Koh Tao, Samui, Phangan, | Thailand - Lonely Planet Forum

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Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:01:59 +0000

Ok, I apologize beforehand for this inquiry. I've gone through a lot of the Thorn Tree threads on Thailand to get answers and went to various other websites trying to research this and read my Lonely Planet guidebook and still couldn't find a good answer.

For you veterans of southern Thailand:

So, my girlfriend and I are trying to decide between staying at Koh Tao, Phangan and Samui.
We don't dive and don't want to. I snorkel but it's not a big deal.
More Looking for beautiful beaches to lounge , relax and swim. Not way crowded.
Accomodations - looking for a place that's clean with aircon, power not shut off during the day ( i heard that could be a problem in some places on Koh Tao), private bathroom. Not fancy. Maybe spending 1200 baht or hopefully less a night. Easy access to basic amenities like a minimart. Decent restaurants.
I heard some places on Koh Tao don't let nondivers book or aren't too non-diver friendly.
We're not partiers at all. We're trying to avoid really loud and noisy places where we can sleep at night without earplugs. A beer at the local bar or on the beach is about it for us.
We will definitely be avoiding the full moon party on Phangan. But , I heard from fellow travellers that you can still find really chill and mellow and beautiful places to stay there especially avoiding dates near the full moon.

So , any recommendations on which island or maybe 2 or all 3 of them and which areas to stay and recommendations on lodging?

Thanks

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Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:41:21 +0000

OK, you didnt mention your ages but from your preferences here's my advice:

Samui is the most developed, the most expensive too, but full of things to do, some good and some bad beaches. Some accomodation would be exactly in your price rang 1200 baht, and a lot more.

Kho Pha Ngan has some lovely quiet beaches in the top and western sides. Look online for those, and remember if it's near a party date you will have to make a long booking in most hotels. Near the 'party zone' it's youngies, trashy, and noisy, although more shops and services.

Koh Tao,diving mekka, some nice beaches, but not many services and harder to get to.

When I book I use the online booking systems. You see photos and prices, then you make an enquiry, and usually within 1 or days you get a reply and make your booking.

Easy. Also remember it's easy to get the Samui boat to Pha Ngan so you could do 2 islands, or do a day trip.

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anonymous

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Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:41:03 +0000

Your best snorkellling is at Tao. I don't dive, but I've done several trips to Tao and never been knocked back. One place you might look at is Viewpoint - I have a sublink to its website and lots of Tao general info/pix etc in the first link on my sigline.

Phangan is great but not as good for snorkelling. Best beach for that is Mae Hat (Haad Mae) which is also one of the nicer beaches to stay. Lots of people are pretty keen on laid back Hat Sadet and Mai Pen Rai bungalows gets good posts. http://thansadet.com/

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Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:33:40 +0000

ko phangan all the way, bottle beach, had salad, thong nai pan, plenty of choice really, ko tao is cool enough but a bit boring if like me your not overly interested in diving.

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Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:07:34 +0000

I think I stayed at Haad Yao before, at Long Beach Resort on the west coast-is this Haad Yao? My memories are not being able to swim because of the coral and not a lot to do-2 of my friends left!

#4 What is there to do there? Whilst it was quiet it was ok and the calm before the storm...days later we headed to Haad Rin and the full moon party!!

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