One can't go to Thailand without spending a little time on it's miles of beaches. With only eight days in Thailand, we opted for a destination near Bangkok and after some deliberation settled on Koh Samet.
Koh Samet is a small island about four hours from Bangkok and has seen a fair amount of development in recent years. We boarded a bus bound for Ban Phe, where we caught a ferry to the island. I was very impressed with the bus system in Thailand and especially liked the bus attendants who hand out cold water and snacks.
Ban Phe's shorelines are litter-filled and dirty but very active with the steady stream of provisions that are loaded on boats destined for the island. We walked through two or three b
oats to get to the one that actually delivered us to Koh Samet. There isn't much in the form of direction, assistance or safety announcements on the ferries.
We traveled on a Friday without a reservation for the night on the island. Our plan was to walk the beaches and find a great bungalow. Once we arrived we discovered that this wasn't the best strategy for a Friday in the late afternoon. Koh Samet is a popular weekend destination for mainland locales and one such traveler we sat next to on the first taxi we boarded suggested we check with the tourist office before getting to our beach of choice. Inside the cramped office we waited with about six other tourists, all holding our breath as the agent made call after call. Finally, the exasperated woman looked up at us shaking her head. She told us that bungalows were all booked and the only option left was a four-star resort where rooms ran over 5,000 baht (almost $200US).
As we mulled over our options, I remembered seeing a backpacker carrying a tent on our ferry. I turned to the woman and asked, "Can we get a tent?" She seemed a little shocked by this but quickly put in a call and confirmed a tent for us. So again we piled into the back of the green island taxi that takes tourists to and from the beaches. There are two benches on either side of a pick-up truck's bed. We bumped along the road to our resort, occasionally being tossed from side to side as we hit larger pot-holes. Our tent w
as on a resort on the northern end of the island just steps away from the ocean; nestled under a tree. It worked well for our first night and the staff were very friendly and helpful. I don't think they get many requests for tents and it was comical watching them put it up. When we asked about check-out time for our tent the woman in charge, a younger woman with a sarcastic sense of humor, chuckled a bit and replied, "You're in a tent! Whenever you want!" She then relayed the conversation in Thai to her mother, laughing the entire time.
Koh Samet is a small island about four hours from Bangkok and has seen a fair amount of development in recent years. We boarded a bus bound for Ban Phe, where we caught a ferry to the island. I was very impressed with the bus system in Thailand and especially liked the bus attendants who hand out cold water and snacks.
Ban Phe's shorelines are litter-filled and dirty but very active with the steady stream of provisions that are loaded on boats destined for the island. We walked through two or three b
oats to get to the one that actually delivered us to Koh Samet. There isn't much in the form of direction, assistance or safety announcements on the ferries.We traveled on a Friday without a reservation for the night on the island. Our plan was to walk the beaches and find a great bungalow. Once we arrived we discovered that this wasn't the best strategy for a Friday in the late afternoon. Koh Samet is a popular weekend destination for mainland locales and one such traveler we sat next to on the first taxi we boarded suggested we check with the tourist office before getting to our beach of choice. Inside the cramped office we waited with about six other tourists, all holding our breath as the agent made call after call. Finally, the exasperated woman looked up at us shaking her head. She told us that bungalows were all booked and the only option left was a four-star resort where rooms ran over 5,000 baht (almost $200US).
As we mulled over our options, I remembered seeing a backpacker carrying a tent on our ferry. I turned to the woman and asked, "Can we get a tent?" She seemed a little shocked by this but quickly put in a call and confirmed a tent for us. So again we piled into the back of the green island taxi that takes tourists to and from the beaches. There are two benches on either side of a pick-up truck's bed. We bumped along the road to our resort, occasionally being tossed from side to side as we hit larger pot-holes. Our tent w
as on a resort on the northern end of the island just steps away from the ocean; nestled under a tree. It worked well for our first night and the staff were very friendly and helpful. I don't think they get many requests for tents and it was comical watching them put it up. When we asked about check-out time for our tent the woman in charge, a younger woman with a sarcastic sense of humor, chuckled a bit and replied, "You're in a tent! Whenever you want!" She then relayed the conversation in Thai to her mother, laughing the entire time. 
The next day we rented a scooter from the bungalow for the next three days. We set out to explore other areas of the island. The northern end doesn't have the best beaches and we headed south. For some travelers, Koh Samet may be over developed. I can understand that if people stay in the popular Tub Tim area on the northeastern section. This is a well-developed area with resorts crammed together along with restaurants, pubs and night clubs. It's a nice area for nightlife but we decided to head further south. A scooter does give you a lot of freedom to explore.
We ended up about half way down the eastern coast on Sang Thian beach. From the road there is a sign that marks the turn. It doesn't look like much as the beaches are all hidden from the road and you go down some pot-hole strewn dirt roads to just get to where you can park your scooter. We actually came across it first when we found the Apache Bungalow Resort where we stopped for lunch. We fell in love with the area as w
e lounged throughout lunch on a platform table over the beach. There's a mismatched pier that juts out into the ocean at Apache where you can also sit.
On our last day we headed to the tip of the island where there's a national park with great viewing points of the east and west. We spent over an hour snorkeling in a small cove and discovering all sorts of critters in the beautiful coral reef. We were the only ones in the cove the entire time. The southern part is not frequented by most people who congregate farther north.
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