Seeking advice as to which beach and lodgings
are recommended for Ko Samet.Cruising information not essential.

Hiya

Take a look at www.hotelthailand.com and select Rayong province. It has several choices of hotels on the island and is offering a good package that includes transfers between the pier and the hotel, breakfast, lunch, dinner and boat trip excursion. Go straight to the offer at www.hotelthailand.com/kohsamet/samedcliff/package.html I don’t know how good the excursion is, but it looks interesting. The same package is also available from asiatravel.com but incredibly expensive because it includes transfers to/from Bangkok by a private car, take a look at www.asiatravel.com/thailand/prepaidhotels/rayong.html Obviously, you can travel from Bangkok to the pier comfortably by public bus with air-conditioner from the eastern station (Skytrain - Ekamai Station) in Bangkok. The bus fare costs just about $10.

My last visit to this island was about 9 years ago. I stayed at the Malibu resort on Wong Duan beach ( bookable from hotelthailand.com). The beach was really nice and clean and had an excellent view of the sun set. Don’t know what it looks like now. Seem to remember there were minibus services to/from this beach and Sai Kaew beach too. Sorry for the rusty info.

I am very interested to hear what you think after you have returned. I am going to be around in Thailand in February and may revisit the island.

I was there 2 years ago. Stayed at Ao Kiu Na Nok and also at Ao Korang, which are the last two beaches (most southern tip) on the eastern side of the island Samet. I wanted a very down to earth (down to the beach) bungalow and got some very secluded ones. Was fantastic. Very basic but very private. Some are built on the sand and some on the rocks overlooking the sea. There is also a tree house hanging right over the water! Costs are Bt100 (treehouse) to Bt400 for the larger and better bungalows. Take your own boy and have a great time! Some nice restaurants nearvy. Hardly any seafood. Avoid Thai holidays, and even weekends as it gets a lot of local traffic. Not too many farang.

I was there about one year and a half ago and stayed in Ao Prao. Really beautiful resort, very comfortable, and not really expensive, although I do not recall the exact price. Wonderful beach, but for more adventures, you have to got to Ao Sai Kieaw (about 20 minutes to walk along the jungle, but the road is absolutely OK, and in the night you can take a torch with you. Also jeeps available, but in my opinion too expensive.

It was a rother quiet holiday, but since I had a handsome student from Bangkok with me, I got a lot of fun

Thanks for the good info.Knew I could rely on CFS Thai message board.

Saikaew Beach Resort is a very nice new (1 year) hotel Tel no 01 874 8087
You will find it on www.aopraoresort.com
(same owners as Ao Prao Resort)

A few warnings about visiting Ko Samet. The bus takes fucking forever, especially if coming back to BKK in traffic. It's only about 140km, but you won't go nearly 100km/h, you'll just chug along. Decent way to see the countryside, but it takes a while. The boat to the island doesn't coordinate with the bus, so you may be killing time on the shore. And the island itself isn't particularly well developed-- a stark contrast to BKK and reminder that Thailand is a developing country. Despite the names, don't expect Western-style resorts. You'll get spartan bungalows at even the best places (we stayed at Ao Prao Resort, which was decent but still disappointing). It'll be relaxing, but not if you find yourself wishing you were back in BKK where the action is. If you want a top-notch western-style resort, go to Krabi or Phuket, with the Amanpuri in Phuket (just $300/night for a standard room in the off-season) ranking among the best resorts in the world.

I visited samet Island 3 times and i think the best beach is Hat Sai Kaeo. Diamond Beach has different bungalows and a good restaurant. It is a place prefered by thais. The prices are reasonable, i cannot pay like 200§ per a day, i pay about 600 Baht (!). For going there from Bangkok is possible by minibus and boat, but be aware, that some company bring you not to Ban Na Dan of samui, instead to some beach and you must stay at this beach. The best way to go is from Pattaya to Ban Phe. On Ban Phe take a regular boat to Ban Na Dan. If you don't like to stay in Pattaya, you can take a regular bus from Bangkok to Pattaya from Eastern Bus Terminal in Bangkok and a minibus from Pattaya to Samet.But it is better to arrived Samet on Morning for looking a bungalow. Weekends and public holidays and scool holidays Samet is mostly overbooked. But this time maybe you can meet same nice thais. For the trip take not to much baggage with you! And beware, that the costs of moneychanges are higher.