Discussion
jbudgie said:
Any must do's or things to avoid ?
Will be there for 3 weeks from next tuesday.
Best meals etc ?
Staying between Chaweng and lamai---on the bit that sticks out.
3 weeks? Wow, that could be a drain.Will be there for 3 weeks from next tuesday.
Best meals etc ?
Staying between Chaweng and lamai---on the bit that sticks out.
I got fairly fed up of the place for a long weekend. Every 5 minutes a pickup drives past with a PA system playing booming techno advertising the local nightclub or Muay Thai fight match. The order of shops tends to go; Massage Parlour, "Massage Parlour", Shop selling knock-off sportswear, "Massage Parlour", bar, bar, bar, restaurant, Shop selling knock-off sportswear, "Massage Parlour", Massage Parlour...
The airport is quite a novelty, almost entire housed outdoors under thatched roofs, including passport control. The transportation from the 'plane to the 'terminal' is one of the little Noddy trains you get on Margate seafront.
Zico's Brazilian Restaurant on Grand Beach was pretty amazing place to eat.
We did go up into the hills one day to go zip-lining in the trees, which was great. The rest of the time was spent on/around a boat, as my gf scubadived and I snorkled.
It's a great place if you stay away from the commercial 'ring road' tourist trap.
Samui is great.
See/do:-
Lipa Noi for sunset.
Choeng Mon for a nice chilled beach.
Fishermans Village for Walking Street.
Betelnut.
Jungle Club.
Nikki Beach if you are/think you are beautiful. And have a deep wallet.
Beach Republic - slightly less so on both counts.
Nathon for proper Thai life.
Hire a car, not a scooter/moped. PM me for why.
Dive/snorkel with Diversity at the Amari Palm Reef hotel.
Ark Bar for a Wednesday night party.
Loads and loads more - PM me if you want details.
See/do:-
Lipa Noi for sunset.
Choeng Mon for a nice chilled beach.
Fishermans Village for Walking Street.
Betelnut.
Jungle Club.
Nikki Beach if you are/think you are beautiful. And have a deep wallet.
Beach Republic - slightly less so on both counts.
Nathon for proper Thai life.
Hire a car, not a scooter/moped. PM me for why.
Dive/snorkel with Diversity at the Amari Palm Reef hotel.
Ark Bar for a Wednesday night party.
Loads and loads more - PM me if you want details.
Hire a scooter to explore the island. Don't listen to the negatrons, I've ridden loads around Thailand, Philippines, India etc and never had an issue. Just take your time and dont go crazily fast and you'll be fine. The area you're staying is is a s
thole now, like magaluf or similar, but a few miles along the coast rd on a bike and you can still see some very nice places. I'd still get an internal flight to ko Chang though for a few days as I couldn't stand ko magaluf for 3 weeks.
Good diving there.
thole now, like magaluf or similar, but a few miles along the coast rd on a bike and you can still see some very nice places. I'd still get an internal flight to ko Chang though for a few days as I couldn't stand ko magaluf for 3 weeks. Good diving there.
swiftpete said:
Hire a scooter to explore the island. Don't listen to the negatrons, I've ridden loads around Thailand, Philippines, India etc and never had an issue. Just take your time and dont go crazily fast and you'll be fine. The area you're staying is is a sthole now, like magaluf or similar, but a few miles along the coast rd on a bike and you can still see some very nice places. I'd still get an internal flight to ko Chang though for a few days as I couldn't stand ko magaluf for 3 weeks.
Good diving there.
+1thole now, like magaluf or similar, but a few miles along the coast rd on a bike and you can still see some very nice places. I'd still get an internal flight to ko Chang though for a few days as I couldn't stand ko magaluf for 3 weeks. Good diving there.
Get the bike - only 100 baht a day if long term (polite haggling) , choose the lowest mileage one, they'll let you choose any you like.
Tour the quiet bits by bike - it's still incredibly quiet south/west/middle.
And you'll need your bike to get around if you're staying between Lamai and Chaweng because there's feck all near you (where are you? Rennaisance? Bann Family Resort?) so get one for the duration and you'll get a better deal.
Try a small off roader (bike) for a day too and drive up the mountains, it's cooler, quiet, you'll get incredible views, dotted with basic cafe's and you don't need to be Travis Pastrama (I'm not a bikie at all but I rode across the mountain all day).
Ride to Ban Taling Ngam Resort and let them take you up the hill in their silent golf carts to the bar for romantic sunset and $5 cokes.
Chaweng is a bit mental but the beach has mighty fine sand and clear water.
Check the super cheap crowded places for food, nothing beats thai food and spending big wedge often doesn't get better grub.
Nathon night market is good for dinner too and you can drink/ride at will.......alledgedly.
Go to tawdry lamai, watch the boxing and check out grubby old men picking up delightful thai hookers - they're lovely girls and just having a drink with them is fine. There's a basic night food market for your dinner there too. One night in Lamai should do it and you could do a day on the beach too, not as nice as Chaweng but deeper water and less aggro from massage/melon/chicken/t-shirt hawkers.
Get a 20p beer from 7/11 sit on the concrete bench outside, relax and check out thai life for a while.
Snorkel somewhere.
Tesco Lotus is brilliant, go check out supermarket shopping thai style.
Take s
tty clothes, dress down, immerse yourself in the dust and potholes and you'll enjoy yourself a whole lot more.3 weeks is heaps - there's only so much back door smashing your missus can take - you'll go mental after a while but if you can afford it then some island hopping will fill in your time.
Oh, and post up piccies of anything unusual please.
HTH
Berw said:
Do not hire a scooter unless you can ride a bike already, bike ridding is OK in Thailand I do/done loads, and as noted above drivers are aware, but scooters are the biggest killers of young europeans, because they think it is an ok place to learn to ride it is not,
Only relevant if you're a young hoon riding pissed up/shirtless/helmetless/flat out/like a twunt.No reason why anyone with two arms, a modicum of road sense and a sense self preservation shouldn't ride a simple stepthru bike.
cheddar said:
Berw said:
Do not hire a scooter unless you can ride a bike already, bike ridding is OK in Thailand I do/done loads, and as noted above drivers are aware, but scooters are the biggest killers of young europeans, because they think it is an ok place to learn to ride it is not,
Only relevant if you're a young hoon riding pissed up/shirtless/helmetless/flat out/like a twunt.No reason why anyone with two arms, a modicum of road sense and a sense self preservation shouldn't ride a simple stepthru bike.
Unfortunately, fate does not excercise discretion when dealing out the cards.
Injuries and fatalities are not limited to the young/shirtless/helmetless/flat out/like a twunt that you refer to.
I speak from a position of experience of having lost a friend as a result of riding a scooter on Samui.
Edited by Nobby Diesel on Friday 26th August 11:08
We went last year as part of our honeymoon. We stayed in Bo Phut which was brilliant - the Fisherman's village is quite chilled with a good range of restaurants and dining on the beach etc - and some much cheaper local places further up the beach. I thought Chaweng was a dive and was so glad we were not staying there!
We didn't have time but wanted to do a trip to the Ang Thong park - I'd be doing that if I had 3 weeks. We did do quite a fun day tour around the island, bit of Elephant riding, trip to some waterfalls etc, but mostly did very little as it was the relaxing leg of the trip!
Oh, there is also an interesting food market in the north-east corner of the Island near the 'Big Buddha' (Nathon?).
We didn't have time but wanted to do a trip to the Ang Thong park - I'd be doing that if I had 3 weeks. We did do quite a fun day tour around the island, bit of Elephant riding, trip to some waterfalls etc, but mostly did very little as it was the relaxing leg of the trip!
Oh, there is also an interesting food market in the north-east corner of the Island near the 'Big Buddha' (Nathon?).
Edited by Hub on Friday 26th August 13:04
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