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Nongkhai | Chiangmai |
Travel by minivan & boat to
Koh Samet is a 6 km-long lozenge-shaped island, the origin of a romantic story, Phra Aphaimanee. The very popular weekend escape among Thais
and foreigners alike even though there are concern about the environment controversy over the bungalows and hotels. The Forest Department recommends tourist
to take a day trip rather than staying overnight to protect the environment.
After three hours we are there, BAN PHE, a small sea-side village. First of all we buy tickets for the boat to take us to Kho Samet.
From Ban Phe, boats leave regularly for Ko Samet from 6AM-5PM and more frequently on Saturday and Sunday. It costs you around B30 each.
If travelling in group, one can also charter a fishing boat at the cost of B600-1,000 depending on the size of the boat.
Kho Samet is only about 30 minutes
away by boat. On Kho Samet or Kho Kaeo Phitsadan on which Sunthon Phu Thailand's great poet of the early 19th century based the story of Phra Apaimaini.
The boat arrive and we board. It is beautiful in the sunset, the sea is dead calm and we sail the four miles while dusk takes over.
When we land at the harbor,
where to go ? We look around and saw a bungalow. Went there and ask if they got any room. They had and we was lucky.
The island is a national park and you have to pay an entrence fee when leaving the harbor. Since October 1'st, 1981, the
Festival Department has proclaimed the Khao Laem Ya-Samet Island Group as a national park, which also includes the island Ko Kudi, Ko Kruai,
Ko Kham and Ko Plai Tin.
We spend the morning by the beach but first a tropical breakfast, lots of fruit and pancake with banana, yummi! Then four hours of swimming and broiling by the sun.
Samet Island offers beautiful beaches with charming white sand,
strange-shaped rocks, suitable for relaxation. The climate is always pleasantly cool with abundent rains
in August and windy monsoons in May. We are suddenly surprised by the afternoon rain and we seek shelter from the rain under some vines,the Mosquitoes are beginning
to swarm in the twilight, it is important not to stand still to avoid getting bitten. The Rayong province is full of these islands.
After lunch we are ready to explore the national park, this is the place to go if you have an interest in large insects. They have them all, giant spiders and the largest
centipedes we have ever seen.
We was renting a boat to take us around the Island Kho Samet whit our friends. No moon this evening when we was returning home and the stars so bright, incredible.
Back at the bungalow party is being prepared.
It was Saturday night, party-time so we went for a quick shower before we mingle. We wonder where all these people are coming from,
there are several vacant Bungalows. They must origin from the other places down the shore, the place is getting crowded. Here was we
meeting Americans, Europens and people from other where.
Ko Samet is a popular holiday destination for the Thai.
The trip back to Bangkok runs like clockwork. It is late afternoon before we get back.
You are visitor
since 990509
The South
tropical islands, dazzling palm-fringed beaches, coral reefs teeming with colourful marine life, picturesque fishing villages with distinctive hand- painted boats,
remote national parks, forested mountains, waterfalls, historic cities, ubiquitous rubber estates, scenic wildlife sanctuaries, the juxtaposition of temples and mosques
clearly define the region's visual appeal. 
KOH SAMET ISLAND,
a pretty island with white sand beaches near Bangkok.
Last updated
1999-09-09