We have the last 10 days of our trip to Thailand, which were marked by discoveries on the island of Ko Samui, secret places on the mainland, and also Bangkok, where our journey also ended. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We saw the most beautiful markets, top beaches, views, fed deer bananas – or were they banana deer? Let’s get to it.
Ko Samui Island
After arriving, we went to explore the surroundings and, as always, to find a scooter. It was supposed to cost 250-300 THB. We talked them down to 6 days for a liter, so good deal. We drove around the area, visited the markets and ate at the Lamai Fresh Food Market for the first time. We took a look at the Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks (Hin Ta Hin Yai), but don’t expect any glory, it’s just a rock that looks like a penis and vagina. And Lamai Beach wasn’t much either, although according to the reviews it should be one of the better ones.
On January 5th, we wanted to check out the temples and then go to the beach. We visited one – the Big Buddha Temple (Wat Phra Yai), had some food, and looked for a beach. On the third try, we found the mini Beach Front beach, which was nice. Just a shame about the pebbles, sand would have been better.
Then we moved on to the cheerful Buddha Statue of the Chinese Laughing Buddha พระสังกัจจายน์ วัดปลายแหลม, where there were hundreds of catfish – maybe a meter large – all around. And the occasional turtle. We’ll come back here to take some pictures.
And then again the markets. There are really a lot of them on Ko Samui. I just recommend looking for the local markets. Unlike the tourist ones, they’re not so overpriced.
On Crystal Beach, which we wanted to see on January 6th, we had to go through the resort. In the morning it was fine, minimum people and calm water. Later, more people arrived – probably because they’re not early birds here. When I saw the prices for those breakfasts, it’s probably better to sleep in.
Double is better than single
On the morning of January 7th, we set off for the Wat Khunaram waterfalls. They wanted 50 THB per person and 20 THB for parking. They are divided into number one and number two. You don’t need to see number one. The waterfalls are nothing special and you’ll see elephants in a state you don’t want to… On the other hand, number two was pretty good, you just have to climb a bit – yes, even beyond the ‘danger’ sign.
For lunch, we moved to Chaweng Beach, which is nice and they also have an interesting food market, it was just a bit too touristy for my taste.
On January 8th, I needed to work on Meet&Deal, so I sent Terka to the beach, sat down in the Shade cafe and worked on it. Are you coming to the networking with the most interesting people in Czech e-commerce? After work, I picked up Terka from the beach and in the evening we went on a trip. We headed to the Overlap Stone. Again, leave the number one alone (the view is nothing special and they want 200 THB per person), but number two was worth it. It was quite a hill, but the view was great. And you also get a banana with the entrance fee.
On January 9th, we went to the market to buy some fruit – 2x pineapple and mango for 60 THB, and then we moved to Hat Chaweng Beach to chill out a bit. Then we checked out the area, some markets and the like. The next day we returned the scooter, as we had another move ahead of us.
On Ko Samui, we visited one restaurant about 6 times. We went there for rice, chicken, broth and sauce. For 50 THB, it was absolutely top. Can you spot it from the picture? The nature and excursions were really worth it. It’s just a pity that you can’t snorkel much on Ko Samui. Even when you find a beach with calm water, it’s somehow useless. We kept dragging the snorkels with us, tried it about 3 times and didn’t see much properly. It can’t be compared to Ko Tao at all.
Mystery place
For the next few days, we were in such a great place that I don’t even want to reveal it. And since I want to go back there someday and still see it without tourists, I’d rather not mention it. But it was really great. If you’re skilled enough, you’ll find it on my Instagram.
In short, we traveled by scooter again, took pictures with the locals (they’re not that used to tourists), visited a few temples, fed the deer bananas, visited what were perhaps the best markets we’ve ever been to, and swam on an almost empty 2km beach with clean and calm water. Well, it was a real treat.
Last stop: Bangkok
Moving to Bangkok was relatively easy. We booked a train, which was the fastest and cheapest option. And the journey was quite comfortable. The train was air-conditioned – a lot. Actually, like everything here.
We visited Chatuchak Weekend Market again (just like in the article Thailand vol1: Rather not to China. What do Christmas in Bangkok look like?) and then also the MBK Center and the surrounding three shopping malls. Together with the evening markets, we checked out over 30,000 stores and walked nearly 44 km in one day.
The next day, January 15th, we had a well-deserved chill and work at the hotel by the pool. I’m actually preparing a new project. It’s going to be top. It all starts on 25.1. 🤪 In the evening, we went to Jodd Fairs, which we saw on the way to the hotel. They were huge, quite touristy, but actually quite nice. Really hungry and pleasantly tired, we get Tom Yum with shrimp across from the hotel at 11 pm. And boy, I love those shrimp…
The day before our flight home, we went on a boat trip on the Menam-Chao-Phraya River for 30 THB per person. We sailed to the center, where we walked around again, went back to Lumpini Park, and now we’re going to Patpong Night Market. If you know, you know.
Here our month-long Thai adventure is slowly but surely coming to an end. But you can still look forward to an article that will include our entire itinerary, including practical tips on what to visit and how much it costs. So stay tuned and I’ll see you next time.
