TRAVEL NEWS Lose yourself on Samui
SAMUI GAZETTE | Mar. 16 - 29, 2012
(An article by JOHN BORTHWICK, e West Australian) KOH SAMUI floats in the Gulf of ailand like a tiny Tasmania that's gone troppo. If you visited years ago as an island-hopper, packing not much more than a sarong and a change of mind, be prepared for a shock - Samui's past, present and future, telescoped into now, greet you as you step off the ferry or plane. GULF OF THAILAND "Our first tourists had free accommodation. ey had to sleep at the temple because we had no hotel," Khun Ruengnam, past president of the Koh Samui Tourism Association, told me as he recalled the first backpackers who crossed from the mainland in the early 1970s and found an island without even roads. So much for the past. In just four decades, this once-forgotten fishing settlement 55km off Surat ani in the western Gulf has become, after Phuket, ailand's second most popular island destination. Last year Samui drew almost 800,000 visitors, 75 per cent of them foreigners, and some 9000 aircraft arrivals. THE BEACHES So, you arrive, draw breath and, slipping between the sepia past and the Seven-Eleven present, head for what drew those original trippers - the beaches. Samui still has them galore, with the east coast ones generally the best. Long, broad Chaweng Beach and the smaller Lamai are the most popular. eir waters are clear and calm, although the sands are thronged with tourists and hawkers. e west coast is quieter but the shallows are often coralstrewn. Uncrowded Lipa Noi is for
The pier at Bophut is the gateway to a town that has been completely transformed.
me the standout western beach, but keep exploring side roads and you can find less trammelled shores such as Laem Nam or Natien. ere's a 51km round-island road which, eventually, you'll want to take because there's just so much of Chaweng Beach's cafe-boutique-massage- pizzeria-pirate clobber culture that one can handle before needing to get back in touch with ailand. HIRE YOUR TRANSPORT Self-driving here is a breeze (while the taxis are pure banditry) so rent a car, then head off to Samui's hideaway bays and other attractions. But who needs a car? Why not rent a motorbike and rip along barefoot and bare-brained? Helmets are mandatory but no-one wears one, so it must be safe, yes? No. Samui has one of the worst road accident records in ailand, a country with appalling annual fatalities, so if you're on two wheels, drive defensively and sober, and have very good insurance. Wear a lid. And jot down a quick will. You can drive around the island in a couple of hours (it's just 25km long by 21km wide) but try exploring instead.
SECRET GARDEN Head inland to the Secret Garden. Tucked in a hilltop jungle gorge, this grove of Ramayana characters, dancers and angels was sculpted in concrete by a Samui native, Nim Tongsung, who began his task at age 77 and worked until his death at 91. It's a labour of love in a place of peace and worth leaving the beaten track to find. Also in the interior are several waterfalls such as Na Muang 1 (10km south of Nathon) with a 15m cascade and pool popular with ais. TEMPLES It wouldn't be ailand without temples so pay your respects at the island's most popular tourist attraction, Wat Phra Yai (Big Buddha Temple) with its 12m golden Buddha statue surrounded by noisy stalls and eateries. is landmark sits on the north shore not far from Bophut. At the southern tip of the island is the smaller Laem Sor Buddha pagoda. Elsewhere are a so-called Buddha Footprint and two very desiccated "mummified ai eravada Buddhist temple architecture is represented by Wat Nikrodharam and Wat Kaphang Surin. Both are close to the still waters of Kaphang Surin, a lake popular for picnics to the north of town. More heterogeneous, and a
fine symbol of Trang’s cultural ‘unity in diversity’, Wat Matchimaphum – known locally as Wat Na Khao – brings a Mahayana element to the eravada tradition by housing a large laughing Buddha, the much-venerated Phra Sangkajjayana image, and a golden Guanyin Goddess of Mercy statue on a tall plinth that overlooks the entire town. Kantang Port Just 22 kilometres southwest of Trang at the mouth of the Trang river, the old port town of Kantang, founded by Governor Khaw Sim Bee at the end of the 19th century, still houses Trang’s lak mueang (city pillar), the traditional spiritual heart of the city, monks", none of which are real must-sees. BOPHUT e former fishing village of Bophut is a case study in transformation at the hands of tourism. e first time I saw it, Bophut was little more than a seafront main street lined with two-storey teak shop-houses and a rickety pier, home to trawlers and discarded fish-heads. During subsequent visits I've seen the shop-houses made over, if they were lucky, as restaurants, small bars and lodges such as the Red House. e unlucky ones were demolished to make way for some concrete folly housing, or another day spa or boutique. Bophut's transformation is almost complete and now, minus the fish-heads and crab-pots, it is indeed an elegant little spot to trawl for gifts, a room with a sea view and a deck upon which to sink the perfect sundowner. "Would you like to buy the shop," asked snowy-haired Irishman Jim O'Grady when I wandered into his second-hand bookshop in the island capital, Nathon, some years ago. I was trying to find a novel but almost left with the business. Jim had owned the shop for 15 years. "It's been long enough," he reflected before launching into a signature Irish anecdote about his decades spent in Australia. "I'm eligible for the Australian old age pension. ey could easily verify my residency there by just looking up my drink driving record in the 1960s and 70s." RESORTS A main driver of Koh Samui's transformation up-market from a budget destination has been the establishment of top-quality resorts which now dot the coast. With their numbers increasing,
23 lush enclaves such as Baan Taling Ngam, Six Senses, Tongsai Bay, Anantara and e Scent represent the future of the island. My local driver ep has a less sanguine view of other developments. "In 10 years all the coconut trees will be gone," he says, pointing to ridges that have had the arboreal equivalent of a Brazilian wax. In place of trees, subdivisions of boxy "villas" - aka bungalows - sold principally to expats, now hang off shaved hillsides and make parts of Samui look not unlike the home suburb you just left. CHAWENG Chaweng, the tourist "capital", is a kilometre-long mash-up of sports bars, Paddy pubs, hotels, stalls and malls. Here you can reap a pirate's harvest of faux-designer everythings - jeans, sunglasses, DVDs and ai silk goods. Indian tailors of the quasi-Versace cut are in abundance while numerous stores sell gems - which is no guarantee that the necklace you buy will contain any. For dining, Prego Restaurant (beside the Amari Resort on Chaweng Beach Road) has some of the best Italian fare on the island. For sunset with seafood, Big John's at Ban Lipa Noi does a fine lobster massaman. Elsewhere are hundreds of eateries, offering the gamut from TexMex to Royal ai degustation feasts. NIGHTLIFE Most of Samui's nightlife happens in Chaweng and Lamai. Wander the gauntlet of Chaweng's beer bars and cocktail lounges or head to Soi Green Mango, a full-tilt bar zone which specialises in loud music, cold beer and dancing. Bophut, the quiet alternative, offers the Siam Classic Dance Restaurant and various beach bars. Or, if a bit of the old ultraviolence is more your style, check the Muay ai kick-boxing at Chaweng Stadium. To glimpse a version of how Samui once was, head offshore to Ang ong Marine National Park or resort islands such as Koh Pangan, Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan. Failing that, just kick back. e medium is still the massage and in Samui there are $10an- hour treatments everywhere although I draw the line at one promising "Pink Lady Live Piano Massage."