Koh Phangan First Impressions

[SiSePuede419]

1. Great way to travel to Myanmar without needing a passport stamp or visa. 

 

Very friendly, great English.

 

Although my wife was surprised they couldn't read Thai when she messaged the hotel staff on Facebook about room service.

 

I told her that Thai was probably their 3rd language after English and they could only speak it.

 

2. All the Farang breakfast places have almost the same menu.  Now I'm not complaining, the chia pudding was very good.  But the coffee is never quite as good as 7-Eleven, my wife prefers the taste.

 

3. People seemed a lot more friendly than Phuket, Surat Thani or Krabi.

 

4. It's hard to find "South Thai" food on KP.  Much easier to find Issan food (and we enjoyed the simple old school pleasure of the restaurant with the name "Isaan food", great grilled catfish, grilled chicken and Naam tok pork and loved the dirt floor.

 

5. The airport on Koh Samui is insane.  It's outside.  Forget about wearing nice clothes you're going to be soaked with sweat just walking to your gate.

 

6. Out of Haad Yao, Malibu and Haad Rin, we thought the Haad Rin beach had the best sand/water.  The surrounding town is quite depressing in the daytime, but I'm sure it comes alive during a FMP.

 

7. There's no weight machines at 7-Elevens on KP because everyone is skinny there. 😄

 

 

[ChaiyaTH]

What are you smoking? Myanmar is not even on the right side of the map if talking about koh phangan. Regarding to beaches, you clearly haven't seen much yet if you think haad rin is the best one. Plenty of southern Thai food to be found as well. Last but not least, people are not skinny, they are actually how people are supposed to be and once used to be.

[SiSePuede419]

4 hours ago, ChaiyaTH said:

What are you smoking? Myanmar is not even on the right side of the map if talking about koh phangan. Regarding to beaches, you clearly haven't seen much yet if you think haad rin is the best one. Plenty of southern Thai food to be found as well.

A lot of the workers who interact with customers are from Myanmar.  You didn't know?

 

You have a reading comprehension problem.  I said HR was the best of the 3 beaches we visited. 

 

Define "plenty". In Chiang Rai not far from our house we have a South Thai restaurant that only has South Thai food. That's "plenty".

 

What we saw was a mixture of different kinds of Thai food. 

 

Where was the restaurant that only serves South Food?  If there are so many I would think you could name a few.

 

What about Khao Yam? That's the pinacle of South Food dishes.

 

You've never had Khao Yam before?

Edited November 27, 2023 by SiSePuede419

[thrilled]

Koh Phangan is ok during the full Moon Party. Maybe a little boring other times

[bignok]

7 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

A lot of the workers who interact with customers are from Myanmar.  You didn't know?

 

You have a reading comprehension problem.  I said HR was the best of the 3 beaches we visited. 

 

Define "plenty". In Chiang Rai not far from our house we have a South Thai restaurant that only has South Thai food. That's "plenty".

 

What we saw was a mixture of different kinds of Thai food. 

 

Where was the restaurant that only serves South Food?  If there are so many I would think you could name a few.

 

What about Khao Yam? That's the pinacle of South Food dishes.

 

You've never had Khao Yam before?

Southern food is crap anyway. Try the Thong Pan beaches

[bignok]

15 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

airport on Koh Samui is insane.  It's outside

All planes land outside. If indoors you couldnt fly.

[bignok]

Here

[richard_smith237]

20 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

You have a reading comprehension problem. 

 

Only after reading your response ChaiyaTH's comment did your post makes sense as it initially reads as if you were commenting on the convenience of travelling to Myanamar when travelling to KPG... 

 

The lack of clarity in your opening post is perhaps the issue and the reason for the critique.

 

 

 

 

[Morch]

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Only after reading your response ChaiyaTH's comment did your post makes sense as it initially reads as if you were commenting on the convenience of travelling to Myanamar when travelling to KPG... 

 

The lack of clarity in your opening post is perhaps the issue and the reason for the critique.

 

 

 

 

 

I thought he was referring to Koh Phayam. But it didn't make sense either, so read it again and got it.

[SiSePuede419]

14 hours ago, bignok said:

Southern food is crap anyway. Try the Thong Pan beaches

The South Food we ate for lunch today in Chiang Rai was pretty good.  110B for two plates, not sure how many things they let you choose.  I chose 3 menus.  Of course, in the North the South Food is prepared and cold.  That's the only disadvantage. 👍

 

You mean Thong Nai Pan Beach?

 

A bit out of the way, 555. 

 

After risking your life driving a half hour through the jungle to get there, how were the sand flies? 😄

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by SiSePuede419

[bignok]

5 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

The South Food we ate for lunch today in Chiang Rai was pretty good.  110B for two plates, not sure how many things they let you choose.  I chose 3 menus.  Of course, in the North the South Food is prepared and cold.  That's the only disadvantage. 👍

 

You mean Thong Nai Pan Beach?

 

A bit out of the way, 555. 

 

After risking your life driving a half hour through the jungle to get there, how were the sand flies? 😄

 

Out of the way? Its 20 mins. All paved now i believe. 

 

Why would you go to KPN and miss the best beaches?

[SiSePuede419]

5 minutes ago, bignok said:

Out of the way? Its 20 mins. All paved now i believe

20 minutes if you drive like you want to go to the hospital or mortuary.

 

See that squiggly line? That means a mountain road with lots of curves.

 

Yeah, on the west side of the island they have paved roads.  Covered with sand.  Or flooded in places.

 

Sure.  No danger of wiping out on a motorcycle around a curve covered with sand, eh?

 

I noticed you keep forgetting to mention the sand flies on Thong Nai Pan Beach. 😄

[bignok]

3 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

20 minutes if you drive like you want to go to the hospital or mortuary.

 

See that squiggly line? That means a mountain road with lots of curves.

 

Yeah, on the west side of the island they have paved roads.  Covered with sand.  Or flooded in places.

 

Sure.  No danger of wiping out on a motorcycle around a curve covered with sand, eh?

 

I noticed you keep forgetting to mention the sand flies on Thong Nai Pan Beach. 😄

What sandflies? You never went.

[bignok]

22 mins

[gearbox]

On 11/28/2023 at 12:52 PM, bignok said:

What sandflies? You never went.

There are sandflies, but not too many....nothing like Oz or NZ. The Bottle beach has them too.

[bignok]

2 minutes ago, gearbox said:

There are sandflies, but not too many....nothing like Oz or NZ. The Bottle beach has them too.

Chumphon is bad for them. No where else Ive been. It was unbearable in Chumphon.

[gearbox]

On 11/28/2023 at 12:38 PM, bignok said:

Out of the way? Its 20 mins. All paved now i believe. 

 

Why would you go to KPN and miss the best beaches?

IMO Haad Yuan is the best beach on the east side, but hard to get to. Beer is expensive even in the shops.

 

[SiSePuede419]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:48 PM, gearbox said:

What sandflies? You never went.

It's well known that sandflies lay their eggs in the sand and if people walk on the sand or lay down on their towel on top of the eggs or when hotels rake the sand it disturbs the eggs and not as many hatch, if at all.

Thus it's well known that the most popular beaches with lots of people and activity have almost no problem with sandflies.

It's just the beaches where no one goes that have problems.

 

See?  That's what happens when you're educated and not ignorant.

 

You don't have to make mistakes that people like you make. 😄

[SiSePuede419]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:54 PM, gearbox said:

IMO Haad Yuan is the best beach on the east side, but hard to get to. Beer is expensive even in the shops.

Makes sense. 

 

The less popular places tend to be more expensive. 😄

 

Eight years ago, the NYT did a breathless article on how they discovered ‘Old Thailand’ on the smaller, less popular "Sleepy Islands" off Koh Chang.

 

 "Sleepy Islands", yeah right.

 

All with prices more expensive than Koh Chang. 😄

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:54 PM, gearbox said:

IMO Haad Yuan is the best beach on the east side, but hard to get to. Beer is expensive even in the shops.

Everything is usually more expensive in the shops, restaurants and bars on the islands. Distribution costs. Both ferry and local costs. (We pay more for gasoline here on Samui.)