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Koh Samui Island, Thailand,resorts and Hotels information and Travel Guide and Koh Samui map
Untitled
KOH SAMUI
INFORMATION
HOTELS
TRAVEL AGENTS
RESTAURANTS
INTERNET
MAP
This idyllic tropical island has suffered from extensive development in the last 10 years.
The beaches and jungle are still great, but the roads and infrastructure are a long way behind what they should be.
Samui is probably the most expensive place in Thailand.
If you just want to hang around your resort and go out for dinner and nightlife, then its certainly got all that.
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  TIPS.   

ACCOMODATION: The Bold, The Beautiful and The Basic.
Hundreds of resorts and bungalows sit next to each other along the popular beaches.
Others are more remote and private.
Everything from 5 star luxury to cheap tiny huts is available.
In the high season (Dec - Feb) if you don't have a reservation, you might have to hunt around for a few hours to find what you want.
The bus driver from the airport will try to find you a room at your price, he'll get sick of it after about 5 attempts fail.
Try hiring a motorcycle and look around at your liesure.

CHEAP. B100-400. Tiny huts, no facilities, shared bathroom.

MIDDLE. B500-1000. Good sized room or bungalow, bathroom, aircon, maybe TV and fridge.

UPPER. B1200 and up. The works
Chaweng Beach. A reasonable unit with air-con on the beach side of the road is Baht 800-1200.
A pretty bad fan bungalow is B 500.
The most expensive luxury resorts go for about Baht 4000++. per night.
Prices are held high because from Dec - Feb almost all rooms are full, the owners don't have to compete and often, in budget resorts,service is apalling.

Lamai Beach and other areas can be much better value, 30-50% less.
As low as Baht 300 for a basic bungalow. But, of course, Chaweng is the better beach for swimming, strolling etc.
Resorts are now spread around all over the island.
The strip of coastline from Mae Nam Beach to Chaweng Beach and around to Lamai Beach is covered with hundreds of resorts
Notes: Prices are for Double rooms, unless indicated otherwise and prices can be a lot cheaper off-season (i.e. not in Nov-Feb)
"A5" etc indicates the map reference.
  TIPS.   
Shopping:
Music CD's and Movie DVD's(copies) 100 baht each. Jeans, B300-400. Fake watches, t-shirts etc all good value.
Most shops in Chaweng and Lamai are very expensive for basic things like beach towels etc.
The best shopping is at Nathon town, for range and price
Restaurants:
 the second most common thing after resorts.
Hundreds to choose from. Strong leaning to Thai seafood, but variety is available with German, Italian, Indian etc. If you're not fussy about decor, a fine meal costs B200
Nightlife:
Plenty!! . A large number of Bars, Beer Bars with hostesses and nightclubs.
Most bars close at 2am.
Green Mango, Soho and Reggae Club in Chaweng Beach stay open later for dancing.
Lots of good fun and bad behaviour by tourists (won't mention nationality). Keep cool. Get hot and sweaty dancing. Lots of local girls (and Trannies) looking for a good time.
Samui only has one or two full-on go-go bars like you find in Phuket and Pattaya.
The beer bars are usually fun and harmless.
Lamai Beach also has a hundred or so Beer Bars full of Thai girls waiting for customers.
The Fusion Club and Super Sub stay open late for dancing the night away.
Be careful in late-night clubs, there have been shootings and fights occassionally.
Koh Samui Bar Near the Green Mango Club
WARNINGS:
The Police on Samui (both Tourist Police and regular police) are among the laziest and most corrupt in Thailand.
If you have trouble they will not help you unless they can make some money out of you.
If you have something stolen they will reluctantly make a report for your insurance claim back home, that's all, they will not try to find the thief.
The worst thing you can do is have an accident on a rented motorbike
The motorbike owner will want an exorbitant amount for repairs
The hospital will want an exorbitant amount for medical care.
If you injure a Thai person they will want an exorbitant amount for compensation.
It will be always your fault, a Thai person is never at fault, and the police will always side with the Thai person, and the police will take a cut from any payments.
  FACTS.   
Getting Around:
Songthaews (taxi-trucks) go up and down the beach roads and around the island continuously from about 6am to midnight.
Just flag down one thats passing and ask where they go.
Always get the price before getting in the back.
They are the only cheap way of getting around.
Private Taxis are very expensive. There is a "taxi mafia" on samui.
They have meters but refuse to use them. Chaweng to Lamai will cost about 300 baht.
The shortest trip will cost at least 100 baht. This cost is about four times more than an equivalent trip in bangkok.
Motorbikes: Daily rental is 150-200 baht. They will require you to give them your passport as security.
Almost noone wears a helmet, police sometimes have roadblocks to extort money for not wearing a helmet.
Please wear a helmet, there are a lot of accidents, many fatal, on Samui.
Do not have an accident! See warning above..
This tropical paradise is 728 km south of Bangkok in Surat Thani Province. Population is 34,000 Thai people and hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Size =248 square km. Police, Hospitals,doctors, dentists, banking, car & motorbike rental, email & webaccess, available.

Chaweng Beach
is the best beach for swimming and general ambience, but is also the most developed, height restrictions mean that it still is not overpowering. The main road can be very busy.
Lamai Beach
is the next popular alternative, it still has a sort of downbeat relaxed feel.
Many other resorts at beaches and headlands around the island provide quiet isolation away from the bustle.
The size of the island means that anywhere is accessible by taxi-trucks which circle the island continuously or on your motorbike.


The biggest event on Samui is on Koh Pha Ngan! The famous Full Moon Party. Every month is a travelers destination. Special speed boats and regular ferries from Bo Phut provide the way.
Warning! If you take or possess drugs (even a very small amount) and get caught by police you will be locked up and have about 50,000 baht extorted from you to get out free.
If you don't pay the bribe, you will be left in the gaol for many weeks while "justice" takes its course.
The police do not want you to go to court, they want your cash.
The movie "The Beach" is based on experiences on this island.
Otherwise the clubs do promotions, there is kick-boxing, buffalo fighting, temples, a few meditation centres, drag shows, elephant rides etc.

Coming & Going:
Bangkok Airways fly in from Bangkok (12+ times a day, 5-7000 Baht approx), and Phuket, Singapore or U-Tapao (near Pattaya).
Thai Airways also has a few flights.

Or take bus to Surat Thani and ferry to Samui (12-14 hours to Bangkok), combined ticket (both directions) for bus & ferry is available from most travel agents, about B800-1200.
By Train to Surat Thani train station (about 15km from city centre), bus transfer to ferry bus in city centre, and then a 40 minute bus trip to Don Sak ferry terminal.
Ferry takes 90 minutes approx. to arrive at Nathon town pier.
There you find songthaews (taxi-trucks) that go to all places in the island.
There is also the Lompraya ferry, www.lomprayah.com from Chumpon which goes to Koh Tao, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Samui. About 1200 Baht one way from Bangkok.
It berths at Bo Phut on Samui where they have a bus service to take you to your hotel.

Again, travel agents will sell you a combined ticket.

Health:
There are a number of hospitals.
The Bangkok Samui Hospital is very expensive.
The Samui International Hospital is a bit more reasonable but not cheap.
If you are short of money and need a longer stay in hospital, the Samui Hospital in Nathon is cheap (Thai prices) and the care is almost as good, though the rooms are basic.
Most doctors in local clinics are pretty hopeless.
They are ok for obvious problems, but will often get a more difficult diagnosis wrong. this is true for the doctors in the hospitals as well.
Telephone Info:
Country code=66. Area Code=077. then the 6 digit phone no.
01 prefix is a mobile phone number. International Calls are expensive
Money:
Plenty of ATM and exchange booths around, for TC's, cash, Visa & Mastercard advance.
As with all of SEAsia major euro and US denominations make life easy
Weather:
Best time is from Dec-Feb, lack of rain and moderate temp.
If you don't mind a bit of rain, then the quieter times on the island can be very enjoyable and cheaper.

A few Words:
A few Words:
Ao=Bay, Ban=Village, Chiang=Town, Hat (Haad)=Beach, Khao=Peak, Khlong=Canal, Koh=Island, Laem=Point, Lam=Stream, Mae Nam=River, Moo=Area, Nakhon=Town, Pulau=Island, Ran Ahan=Restaurant, Rongram=Hotel, Sanam Bin=Airport, Thale=Lake, Wat=Temple.

Music beer bar Koh Samui
BBQ Pub
Now defunct! Like many of the funky little places, it's been replaced by more and more unecessary shops.

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