Fisherman Village Koh Samui (Thailand): Travel Journal

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– Book your activities in advance with Civitatis

– Protect yourself with insurance that offers good coverage. For example, with Heymondo (5% discount by using this link)

After two weeks in the quiet south of Lamai, we decided to head to a livelier area near Fisherman Village, recommended by a fellow nomad.

Part 1: Travel Journal
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Journal

Accommodations Not Suited for Digital Nomads

There are no hotels with two work desks in Fisherman Village itself, so we chose to stay at the condominium Replay Residence, which is full of Airbnbs and Booking listings, as evidenced by this impressive row of key boxes.

We first opted for a 130m² villa, then a 45m² two-bedroom, both with plenty of workspaces, but both were disappointing. I think the only strong point of this residence is its infrastructure (two pools, a tennis court, a gym, and even a sauna and steam room — which weren’t working during our stay)… but the apartments are shoddily finished and poorly designed.

Our first villa, for instance, was all windows, so not only were we sweltering, but we could see everything the neighbors were doing. The second place, a two-bedroom, had unpleasant sewer smells (despite being on the 2nd floor) and a glass bathroom that opens… onto the living room. Anyway, we’re glad we only stayed there for two weeks.

But the Neighborhood Is Gorgeous

However, the area around Fisherman Village is gorgeous! There’s a small (one-street) touristy strip with bars, hotels, and massage places every 2 meters. You can even get away with not renting a scooter. Exploring this street on foot and trying every restaurant will take you a week.

With Covid, it’s much quieter, but still livelier compared to Lamai.

We have more choices of street food stalls, restaurants, massages, scooters… which drives prices down. Here, we can rent a scooter for 1000 baht a week (or 2000 baht a month). Massages cost just 200 baht/hour (instead of 300 near Lamai). We find plenty of street food vendors selling us delicious dishes for 60 baht.

Everything is 10 to 15 minutes away by scooter: the immigration office, various beaches, shopping malls…

Our Favorite Restaurants

Note: all our favorite spots are marked on this custom Google Maps

Chicken Rice

Chicken with rice. Ask them to serve the chicken thighs instead of the breast. The breast is good too, but I prefer thighs. 70 baht for a large portion.

Shuanchom ชวนชม

Here, they only sell one dish: pad thai, with variations (seafood, egg, meat…). It’s super tasty and filling. Count on 80 baht.

Som Tum

Just next door is a street food stall that sells a bit of everything. Their menu is in Thai, but the owner can translate it all. We especially love the barbecue chicken wings, their som tum (papaya salad) with crab (raw or boiled). Count on 70 baht per person.

JB loves their green curry too much. They always tend to put too much chili, but you have to specify: 1 chili, 2 chili… hahaha even 0 chili is spicy, I don’t get it ^^ but it’s so so good!

Street Food Stall in Front of 7-Eleven

Across from this stall, in front of 7 Eleven, there’s a stand that only opens at nightfall. For those with late-night cravings. The lady sells skewers and a som tum salad that puts all other street food stalls to shame. Ask for a “noodle salad” with papaya. It’s delicious! Don’t forget to specify your desired spice level…

Coco Tam’s

Resto/Bar Highly Recommended by a Nomad. The Wi-Fi is super fast; it’s where he often sets up to work. The bar is beautifully decorated, the music is great (a bit too loud for us, but some people apparently like working with music) and they don’t bother you even if you stay a long time with just one drink. At 8 PM every night, they have a fire juggling show. It’s incredibly well done; we watched it twice and are still in awe.

Prices are quite high (300 baht per dish), but JB loves their wood-fired pizza.

Dang Street Kitchen

We went there by chance. But everything is good, from roasted pork to chicken, and the cucumber salad. And it’s not expensive either!

Pork Knuckle

Restaurant recommended by I. and P., two expats we met in Koh Samui. It’s so good, for only 60 baht per person. Generous portions.

Mercury Retrograde

This is the very first time a Mercury retrograde has affected me this much. A series of misunderstandings, missed appointments, technical issues, and unfortunate events have been happening over two weeks.

For the first time, we had an issue with a small pack of dogs while riding our scooter. A dog seemed to block the road in front of JB (even though it’s a major road). JB slowed down to find the best spot to pass without hitting it, but the dog wouldn’t give up. It barked and chased us, along with two other dogs, looking aggressive. I lifted my feet and screamed while JB sped up… apparently, there’s no risk of them biting, but the situation was scary, and for several days after that incident, I devised strategies or detours to avoid passing by the spot where those dogs were. A few days later, at another location, we came face to face in a narrow, dark alley with another dog that stood in the middle of the road, looking mean. This time, we learned our lesson: we turned around and took a long detour… I think that once night falls, you should only take well-traveled roads. We were also advised to always carry dog biscuits, just in case… they calm them down instantly.

I think it’s instinctive for dogs to defend their territory and chase after anything moving fast. However, we’re not sure if all these stray dogs are vaccinated against rabies, so it’s best to avoid them.

The string of unfortunate events continues: One day, I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible headache, like a toothache that was about to kill me. Another day, I missed a step and twisted my ankle. I don’t know how, but I didn’t sprain it, yet the pain was so intense I cried.

Due to an overwhelming workload, I became absolutely irritable at the slightest annoyance. Blog comments that I used to tolerate became unbearable. I hate when people mistake me for a promo code generator or a consumer advisor. They expect me to hold their hand, reassure them about their choice of destination, cosmetics, dentists, pens, or underwear!!!
People take advantage… a lot. It gets worse when they don’t get a response. But when they do get one, they don’t even say thank you. Normally, I reply kindly, but in this period, I can’t stand losers anymore and either tell them to get lost or block them on the blog/Instagram.

Feeding the dogs

Fortunately, There were also pleasant things:

We met a French couple who just moved to Koh Samui (I. and P.). Since they’ve been there for 7 months, they have some local habits and took us to their favorite hairdresser, their favorite pork knuckle restaurant, their favorite beach… we had a great time together in a paradisiacal setting. It felt like endless vacation.

And we went with them to feed the stray dogs.

Every day, they cook rice for the dogs, sometimes with bones generously given by the pork knuckle restaurateur. They feed about ten dogs, one of which looks strangely like my (late) dog Loulou from Vietnam.

They are truly adorable and very shy. None of them let themselves be petted, but they are very grateful and happy to be fed. You can tell each one has its own territory because the dogs gather in groups, and each group is fed three meters apart.

Thais seem to take care of the dogs too. There’s an association that sterilizes and treats them. The dogs are often healthy, not skinny, and well-groomed. For example, they’ll stay near restaurants but won’t dare steal even a single skewer.

Hotels for digital nomads

Our current obsession is visiting hotel rooms to identify hotels that are compatible with digital nomads. There are quite few hotels with a workspace, but we managed to find two, between 1100 and 1300 baht per night, with a balcony overlooking the beach.

Baan Bophut Beach hotel (Booking link, Agoda link) : with a long work table along the wall. The room is small but two people can work at the same time, provided they don’t have calls at the same time.
B1 Beachfront Apartments (Booking link, Agoda link) : it’s a true apartment with a dining table where two people can work simultaneously. There’s no separation between the dining area and the bed, so if one person has early morning calls, the other will have trouble sleeping.

These are the two best options at Fisherman Village. Both hotels have a pool, but BB hotel’s pool is nicer.

Our expat friends live in a human-sized condominium with a pool and gym. Rent is 9000 baht/month, with electricity paid extra (around 500 baht/month without air conditioning). I think Thailand is an excellent option for those wanting to stay long-term. For retirees, there’s a special visa, provided they opt for Thai insurance. The paperwork is relatively easy compared to other countries.

Beaches

I’m a bit ashamed, but since we’ve been at Fisherman Village, I haven’t swum in the sea even once. The beach is very beautiful and deep enough, but I feel better at the pool hehe. JB and I went to visit Crystal Bay, on the advice of our expat friends. At 20 meters, we took a wrong turn and ended up at a hotel that charged us 120 baht for a not-fresh coconut, with access to a less beautiful part of the beach. We went back to the same spot with them, but this time passing by Silver Beach, which is prettier. When the water is clear enough, you can snorkel near the rocks.

Right next door is a viewpoint: Lad Koh View Point. You can go all the way down to the rocks, but swimming there is tricky, and you might hurt your feet. The view is stunning. Next to it, there’s a small Buddha, and vehicles always drive by honking.

4 km away, the beach at Chaweng is out of this world, with blindingly white sand. The water is always deep enough here. However, some have mentioned the presence of box jellyfish. You need to be careful, and if possible, swim fully clothed, like the Thais do.

Part 2: Practical Tips

Budget

Accommodation: expect to pay 1,100 bahts/night around Fisherman Village. Our favorites:
- Baan Bophut Beach hotel (Booking link, Agoda link)
- B1 Beachfront Apartments (Booking link, Agoda link)
Restaurants:
- local: 70 bahts/person
- touristy: 200 to 300 bahts/person