I will be heading to Samui in early March. I have never been there and I am having trouble making up my mind on where to stay. I did narrow it down to either Chaweng or Lamai. Can someone please give me some pointers on the good and bad of both Chaweng and Lamai.

What I am looking for is a nice beach that not to crowed. Good seafood places and a nice easy going bar near the beach that is not filled with loud drunken patrons. My wife is more worried about the easy access to shopping and Thai food.

We also would like to know about any nice clean smoke free rooms in hotels in either of these areas. Up to 3000 baht / nite.

Any info would be much appreciated.

thanks

PKG

I will be heading to Samui in early March. I have never been there and I am having trouble making up my mind on where to stay. I did narrow it down to either Chaweng or Lamai. Can someone please give me some pointers on the good and bad of both Chaweng and Lamai. What I am looking for is a nice beach that not to crowed. Good seafood places and a nice easy going bar near the beach that is not filled with loud drunken patrons. My wife is more worried about the easy access to shopping and Thai food. We also would like to know about any nice clean smoke free rooms in hotels in either of these areas. Up to 3000 baht / nite. Any info would be much appreciated. thanks PKG

...depending up to how long you want to stay here

If you like nice beaches and clean water.....go to Koh Phangan.

If you like good shopping places....go to Chaweng.

If you like a quiet area for relax....go to Lamai.

If you like to be alone and have a very quiet area....go to south/southwest-samui.

(i hope you know where is north/east/west and south)

check out the samui-map

Chayaphum

PS: why don't stay 1week in every location? then you know what's nice for your next trip to samui....

compare to your home (Pluto) i think samui is a nice place on earth anyway

pros and cons?

they both have plenty of pros.

(.....that shit joke was going to appear sooner or later so I thought I'd put it to bed).

pros and cons?

they both have plenty of pros.

(.....that shit joke was going to appear sooner or later so I thought I'd put it to bed).

and you can with a different one every night.

Personally I think Chaweng is awful. Row upon row of same same bars and restaraunts.

Lamai is smaller and you can actually walk from one end to another, while Chaweng just goes on forever.

Only my opinion.

For hotels /Look Here

What I am looking for is a nice beach that not to crowed. Good seafood places and a nice easy going bar near the beach that is not filled with loud drunken patrons. My wife is more worried about the easy access to shopping and Thai food.

from what you have mentioned I would suggest lamai.

chaweng would be better for shopping but lamai would meet all other criteria.

By the sounds of things you'd be better off staying in Bo-Phut. Slightly more up-market (but not overly expensive), no lady bars, quiet'ish beach and lots of nice resteraunts. Nothing is very far away from anything on Samui, so if its shopping you're after, Chaweng is 2KM down the road; just jump on a 'Song-tao'.

Hope you have a great holiday

Also if the Wife wants authentic Thai food she will be hard pushed to find it in any of the tourist restaraunts. They tone it down a lot for westerners.

Try some of the tatty little shacks where the Thais eat. Cheaper as well.

Thanks everyone for all the responses.

PKG

Personally I think Chaweng is awful. Row upon row of same same bars and restaraunts.

Lamai is smaller and you can actually walk from one end to another, while Chaweng just goes on forever.

I agree.

However, many people seem to like to congregate with other people, thus the beach lounges cheek to jowl on Chaweng, each with a broiling tourist.

Personally I think Chaweng is awful. Row upon row of same same bars and restaraunts.

Lamai is smaller and you can actually walk from one end to another, while Chaweng just goes on forever.

I agree.

However, many people seem to like to congregate with other people, thus the beach lounges cheek to jowl on Chaweng, each with a broiling tourist.

Yes I have never really understood that.

Brits travel to the other side of the world to sit in a British bar, eating British food while talking to other Brits about British football.

The same with Germans, Italians and the rest.

Perhaps I am the strange one. I suppose they can say that they interreact with the Thai Ladies.

I like the far north end of Chaweng myself - not so crowded or busy as the central area, but close enough to walk to it if/when you want. Slight drawback is periodic noise of planes coming in and out of the airport but we're not exactly talking London Heathrow here!

Have stayed at the Amari and Chaweng Regent hotels up there and both are very nice - expecially the former - but not sure if they meet PKG's budget though, sorry.

Haven't been to Lamai so can't comment on that.

CC

I do stay and work on samui for a long time, since a year i am living in Chaweng - I can recommend this beach - cause you find everything you mentioned!

Lamai is shopping and quality wise too restricted, same regarding restaurants variety, same choice of hotels!

Bhoput far too far away from what your wife wants.... so is Mae Nam, Choeng Mon.... unless you like to drive at least 30 min. to get to where you want to be....

Any distinct questions?

Lamai is shopping and quality wise too restricted

Lamai is shopping? If you mean for ladies, sure. But what is it that a person would want to buy that he couldn't find in Lamai. OK, more to the point, Chaweng is the knick-knack capital of the island, no doubt, and a trinket junket is certainly in order for one evening, but as for a place to stay? If you like three kilometers of T shirt shops, massage joints, eateries, fake goods sellers and so on...it's heaven. And if you like the beach scene where your dream of being a sardine is fulfilled, it's heaven.

By the sounds of things you'd be better off staying in Bo-Phut. Slightly more up-market (but not overly expensive), no lady bars, quiet'ish beach and lots of nice resteraunts. Nothing is very far away from anything on Samui, so if its shopping you're after, Chaweng is 2KM down the road; just jump on a 'Song-tao'.

Hope you have a great holiday

I agree about Bo Phut. Much nicer and close enough to everything you want. For the money you mention the world is your oyster, even in the Bo Phut peninsula.

Have a great holiday and don't forget to visit Choeng Mon beach, the most beautiful on the island IMO.