Koh Samet is to the east of bangkok and the other islands you mention are to the south.... You'll need to be a very good swimmer if you are going to be able to avoid going through Bangkok.
hi,
if anyone is currently in phi phi or koh tao, what the exact weather like, am trying to decide which is better to go to for diving
thanks
Things are starting to get slack in February........you should be able to get pretty much whatever you want.......just going with the flow.
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RE CHINSTRAP -
The trains do make a clacketty noise on the tracks , you would have to be deaf not to hear it . And the poster wanted to go as directly and quickly as possible of couse its alot faster to do the journey by road going to Hat Yai and Sungai Golok.
On some Govt buses which are not full sometimes you can put your feet on adjacent seat so you can be horizontal . In other cases when its not likely anyone is going to be moving around I put my air mat on the floor and sleep that…
Just to answer the last post, I thought Ko Samui was great for my taste. I cannot compare to many islands in Thailand since I have only been to a few; I mostly do the island thing in Malaysia. The south end of Chaweng Beach in Samui is not very crowded at all. The sea is clean. There are few watercraft. The sea is usually calm for relaxing swimming, but may get rough in the case of nearby storms for body slamming waves. Conveniences, services, food, hotel, trasportation, are nearby and…
Khao Sok has plenty of cheap bungalows in the village near the national park HQ.
You can walk on the trails in the park near the HQ without a guide, but it might be quite wet at this time of the year. Some of the trails in there might be officially closed due to the risk of flash flooding, but when I visited in wet season there was no enforcement of this, I even saw a guide leading a group of hikers in a supposedly off-limits area.
I have a trip report from that visit here including access and…
I was on Phuket a fortnight back - Naithon Beach sounds like your ask - check my Phuket page for more info and pix including accommodation and transport. The sections on Kamala and Cape Panwa may be worth checking.
The east coast of Phi Phi has some real nice secluded bays like Relax Beach, Ao Poh, Rantee and Ao Toh Koh. Laen Tong is also great but more high end in accommodation. The nicest beach with easy access to town is Long Beach - can get a bit busy dry season come late November. Got…
I've delayed answering this, hoping someone who has stayed recently in high season would reply. My recent visit has been low season - I stayed in a Paradise Pearl beachfront bungalow (no longer there) high season in 1997!
Even then, Phi Phi was a party island with a fair few people coming back from the Ton Sai bars etc in the early hours. I can't say the longtail noise bothered me, but longtail noise is an individual call. I reckon the most distrurbing is a really really really quite place like…
If you want something a bit special (not cheap) you can even fly to Phi Phi from Phuket...
http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com/2008/10/seaplane-flight-to-phi-phi.html

