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Koh Samui For Beginners, Need Some Tips


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although i lived in thai for more then a decade ive never been to samui, nxt month i want to visit samui with my thai gf and i could use some tips, we are not lonely planets/backpackers and i really want to avoid ending up between those people, but also not into loosing my $ in boring resorts. just some nice prefer quiet beach, a 500b hotel and a colorful little fishing town where we can walk and relax, instead of discos and entertainment etc. what are the best places to visit ? we fly from sukhothai.

many thanks!

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Edited by rubberduck
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I am a resident here, am going to get berated for this, don't bother with Samui. As a long term resident of Thailand like yourself, you will find everything overpriced and the people ( obvious exceptions) very offish. I only say this as you have lived in this country for a while, and your experience of Samui might not live up to your expectations.

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I am a resident here, am going to get berated for this, don't bother with Samui. As a long term resident of Thailand like yourself, you will find everything overpriced and the people ( obvious exceptions) very offish. I only say this as you have lived in this country for a while, and your experience of Samui might not live up to your expectations.

I'm not berating you but to say people are offish is a sweeping and incorrect generalisation.

But if the OP only wants to spend 500 baht p/night on a hotel then Samui is probably not for him as he will be at the backpacker end of the market

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I don't know what part of Samui, Voodooman lives in, but I don't agree with his view...sad.png There are lots of nice people (locals) here and not everything is overpriced as he suggests... perhaps yes, in Chawang people can be more "agressive", but not everwhere on the island.

Obviously you will pay more for meals or drinks, at places on the beach but there are many places not far that you'll get a good meal at a good price! smile.png

In July it won't be packed with tourists, so there should be lots of places to chose from, your price range is at the lower end of the scale, so you'll probably find a hut on or near the beach with fan. Maenam and Ban Tai have nicer beaches than Bopout. (IMO) If you get into 800 baht range, you should be able to find a nice place with A/C and fridge... although some places do add electric. Also some places may offer a discount if you stay for the month.

You're a bit more limited looking for a a place within walking distance to a "fisherman's village"..... Hau Thanon, beyond Lamai, may be one area, there is another in Ban Rak area, or Nanton, but again the beaches are not as nice! How busy "fishing ports" are, also vary with the tides, as to whether they land at any particular place. In the summer tides are lower..... so that affects their ability to land the catch in a particular place ! wink.png

July the weather is usually quite good! Hope you have a good trip! .... and give is your views when done! smile.png

Edited by samuijimmy
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I am a resident here, am going to get berated for this, don't bother with Samui. As a long term resident of Thailand like yourself, you will find everything overpriced and the people ( obvious exceptions) very offish. I only say this as you have lived in this country for a while, and your experience of Samui might not live up to your expectations.

Sorry, but I disagree with some of this one.

Yes - Samui is more expensive than up country. As are Pattaya and Phuket.

All holiday destinations are more expensive than rural ones. Having to fly or boat everything onto the island also adds to the cost.

Out in the more quiet areas of Samui, people are quite normal. Yes, a lot of Chewang people are offish (even downright rude) but there are some really nice ones too.

You will definitely find 500 baht bungalows (and cheaper) on the north west coasts (Bang Por?), but the very nature of the price would put you more into the backpacker bracket. You will need transport in that area, and there are some great, cheap sea-food restaurants there.

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Wow, no backpackers but looking at 500 bucks! Can you get anything half decent for 500 bucks in Samui even? I'd look at least 700 or 800 pretty much on any island these days as minimum to stay away from thatched huts that look like they may go up in flames or were built in 1977

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I`m also visiting Samui this july but only for a week tho - staying in bophut been advised not to even contemplate on the jet-ski`s rental but would`t mind seeing as much of the island as i can on a trip...

Is there an ex-pat tour service that anyone can point me in the right direction...?

Cheers

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Just stay out of Chaweng and you avoid most of the backpackers.

What??...Absolute complete utter nonsense. Yet another complete sweeping generalisation of a place. So do the backpackers all stay in the 8000 baht a night places in Chaweng now do they? Chaweng is a complete mix of people living and visiting and to make such silly statements as if Chaweng is mainly only full of backpackers is not true at all, sorry but it's just not.

I'm sure all the people i know visiting/living in the Chaweng area will be delighted to be classed as backpackers....in fact high class backpackers at places costing 8000 baht per night...maybe backpacking has gone "hi-so" nowadays in some peoples' minds.

There's a real mix in Chaweng of budget places up to high-end places hitting mega baht per night so do not say nonsense that it's all just mainly back-packers there. I have no problems with people who are on a budget and are backpackers same as people who can afford high priced places, i do have problems with sweeping generalisations that just give a false view of somewhere... tongue.png

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Just stay out of Chaweng and you avoid most of the backpackers.

Thanks... i`m planning on visiting Chaweng to see the diversity on a night out or 2 or 3 all depends on how it bites me on the first visit.

I`m coming over from the UK via BKK and my mate who`s flying in from Oz did the backpackers bit years ago

and has been Samui a few times where i haven`t,we`re both now in our 40`s but still very much young at heart and i want to take in

as much as in the 7 days before flying back to BKK.

Still no one up for showing me some great places for photography for a day or avo...?

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Wow, no backpackers but looking at 500 bucks! Can you get anything half decent for 500 bucks in Samui even? I'd look at least 700 or 800 pretty much on any island these days as minimum to stay away from thatched huts that look like they may go up in flames or were built in 1977

Fairly new bungalow close to central Lamai, just set back from the beach (1 minute walk), very quiet, aircon, cable, fridge, wetroom. 460 Baht.

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I`m also visiting Samui this july but only for a week tho - staying in bophut been advised not to even contemplate on the jet-ski`s rental but would`t mind seeing as much of the island as i can on a trip...

Is there an ex-pat tour service that anyone can point me in the right direction...?

Cheers

Talk to Ian at Premier Bar in Bang Rak.

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A 500 baht/day hotel can be easier to find if you book for a month (doesn't mean you have to stay that long). A couple years ago I lived in a small new resort just a 10 min walk from Fisherman's Village and they were charging something like 15,000 for bookings from 2 weeks to 1 month (500-1000 baht.day). This doesn't mean you can get the same deal from a 5-star place, but if you ask around the cheaper places you might get lucky. They probably don't publish these rates so you need to ask.

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Just stay out of Chaweng and you avoid most of the backpackers.

What??...Absolute complete utter nonsense. Yet another complete sweeping generalisation of a place. So do the backpackers all stay in the 8000 baht a night places in Chaweng now do they? Chaweng is a complete mix of people living and visiting and to make such silly statements as if Chaweng is mainly only full of backpackers is not true at all, sorry but it's just not.

Your reading comprehension skills leave a lot to be desired

I never said Chaweng is all backpackers. I said that if you stay out of Chaweng, you avoid most of the backpackers since you are unlikely to find any backpackers in the other towns on the island.

Would you like me to draw you a Venn Diagram?

I have no problems with people who are on a budget and are backpackers same as people who can afford high priced places, i do have problems with sweeping generalisations that just give a false view of somewhere...

No, what you have is a reading problem. Feel free to not reply to my posts any more.

Edited by ydraw
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Just stay out of Chaweng and you avoid most of the backpackers.

What??...Absolute complete utter nonsense. Yet another complete sweeping generalisation of a place. So do the backpackers all stay in the 8000 baht a night places in Chaweng now do they? Chaweng is a complete mix of people living and visiting and to make such silly statements as if Chaweng is mainly only full of backpackers is not true at all, sorry but it's just not.

Your reading comprehension skills leave a lot to be desired

I never said Chaweng is all backpackers. I said that if you stay out of Chaweng, you avoid most of the backpackers since you are unlikely to find any backpackers in the other towns on the island.

Would you like me to draw you a Venn Diagram?

I have no problems with people who are on a budget and are backpackers same as people who can afford high priced places, i do have problems with sweeping generalisations that just give a false view of somewhere...

No, what you have is a reading problem. Feel free to not reply to my posts any more.

Well, well, i'm very sorry for mis-reading your post ok....but

Most of the backpackers i do know or have actually spoke to were not living in Chaweng as they said it was getting too expensive nowadays and could live much cheaper in outlying areas and get much more value for their money.

Paying the likes of 110baht for a beer in certain places isn't in-keeping with their backpacking/budget plans so many are now beginning to stray to more outlying areas to get more value for money!

They would travel in to Chaweng now and then just for an occasional night out...but mostly would just eat and drink locally to where they were staying and also without having to get the renowned taxi meter, thus adding even more expense.

So, you will indeed find that you will be finding more backpackers in other towns around the island after all due to what i've said above.

.

As for the Venn diagram offer....ermm, thanks but no thanks, i'll pass on that.

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I think that SamuiJimmy has come closest to the most comprehensive answer and i agree with what he says.

Samui is now probably one of the most expensive places in Thailand - if you consider costs of accommodation and eating - even the noodle stalls are 35B a bowl instead of the usual 25B up north. And when it comes to transport, the meter-taxi situation here is a national disgrace. You'll need a motorbike to get around. But, once you've sussed things out, it's not so bad!

Get yourself a map of Samui and refer to it while you're reading this!

Chaweng is on the upper part of the east coast. This is now looney toonesville with everybody on the make - honking taxis every 10 seconds, pubs clubs discos girly bars restaurants cafes time share shopping/haggling nightmare with top prices due to high rents. Accommodation: reckon on "budget" being around 1,000B to 1,500B if you're on the beach side of the road. There are a few other hotels off the beach (not many) where you can lower the price to around the 1,000B-mark. Not what you say you want - but has to be visited.

Lamai is on the same coast but the next big bay to the south. This is altogether slower-paced, but with less-concentrated attractions. In fact Lamai is a huge, sprawling area of which the beach section is only a small part. I always feel that Lamai has never had a kind of 'community feeling' due to this - even Chaweng has this. Prices here are lower for just about everything - you'll still find a nice little bungalow for 600 -800 baht a night, but not on the beach, I think. Big problem here is that 90% of these places aren't advertised and have no website - just small family businesses. You have to go round knocking on doors . . .

And if you continue south there isn't really anything much - no towns or nice little villages with restaurants or beach bars. Lots of places to stay, but isolated.

Head round the lower part of Samui, past the waterfalls and frozen monks etc and you'll find yourself heading northwards up the coast towards Lipa Noi and Nathon. There are no attractions in lipa Noi other than the Raja car ferry (plus immigration and local land offices) and Nathon has to be visited but isn't a place that anyone wants to stay.

Which brings you to the north coast. This is where I think you need to focus.

Looking at the map and starting on the eastern side and nearest to Chaweng there's Choeng Mon. Nice enough and quiet but now has the unique attraction of a beach that is covered from one end of the bay to the other with bars, restaurants shops and stalls, all out on the sand Ten years back it was an empty beach and lovely.

You'll then run past Big Buddha and into Bang Rak Bay. This is more like it. Relaxed, lazy, lots of restaurants and bars, loads to explore. It's one long ribbon development running parallel to the beach. Nice beach but swimming isn't too good - very shallow, but with lots of beach restaurants and bars. English pubs, sports bars, restaurants - fishing boats! There's even now a big bike hire shop. But, to my mind, just a little bit too spread out - not cosy enough. Accommodation starts off as low as 500 baht for an aircon room (the Mermaid has rooms on the land side for this) and you'll find loads of nice places to stay for around or under 1,000 baht.

This coast road ends up at Fisherman's Village. Samui's prime tourist attraction, and not without reason. But a place to visit and enjoy, not to stay. The beach is virtually inaccessible due to all the properties being end-to-end and it's very narrow and featureless - just 10 metres of sand between the wall of restaurants above it and the sea.

Bo Phut Bay, running from Fisherman's Village to the landmarks of Zazen and W Retreat at the tip of the little peninsular - forget it. Nothing there. The IBIS hotel is excellent for the money (walk-ins at around 1,000B - aircon, TV, fridge etc). Other than that it's wall-to-wall big expensive 5-star resorts.

But follow the road here into Mae Nam and the whole atmosphere changes. Mae Nam is a long straight ribbon development, 7 kms of actually mainly residential development with shops and local offices sprinkled along most of it. But if you focus on the region of the traffic lights where the original village was situated, it's delightful. As already detailed by others there are still lots of beachside family-owned bungalow resorts - although the prices at several of them are not low - Lol**a's for example has the little bungalows all crammed together and you're well-over 1,000 baht for one looking over the sea, as is the case with most of the resorts here. (But take a bungalow that's 30 metres from the sea and the price drops right down.) It's all very laid back with a number of super Thai and International restaurants, bistros, cafes, tasteful crafts and souvenir shops and a real community feel to it. Plus the beach and water here is probably the best on the island.

Heading westwards into the next few bays you'll find that everything quietens down again. Ban Tai and Bang Po are the areas where people (mostly German) have retired to and there are dozens of beach-villa compounds out of sight of the main road. Some excellent seafood restaurants on this part of the coast (and more when you head further towards Nathon). But this, again, is more of an area to visit than to stay in. The people who live here themselves tend to have their excursions further afield - visiting eateries, f'rinstance, in Mae Nam and Fisherman's Village.

And the winner is . . .

Has to be either Bang Rak or Mae Nam.

With the advantage that, whichever one you select, the other one is a five-minute bike ride to visit.

Hope this helps! And hope your stay here is up to expectations!

Cheers,

Rob

Thanks Rob! wub.png You are a bit more wordy than me, but you've summed up around the island well... !!biggrin.png

Poster "Viewpoint" mentioned a few places in Maenam, Shangrilah and New Sunrise Village are both nice places (owners are related)... both very friendly and helpful....

I had several people stay at both during the past year... all have had a good experience... nice garden settings on the beach, although New Sunrise is not overlooking the beach. They will negotiate price on longer term stay...thumbsup.gif

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I think that SamuiJimmy has come closest to the most comprehensive answer and i agree with what he says.

Samui is now probably one of the most expensive places in Thailand - if you consider costs of accommodation and eating - even the noodle stalls are 35B a bowl instead of the usual 25B up north. And when it comes to transport, the meter-taxi situation here is a national disgrace. You'll need a motorbike to get around. But, once you've sussed things out, it's not so bad!

Get yourself a map of Samui and refer to it while you're reading this!

Chaweng is on the upper part of the east coast. This is now looney toonesville with everybody on the make - honking taxis every 10 seconds, pubs clubs discos girly bars restaurants cafes time share shopping/haggling nightmare with top prices due to high rents. Accommodation: reckon on "budget" being around 1,000B to 1,500B if you're on the beach side of the road. There are a few other hotels off the beach (not many) where you can lower the price to around the 1,000B-mark. Not what you say you want - but has to be visited.

Lamai is on the same coast but the next big bay to the south. This is altogether slower-paced, but with less-concentrated attractions. In fact Lamai is a huge, sprawling area of which the beach section is only a small part. I always feel that Lamai has never had a kind of 'community feeling' due to this - even Chaweng has this. Prices here are lower for just about everything - you'll still find a nice little bungalow for 600 -800 baht a night, but not on the beach, I think. Big problem here is that 90% of these places aren't advertised and have no website - just small family businesses. You have to go round knocking on doors . . .

And if you continue south there isn't really anything much - no towns or nice little villages with restaurants or beach bars. Lots of places to stay, but isolated.

Head round the lower part of Samui, past the waterfalls and frozen monks etc and you'll find yourself heading northwards up the coast towards Lipa Noi and Nathon. There are no attractions in lipa Noi other than the Raja car ferry (plus immigration and local land offices) and Nathon has to be visited but isn't a place that anyone wants to stay.

Which brings you to the north coast. This is where I think you need to focus.

Looking at the map and starting on the eastern side and nearest to Chaweng there's Choeng Mon. Nice enough and quiet but now has the unique attraction of a beach that is covered from one end of the bay to the other with bars, restaurants shops and stalls, all out on the sand Ten years back it was an empty beach and lovely.

You'll then run past Big Buddha and into Bang Rak Bay. This is more like it. Relaxed, lazy, lots of restaurants and bars, loads to explore. It's one long ribbon development running parallel to the beach. Nice beach but swimming isn't too good - very shallow, but with lots of beach restaurants and bars. English pubs, sports bars, restaurants - fishing boats! There's even now a big bike hire shop. But, to my mind, just a little bit too spread out - not cosy enough. Accommodation starts off as low as 500 baht for an aircon room (the Mermaid has rooms on the land side for this) and you'll find loads of nice places to stay for around or under 1,000 baht.

This coast road ends up at Fisherman's Village. Samui's prime tourist attraction, and not without reason. But a place to visit and enjoy, not to stay. The beach is virtually inaccessible due to all the properties being end-to-end and it's very narrow and featureless - just 10 metres of sand between the wall of restaurants above it and the sea.

Bo Phut Bay, running from Fisherman's Village to the landmarks of Zazen and W Retreat at the tip of the little peninsular - forget it. Nothing there. The IBIS hotel is excellent for the money (walk-ins at around 1,000B - aircon, TV, fridge etc). Other than that it's wall-to-wall big expensive 5-star resorts.

But follow the road here into Mae Nam and the whole atmosphere changes. Mae Nam is a long straight ribbon development, 7 kms of actually mainly residential development with shops and local offices sprinkled along most of it. But if you focus on the region of the traffic lights where the original village was situated, it's delightful. As already detailed by others there are still lots of beachside family-owned bungalow resorts - although the prices at several of them are not low - Lol**a's for example has the little bungalows all crammed together and you're well-over 1,000 baht for one looking over the sea, as is the case with most of the resorts here. (But take a bungalow that's 30 metres from the sea and the price drops right down.) It's all very laid back with a number of super Thai and International restaurants, bistros, cafes, tasteful crafts and souvenir shops and a real community feel to it. Plus the beach and water here is probably the best on the island.

Heading westwards into the next few bays you'll find that everything quietens down again. Ban Tai and Bang Po are the areas where people (mostly German) have retired to and there are dozens of beach-villa compounds out of sight of the main road. Some excellent seafood restaurants on this part of the coast (and more when you head further towards Nathon). But this, again, is more of an area to visit than to stay in. The people who live here themselves tend to have their excursions further afield - visiting eateries, f'rinstance, in Mae Nam and Fisherman's Village.

And the winner is . . .

Has to be either Bang Rak or Mae Nam.

With the advantage that, whichever one you select, the other one is a five-minute bike ride to visit.

Hope this helps! And hope your stay here is up to expectations!

Cheers,

Rob

Thanks Rob! wub.png You are a bit more wordy than me, but you've summed up around the island well... !!biggrin.png

Poster "Viewpoint" mentioned a few places in Maenam, Shangrilah and New Sunrise Village are both nice places (owners are related)... both very friendly and helpful....

I had several people stay at both during the past year... all have had a good experience... nice garden settings on the beach, although New Sunrise is not overlooking the beach. They will negotiate price on longer term stay...thumbsup.gif

I agree except for the community aspect. Chaweng lost it's community feeling many years ago because the topography allowed what would be considered urban sprawl. Lamai has managed to keep it because of the hills which surround the bay.

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Yeah thats a good summary! I think Mae Nam does offer the best beach... of all 3 of the islands.

On the beach, yes.

Out in the water, no.

I would say Choengmon.

Edited by PoorSucker
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