A Revisit to Koh Samui - 17 Years Later

[PatMacGroin]

Hello Fellow Punters,

I'm thinking about a very last minute trip to Thailand and I'd appreciate some advice from your collective knowledge.

I first visited Thailand in 2002 and returned several times uptil around 2009. In that short spread of time I noticed it change massively. As it has now been over 17 years since I was last there, I imagine it is probably unrecognisable to me now.

Koh Samui has always been my favourite part of the country and I usually stay in a mid range hotel on or near Chaweng Beach. I have started looking at what's available for flights and accommodation From Weds/Thursday this week staying there for 7-8 nights. The quick search suggests it's looking like £1,600 return for the flights, plus £600 for a mid range 3 star hotel (I don't need luxury and I'm disappointed that I can't seem to find many of the little bungalow style resorts. One's I've stayed at in the past seem to be gone, and alot of what's on offer are the 2-3 storey blocks built to cram in as many rooms ontop of each other as possible. They remind me of the spanish resort hotels, they're just not building them quite as tall yet. Actually, a virtual street view wander around Koh Samui has me wondering if I really want to go back there at all.)

So before I go booking anything the questions I'd like to ask are:

1) Is there a resource somewhere that tells us punters how receptive the individual hotels are to bringing back guests?

2) I was always used to picking up a bar girl, or selecting one from one of the salons with a big line up. Does anyone know if that is still easy to do in Chaweng, with plenty of bars/girls to choose from? (I hear the area has become more family focused).

3) My usual practice used to be to pick up a girl and keep her for the night, probably buy her breakfast in the morning. It sounds like it is becoming more common for them to take on short booking punters. Does anyone know the average price for the night these days?

4) I've never taken a bar girl on as a Thai girlfriend for the week. As I am going on my own I'm thinking it might work out well, for the company and some advice about restaurants, tailors etc. Although, I would want one that is up for us find other girls to join us for 3somes most nights. Anyone know what the going daily rate is for a "Thai Girlfriend"?

I know this information is probably already in other threads, but I did a few searches and nothing jumped out at me. Plus, I don't really have the time right now to do a full on research dep dive.

I would appreciate any advice you can provide.

Kind Regards

PMG

[METEOR]

Koh Samui is totally different from when I first went in 2012, even though it's my favorite place I've not been since 2019. Way too many tourists and high prices niw

[FLYING BLUE]

It has changed massively, not in a good way for punting IMHO - I last visited 5 years ago and was really disappointed.
Busy, noisy, thousands of motorbikes and hardly any SP's - my usual hotel was full of families.

The same happened in Phuket - last time I went was 2017 & vowed to never go again - prices were higher than they were in the UK at the time, plus quality was very low (again - it's IMHO)

[PatMacGroin]

Thanks for the response guys. That's not sounding too promising.

Is Pattaya the only real punting destination left in Thailand? Facebook keeps feeding me reels of Pattaya street walks. Looks much the same as I remember it, maybe even more women hanging outside the bars. I only went to Pattaya once and I didn't like it, too full on for me and the beach was horrible.

Just did a search for YouTube video's of Koh Samui. Noticed a few spots I recognised, like Green Mango, The Islander, Tropical Murphys. My memory can be a bit flakey sometimes, I was sure there was a huge reggae bar just off Chaweng main strip, I'm surprised none of the videos show it. Does anyone know if it's still there? Otherwise big changes, it definitely gives off vibes of more Spanish islands holidays now. Most of the videos looked very busy, but 1 from last month had commentary saying how quite it is compared to usually, and I'd actually prefer that. I got the impression there is less of a bar girl presence, some of the interior shots of bars showed guys sitting on their own looking bored. That was unheard of when I used to go.

I'm very much in two minds. Spend probably atleast £4 grand on a trip away, or use that for a lot of short but quality punts here in London. 

I need to decide quickly though.

[METEOR]

I remember that reggae bar.
Yeah agree about Pattaya being over the top. I went for the first time this year as stayed on Koh Samet so thought I'd see what it was like.
Bangkok I think is the best for punting but staying in a big city like that isn't great for your whole holiday. Phuket is stupidly expensive now and ruined by the Arab biker idiots.
I personally stay in Chiang Mai for the bulk of my time but I don't go to Thailand purely for the women.

[Steely Dan]

A part compromise is staying in Jomtien.  Beach a bit nicer.  Plenty of Gent's Clubs and massage places, but quieter, not in your face.  And Walking Street only 10 min bolt away.

If you want really nice beach in that area you need to get a TF girl or a bar girl to go with you to Ko Lan.  I guess as the beaches get nicer, the girl get scarcer.