Koh Samet Getting Worse ?

[steven100]

Hi all , I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has an opinion on Koh Samet ..

Just got back from Koh Samet , there were a group of us that stayed two nights there.

I just want to make mention regarding how the standard of service has depreciated over the past as well as room maintenance and the place in general.

Where we stayed , the lady was only interested in her money !! that's all... we paid the cash ..(bht6,500)..went to the room and as usual , the shower head sprayed more water on the door & walls than on me , the electrical sockets were broken, not one towel rail in the room or the bathroom so I don't know where they expect you to hang a towel out. ( except outside there was two broken wooden racks).

The small round concrete BBQ cooker we had out the front was as old as me and no ash tray.

Anyway , the list goes on ...

They just do not care about spending one cent on upkeep & replacement ...

Also, I noticed at the bars and when ordering food the service & food left a lot to be desired.

The prices are getting up around western & european prices but the infrustructure & service is getting worse. I think a change is eminant next time.

Cheers

steven100

[ThaiEye]

Sorry to hear about your hotel room! Just seems like bad luck - dont be afraid to mention the hotel here, makes a warning for everyone. Better than just generalizing.

In contrast, ive been going to Samet for years and feel that the prices havent really gone up at all, the food has, sure - but not really accommodation. For me the place hasnt changed too much over the past few years, so no i dont see Samet getting worse! I just take care though on where i stay and eat etc... same as anywhere i go.

[steven100]

Sorry to hear about your hotel room! Just seems like bad luck - dont be afraid to mention the hotel here, makes a warning for everyone. Better than just generalizing.

In contrast, ive been going to Samet for years and feel that the prices havent really gone up at all, the food has, sure - but not really accommodation. For me the place hasnt changed too much over the past few years, so no i dont see Samet getting worse! I just take care though on where i stay and eat etc... same as anywhere i go.

hi ThaiEye , thanks for your comments. The place we stayed was the Sea Horse resort on Von Duen ... & we have stayed there before. It just seems they never fix anything.

But other than that we did have a good time..

May look at a better place next time..

cheers.

steven100

[ozfarang81]

erm yes, why not check the rooms out before you commit to a place? I love Samet, and I just arrive on the island and look for a place. There is lots of nice places at good prices. No need to book first.

[sunreader]

http://www.jepbungalow.com/5/

Always stay here, cheap clean and functional rooms, great position by the beach and amazing evening meals on the beach....brilliant!

[prism]

http://www.jepbungalow.com/5/

Always stay here, cheap clean and functional rooms, great position by the beach and amazing evening meals on the beach....brilliant!

I agree. I recommend trying the restaurant even if you are not staying there.

[sunnymarky]

I went there in February. What a S**t hole. Stray dogs everywhere,, beach not that clean, Techno music blasting out in the evenings if you are anywhere near the beach, Food overpriced and so ordinary.

A lot better islands on the east coast than Samet

[triffid]

I went there in February. What a S**t hole. Stray dogs everywhere,, beach not that clean, Techno music blasting out in the evenings if you are anywhere near the beach, Food overpriced and so ordinary.

A lot better islands on the east coast than Samet

I'm planning for somewhere off the east coast for a few days in october. Which island do you recommend - other than Koh Chang which I know?

[triffid]

.....There is lots of nice places at good prices. No need to book first.

People suggest this, but I've never been there and would like an explanation. Would you recommend this to a first time visitor? What is the transport siutation - I understand there are no cars/taxis? How easy is it to traipse around the island with a suitcase looking for a hotel? How long would this take? Are the prices going to be as good as pre-booked ones?

I would want a hotel on the beach, quiet and 'away from it all' for under 1500 bht. Feasible? Any recommendation?

[EvilDrSomkid]

.....There is lots of nice places at good prices. No need to book first.

People suggest this, but I've never been there and would like an explanation. Would you recommend this to a first time visitor? What is the transport siutation - I understand there are no cars/taxis? How easy is it to traipse around the island with a suitcase looking for a hotel? How long would this take? Are the prices going to be as good as pre-booked ones?

I would want a hotel on the beach, quiet and 'away from it all' for under 1500 bht. Feasible? Any recommendation?

There are cars on Samed. Mostly songtheaws and they run all over the place. The roads are crap. There really is almost no "away from it all" accom.

For that you need to look elsewhere.

Just have a look at the island on Google Maps/Earth. You will see what I mean.

Yes, I have been there.

[soihok]

erm yes, why not check the rooms out before you commit to a place? I love Samet, and I just arrive on the island and look for a place. There is lots of nice places at good prices. No need to book first.

I agree, although have you tried doing that with a couple of kids in tow?

Not so nice, so sometimes booking ahead is preferrable.

Checking out the comments of others, such as on this Forum is a great help.

[KunMatt]

Hi all , I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has an opinion on Koh Samet ..

Me and my gf stayed at the main beach Hat Sai Kaew at the end of June for the first time for 10 days. We just did the usual rock up and find a place to stay which always seems to work out. All of the hotels we tried along the beach were awful, and because it was Buddha's birthday on the Thursday the prices were hiked up for the whole week which meant that some of these places were expecting 4k to 6k Baht a night. I always say that I don't mind paying 4 or 5 star prices if we get that level of quality but this was another case I found of hotel owners unrealistically expecting European prices but offering crap standards and then not understanding why they are 90% empty. Thailand destinations have becoming very prone to this in my experience. Every room we were shown in about 5 of the hotels was disgusting, dirty and reeked of damp and were very, very basic. One of them was just one room wth two double beds in it and a shower room, I think that was 7k for four people!

We ended up finding a really decent hotel just close to that roundabout about 2 mins walk from the beach. It was run by a older couple who lived in one of the larger hotel rooms and they were abosolutely genuinely lovely and looked after us the whole time we were there. One time we didn't come back until about 5am and they were waiting up for us like worried parents to make sure we were ok! The room was only 1200 a night and was 5 times better than the bungalows we had looked at on the beach. I can't remember the name of it, but it was on the left side as you walk up that road, the yellow three storey building.

There is one main boat station at the north of the Island which is about 30 mins from Raylong but boats stop at various places on the Island depending which hotel or company is running the boat. I wish we knew this before as our boat sailed past the boat station which is 5 mins from our beach, past the beach we wanted to stay and about an hour later stopped offshore for another boat to come out and collect us to take us to shallow enough water for us to jump into the sea and walk to shore. We, and our bags, were soaked, pissed off and a 20 minute 300 baht taxi from where we wanted to be, all because, unbeknownst to us, the rep where we brought the boat tickets from could only get us a boat put on by this hotel on the southern side of the Island.

Samet can be beautiful and very nice if you just want the beach life as there's pretty much nothing else to do but be prepared to pay Island prices which are a minimum of 20% more than you find anywhere on the mainland. And the service and level of hospitality in most places is a lot lower than you'll have been accustomed to elsewhere in Thailand. I don't know what the reason for that is. Also, neither of the girls who work in a travel shop gave me any correct information regarding the Visa runs they were selling or the times of the boats and connections that they sell EVERYDAY. It was too frustrating having to explain things to people that they should already know as they do it for a living. In the end we found out he owners of our hotel also arrange tours and tickets and they were golden.

Dogs are a problem. There are about 20 or 30 of them on that one beach that just wander around in different packs and shit all over the beach, most of them fight throughout the day and night but I never saw any tourists getting attacked when we were there. They need to be culled (maybe a bit harsh, perhaps newtered) or at least taken and left in another part of the Island if they want to be offering this place only as a tourist destination.

All in all, it's a nice place to get away, especially as it's only about 4 hours from BKK and you cannot even compare Pattaya's beach to Samet's. I think the pros outweigh the cons and we're already talking about going back there again sometime.

So after all that waffle my advice is;

Make sure your boat disembarks close to where you want to stay.

Check the room before you commit to stay anywhere.

Look around and check out all the hotels, they are all close together.

Don't pay 5 star rates for a 2 star room.

Don't expect Phuket or Koh Samui standards cuz they're just not there in most places.

Hope this helps someone.

[triffid]

If I may ask what may seem stupid questions (mitigation: I've never been to Koh Samed).

How do you set about looking for a suitable place on the island?

From where to whare would you take the boat?

What and at what cost would you hire the transport to take you around possible hotels?

How straightforward or pre-bribed are the taxis?

Would the hotels give you a good price knowing you are right there already, or the opposite?

If I want to void the noisier or more crowded places which parts should I just skip and thus save time?

Having in mind the first half of October, can I find a beach-side or beach-view room for 1000/1300 baht? (The quieter the beach the better.)

[KunMatt]

If I may ask what may seem stupid questions (mitigation: I've never been to Koh Samed).

How do you set about looking for a suitable place on the island?

From where to whare would you take the boat?

What and at what cost would you hire the transport to take you around possible hotels?

How straightforward or pre-bribed are the taxis?

Would the hotels give you a good price knowing you are right there already, or the opposite?

If I want to void the noisier or more crowded places which parts should I just skip and thus save time?

Having in mind the first half of October, can I find a beach-side or beach-view room for 1000/1300 baht? (The quieter the beach the better.)

1. The only places to stay are the various beaches around the Island, I believe. We just picked the most popular one. One night we took a taxi to the second most popular beach and it was dead, not a soul in any of the open bars and restaurants and this was holiday week.

2. You get the boat from Raylong on the mainland, 150Bt each and you can either get off at the main boat station, or there might be one which takes you to your hotel's beach if you book at the same time.

3. Taxis are pickup vans that have benches in the back types. All prices are written on a board to where you want to go and are set at either privately hiring the taxi, or waiting for enough people to fill it up before it leaves and you share the fare between you. Private hire is 300Baht at most, I think.

Once you are at the beach location there is no real need for any more transport unless you want to venture to another beach. You can hire scooters (400Bht/day) or ATVs to get around the Island on your own.

4. Taxis drivers have a "like the price or walk" attitude and don't seem to be barterable (sp? / word??).

5. We couldn't get any discount on any of the big hotels but this may be because it was holiday week and they were expecting to be flooded with guests (they weren't). The place we ended up staying at went down from the holiday price of 1500 to 1200 because we pre-paid for 8 days. They said if we ever go back there we can stay again for 1000bht (which is what I imagine is the "real" price).

6. The noisy parts are the bars on the beaches which stay open and bang out loud music until all hours. We could hear the music from our room until about 4am. I'm not sure if there other beaches are as noisy as Diamond Beach, I would hazard a guess that they are much quieter.

[think_too_mut]

If I may ask what may seem stupid questions (mitigation: I've never been to Koh Samed).

How do you set about looking for a suitable place on the island?

From where to whare would you take the boat?

What and at what cost would you hire the transport to take you around possible hotels?

How straightforward or pre-bribed are the taxis?

Would the hotels give you a good price knowing you are right there already, or the opposite?

If I want to void the noisier or more crowded places which parts should I just skip and thus save time?

Having in mind the first half of October, can I find a beach-side or beach-view room for 1000/1300 baht? (The quieter the beach the better.)

The island is a national park, cars are not allowed except commercial vehicles (songtaews) owned by locals.

A rickety boat will take you accross from Ban Phe for peanuts (30B?).

Hiring a taxi (songtaews are their taxis) for exclusive use was 150B (can't remember if it was altogether or we paid 150B each with another couple, I think it was altogether).

Edit: another poster just replied it was 300B for the vehicle.

Quiet beach becomes hel_l if it has (and will have) 1 jetski to roar and release fumes all day long.

Hotels looked happy to deal with guests that just turned up.

The beaches may have allnight parties, I saw wardrobe size loudspeakers on the beach.

Edited August 31, 2009 by think_too_mut

[siam2007]

Hi all , I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has an opinion on Koh Samet ..

Me and my gf stayed at the main beach Hat Sai Kaew at the end of June for the first time for 10 days. We just did the usual rock up and find a place to stay which always seems to work out. All of the hotels we tried along the beach were awful, and because it was Buddha's birthday on the Thursday the prices were hiked up for the whole week which meant that some of these places were expecting 4k to 6k Baht a night. I always say that I don't mind paying 4 or 5 star prices if we get that level of quality but this was another case I found of hotel owners unrealistically expecting European prices but offering crap standards and then not understanding why they are 90% empty. Thailand destinations have becoming very prone to this in my experience. Every room we were shown in about 5 of the hotels was disgusting, dirty and reeked of damp and were very, very basic. One of them was just one room wth two double beds in it and a shower room, I think that was 7k for four people!

We ended up finding a really decent hotel just close to that roundabout about 2 mins walk from the beach. It was run by a older couple who lived in one of the larger hotel rooms and they were abosolutely genuinely lovely and looked after us the whole time we were there. One time we didn't come back until about 5am and they were waiting up for us like worried parents to make sure we were ok! The room was only 1200 a night and was 5 times better than the bungalows we had looked at on the beach. I can't remember the name of it, but it was on the left side as you walk up that road, the yellow three storey building.

There is one main boat station at the north of the Island which is about 30 mins from Raylong but boats stop at various places on the Island depending which hotel or company is running the boat. I wish we knew this before as our boat sailed past the boat station which is 5 mins from our beach, past the beach we wanted to stay and about an hour later stopped offshore for another boat to come out and collect us to take us to shallow enough water for us to jump into the sea and walk to shore. We, and our bags, were soaked, pissed off and a 20 minute 300 baht taxi from where we wanted to be, all because, unbeknownst to us, the rep where we brought the boat tickets from could only get us a boat put on by this hotel on the southern side of the Island.

Samet can be beautiful and very nice if you just want the beach life as there's pretty much nothing else to do but be prepared to pay Island prices which are a minimum of 20% more than you find anywhere on the mainland. And the service and level of hospitality in most places is a lot lower than you'll have been accustomed to elsewhere in Thailand. I don't know what the reason for that is. Also, neither of the girls who work in a travel shop gave me any correct information regarding the Visa runs they were selling or the times of the boats and connections that they sell EVERYDAY. It was too frustrating having to explain things to people that they should already know as they do it for a living. In the end we found out he owners of our hotel also arrange tours and tickets and they were golden.

Dogs are a problem. There are about 20 or 30 of them on that one beach that just wander around in different packs and shit all over the beach, most of them fight throughout the day and night but I never saw any tourists getting attacked when we were there. They need to be culled (maybe a bit harsh, perhaps newtered) or at least taken and left in another part of the Island if they want to be offering this place only as a tourist destination.

All in all, it's a nice place to get away, especially as it's only about 4 hours from BKK and you cannot even compare Pattaya's beach to Samet's. I think the pros outweigh the cons and we're already talking about going back there again sometime.

So after all that waffle my advice is;

Make sure your boat disembarks close to where you want to stay.

Check the room before you commit to stay anywhere.

Look around and check out all the hotels, they are all close together.

Don't pay 5 star rates for a 2 star room.

Don't expect Phuket or Koh Samui standards cuz they're just not there in most places.

Hope this helps someone.

Hi Matt,

thanks for taking your time to write this excellent and honest report, better than any fake tripdvisor-rubbish-report.

Samet is virtually the only tourist place of any importance I have not seen in Thailand in my 5 years living here, and it will for sure help me when I organize a trip to there in the near future.

though, most of the things you describe I already ecpected, reading a few guidebooks and checking several Samet-Hotels' websites.

you are indeed right that there is no more annoying thing than a hotel charging artificially inflated Western prices, but not providing the same standard and service in return (and of course, pay only peanuts to their staff ).

unfortunately, such thing exists on almost all small islands, and not only in Thailand (same in Bali or Tioman).

Local people who were lucky enough to own precious land, but who have no clue (and actually no interest) to run a hospitality-business properly, and who r just interested to make quick bucks at ridiculous rates, offering little to nothing return..... it's a shame....

[seasider]

Sorry to hear about your hotel room! Just seems like bad luck - dont be afraid to mention the hotel here, makes a warning for everyone. Better than just generalizing.

In contrast, ive been going to Samet for years and feel that the prices havent really gone up at all, the food has, sure - but not really accommodation. For me the place hasnt changed too much over the past few years, so no i dont see Samet getting worse! I just take care though on where i stay and eat etc... same as anywhere i go.

Can i ask, how many years you have been going there?

Because ,from my experience,prices have increased considerably.

[MJP]

Just to add, I've been going to Samet for eight years, lived there for 6 months, it's now in deep trouble.

1. Too many motorbikes and ATV's which are a dangerous pollution (seen many accidents).

2. Water trucks need to be replaced with the completion of the water pipeline from the mainland (when the main reservoir runs dry, they pump from the pond in front of the Temple, in the end they are pumping slurry, it's vile). Water truck operator is of course opposed to the pipleline with the usual corruption involved.

3. Sewerage system needs sorting (they still discharge to the bays late night).

4. General attitude is aggressive towards tourists. Although many of my Thai friends are on Samet (most are in their 40's and 50's) the younger ones need to learn some manners.

5. Prices are western (although it is an island and this does happen).

6. Accommodation prices have soared, but there is a reason for this. Land price there has gone bananas in the past 3 years. I looked at a place for 1.8 million a few years ago, it just went for 6 million. I stay at a friends restaurant but have heard people paying 6000 a night for a beach bungalow - up to them, there are cheaper options - try The Lost Resort.

7. The port authority must let the ferries raise prices for passenger tickets. It's been 50 Baht one way for ever. Thus the fleet is deteriorating and to make up the difference some ferrymen overload their boats with cargo. I know of a few instances of overloaded boats capsizing.

8. Sort the roads out, but don't let them become race tracks.

9. Speed limit the pick up trucks/buses. I regularly see them doing 50-60 mph up the main high street at night (past the police station of all places), a little less during the day. This is a very dangerous situation.

10. Where's all the money gone for these improvements? TIT.

Tok's building a new Silver Sands disco, Ploy Talay is still a good night out. Still fun to visit but needs to raise it's game in these challenging times.

[seasider]

Just to add, I've been going to Samet for eight years, lived there for 6 months, it's now in deep trouble.

1. Too many motorbikes and ATV's which are a dangerous pollution (seen many accidents).

2. Water trucks need to be replaced with the completion of the water pipeline from the mainland (when the main reservoir runs dry, they pump from the pond in front of the Temple, in the end they are pumping slurry, it's vile). Water truck operator is of course opposed to the pipleline with the usual corruption involved.

3. Sewerage system needs sorting (they still discharge to the bays late night).

4. General attitude is aggressive towards tourists. Although many of my Thai friends are on Samet (most are in their 40's and 50's) the younger ones need to learn some manners.

5. Prices are western (although it is an island and this does happen).

6. Accommodation prices have soared, but there is a reason for this. Land price there has gone bananas in the past 3 years. I looked at a place for 1.8 million a few years ago, it just went for 6 million. I stay at a friends restaurant but have heard people paying 6000 a night for a beach bungalow - up to them, there are cheaper options - try The Lost Resort.

7. The port authority must let the ferries raise prices for passenger tickets. It's been 50 Baht one way for ever. Thus the fleet is deteriorating and to make up the difference some ferrymen overload their boats with cargo. I know of a few instances of overloaded boats capsizing.

8. Sort the roads out, but don't let them become race tracks.

9. Speed limit the pick up trucks/buses. I regularly see them doing 50-60 mph up the main high street at night (past the police station of all places), a little less during the day. This is a very dangerous situation.

10. Where's all the money gone for these improvements? TIT.

Tok's building a new Silver Sands disco, Ploy Talay is still a good night out. Still fun to visit but needs to raise it's game in these challenging times.

Yes,like you have said,accomodation prices have soared in the last decade. The poster who said they have remained the same must be thinking of a different ko samed,somewhere in a parallel universe.

To give you an example i went to Samed around '99 and remember Prices for a beach bungalow on Hat Sai Kaew Villas being around 200 baht. Around late 200/early 2001 about 250 baht,350-450 baht for better bungalows(air con etc). In 2005, around a 1000 baht irrc for air con rooms closest to the beach with view of the beach from the balcony,less than that for fan rooms further back.

In may this year, i had plans to head down there but unfortunately it was thai holiday weekend and everywhere was full, the only rooms available on Hat Sai Kaew were 3-4000 baht per night!,they were air con rooms, standard/fan rooms were 2000 baht but all fully booked, so i changed plans and had a few days in Jomtien instead!

Still remember the days (xmas '94) when you could get a bungalow on Chaweng Beach,Samui for 150 baht,or it may have been 80 baht....................

[Briggsy]

I first went to Samet in '96.

Many things have changed. The most obvious one is the island is now filthy.

[MJP]

Just to add, I've been going to Samet for eight years, lived there for 6 months, it's now in deep trouble.

1. Too many motorbikes and ATV's which are a dangerous pollution (seen many accidents).

2. Water trucks need to be replaced with the completion of the water pipeline from the mainland (when the main reservoir runs dry, they pump from the pond in front of the Temple, in the end they are pumping slurry, it's vile). Water truck operator is of course opposed to the pipleline with the usual corruption involved.

3. Sewerage system needs sorting (they still discharge to the bays late night).

4. General attitude is aggressive towards tourists. Although many of my Thai friends are on Samet (most are in their 40's and 50's) the younger ones need to learn some manners.

5. Prices are western (although it is an island and this does happen).

6. Accommodation prices have soared, but there is a reason for this. Land price there has gone bananas in the past 3 years. I looked at a place for 1.8 million a few years ago, it just went for 6 million. I stay at a friends restaurant but have heard people paying 6000 a night for a beach bungalow - up to them, there are cheaper options - try The Lost Resort.

7. The port authority must let the ferries raise prices for passenger tickets. It's been 50 Baht one way for ever. Thus the fleet is deteriorating and to make up the difference some ferrymen overload their boats with cargo. I know of a few instances of overloaded boats capsizing.

8. Sort the roads out, but don't let them become race tracks.

9. Speed limit the pick up trucks/buses. I regularly see them doing 50-60 mph up the main high street at night (past the police station of all places), a little less during the day. This is a very dangerous situation.

10. Where's all the money gone for these improvements? TIT.

Tok's building a new Silver Sands disco, Ploy Talay is still a good night out. Still fun to visit but needs to raise it's game in these challenging times.

Yes,like you have said,accomodation prices have soared in the last decade. The poster who said they have remained the same must be thinking of a different ko samed,somewhere in a parallel universe.

To give you an example i went to Samed around '99 and remember Prices for a beach bungalow on Hat Sai Kaew Villas being around 200 baht. Around late 200/early 2001 about 250 baht,350-450 baht for better bungalows(air con etc). In 2005, around a 1000 baht irrc for air con rooms closest to the beach with view of the beach from the balcony,less than that for fan rooms further back.

In may this year, i had plans to head down there but unfortunately it was thai holiday weekend and everywhere was full, the only rooms available on Hat Sai Kaew were 3-4000 baht per night!,they were air con rooms, standard/fan rooms were 2000 baht but all fully booked, so i changed plans and had a few days in Jomtien instead!

Still remember the days (xmas '94) when you could get a bungalow on Chaweng Beach,Samui for 150 baht,or it may have been 80 baht....................

Samet has now priced itself out of the market. It's expensive. Not not just that. As Briggsy says it's filthy. The atmosphere there is not pleasant either.

There are a few reasonably priced places still available, but not on the beach.

I go there to see old friends, if and when I'm around BKK or the Eastern Seaboard. I would not choose to go there for fun.

[chrgrims]

I have been there twice the last 6 months. I like it, epscially if you dont have time to travel further.

[steven100]

Well it seems that most comments on the forum agree with my original remarks about Koh Samet ..

a) rooms over priced

rooms are not maintained

c) facilities generally gone down hill

d) service is terrible

e) food is very much below expectation

I can only reinterate my experiences on going to Koh Samet many times.

If you disagree ... please name one thing there that has improved ??

The defence rests your honour !!

Cheers

[MJP]

Well it seems that most comments on the forum agree with my original remarks about Koh Samet ..

a) rooms over priced

rooms are not maintained

c) facilities generally gone down hill

d) service is terrible

e) food is very much below expectation

I can only reinterate my experiences on going to Koh Samet many times.

If you disagree ... please name one thing there that has improved ??

The defence rests your honour !!

Cheers

Ummm . . . .

I'm trying here . . .

Ahhhh . . .

They knocked down Jonny's Bar?

Amazing isn't it? After a decade of hot money poring on to that Island nothing has improved. Nothing at all. 200 Baht per person entry to the 'National Park'. Hundreds of thousands of people per year most probably. Where did the money go?

I know the reasons why and it's typical of Thailand.

I don't write negatively out of spite, I just say what I see. Perhaps if Thai authorities may by chance read these boards it may help them create sustainable tourism and income for the future. But likely not as some officials new 10m Baht house and 8m Baht Benz needs paying for.

Sad for the people who actually have to survive there dependent on tourism.

[MJP]

I have been there twice the last 6 months. I like it, epscially if you dont have time to travel further.

Sure it has nice spots. But the only thing really sustaining it is it's proximity to Bangkok.

[KunMatt]

Hi Matt,

thanks for taking your time to write this excellent and honest report, better than any fake tripdvisor-rubbish-report.

Samet is virtually the only tourist place of any importance I have not seen in Thailand in my 5 years living here, and it will for sure help me when I organize a trip to there in the near future.

though, most of the things you describe I already ecpected, reading a few guidebooks and checking several Samet-Hotels' websites.

you are indeed right that there is no more annoying thing than a hotel charging artificially inflated Western prices, but not providing the same standard and service in return (and of course, pay only peanuts to their staff ).

unfortunately, such thing exists on almost all small islands, and not only in Thailand (same in Bali or Tioman).

Local people who were lucky enough to own precious land, but who have no clue (and actually no interest) to run a hospitality-business properly, and who r just interested to make quick bucks at ridiculous rates, offering little to nothing return..... it's a shame....

Hi Siam,

I have the same problem trusting TripAdvisor mainly because more often than not most of the reviews are scathing revenge ploys by travellers who have a had a bad time. People, myself included, never seem bothered to let everyone know if they had a good time. It's also hard to guage what tastes the people who write the positive reviews have, as such last year I ended up booking and accidently staying in the Red Light district of Manila after all these perverts had banged on about Makati being the hotspot of Manila's nightlife on TripAdvisor!

With this in mind and reading my post from last week I do seem very negative but I didn't write that because we had a bad time, we spent 10 days in Samui afterwards and I enjoyed our time in Samet more. We'd both been to Samui before and could see the degradation of that place too after a few years but that's another review best told on TripAdvsor.

So I think I should balance my previous post out with some more positive comments about Samet.

For one there are generally only real couples there on holiday so the sleaze factor that you get in virtually every other Thai destination is minimal; there are very very few bar girls around (apart from the one's on a week's contract from Pattaya or Bangkok with any ferang that has decided to take them to Samet!), so it's a relief to get away from that side of Thailand.

On top of that there's no Indians trying to sell you a suit every 10 seconds, only a handful of massage places and taxis do not stop to beep at you and hold up traffic if you come within 10 feet of the road, so you can walk around in peace.

The beach is one of the most beautiful I've been to, the sand is unbelievably fine. I didn't go into the water cuz all I could think about was the daily shits from 30 dogs dissolving in the shore, but I'm sure it's fine really. We did an Island tour one day which was pointless because we were already at a beautiful remote Island and they just took us to the same thing but with no shops, restaurants or bars. We would have been better off staying on Samet.

Food is very good, but I've found that's generally the case everywhere in Thailand. There's a bunch of restaurants and the hawkers on the beach selling Isaan food so my gf was very happy. Also there's (what I'm guessing is a brand new) Pizza parlour run by an English guy which did one of the best pizzas I'd had in Thailand (was about 300 Baht though but worth it for something different from Thai food!). Also there's a couple of pancake stalls and various other indulgances along the way for when you are stagging home.

I've not been to too many places in Thailand yet, just Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya, Samet, Samui and Phangan, and Samet is a very nice change from all of those places. I'm sure there's more beautiful places to be seen in Thailand such as Phi Phi and Krabi and Chang all of which I hope to see someday soon, but Samet is just handy being so close to Bangkok and Pattaya.

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone, and if you don't like it you're only a 30 minute boat back to the mainland.

I hope I didn't put anyone off before because we had a lovely trip and I'm sure you'll get a very quick understanding of the Island if you just try it out.

[MJP]

Hi Matt,

thanks for taking your time to write this excellent and honest report, better than any fake tripdvisor-rubbish-report.

Samet is virtually the only tourist place of any importance I have not seen in Thailand in my 5 years living here, and it will for sure help me when I organize a trip to there in the near future.

though, most of the things you describe I already ecpected, reading a few guidebooks and checking several Samet-Hotels' websites.

you are indeed right that there is no more annoying thing than a hotel charging artificially inflated Western prices, but not providing the same standard and service in return (and of course, pay only peanuts to their staff ).

unfortunately, such thing exists on almost all small islands, and not only in Thailand (same in Bali or Tioman).

Local people who were lucky enough to own precious land, but who have no clue (and actually no interest) to run a hospitality-business properly, and who r just interested to make quick bucks at ridiculous rates, offering little to nothing return..... it's a shame....

Hi Siam,

I have the same problem trusting TripAdvisor mainly because more often than not most of the reviews are scathing revenge ploys by travellers who have a had a bad time. People, myself included, never seem bothered to let everyone know if they had a good time. It's also hard to guage what tastes the people who write the positive reviews have, as such last year I ended up booking and accidently staying in the Red Light district of Manila after all these perverts had banged on about Makati being the hotspot of Manila's nightlife on TripAdvisor!

With this in mind and reading my post from last week I do seem very negative but I didn't write that because we had a bad time, we spent 10 days in Samui afterwards and I enjoyed our time in Samet more. We'd both been to Samui before and could see the degradation of that place too after a few years but that's another review best told on TripAdvsor.

So I think I should balance my previous post out with some more positive comments about Samet.

For one there are generally only real couples there on holiday so the sleaze factor that you get in virtually every other Thai destination is minimal; there are very very few bar girls around (apart from the one's on a week's contract from Pattaya or Bangkok with any ferang that has decided to take them to Samet!), so it's a relief to get away from that side of Thailand.

On top of that there's no Indians trying to sell you a suit every 10 seconds, only a handful of massage places and taxis do not stop to beep at you and hold up traffic if you come within 10 feet of the road, so you can walk around in peace.

The beach is one of the most beautiful I've been to, the sand is unbelievably fine. I didn't go into the water cuz all I could think about was the daily shits from 30 dogs dissolving in the shore, but I'm sure it's fine really. We did an Island tour one day which was pointless because we were already at a beautiful remote Island and they just took us to the same thing but with no shops, restaurants or bars. We would have been better off staying on Samet.

Food is very good, but I've found that's generally the case everywhere in Thailand. There's a bunch of restaurants and the hawkers on the beach selling Isaan food so my gf was very happy. Also there's (what I'm guessing is a brand new) Pizza parlour run by an English guy which did one of the best pizzas I'd had in Thailand (was about 300 Baht though but worth it for something different from Thai food!). Also there's a couple of pancake stalls and various other indulgances along the way for when you are stagging home.

I've not been to too many places in Thailand yet, just Phuket, Bangkok, Pattaya, Samet, Samui and Phangan, and Samet is a very nice change from all of those places. I'm sure there's more beautiful places to be seen in Thailand such as Phi Phi and Krabi and Chang all of which I hope to see someday soon, but Samet is just handy being so close to Bangkok and Pattaya.

I'd definitely recommend it to anyone, and if you don't like it you're only a 30 minute boat back to the mainland.

I hope I didn't put anyone off before because we had a lovely trip and I'm sure you'll get a very quick understanding of the Island if you just try it out.

Spoke to Gordon last night, I'll let him know, he'll be chuffed with that.

[KunMatt]

Spoke to Gordon last night, I'll let him know, he'll be chuffed with that.

lol, cool. Tell him thanks for his lovely pizzas! They were so good I had 2 there in just over a week! A record for me but they were top. Salami and chili pizza with Chang beer. I could go for one of those right now!

[MJP]

Spoke to Gordon last night, I'll let him know, he'll be chuffed with that.

lol, cool. Tell him thanks for his lovely pizzas! They were so good I had 2 there in just over a week! A record for me but they were top. Salami and chili pizza with Chang beer. I could go for one of those right now!

I pushed him to make the things a couple of years ago. Went to Pattaya to pick up the pizza oven. Yes they are very popular.

[seasider]

Spoke to Gordon last night, I'll let him know, he'll be chuffed with that.

lol, cool. Tell him thanks for his lovely pizzas! They were so good I had 2 there in just over a week! A record for me but they were top. Salami and chili pizza with Chang beer. I could go for one of those right now!

I pushed him to make the things a couple of years ago. Went to Pattaya to pick up the pizza oven. Yes they are very popular.

O/T i know, but how is Samui these days? Has it gone the same way? As i wrote in an earlier post i went to Samui xmas '94 for the first and only time. I have heard that its not the same place, similar to whats happened to Ko Samed.

Shame about Samed, had a bit of a soft spot for the place, good memories.