Koh Samui Guide

Maps of Samui date back to the 17th Century when Chinese and Malay fishermen seeking shelter from storms settled into a self sufficient life of fishing and farming. It was not until the late1940’s there was any significant contact with the mainland and when the first road on the island replaced walking tracks between villages.
Simple thatched beach bungalow tourism started in the 1970’s capturing the imagination of the backpacker generation but Samui moved rapidly towards the sophisticated end of the tourist spectrum making it the fastest growing tourist destination in Thailand and the Spa capital of the region.

The local economy is now focused on recreational tourism, spas, long term retirement and medical tourism while traditional fishing and farming continue to make important contributions to the economy. In development terms, Samui is still an ‘emerging destination’ – which is part of its charm and fascination. Whereas its sister island off the Andaman Coast, Phuket, matured as a domestic and international destination many years ago.

The current population is made up of people from many parts of Thailand, the region and further afield. Being such a new creation Samui is in many ways more “international Thai” than “traditional Thai.”
Compared to Phuket and Pattaya, development on Samui is more controlled, and the environment much ore protected. So to date you will not find many buildings higher than a coconut palm, which is the standard measurement for height restrictions in Samui. Also, it is illegal to destroy coconut trees on the island.  New construction requires permission to even transplant a coconut tree.

Though there is not an identifiable style such as you find in Bali or the Maldives, many small and large hotels and resorts are set in vibrant gardens with magnificent trees and intoxicating views.
The new Nikki Beach taps the exotic beaches of Koh Samui, adding this alluring locale to its well-established jet set itinerary. Leave the BlackBerry behind and prepare for complete seclusion along the shores of Lipa Noi Beach, an ideal setting mixed with Nikki Beach’s signature chic and sexy style. The Sunset Terrace Lounge lends sensational views to one of Thailand’s best sunsets while the pool below provides a refreshing escape before the sun hits below the horizon.
 Traveling around the 250 sq km island – in particular the south - by motor bike is a thrill. Going off the beaten track will take you to small villages, Thai and Chinese temples, old Chinese Thai commercial architecture and deserted beaches you can call your own. Travel through lush coconut groves and of course those nifty laid back little restaurants you just happen to find nestled beside the beach.

 Thai Airways flies to Samui from BKK International Airport. Bangkok Airways has frequent daily domestic flights between Samui, Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Krabi as well as direct international services to and from Singapore and Hong Kong. Berjaya Airlines and Firefly both have direct Samui/Kuala Lumpur flights. Many people come to Samui by boat from the mainland (at Donsak close to Suratthani or Chumpon further north) either as self drive or by bus. There is also a Bangkok train service to nearby Suratthani.

  A Samui holiday can be many things and while Samui has somewhat of a reputation as a party destination most people come here to kick back and relax. Some people enjoy taking a Thai cooking class or reading a good book. While pool and beach lounging is clearly an option, why not pack a picnic lunch and head off to an adventure in the rural south of Samui for deserted beaches, coconut groves, inland and coastal villages and lush virgin tropical forest.
Because it is an island, Samui is expense as a shopping destination but it is the spa capital of the region so it would be unfortunate if you did not indulge yourself in affordable massage and body treatments. For gay men the ‘Emerald Green Mens Club’ in North Chaweng is the premier ‘man for man’ destination for high quality massage and body treatments at reasonable prices.

 Samui is a rapidly growing gay holiday and residential destination, especially for romantic couples. Gay life on Samui is a relaxing and quieter contrast to the exuberant gay life elsewhere. Gay bars and cabarets are more laid back,  friendly and accessible and while there is a ‘commercial’ side to some parts of gay life, most gay Thai men hold down regular jobs in a wide variety of hospitality businesses, many are doctors, lawyers, managers or own their own businesses.
Probably because it has so many employment options and is far from home, Samui seems to have proportionally more gay men living here than most other places in Thailand. They are easy to meet at the gay and mixed venues or simply as you move around your hotel, shop, eat in restaurants, lie on the beach or travel around the island. It is precisely this uniqueness of Samui and its gay scene that attracts gay tourists, so don’t expect big crowds of international and Thai guys such as those you’ll find in Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket. 

 The inaugural gay weekend beach parties created by gCircuit (www.gcircuit.com) Samuifantasia 2009 at Nikki Beach and X2 Resorts has received such strong Thai national and regional South East Asian support it appears Samui is on the cusp of making a new, sophisticated, unique addition to the regional gay calendar. The message is - Samui is a place to watch!  When getting out and about on Samui the most common forms of transport are motor bike, rental cars or four wheel vehicles. Taxis can be notoriously expensive as trip meters are never switched on. The Songtow - pick-up trucks with two benches in the back are a de facto public bus service constantly circling the island day and night and are a fun, efficient, cheap option.

 Heavier traffic volumes and bad quality roads mean riding around Chaweng, Lamai and Mae Nam is anything but relaxing. The South and West of the island are wonderful places to spend a day sightseeing. Take a road map, bottled water, and be adventurous, get off the main roads and see what you can discover. Here the island still has quiet village life, sparsely populated, good roads, lush tropical jungles, coconut plantations, grazing water buffalo and gay men will just love seeing the Thai guys stripped down and working. They are happy to chat with you if you take an interest in what they are doing. 

 ATTRACTIONS
 Most tour operators offer trips along well worn paths to a small selection of tired touristic sites such as Big Buddha, Grand Father & Grand Mother Rocks and so on. But frankly, for the adventurous there are much more interesting and genuine destinations.
For example, Nathon the administrative capital of the island is often maligned but its charm lies in its not really being a tourism spot. Here you see old Thai people shopping, managing their businesses, kids, mums and dads and daily life routine focused on the necessities of the local Thai population rather than the needs of the tourist. The most interesting street on Samui is Angthong Road in Nathon, running between and parallel with the waterfront and Nathon’s main road. Not a commercial street for tourists, rather local businesses still operating as they have for the past 100 years in their traditional Thai/Chinese two-story wooden buildings. The narrow, winding roads along the hills behind Nathon also offer glimpses of a slower paced life.

 The only Muslim village on Samui is on the coast at Hua Thanon just south of Lamai. Park your bike outside the 7/11 shop on the main road, walk into the village, through the wet and dry market then along the short road to the small Mosque. This small fishing village gives a unique glimpse into everyday village life on the island.
Close to this village and a short way along road 4170 is the Rum Distillery where they make rum from local fruit and berries. A short distance back towards Nathon and along the main ring road 4169 is the well-posted signs of Namuang Waterfall which is popular late afternoon with local Thai families and often hunky Thai guys swimming in the pool below the falls. Take swim wear. There are also elephant rides here and excellent BBQ chicken restaurants next to the falls under tall canopy trees.

 If you want to get out and around Samui and would like the assistance of a local gay guide, Thailand SPICE! recommends you contact Rainbow-Scuba & Tour (www.rainbow-scuba.com) Samui’s premier gay tour operator. If you are more a do it yourself type, call in and see the helpful guys at the Emerald Green Men’s Club who will give you tips and maps on what to see and do around Samui.

After all this running around you’ll be hungry, but fear not, there is a huge variety of places to eat, from top of the bill restaurants to small cheap eateries and Thai market stalls. In the open Thai markets you will find inexpensive fresh tropical Thai fruits and small Thai food vendors selling a range of Thai meals and snacks. Some of the best tastes come from snack stalls (often mobile) - BBQ bananas, noodle dishes, green mango salad, pancakes savoury and sweet, and satay, to name a few.
 At the top end of the market the famous, Dining on the Rocks restaurant at Six Senses Hideaway Resort (www.sixsenses.com) in Cheong Mon is perfect for a romantic or special event evening.  Stylish, wooded decks sweep over large coastal rocks to create a breath-taking atmosphere while their kitchen serves exquisite Asian modern international cuisine which guarantees a quality dining experience to remember.

Staying with the coastal theme but less expensive and more in the laid back brassiere style is The Pier restaurant (separately reviewed in this publication) in Fisherman’s Village is well worth a visit. If you are looking for heritage Thai cuisine Baan Boran (www.baanboran-thaicuisine.com) restaurant in Chaweng in an elegant Ayudhaya-style building is an atmospheric must which also features a nightly traditional Thai Puppet Show. The beach side signature restaurant of the X2 (pronounced ‘cross to’) Resort (www.x2resorts.com/samui) in Hua Thanon is called 4K (pronounced ‘fork’)  and offers an easy- on-the-wallet, East West fusion menu which places an emphasis on local seasonal products in a cool relaxing open beach side restaurant.

The center of gay life on Samui is Chaweng. Gay businesses hang off Chaweng Beach Road from the Emerald Green Men’s Club at North Chaweng down 3-4 km to South Chaweng. To help you find your way around check out the excellent Samui map in this issue of Thailand SPICE! Magazine.
So, if we take a sweep down Chaweng Beach Road from the north end opposite the Nora Beach Resort is the Emerald Green Men’s Club (Tel: 077 601 372) Samui’s premier gay massage business which provides high quality ‘man for man’ massage and body treatments, steam room, private rooms and a double room for couples. Open midday to 9 PM they have exceptionally well trained gay Thai masseurs and innovative massage and skin treatments program (www.emeraldgreensamui.com). During Samuifantasia 2009 the Emerald Green Mens Club will be providing services in the spa at X2 Resort also.

Still on Chaweng Beach Road, behind Starbucks is K Club one of the first gay bars on Samui, a small, bit scruffy, open front bar with friendly staff. Further down in south Chaweng there are two bars Boy Zone and Male Box at the end of a Soi opposite the Centara Grand Beach Resort. Boy Zone bar is smart, small, air conditioned, mainly gay crowd with a dance show at 11.30 PM. Across the Soi,  Male Box is now aiming for a mixed audience with a show at 10.30 PM they call old fashioned drag cabaret in a smart recently renovated, comfortable, air conditioned bar. In the same Soi is a small massage business  FAH Samui offering massage for girls, boys and transgendered customers in an open plan massage room. 

 Samui has an obsession with Cabarets with four such clubs. Starz Club Cabaret  (www.starzsamui.com) is the newest, largest and a swanky club situated at the back of Khun Chaweng Plaza between the Chaweng Regent Hotel and Pizza Hut where they pump out a high energy show every night.
Close by is Christy’s the original show in town and further down the main street in South Chaweng is Star Club Cabaret upstairs opposite Family Mart. At Zodiac Cabaret in Lamai, down the lane-way by Fusion Club you will find Tina - a ladyboy icon on Samui who does a powerful Tina Turner routine. All shows kick in about 9.30 nightly with bar service and free entry.

Back in Chaweng, from midnight gays often go to Green Mango and Sweet Soul Cafe in central Chaweng, loud, noisy, mixed venues but fun. If you still want to party, a mixed club called Soho with many Gays around the dance floor is also fun. Finally, on the ring road between Big C and Makkro, within a housing estate is Mekkala Spa, a newer man for man massage business in a private house, open daily.
Samui offers a wide range of accommodation options from famous brand name hotels like Four Seasons, X2 and Six Senses Hideaway through to simple bungalows for THB 500 a night.  All hotels are gay friendly in as much as they are customer friendly so it is probably most practical to work out what you want from a hotel: beach location, in the jungle, close to town or far away, butler service, etc., then look at the options on the Internet. 

 The following selection gives you an idea of the range available:

Six Senses Hideaway (www.sixsenses.com) offers luxurious style with butlers, beautiful pool and garden villas, probably Samui’s best, private and lavishly located on the tip of the Cheong Mon Peninsula. The X2 Resort Samui (www.x2resorts.com/samui) Samui’s newest designer resort is a stylish boutique resort based on the original Samui style bungalow - but made glamorous and up market, a great location on the relatively untouched southwest coast of the island. The Nora Beach Resort (www.norabeachresort.com) is a quality medium range beach side resort with tropical gardens at the north end of Chaweng - has a bit of a cache with the gay community. In Mae Nam and well off the main road is the tranquil, relaxing Fair House Villas and Spa (www.fairhousesamui.com) a traditional Southern Thai villas set in a mature, lush tropical landscape sweeping down to the beach. Tropical Garden Lounge Hotel & Resort (www.tropicalgardenlounge.com) is an older style bungalow resort on the main road through Mae Nam offering inexpensive accommodation, with a pool in a large landscaped garden. Over the hill from Chaweng in the middle of Lamai township but on the wonderful Lamai beach is the Weekender Resort & Spa (www.weekender-samui.com) with a large beach side pool, smart rooms, restaurant and gay friendly helpful staff.

 There are no gay hotels on Samui but there are a few small good quality gay owner occupied B&B options. Little Palace is a meticulous private home with two rooms for rent, beautiful garden and pool. High on the hill above Chaweng is Mana’s Home a large modern Thai style private home with wonderful panoramic views, two rooms for rent, sun deck and Jacuzzi. Wonderworld Samui is a private home set in a residential area offering a small basement apartment and single room for rent.
For more information for gay; accommodation, bars, clubs, restaurants, massage, things to do, health tips and things to be aware of etc. go to the ‘one stop’ gay travel website 
www.gaykohsamui.net.