Exploring Koh Samui

Our paradise

We’re really pleased with our selected location, at Lamai Beach and also with our property.  We are close to the beach and a few minutes walk from food.  The hotel is very quiet and so is much of the Lamai Beach area (and the whole of Samui); apparently it is low season.

Our beach seems to be perfectly balanced in all its attributes.  White powdery sand, clear calm water, not overly tidal and swimmable at all times.  There’s no sharp coral or rocks, and no pesky seaweed.  While it may not have crystal-clear water, that normally comes with coral or rocks.  I think we have the right balance here!

The area has a nice village feel.  And at this time, it is just so quiet and laid back.  I prefer this so much more than Phuket or Krabi.

Also, Koh Samui is definitely a better option than Phuket, Krabi or anywhere on the west coast during the Kiwi (or Aussie) winter.  It is also the wet season during this time on the west coast which means that it is often cloudy, rainy and the sea always seems rough.

And it’s taken me over 20 years to get here because it’s either too expensive for the direct flights or too troublesome via the mainland.

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Going exploring

After a sweaty workout in the non-aircon open gym, breakfast and cooling off in the sea, we were ready to start the day in earnest.  We picked up a motorcycle at 1130 for THB150 (NZD8 or USD5).  That is so ridiculously cheap whereas most things are jacked up to tourist prices.  The 24h bike rental is the price of 4 ice creams from 7-Eleven or a main at a medium-priced restaurant!

Heading north about 20 mins was Chaseng Beach.  It’s the most built up area of the island with commerce and resorts.  But with lots of construction and road  works, it wasn’t putting on its best face for us.  The beach was fractionally whiter than ours but the water more stirred up.  It didn’t have the village feel that we like back in Lamai.

Another 20 mins north and west was Bhoput.  The beach and water was as nice as our place.  Where we had ended up was made up of large resorts.  It wasn’t far from the main road either.  There’s a walking street and what’s called Fisherman’s Village that’s quite pleasant.  With the strong sun and heat, we were starting to lose interest, so we headed back.

For a change, we decided to eat at a mall.  Tesco Lotus was on the way.  Finally we get food at the high end of local pricing, which is only a tad lower than touristy street food.  Having a look around Tesco Lotus I find that Thai-made products are more expensive here than in Malaysia.  While it is easy for me to complain about tourist pricing, it must be hard for locals to live with high prices.

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A high-end retreat resort

We rested back at our place briefly before heading south to a high-end wellness resort called Kamalaya.  It focuses on health and wellbeing and amongst its clientele are those wanting to recover from stress and burnout.

A friend’s partner is the manager there.  We were given a tour of the resort and it was truly gorgeous.  My preconception was that it wouldn’t suit me at all being secluded from the outside.  But seeingthe whole resort and its facilities, I guess I could make it work for me with yoga, pilates, gym, healthy eating etc.

Their full price for one night is about the same as the total we spent for four nights at Coconut Beach Resort.  We did have the opportunity to stay there at 70% off the full price, whicih would make it only a little more expensive.  That price includes use of pool, gym and group classes such as yoga.

Meals were the major cost there coming in at THB950, 1420 and 1780 for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  That’s USD32, 47 and 59 per day. I guess we could have rented a motorbike for THB150 (USD5) per day and eaten out cheaply daily.  Not sure if that would have been frowned upon.

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Back to the real world

Back in the real world, at our more humble accommodation, we had a swim before heading out to look for a haircut.  I had resented paying the typical THB250 for a haircut in Thailand.  We found one in our area for THB200 but that’s still more than what we paid in Italy.  On the bike away from the touristed area, I got one at a local price of THB100.

We returned the bike happy, having recouped most of the cost of it through the haircut.  For a change, we had western food.  A pizza, a very good Pizza made by a Serb who had lived in Italy for a long time.

Having not had any fruit or vege for dinner, we went out in search for a mango sticky rice.  Prices ranged from THB120-160 here whereas it was THB50-60 in Chiang Mai.   I think at this rate with the strong baht and tourist pricing, tourists from neighbouring countries look away from Thailand soon.  They’ll only have tourists from richer countries from Europe and North-East Asia.