Ko Samui Travel Forum

We're a young minded couple in our early 50s and going to Koh Samui and Koh Tao in June and are wondering which resorts to stay in. We like some nightlife and particularly enjoy a live band but don't really want to be surrounded by partying travellers. We're going to Koh Tao for snorkelling so the clarity of the sea is more important than the nightlife, though we don't want to be in the middle of nowhere! Koh Samui we've narrowed down to Chaweng, Lamai or Bophut - any suggestions as to which would suit us best? And are the taxi charges as bad as I've been reading? For example, if we choose to stay in Bophut, how much should we expect to pay for a taxi to Chaweng?

For Chaweng I would stay, and have stayed, towards the southern end of the beach. The Northern end is where most bars and restaurants are and therefore most people. Depending on your budget I would suggest you look at Central Samui Beach Resort, Poppies and Banana Fan Resort (where we stayed on last our last trip). Taxi fares are usually very cheap in Thailand, the exceptions being in the beach areas where the tuk-tuk drivers take advantage of the tourists. Having said that, the prices are very reasonable when compared with the UK for example, they are just high compared to other prices in Thailand.

Regards

John

Taxis are rip offs in samui. metres are never used. If you stay in Bophut fishermans village is nice and tranquil and has bars and restaurants where you can have relaxing drinks rather than the chaos of Chaweng. It would cost about 300 - 400 Baht to get from FV to chaweng, more after midnight. There are literally hundreds of places to stay in Chaweng and to suit all budgets. Likewise there are many places to eat and drink along chaweng beach and it takes a few minutes walk along the street to find something you like. Cocos at the start of Chawerng high street have live band as do the Red Snapper restaurant a little further along. Tropical Murphys irish bar also have live music and thats right down the other end of the high street. if you want something completely different, Bar Ice Samui has just opened up by the lake. As the name suggests the walls, furniture and bar, aswell as some cool ( excuse the pun)sculptures are entirely made of ice. Its a bit cold but they provide capes and gloves and is actually good fun. No live band though

I found taxi prices in Koh Samui more expensive than in Bangkok, they blamed it on the fuel prices being more expensive than Bangkok but don't know if that was true. Buses seemed to cost as much as the taxis which we found odd so never used them. We found it difficult to see the sights without a taxi, got a taxi to the big buddha which wanted to wait for us but we told it to go, we managed to get another taxi back but not sure how easy it would be to do this usually, seemed to be on the off chance we caught one. We walked from Chaweng to Lamai but it is a fair walk all the way in the heat. Chaweng is definetely livelier, Lamai's beach is very nice though. We liked Chaweng but I am a lot younger so may not have the same taste, Lamai seemed very nice but quite quiet from what we saw so may be too quiet? My brother hired a car when he visited and said it was a great way to get around and see the sights so that may be another alternative to consider, then you could travel about more freely.