destination ideas required curious

[Linne]

off to los soon, done the usual islands south.
looking for a relax away from the bars, always liked samui and the other one nearby.
i,m looking for some undiscovered gems. Is it possible.
some suggestions have included
1)south of surat thani on the east coast i mean deep down as well as satun.
2)south of pattaya and beyond, including satahip
3)between rayong and the cambodian border.
YES I could read the guidebook but its not quite the same as someone who has found a little gem somewhere. Quiet, clean, trees not too many rip off merchants

[peterinkendal]

river kwai is very peaceful if you go upstream from the bridge a bit

[ddwjg]

2)south of pattaya and beyond, including satahip

I presume that was meant for me.

PM me, with your holiday dates and there might be an invitation forthcoming.

Dave.

[Harvey at home]

Yes and whilst you are visiting Dave in that area you could try Koh Samet, smallish island but now very quiet, a sort of backwater but some great beaches

Harvey

[DavidJohn]

I would support Harvey and Peter on their choices if you really want quiet with scenary and in Harvey's case great beaches.

[Linne]

thanks gentlemen, dave i will be in touch in the next few days and thank you
Want to escape hussle of london , get some fresh air into my lungs. yep i have been to the kwai or whatever its really called, i always thought i,d missed something, too busy trying to escape the taxi drivers

[dan&ploy]

Yes and whilst you are visiting Dave in that area you could try Koh Samet

It is not on Marcus' list of favourite places

[Linne]

Thats a very interesting view by Marcus especially the food issue. i don,t think cuisine is ever great on any of the islands from my experience. The lonely planet has similar views so it will interesting to see who is right. Personally i,d rather escape my fellow farangs a bit. Maybe a trip along the coast if we don,t like it to Koh Chang. A bit of S*** is better than concrete resorts IMHO. THANKS for the responses.

[DavidJohn]

Marcus's description of Koh Samet has astounded me. I too visited this place back in 2002 and again in 2003/4 and found it a really good place, yet a little too quiet for any longer than a long weekend. To now read how far it has dropped into the abyss of detriment is a shock. Has any one else visited recently and do they concurr or disagree with Marcus's version?

[Wolfy]

Cannot disagree with Marcus's excellent report but i was there for 3 nights in 07 and thought it was lovely.

[Gary & Nok]

Originally posted by the gardener:
... yep i have been to the kwai or whatever its really called,...

Pronounce it as Kway (spelt Kwai)
Kwai is a buffalo and “Bridge on the river buffalo” more often than not gets a good laugh from the Thai’s.

It’s a pity they never pronounced it correctly in the films.

[guava]

Originally posted by Gary & Nok:

Originally posted by the gardener:
... yep i have been to the kwai or whatever its really called,...

Pronounce it as Kway (spelt Kwai)
Kwai is a buffalo and “Bridge on the river buffalo” more often than not gets a good laugh from the Thai’s.

It’s a pity they never pronounced it correctly in the films.

Real name is แม่น้ำแคว (mâe náam kwae)
mâe náam = river
kwae (kware)= tributary or stream
So "kwae" river and has nothing to do with a buffalo, although the common western pronunciation of "kwai" does mean buffalo.

[Marcus]

Hi,

Just stumbled across this thread! Thanks for the link Dan!

I have to say, that, yes, what should have been a romantic week with my girlfriend on an island I've visited and loved many times before was entirely spoilt by the filth we saw and the apalling service we had.

But maybe I'm spoilt!

The last beach I'd been to, before going back to Samet, was in Japan last summer - a short train ride from Tokyo.

This beach was spotless. I mean, spotless. There was not a single piece of litter to be seen anywhere. No one was urinating a few feet from people eating food, there was no cigarette smoke wafting over the whole place, no scabby dogs begging food from you, no-one trying to sell you a sarong for the seventh time that day, no broken plastic chairs dumped in the trees behind the beach, no plastic water bottles floating in the sea, no rivulets of foul smelling brown liquid running down the beach, no..., well, you get my point.

I guess in the past these things didn't bother me because I just accepted them as part and parcel of being on a Thai beach? I don't know. But one thing is for sure - I won't ever be going back to Ko Samet.

[Wolfy]

Cripes, apart from the Sarong seller it sounds like Weymouth to me.

Sounds like you have fallen out of love with Thailand.

Japan, me, absolutely not interested in visiting Japan at all. Sounds far to perfect for me and full of Japs.

[ddwjg]

Japan, me, absolutely not interested in visiting Japan at all. Sounds far to perfect for me and full of Japs.

Steve, Classic!! As our mate Art would say,Haaaaa...Haaaaaa.

Dave.