South of Lamai, Koh Samui (Thailand): Two digital nomads over forty
As you know, after two weeks of quarantine in Bangkok, we took the first flight to get to Koh Samui, one of the paradise islands in the Gulf of Thailand. We visited Koh Tao , and Koh Phangan during our first round-the-world trip, but we carefully avoided Koh Samui (too touristy), until Covid emptied the island of its usual crowds.
Part 1: Travel Journal
Part 2: Practical Tips
Part 1: Travel Journal
I’m glad I found a moment to write this travel diary. JB and I are swamped with work and are in “pad thai, work, sleep” mode or “need to be taken care of” mode, meaning we’re in such a rush that if we can have meals delivered, or have a restaurant that serves quickly and well, that’s all we want.
Luckily, the hotel JB chose for us is top-notch and ticks the “they take care of us” box. I’ll show you some photos of the apartment, which is about 120m² for €35/night (Covid rates): Shasa Resort, Booking link, Agoda link
The hotel is a bit out of the way (almost at the southern tip of Koh Samui island). When we arrived here (it’s our first time in Koh Samui), the shuttle drove straight for 45 minutes and we wondered what possessed us to choose a hotel so far away. But in the end, it was a very good choice. JB gets a huge work desk. I have a work desk of my own in the room and a huge Moroccan-style bathroom.
Covid restrictions… or not
We jump for joy seeing the hotel’s 3 pools, including 2 infinity pools… until the receptionist tells us that the pools, gym, and all spa and massage services are closed right now because of Covid.
But I told you I was very lucky and had a good feeling, because it’s been weeks since there have been no Covid cases on the island. Just one week after our arrival, this ban was lifted. Yayyy!
We got to swim joyfully in those pools, alone. Because there are no more tourists, not at all!
The beach
The beach in front of the hotel isn’t great; it’s more like mud, lots of dead coral, and it’s very deep. The water isn’t clear, so despite the potential, JB can’t snorkel. So, people staying here mainly enjoy the pools, the huge hotel rooms… but to swim, you’ll need to rent a scooter.
Fear not, the hotel takes care of everything. They call the scooter rental for us (200 baht/day, no need to leave a passport as a deposit). One day, we discovered the front tire was flat; a repairman came 20 minutes later and for 150 baht, he fixed it all while we were in our room. When I say we’re taken care of… we don’t lift a finger.
Having client calls quite late due to the time difference, we have dinner delivered every evening as room service. Because of Covid, the hotel restaurant closes at 4 PM, so the meals arrive at 4 PM, but there’s a microwave in the room, so we use it without any problem. We left this hotel with 4000 baht (€105) in room service over 2 weeks. Oops. The room/apartment also has a washing machine, which is super handy!
The problem with Thai islands is that the tide can make a beach paradise or not… so you really need to research before coming, because there are beaches where the water doesn’t exceed 20cm deep for 2 km! but which look very pretty in photos.
The super beautiful beach nearby is called Lamai. Seeing the state of the beach in front of our hotel, we wanted to make sure of our decision by going to Lamai and checking its paradise side, and we weren’t disappointed.
Our Favorite Restaurants
We really like our hotel’s restaurant, Shasa Resort. They offer typical dishes, as well as more sophisticated or European ones. Of course, my favorite dish remains the spicy glass noodle with seafood. Because of Covid, they’ve halved the prices of dishes, much to our delight.
As luck would have it, my French food radar is activated and we stumble upon Baobab, a French restaurant with a to-die-for tuna tartare! The waiters even understand French, and you can enjoy the restaurant’s many sun loungers with umbrellas in exchange for a drink. I highly recommend it! However, it’s very popular; there are always lots of 4x4s and scooters parked outside. You can take a shower there, and get a massage right next door.
Another radar is activated when I realize that due to the lack of tourists, restaurants no longer have fresh seafood. I spot a family restaurant in the Muslim quarter, right next to the fishermen’s houses, and ask if they can cook on demand. After a first successful meal (how can they make fried rice such a divine dish?), I give them my list: 1kg of blue crab, 500g of shrimp… we even show photos so they see how we want it cooked and…
OMG, it’s an absolutely incredible meal! It’s been years since I’ve eaten blue crab. These photos created a wave of jealousy on Instagram, and I’m sorry for you! I didn’t know you loved crabs so much. Luckily they didn’t have langoustines, or you’d all have had a heart attack.
In exchange, I’ll give you the restaurant’s name: Malayu Samui Seafood. You can contact them on Facebook to order for the next day. The cook will go get the seafood early in the morning from the fishermen, and at the agreed time, everything will be served, all ready. We had ordered for noon when we realized our scooter tire was flat… and we contacted them in a panic on Facebook to ask them to deliver the meal to our hotel (5 minutes away by scooter). While buying the right plates and lids at the nearby market, they delivered everything to our hotel for only 50 bahts (€1.5). The Thai service is royal, that’s all I can say! If you’re in a rush like us and need to be assisted/pampered, come to Thailand!
For info, for 1kg of crab, 500g of stir-fried shrimp, 2 fried rices, and 2 bottles of water, it cost us €28.
Fun fact: you should avoid eating blue crabs around the full moon, because they are too busy mating and lose a lot of muscle (aka there’ll be nothing to eat). However, after the full moon, the females will be full of eggs and you’ll get lots of roe. Best to eat them at the beginning or end of the lunar month.
Right next to the restaurant is a small local market Hua Thanon Wet Market, where you can buy fresh coconuts for 20 bahts and mangoes for 35 bahts/kg.
There’s another restaurant I really like: Hainanese Chicken Rice which is in Chinatown. Their chicken is so delicious! The sauce on the table is a bit spicy but adds a lot of flavor to the rice. I tried to bribe them to sell me a whole chicken but they prefer to keep it for their customers. I gave up the idea; they have so many customers that they’re less accommodating than my family-run Muslim restaurant.
Right across the street there’s another restaurant “pudding” something that serves hotpots and some dishes we often eat at home. If you want to eat rice, it’s the place to be.
There’s another buibui I really like. They sell noodle soups and some roasted chicken. ซุมอีสาน (Google Maps link) There are two stalls on site but you sit wherever you like.
Khrua Chao Ban is a fairly touristy restaurant, but we really like their sticky rice with mango. The view is incredible and there’s plenty of Instagram photo ops 🙂
บางเก่า Reggae Beach Bar & Restaurant apparently serves very good and cheap food. I love their decor, the boat turned into a bar, their treehouse. Currently, the restaurant is closed but will reopen in a week. You can still grab a drink there and watch the fishermen from afar.
7eleven
Convenience stores like 7eleven, FamilyMart… are awesome! You can buy everything there, including laundry detergent, the Thai milk teas I crave, SIM cards… There’s a 7eleven here, and the buibuis are also present, in case you get a snack attack in the evening.
Some sightseeing
After two weeks of non-stop work without any sightseeing, we figured we should at least visit some attractions around here.
Wat Ratchathammaram
I spot an absolutely incredible pagoda that reminds me a bit of the style but really doesn’t match the temple in Chiang Rai. It also reminds us of the wonders we saw in India. You have to look at every wall, every detail. It’s all in 3D and perfectly done, I was very impressed!
Even the surroundings are very pretty. They seem to have a temple dedicated to snakes (or gods represented by a serpent?)
Overlap stone
It’s THE must-stop Instagram spot around. It goes very high up. I now understand why all the expats have 4x4s here. There are plenty of villas nestled at the top of the mountain because Thais don’t care much about the slope of the roads. They seem to just trace the shortest path, that’s all. Without a 4×4, it’s very hard to get up, even on a scooter, even on foot. Usually, there’s a bunch of people telling you to stop before it’s too late… but because of Covid, there’s no one anymore. You have to spot this “danger stop” and park your scooter, then continue on foot. At one point, on the left, you’ll see the “overlap stone” sign and you have to go down and at the end you’ll see a small house…
with a breathtaking view of the surroundings. The bridge looks fragile like that but it’s concrete, don’t fear! Again, Thai construction neglects certain safety rules, like the ropes there… are not very stable. What’s really enjoyable here is the incredible view over Lamai (and surely another beach), and the pleasant breeze. Access costs 50 bahts. By a misunderstanding, they take me for a Thai and I only pay “just” 40 bahts 😀
Grandfather’s Grandmother’s Rocks – Hin Ta Hin Yai
another super famous attraction in the area. Two stranded parents incarnated as rocks. You have to spot the phallus shape. At the bottom, there’s a small hole. All in finesse. Parking costs 10 bahts. The place is incredibly windy, with a tiny but lovely beach.
Services
Since the reopening of massage parlors, we’ve taken advantage several times. The first time, I opted for a Thai massage (300 bahts/h). I forgot how painful it was. After 1 hour of massage, I ended up with several bruises 🙁 but luckily, the tensions were released, and afterwards, the massages become much more enjoyable because I switched to oil massage (500 bahts/h) 😀 I’ll give you the address: Kornnipha Massage. The garden is beautiful, the interior is very clean, and the ginger tea after the massage is delicious!
JB got to enjoy the services of a barber/hairdresser for only 3€. He is very meticulous and takes his time to refine the haircut with scissors.
One thing we didn’t like much was the exploitation of monkeys for picking coconuts. We were at an intersection, near several farms, and we saw trucks passing by. With lots of monkeys tied up and clinging to the trucks. It makes me really sad. Every time I order a coconut, I wonder if it comes from that kind of farm…
That’s it! Although we love this area, we are still a bit far from the heart of Koh Samui (northern side of the island). Since we need to extend our visa soon, we decide to change hotels to get closer to Fisherman’s Village in the north, to see how it goes… Anyway, Koh Samui without tourists is an incredible experience. Given the number of shops closed due to the lack of tourists, I wonder what it’s like in normal times. I don’t know if I would have liked Koh Samui crowded, with tourists everywhere… but right now it’s nice.
We feel super safe because all those who don’t live here had to take a PCR test or undergo a 14-day quarantine before going out on the street, there are no Covid cases on the island. Everyone continues to wear masks, but the risk is very low and we forget the pandemic a bit.
Part 2: Practical Tips
Budget
In June 2021, 1 euro = 37 bahts
- Airport shuttle => hotel: 500 bahts for two
- Our hotel: 35€/night with sea view Booking link, Agoda link
- Scooter: 200 bahts/day
- Hotel shuttle: hotel => airport: 800 bahts, 12-seater van
- Restaurants:
- longtail boat: 70 bahts/person
- room service: 100 bahts/person
- at the family restaurant: crab: 650 bahts/kg (cooked), shrimp: 1100 bahts/kg (cooked), fried rice: between 60 and 80 bahts
- sticky rice with mango: 120 bahts
- thai milk tea: 20 bahts to 35 bahts
- coconut: 80 bahts
- ATM withdrawal: 220 bahts/withdrawal. In general, we can’t withdraw more than 20,000 bahts at a time, which is quite frustrating
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