A Look at Samui
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In keeping SPICE! as current as possible, and to entertain two friends who had never been there, we flew off to Koh Samui a few days ago. We left from BKK International Airport (Suvarnabhumi) on Bangkok Airways in the afternoon for the 1 hour and 5 minute flight at 6,540 baht net R/T economy class.
Samui map). Since I was with two “newbies” to Samui, I wanted to be in a nice place and within walking distance to many places, so I chose the four-star Amari Palm Reef Resort, located right on a secluded part of Chaweng Beach. I have stayed at other Amari hotels and find them to be very well run and great value for money. My friends were very pleased. This Amari has 187 Thai-style superior and deluxe rooms set in tropical gardens on the beachfront; we chose deluxe rooms with a king size bed; very nice indeed! The resort is spread out, so you do not feel crowded. We felt very comfortable there and enjoyed the wonderful buffet breakfast served on the 2nd floor of the Meranté Seaside dining area with views of the pool and beach.
Its Sivara Spa was one of the Top Spas in Thailand for our SPICE! series on spas last year, so I had to have a treatment there and chose the “Mind Relaxing Massage” with a true, massage professional (1 hour -1800++). It was wonderful, but I can’t say much more than that as I kept falling asleep, it was so restful! Amari has many special offers now, so check their website at www.amari.com.
Our last night we saved to dine at their award winning Prego Italian Restaurant located out on the Chaweng Beach road in front of the Resort. Prego is well known all over Samui and is a busy place with happy diners and really great Italian food with a contemporary theme.
After dinner we were ready and eager to explore the Samui scene. We headed down Chaweng Beach road and walked and gawked at all the sights during the 10 minutes it took to reach the busy center area. It was after 9pm and we took a taxi (150 baht) from there to the Centara Hotel as that is across from where Male Box and Boy Zone Go Go bars are. As it was too early—the action starts after 11pm till 2am, we went to see the newest Cabaret show in town called STARZ Cabaret at Khun Chaweng Plaza, between Solo soi and a few sois from Starbucks. Starz Cabaret is in the rear of the Plaza, open air and covered seating with about 200 seats and a grand stage. You buy your drinks, no cover charge, it is nightly at 10pm. It was quite an elaborate show with nice costumes, many dancers and a good sound and lighting system. If you like Cabaret shows, this is a good one! Check them out at www.starzsamui.com.
After the show we returned to the two Go Go Boy bars: Boy Zone has an 11:30 show, and Male Box a midnight show. If you are looking for lots of action like in the gay venues in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, and Chiang Mai, there is not much here. Not as many guys and they seem more interested in their dancing most of the time.
Koh Samui is really a place to bring a friend with you to enjoy the beauty and nature here. The only other gay places on the island is K Club on Soi Solo (only saw 1 or 2 guys there) and the two gay massage for men places, besides the Cabarets.
One massage place is Emerald Green Men’s Club. It used to be across from Centara Resort, but now has moved to the other end of the beach road (see Samui Map #1) across from Nora Beach Resort. Bruce and Mark personally manage the business and make sure you get well taken care of. We all had a massage and they have well trained licensed massage therapists and gave a wonderful oil massage. They have a full menu and many specials. Check their website: www.emeraldgreensamui.com.
The other men’s massage, a little more down market, is Fah Samui. They are on the same soi as the two Go Go bars. An unpretentious single shophouse with the large area divided into individual tent-like private spaces on one side. Nice massage with friendly guys and good service.
Now you can meet the locals after they finish work in the hotels, bars, cabarets, and shops on the island. There is a place they all go to “let their hair down and Sanuk (enjoy/party)”, but you better be a late night person. It is called Sweet Soul Café on Soi Green Mango (Heineken beer was 120 baht and 100 at Green Mango next door). It is a mixed venue with a lot of gay guys in attendance; it starts late (after midnight) and goes to 3am. Then the party moves a few sois to Solo Club till 6am. Solo is a large fenced open area with several bar stations and amusements like the bucking bronco where you pay 100 baht and if you can stay on long enough, you collect 4000, and shoot balloons and win a prize. There is also a snack bar and a covered disco area (where most of the gay guys are!). Drinks are reasonably priced at 100 baht for a Heineken.
One day we went out to the new Asia Spirit Lodge, way on top of the mountain towards the Southern end of the island. We had a nice lunch and were “Dining in the Sky” with a 270 degree view with Philippe, the GM who joined us and toured us around the scenic property. It has a very Asian feel to it. The staff have uniforms worn in Vietnam, the décor is Thai/Oriental. It has 21 lovely rooms and villas, one is very gay with pictures depicting scenes from the Kama Sutra on the wall above your bed. It also has a fitness room, sauna, and spa. It really is a must see to believe how it was carved out of the hill to construct it and the road to get to it.
That night we went to see the Star Club Cabaret which was downtown Chaweng Beach on the 2nd floor and had a nice show at 10:15 pm with a good crowd. The show is free, just buy your drinks.
We also managed to tour the island and arranged with Adam of Rainbow Scuba & Tour to take us around the island to see the highlights of Koh Samui in his 5-passenger SUV. Adam is very knowledgeable and knew all the places. He customizes each tour as to what you want to see and do, not like the tour vans that have their agendas to get you to certain souvenir shops etc. We went to see the Big Buddha, the famous Grandmother & Grandfather rocks, the beautiful Na Muang waterfall, a Chinese Wat where they set off firecrackers for good luck and the oldest Wat (Temple) on Samui, Wat Samrit.
We then went up and had lunch with a great view at the Santiburi Golf & Country Club on top of a hill with great views over to the island where they have the infamous, monthly Full Moon parties.
The next day we went on another day trip with Adam called the Southern Island Snorkeling tour and we took a longtail boat ride about ฝ hours journey off the Southern tip of the island to see some remote islands for some snorkeling over a reef where we saw many species of colorful fish, then on to a remote beach to swim and relax in the shade. We had a Thai lunch on small Koh Tan for a nice relaxing day. For a full list of tours available, go to Rainbow Scuba & Tours website at
When my friends went home, I had a Thai friend come over, and we stayed a couple more days, at two resorts. One being the new X2 resort and Spa (pronounced “cross-to”) on Samui. It is on the South East coast in a more secluded area. I was very intrigued with the property as it is quite different and states it is Thailand’s first chain of design resorts, with another X2 opening in Kul Buri. The owners bought an old bungalow resort that was there many years and had their design team develop the new resort on the same footprint, so it has many large old-growth trees on the resort for shade. Paul Snow, the Group Operations Manager, told me they have created these resorts to cater to a cosmopolitan group of creative and stylish guests that enjoy living life and want a first class, private resort without the formal environment of traditional luxury hotels. They state “For those that want something different, the resort allows them to cross to (X2) a whole new dimension of luxury by design, and experience life as it should be.” It is a modern contemporary resort with only 27 accommodations, of which 21 were private, pool villas where we stayed. There is an airy, spacious, comfortable restaurant on the beachfront. The 4K (pronounced “Fork”) restaurant is a place where you can dine, drink or just chill-out and watch the sunset, or read a newspaper or book from their library. A nice reasonably-priced European-Asian menu with many creative touches was available as well as a nice breakfast served in the morning.
Yes it has free Wi-Fi and a lap-top for rent at 200 baht a day. All the first class amenities: in room safe, satellite TV, DVD/CD player, but the best feature I liked was the Apple ITV entertainment center on the flat screen TV. It had all kinds of music, movies, and entertainment at your fingertips. I loved that the pool villa was 100% private. So you could enjoy your own pool with the water cascading into it “au natural” anytime you cared to.
My friend and I also enjoyed their spa treatments in their twin treatment-table, sala room. I enjoyed the Aromatic facial with gentle cleansing ( 2200++-1 hour) and my friend had the “Chill Out” massage which was a custom blend of Aromatherapy and Swedish massages (1800 baht ++-1 hour) with your choice of oils. Both massages started with a nice foot bath.
Also the hotel has an anytime check-in or check-out policy, to your schedule, not theirs. So X2 is a serene, tranquil resort to spend time with your special someone at this very gay-friendly resort. To find out more visit their website at wwwX2resorts.com.
We were just settling in, but had to leave X2 as we had already planned to check out and stay our last night at the Six Senses Hideaway Samui. I had reviewed the Six Senses Resort in Hua Hin for SPICE! a little over a year ago, so I knew the experience was going to be fabulous. It is located up on a headland on the Northern tip of the island (about 6 kms. from the airport). It is set on a gentle sloping property of about 20 acres of indigenous vegetation with wonderful panoramas to the Gulf of Siam and the islands. This boutique resort features 66 Villas with 52 of them having private, infinity-edge swimming pools, and, you guessed it, that is where we stayed. These are split level, have an open style bathroom, and breath-taking views. They really believe in attention to detail and the quality and service level is very high, starting with your own butler, who quickly settled us in and was available by phone for any request of him.
Besides the luxurious and spacious accommodation, Six Senses is known for their outstanding food service and one of the top spas in Thailand. We were honored when Colin Bryan, the Resident Manager, joined us at their top dining venue (and very popular with many staying on Samui) called “Dining on the Rocks.” He said we were one of seven gay couples currently staying at the resort. The restaurant is made up of nine private dining platforms set up on the top of the resort and featuring a gourmet dinner with or without wines. It has an unparalleled 270 degree view. How romantic to see the water and islands in front of you and so many stars above. We had the 5-course set dinner (2400++ meal only, or 5000++ with a different glass of fine wine with each course).
The Six Senses name is also synonymous with one of the finest spas in Thailand, and this one on Samui is no exception. The Spa manager took the time to explain all the options and helped us select treatments to suit our individual needs. It was a great professional experience. For more info check their website at
www.sixsenses.com. We felt so sad when we had to leave.