Info On Samui: Chaweng Or Lamai Beach?

[wellred]

Looking to add an extra week to my upcoming trip and am looking at Koh Samui. I keep hearing it's busy and very touristy but for a 1st time visitor will I be that put off? How much is a beer at a local bar at either of these beaches? Also which would you prefer to stay at, Chaweng or Lamai beach?

I want a nice beach to relax on during the day, with access to day excursions like snorkeling ect but I want to be close to some bars for the evenings.

Thanks

[Birdman]

Middle to South Lamai

[PoorSucker]

Lamai, if you are a single male.

Chaweng if you like western girls.

Edited May 8, 2011 by PoorSucker

[NALAK]

80-90 baht for beer although depends what? as in leo or san mig. few bars, well theres lots in lamai and chaweng. single or couple i always prefered Chaweng for night and beach. everybody has favourite, Ban Rak ok but beach not to good but great spot for day trips. for me winner would always be Chaweng.

[wellred]

Thanks for the info. Do you reckon 2/3k is enough per day for meals, plus a few drinks in the evening? I plan to do some snorkeling there but not every day.

[NALAK]

Thanks for the info. Do you reckon 2/3k is enough per day for meals, plus a few drinks in the evening? I plan to do some snorkeling there but not every day.

depends how many beers i lived there for long time and would say easily yes if not including room, drinking its a case of how much and what, and where. basic bar, go go, night club, Q bar if still open massive differences in prices. snorkelling well IMHO Samui not good. trip to Koh Tao worth it.

stopped going in the sea years ago, never figured out where all the waste went, and had to many encounters with floaters. viz not to good either, but divers will know best

[NALAK]

depends how many beers i lived there for long time and would say easily yes if not including room, drinking its a case of how much and what, and where. basic bar, go go, night club, Q bar if still open massive differences in prices. snorkelling well IMHO Samui not good. trip to Koh Tao worth it.

3k should be more than enough if you intend to be alone.

[wellred]

and had to many encounters with floaters. viz not to good either, but divers will know best

Please tell me you didn't mean you actually saw bits of shit floating around the sea? That's f'king disgusting if so.

I had thought about Koh Tao as well, not really into diving, or rather I can't as i'm asthmatic but I hear for snorkeling it's good too. Only thing is I don't think there are any girly bars there.

What about Koh Phangan? Aside from the full moon party time do you still get girls there? Thing is it's gonna be at the end of my trip so although I don't plan to go chasing after girls every night, the odd night I might want.

[robsamui]

Hi.

It all hinges around what you want and you don't give many clues. Far better if you want a detailed reply to ask some detailed questions.

Lamai is a huge and sprawling area with only one small part of it close to the beach and with beer bars - namely the 'round bars'. The beach and main road section near here has a lot of bungalow resorts but there are hundreds more scattered in the area, 90% of them not on the Inet or accepting CCards. It would take you a week to investigate the area and pick a place to stay. There are only a few 3-4 star resorts here. True to say that, on the whole, prices here are much less than in Chaweng - accom and eating out included.

Chaweng is essentially one long beach road (app 5K) with hardly any spurs off it - other than the Soi Reggae Pub. Accom varies from the several beach hut resorts still existing (in the south part) to 5-star hotels - there are dozens of 3-4-5-star resorts on this strip. You can still find huts (but now for a very minimum of 800-1,000B a night for a shed) and the 2-3-star resorts are asking 1,300-3,000 baht a night.

Again it all depends on what you want and where you go. A cafe latte in Chaweng is 120 baht ar Sta**ucks and 60 baht at the Thai-based Coffee Cor*ner. Chaweng has Pizza Hut, McDonalds, KFC (Tesco), and lots of fast food but you'll find it difficult to find a real Thai restaurant on the Beach Road - with rents of 200,000 baht a month none can afford it.

If you're here for a week, single, male, footloose and fancy free, then head for Chaweng. It's all concentrated in one small area. Chaweng Garden Resort or Montien House (can I say this?? Sorry if not, please edit) are right in the centre and will cost you around 2,000 baht a night for a non-beachside room or bungalow. There are many others in this range. A big plate of English food will come to 300B at one of the several sports bars. You can eat off the street stalls for 100 baht a go.

Drinks vary hugely. The last year has seen 50% of the bars in Soi Green Mango (the 'red light' strip!!) either go out of business or drop their prices competitively. Local beers here are 80 baht, Heineken maybe 100 baht, and the best value is a "bucket" - Thai whiskey and coke with ice - for about 200-250 baht. (A good way to invite passing ladies to sit with you for a while, but don't say it's Sang Som whiskey or they will sneer and go away.)

If you reckon 2,000 baht (or less) for your room, another 500 baht max for food each day and another 700-1,000 baht on drinks for a crawl round the bars (including tips and a couple of drinks for the girls) - that should do you. On the other hand if you are looking to budget for entertaining a person of the female persuasion (or other) in your room after hours then reckon on a 300-500 barfine and another 1,000-3,000 donation for services rendered. The further away from the Soi Green Mango you wander, the lower the price of everything becomes. (Except for Soi Reggae Pub where it's anyone's guess.)

Better to rent a chap motorbike for a week (around 1,000B) than to keep taking taxis at 200 baht per 200 yards.

Answer you question?

Good luck

R

[oldsailor35]

and had to many encounters with floaters. viz not to good either, but divers will know best

Please tell me you didn't mean you actually saw bits of shit floating around the sea? That's f'king disgusting if so.

I had thought about Koh Tao as well, not really into diving, or rather I can't as i'm asthmatic but I hear for snorkeling it's good too. Only thing is I don't think there are any girly bars there.

What about Koh Phangan? Aside from the full moon party time do you still get girls there? Thing is it's gonna be at the end of my trip so although I don't plan to go chasing after girls every night, the odd night I might want.

If you want to relax on the beach, then try Cheong Mon,with some good accommodation like Honey Bungalow Resort, its a lovely little cove and only a short taxi ride to the busy area of Chaweng and just a little further to Lamai. Not much going on the other way to Bophut or Maenam although there are quite a few bars at Bang Rak.