full.  It'll be a nice time to visit.  Very hot too.

 

Due to the obscene costs of flights in and out of Samui airport you might wish to investigate options to fly to Suratthani airport.