Koh Samui and Koh Tao

I recently returned from a 10 day holiday in the Gulf of Thailand visiting Koh Tao and Koh Samui

Designing and maintaining a website is difficult. It is time-consuming, frustrating, and expensive. Additionally, making a website about travel requires capital to pay for said travel. The website I am working on, thai1on.net, demands my reviews of entertainment venues around Thailand. I must also take time to write, proofread, edit, and rewrite to be very concise and to the point, without offending the venues or its staff.

I was taken by surprise when a friend in Phuket asked me to accompany her to the Gulf of Thailand islands of Samui, Phangan, and Tao. I was not prepared in any way to go but I said yes. I am trying to piece together some of the places I visited into the thai1on.net website but I will post a few things about the holiday that I may not say on the professional website.

The first thing that drew my attention on Koh Tao was the massive amount of people from Myanmar that staffed nearly everything. Most of them did not speak Thai. Many of them did not speak English very well either. I cannot speak Thai fluently, but I try to learn and speak correctly and am always trying to improve. My Thai language skills are much better than most of the staff I met on this journey.

There were tourist traps everywhere. Every night there was a 'special' party that was heavily promoted. Some, like the jungle party, had hefty entrance fees. Of course, you have a choice not to go to the party but, if you go out elsewhere, there may not be many people in those venues. I noticed that when I refused to pay 700 baht entrance fee to go the jungle party. It worked out for my travel mate and I because people joined us at the venues we visited.

Prices are all over the map, but generally higher. That is not a surprise because getting goods to the islands are more expensive. Also, do not expect to have everything you want because things sell out. Also, there are many locals who charge for access to lands and beaches that are free to visit. This is not in accord with the law, but it happens. Beware of scammers trying to collect fees for access to beaches and public viewpoints. It happens.

Combo Beach Hotel Samui- they had a nice breakfast buffet included in the room price. However, their restaurant and bar are very expensive, costing about 200 baht more than a neighboring bar for a mix drink and 100 baht more for one small beer. Moreover, the bar staff would not permit my mate and I, hotel guests, to drink our own beverages at the pool. To comply, we hopped onto the beach over the pool and had a bigger gathering than the bar did at the pool. I will choose a different hotel next time.