Samui ranked as one of world’s 15 best islands for retirees

[The Hammer2021]

2 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

 

Any particular reason why?  Just curious really.

Nothing there really...Art galleries, theaters, museums,...not a lot to do...no large community...its a small island not a nation or city

[The Hammer2021]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

It's nice to go visit and see what it's all about once in a while, watching pi**ed-up foreigners with the prostitutes... but every day... no thanks.

Personal choice so don't take offence, if that's what floats your boat 24/7 365 then go for it.

 

Why would anyone travel to an Island to do such a thing? From your comment it sounds like you have a another agenda.

[The Hammer2021]

2 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

 

Also curious as to your thoughts behind this.

It's decent enough  for a short holiday but just too shallow  for retirement with nothing to do. No culture no depth no community..it's pretty dull like most island...its early attraction as a beautiful unspoilt island free from the grip of the mainland authorities  has long gone. No art Galleries,  no architecture, no community,  no museums, limited restaurants and since the airport was built very spoilt...now depressingly emptied by covid. Pattaya is a much better retirement option with many expat community groups, music, cultural events, a city surrouned by nature, and Bangkok nearby...

[EVENKEEL]

I like Samui as well, but many mainland beach communities to choose from as well for retirement. It's nice and convenient to be near BKK or Don Meuang Airport. But I also see why Samui is so popular.

[gearbox]

45 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

Having lived on Samui for 6 years I have to disagree the place is a concrete jungle , and driving on the roads is an absolute nightmare so many crazy drivers and since Covid the island is more or less boarded up with businesses going to the wall . I now live on Koh Phangan Samui’s sister island it knocks spots off Samui as it truly is an island the only fear is that it might end up as an overspill to Samui I really hope this does not happen and until just before SONGKRAN we were Covid free until the government allowed millions of Thais to travel I heard this morning that Samui is a red zone meaning if I jump on the 20 minute ride on the fast boat on my return to Phangan I would have to go into quarantine ! 

Hmm, where do you get this information that Samui is now a red zone? Is this only Samui or the whole Surat Thani province?

I have a hotel booking in Phangan early next month, need to cancel if they are quarantining arrivals from Samui.

[Stargeezr]

Yes and on Samui, at the SW corner there was a chuck of land with 2 elephants at the road entrance, and a pickup with some 

armed guys in it that escorted me back to the main circle road, and said not on this land as their boss, was very powerful

and into some errr illicit  businesses.   Yup  I suspect it was a bit of Thai Mafia, or the like.  I never went back to the island

after I told the couple who rented the motorbike to me, as they confirmed that I was very lucky.

Geezer

[gearbox]

15 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Hard to find a secluded beach on Samui. The island is overbuilt, and completely in decay. We spent 8 days on Samui last week, and can not imagine to retire there.

"Beach" means different thing to different people. If by "secluded" you mean that only you are on the beach, then yes, chance of finding such a beach in Samui is small,  even in pandemic. Samui is not Australia, where you could be alone on a 20km beach. There are however secluded beaches at the nearby islands.

 

The water quality at most of the Samui beaches is fairly average,  many are good only for sunset cocktail drinking.  The best beaches are on the east side, but often it is a bit windy there. When the wind is from the north or the west,  the water gets calm and the east side beaches are nice. Here is Chaweng yesterday:

 

 

 

[SoilSpoil]

To get to a nice beach on Samui, you gotta walk through a resort. There are hardly any public entrances to beaches, with proper parking facilities. Phuket's beaches are much easier to get to. I even prefer the Khanom and Sichon beaches, than those on Samui. You can drive around the island for an hour with hardly seeing the sea. Also, a lot of restaurants and shops are closed . 

 

 

[Postmaster]

Well that's enough information for me.  I wouldn't live there now having seen all the comments.

Instead continue to live by the sea on the mainland.  Everything reasonably priced.  Sounds rather like a spoilt paradise that was.

[robertson468]

16 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Hard to find a secluded beach on Samui. The island is overbuilt, and completely in decay. We spent 8 days on Samui last week, and can not imagine to retire there.

I have lived here for 17 years and can assure you there are quite a few secluded beaches.  Please define over built and completely in decay?  At the moment the Island is suffering badly from lack of Tourists and many businesses have closed, which makes some places look like delapidated "ghost towns", but in normal times it is a lovely thriving Island, where you can find both a vibrant night life and areas of peace and tranquility.  You might like to think a little deeper than your initial knee jerk reaction, but maybe you just don't like Samui, which is fair enough.  Where do you come from?

[SoilSpoil]

19 minutes ago, robertson468 said:

I have lived here for 17 years and can assure you there are quite a few secluded beaches.  Please define over built and completely in decay?  At the moment the Island is suffering badly from lack of Tourists and many businesses have closed, which makes some places look like delapidated "ghost towns", but in normal times it is a lovely thriving Island, where you can find both a vibrant night life and areas of peace and tranquility.  You might like to think a little deeper than your initial knee jerk reaction, but maybe you just don't like Samui, which is fair enough.  Where do you come from?

 

A knee jerk reaction defines to an unthinking reaction. I have seen almost all islands in Thailand, both Andaman and Gulf, and plenty of mainland beaches. So I have certainly not given a knee jerk reaction. Tell me how often do you actually feel that you are on an island when driving around Samui? It's a classic example of paradise lost. I have been coming to Samui both before and during the Covid crisis, and it's just a disappointing island. Mind you, I come for tropical beaches, with a backdrop of coconut trees and lush jungles, and not for nightlife or raunchy bars. 

 

I come from Phang Nga, with beaches such as Pilai, Natai, Thai Muang, Khao Lak, and islands such as Tachai, Similand and Surin.

[Keesters]

Nothing special about island life vs. mainland by the sea unless you own the island. 

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, SoilSpoil said:

To get to a nice beach on Samui, you gotta walk through a resort. There are hardly any public entrances to beaches, with proper parking facilities. Phuket's beaches are much easier to get to. I even prefer the Khanom and Sichon beaches, than those on Samui. You can drive around the island for an hour with hardly seeing the sea. Also, a lot of restaurants and shops are closed . 

 

 

Absolute tosh.

I suspect that you went no further than Chaweng (which is like the Blackpool of England).

Choengmon, Bangrak, Plai Laem, Samrong, Tongson and the nudist beach with no name. All within a 10 minute drive from my place. Not one of them do you need to walk through a resort. All have public access.

Further afield there is public access to Maenam, Bang Po, Lipa Noi, Taling Ngam and Thong Krut beaches - that I know of. Probably more that I do not know.

There is so much rubbish here posted by people who do not go out and explore.

A quick question - are all of the shops and restaurants and shops in Phuket open?

[SoilSpoil]

58 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Absolute tosh.

I suspect that you went no further than Chaweng (which is like the Blackpool of England).

Choengmon, Bangrak, Plai Laem, Samrong, Tongson and the nudist beach with no name. All within a 10 minute drive from my place. Not one of them do you need to walk through a resort. All have public access.

Further afield there is public access to Maenam, Bang Po, Lipa Noi, Taling Ngam and Thong Krut beaches - that I know of. Probably more that I do not know.

There is so much rubbish here posted by people who do not go out and explore.

A quick question - are all of the shops and restaurants and shops in Phuket open?

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but beaches like Lipa Noi, Maenam and Bang Po are on par with Bang Saen in Chonburi. I know it's impossible to discuss the beauty of a beach, but to go back to the claim made in the article in the OP about world class island, don't make me laugh. Maybe 30 years ago, but these days Samui is just totally overrated, overbuilt and plain dirty. Shall we discuss the incinerator and the plastic problem on the island. 

 

Samui is nice as it is, and I will visit from time to time for personal reasons, but there are hundreds of beaches in Thailand that are much better value for your buck.

[The Hammer2021]

5 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Maybe I need to get out more, I have never noticed a big sexpat scene on Samui. 

 

That's what I thought...but the poster refers to tourists not expats...When I was there there were no Go Go bars...just a few bar girls

[khunPer]

20 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Hard to find a secluded beach on Samui. The island is overbuilt, and completely in decay. We spent 8 days on Samui last week, and can not imagine to retire there.

You have probably visited some of the wrong beaches. I've been retiring here on this beach (the below photos) since 2005, and the beach is still almost the same today, as it was when I first came there in 2001...

 

2005 afternoon

 

2009

 

2019 summer-season

 

2020

 

2021 sunset 22nd April

 

And you do need some level of "construction" for a happy retirement – if you are looking for something more than a remote tropical island with nothing but coconut palms – and I'm talking for several years of experience, for example shopping, both local and shopping malls; a variety of restaurants; good easy accessable hospitals; just to mention a few...????

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

To get to a nice beach on Samui, you gotta walk through a resort. There are hardly any public entrances to beaches, with proper parking facilities. Phuket's beaches are much easier to get to. I even prefer the Khanom and Sichon beaches, than those on Samui. You can drive around the island for an hour with hardly seeing the sea. Also, a lot of restaurants and shops are closed . 

Seems like you're talking about Chaweng's beach where the public entrance is at the southern part. Many of the other beautiful beaches are easy accessable.

[lavender19]

Why hasn't the fake news ministry picked up on this utter boll@x

[ramrod711]

6 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

To get to a nice beach on Samui, you gotta walk through a resort. There are hardly any public entrances to beaches, with proper parking facilities. Phuket's beaches are much easier to get to. I even prefer the Khanom and Sichon beaches, than those on Samui. You can drive around the island for an hour with hardly seeing the sea. Also, a lot of restaurants and shops are closed . 

 

 

A sore point for me as well at Chaweng, there was only one public access to the beach if you weren't at a beach front resort.

[gearbox]

14 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

A sore point for me as well at Chaweng, there was only one public access to the beach if you weren't at a beach front resort.

 

There used to be more access points,  but they were through areas where all the businesses are closed now. These areas are now fenced, so it is pretty hard now to walk the beach and get out through another access point.

I spent 10 days last month in Phuket (Patong), and it reminded me to the well designed beach areas in Vietnam like Danang and Nha Trang.  So much better than Samui.  There is a nice walking path just after the beach, then the road, and then all the buildings. Night time they had outdoor markets in the area, it was very lively.

 

[Swimfan]

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Absolute tosh.

I suspect that you went no further than Chaweng (which is like the Blackpool of England).

Choengmon, Bangrak, Plai Laem, Samrong, Tongson and the nudist beach with no name. All within a 10 minute drive from my place. Not one of them do you need to walk through a resort. All have public access.

Further afield there is public access to Maenam, Bang Po, Lipa Noi, Taling Ngam and Thong Krut beaches - that I know of. Probably more that I do not know.

There is so much rubbish here posted by people who do not go out and explore.

A quick question - are all of the shops and restaurants and shops in Phuket open?

Careful. My mother comes from Blackpool

[Swimfan]

On 4/23/2021 at 10:12 PM, SoilSpoil said:

Hard to find a secluded beach on Samui. The island is overbuilt, and completely in decay. We spent 8 days on Samui last week, and can not imagine to retire there.

You must be blind if you can’t find a secluded beach on Samui. 

[Chill27]

I've spent a lot of time in Samui over the past year, mainly at Silent Beach in Maenam.

My family home is near the beach in Queensland, and I have spent a lot of time in Pattaya mainly, also Krabi and Phuket.

Silent beach is right up there on a sunny clear day. 

I'm seriously considering building a home in Maenam. Once you head inland from the ring road, the scenery is stunning.

The things that concern me are, smoke pollution, and a lack of things to do.

I think I'd need to get involved in boating, jetskiing, or something.

An easy place to eat too much, drink too much and generally become very lazy.

[SoilSpoil]

20 minutes ago, Swimfan said:

You must be blind if you can’t find a secluded beach on Samui. 

 

Probably yes. Been there at least 4 times, and I haven't found them. Unless you walk through a resort or restaurant, that is. Compare Samui's beach boulevards with those of the likes of Ao Nang, Patong, Naithon, Kata, Prachuap, the beaches in Chumpon, Ban krut, and I can go on and on. Samui is maybe stunning if you are in the know, but most visitors stay a couple of days and are clearly not in the know.

[Swimfan]

2 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

 

Probably yes. Been there at least 4 times, and I haven't found them. Unless you walk through a resort or restaurant, that is. Compare Samui's beach boulevards with those of the likes of Ao Nang, Patong, Naithon, Kata, Prachuap, the beaches in Chumpon, Ban krut, and I can go on and on. Samui is maybe stunning if you are in the know, but most visitors stay a couple of days and are clearly not in the know.

I agree with the boulevard statement re Patong and Ao Nang etc. But those beaches themselves have nothing in comparison to the majority of beaches in Samui. The water in the beach at Patong is nothing short of a garbage dump 

[SoilSpoil]

29 minutes ago, Swimfan said:

I agree with the boulevard statement re Patong and Ao Nang etc. But those beaches themselves have nothing in comparison to the majority of beaches in Samui. The water in the beach at Patong is nothing short of a garbage dump 

Lipa Noi doesn't fare much better, combined with the smell of burned plastic at night. 

 

Bottomline is that Samui is not exactly a retirement paradise, as the OP stated.

[GreasyFingers]

6 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

but these days Samui is just totally overrated, overbuilt and plain dirty.

You could be talking about Bangkok, Pattaya and others.

[Freigeist365]

I was lucky enough to visit Samui 30 years ago - back then, the island would have deserved to be on that list, but now? All you see is trash, decay, abandoned shops and property projects and roads riddled with death traps and potholes... and that was the fact already BEFORE C-19 hit. We were there for vacation in 2019 and it was an absolute horrible experience. We could have been better and cheaper off just staying near our home at a popular west coast province.

[Captor]

22 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I do not think that you were really looking. 3 secluded beaches within a 15 minute walk of my house.

That's not very hard.

Is there a good hospital in case you get a heart problem or else that might comes to you as a retiree?

[Maha Sarakham]

1 hour ago, Chill27 said:

An easy place to eat too much, drink too much and generally become very lazy.

 

That is one of my biggest concerns with a retirement destination.  Don't want to feel restricted to a particular area (traffic, busy roads, no footpaths, etc.) or have difficulty walking to many places.  I've always considered Samui as one of my top potentials for retirement, but I remember the many times I've visited in the past where the only place I did any decent amount of walking was around Bophut and maybe Choengmon.  Everywhere else had too much traffic or wasn't very walkable, a motorbike was the easiest way to get around.  Definitely a consideration I suppose.