Koh Samui - Crazy Tourist Island

12-14 Aug - I woke up at 6am the next day to catch the bus to the pier where I took a ferry to Koh Samui. The bus and ferry was very comfortable and the price I paid was definitely worth it.

Upon reaching Koh Samui's main town, Na Thon, I took a tut tut for 150B to the hotel which I have pre-booked in Surat yesterday. Local transport on Koh Samui is quite expensive as this is one of the most heavily touristed place in Thailand.

Koh Samui is overrun with chain hotels, guesthouses, western restaurants, pubs, cafes, laundries, massage parlors, souvenir shops and 7 Elevensss. This is truly an island that exist solely for tourism. There are locals staying on the island but their sole purpose on the island is for tourist only and thus you can't see much of the Thai culture here.

Most tourist opt for renting a motorbike or car to travel as local transport is outrageously overpriced. As I am traveling alone and I don't posses a motorbike license, I decide to go on foot.

My first night on the island was spent in Matlang Resort located in Hat Chaweng (hat = beach) There are 4 main beaches throughout Koh Samui namely Hat Chaweng, Hat Lamai, Hat Bo Phut and Hat Mae Nam. Hat Chaweng is the most famous of the four as it boast of having 6km long beach with crystal clear water.

After checking in to my guesthouse, I went to check out the beach. After reading and hearing so much about Koh Samui, I was expecting a lot from it, however to my disappointment, the beaches in Hat Chaweng doesn't live up to its expectation. Even though the coastline is indeed 6km long but the water and sand is far away from what I pictured. The beach is filled with massage parlors, souvenirs peddlers, sun bathers, jetski operators and cafes. It's so hard to find a stretch of quiet spot where you can rest and relax. At the end, I decided to escape from the crowd by going for a massage.

At night, the crowd from the beach swarms the restaurants, pubs and discos all over the island. As Hat Chaweng is the most famous beach in Koh Samui, it also has the highest concentration of pubs and discos. The atmosphere for clubbing and drinking was very good as competition compels each to bring out their best in music and service. Even transvestites shows which normally requires ticket can be viewed for free here.

The next day, I checked out from Matlang Resort and travelled across the island to Hat Lamai, the second most popular beach in Koh Samui. As Lamai is not as popular as Chaweng, the price of accommodation is also relatively cheaper. I managed to get a single room with attached bathroom for 200B, half the price of what I paid for in Chaweng.

Beach at Chaweng is also relatively quieter as the sand is even coarser and you can forget about crystal clear water here. As I have no intention of getting any tanner or swimming in murky water, I spent the rest of the day exploring the Lamai town. Lucky for me as explore the town I befriended a very interesting masseur who speaks Mandarin. Wan Wan, who works in a parlor owned by her sister was learning Mandarin and dreams of going to work in Taiwan. She turned out to be very friendly and we chatted for hours about Thailand and Malaysia. She even gave me a buddha pendant as a good luck charm.

The party atmosphere in Lamai is calmer and less crazy compared to Chaweng. The pubs here play softer music and the party goers here aren't as sophisticated as well. I spent the night having my dinner in McDonald's surfing and blogging as I have had enough of the loud music the night before.