Koh Samet/ko Chang

[THESAINT]

Was wanting to spend 14 days in the area during July. Thought one week on each island. Is there enough to do on both?...not looking for middle of the night entertainment, but just wanted enough bars and restaurants for up to 11pm-12pm. The majority of the day will be spent lying on the beach or around poolside.

Is there enough places to relax , spas, massage etc??....or would i have to get onto mainland?

Don't fancy Pattaya as i have heard it is too much BOOM BOOM and a bit too much emphasis on the Girly side of things

Is it straight forward getting from Bangkok to the islands?...

Edited May 11, 2013 by THESAINT

[Gerald14]

Ko Chang Hotel Deals - Unbiased Reviews - TripAdvisor

Check out this link it will have other links as how to get there. I have gone to Koh Chang for the last 15 years when it was a real pristine natural environment without too many tourist. By now it has developed into a real tourist spot, but still quite nice if you choose good resort. You will find all you are looking for over there without the noise of Pattaya and the like. There is also a ferry running from Trat to the island and this takes from memory about 45 minutes. In addition there is an airport in Trat and a daily bus service from BKK to Trat, so there is no problem to get there, but I am not sure July is the best time to go.............rainy season!!!

Koh Samet on the other hand is very small and I never stayed there over night but I have not gone for many years, so I am not sure it is worth while to spend half your holiday there

Hope this helps

[Morden]

I'd recommend Kacha Resort on Koh Chang. It is in three quite different sections and one has a pool. It's right on the beach where you have a choice of bars and restaurants. The buffet breakfast in the Kacha Resort restaurant by the beach is included in the room rate and quite good. Kacha is also quiet at night.

Your choice but we go for the original villas rather than the two newer parts - more in keeping with the atmosphere of the area.

http://www.kohchangkacha.com/

[craigt3365]

I'm a huge fan of islands with great beaches. And have been to both of these islands many times. I think I'd get bored after about 4 days. Not much to do. Especially on Samet. Unless you really want to just sit on the beach and read a book. Have a quiet dinner then crash.

Chang has more things to do, but as mentioned above, rampant development combined with corruption has ruined a beautiful island. Still a nice place to be, but not like it was 10 years ago. We went back a few years ago and were very disappointed.

An option could be to spend a few days on Chang, then head to the islands south of there. Koh Mak and Kut. Not a lot to do on these islands either, but would be fun for a few days to check them out. I've heard they have less tourists. But have not been yet.

I've heard the beaches around Mae Phim past the ferry to Samet are quite nice. Along with many things to do. But I've not been...yet!

When are you planning to do this trip? The weather gets quite bad starting in August.

On both of these islands, be very careful renting scooters. Many accidents happen and some are quite serious.

[Morden]

I'm a huge fan of islands with great beaches. And have been to both of these islands many times. I think I'd get bored after about 4 days. Not much to do. Especially on Samet. Unless you really want to just sit on the beach and read a book. Have a quiet dinner then crash.

Chang has more things to do, but as mentioned above, rampant development combined with corruption has ruined a beautiful island. Still a nice place to be, but not like it was 10 years ago. We went back a few years ago and were very disappointed.

An option could be to spend a few days on Chang, then head to the islands south of there. Koh Mak and Kut. Not a lot to do on these islands either, but would be fun for a few days to check them out. I've heard they have less tourists. But have not been yet.

I've heard the beaches around Mae Phim past the ferry to Samet are quite nice. Along with many things to do. But I've not been...yet!

When are you planning to do this trip? The weather gets quite bad starting in August.

On both of these islands, be very careful renting scooters. Many accidents happen and some are quite serious.

Koh Chang certainly has changed over the last few years but it's still a comparatively peaceful place. I don't want to go to a pace like that and stay either in a hotel building or in a resort remote from even a shop. Some things are better, such as the disappearance of that line of overflowing garbage bins along an undeveloped stretch of road in White Sands.

The OP has stated what he is looking for and I think that Koh Chang would meet his needs.

[SantiSuk]

I agree that one week is too much for Koh Samet. Three or four days is nice and relaxing - provided you avoid the weekend when it tends to get over-run with Bangkok weekenders.

Beaches nearer to the ferry and their hotels on Koh Samet are the party locations; the further away you get the quieter it becomes, so you can choose your mood or try one of each*. Ko Samet has hotel reservation agencies at the ferry point on the mainland; I expected them to be rip-off merchants but I didn't fancy trawling the island with an extended family of 8 so I used them. I found that their prices were not much different from internet prices, though if you are looking for cheap you still can't beat pounding the turf yourself and negotiating. Make sure that you get the significant discount that applies to Mon-Thurs occupation.

*The same is true of Koh Chang. The first resort, White Sands, is untypically over-developed (and not nicely developed!) but has more entertainment and more choices in food styles as a result.

[Razzler1973]

Koh Chang has plenty of beaches to explore with restaurants and things on all of them, waterfalls too, nice place to bike around and also massage type places too

If you're happy to relax during the day then I think there's plenty for you to do and enough bars and food places open until 2am too

[THESAINT]

I agree that one week is too much for Koh Samet. Three or four days is nice and relaxing - provided you avoid the weekend when it tends to get over-run with Bangkok weekenders.

Beaches nearer to the ferry and their hotels on Koh Samet are the party locations; the further away you get the quieter it becomes, so you can choose your mood or try one of each*. Ko Samet has hotel reservation agencies at the ferry point on the mainland; I expected them to be rip-off merchants but I didn't fancy trawling the island with an extended family of 8 so I used them. I found that their prices were not much different from internet prices, though if you are looking for cheap you still can't beat pounding the turf yourself and negotiating. Make sure that you get the significant discount that applies to Mon-Thurs occupation.

*The same is true of Koh Chang. The first resort, White Sands, is untypically over-developed (and not nicely developed!) but has more entertainment and more choices in food styles as a result.

thanks for info

[THESAINT]

Koh Chang has plenty of beaches to explore with restaurants and things on all of them, waterfalls too, nice place to bike around and also massage type places too

If you're happy to relax during the day then I think there's plenty for you to do and enough bars and food places open until 2am too

thx for info

[THESAINT]

Koh Chang has plenty of beaches to explore with restaurants and things on all of them, waterfalls too, nice place to bike around and also massage type places too

If you're happy to relax during the day then I think there's plenty for you to do and enough bars and food places open until 2am too

thx for info