Thailand Ho! My Travels in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

So, it’s been a while since I wrote the Burma visa run entry. Wow, a long while. Sorry about that.

After Burma Bob and I had a lot on our plate. We’re starting a “travel consultancy” business here in Thailand, actually we started two businesses. If I was a little more ambitious with this site I might spend a good article or two talking about how to start a business in Thailand, but alas I’m feeling a little lazy. We visited the lawyer though, three times, set up two companies - each one owning 50% of the other with each of us controling 24.5% of the rest them. Nicely setup. Costed about 55,000 baht. Not a bad deal, however we didn’t need to do the whole working visa since I’ll be back at home and Bob’s already got another 9 months on his type O (for “other") visa. We each setup a personal bank account at the Siam Commercial in Chaweng here and, once we get the final papers from the lawyers, we setup a corporate bank account (or two rather) and we’re off to the races. Exciting!

With that mission accomplished we headed out to Phuket for some exploratory R&R. We got to Bangtao beach on Phuket on the 25th after a HORRIBLE 13 hour ordeal with the f-in’ buses. 550 baht for the bus, 2600 baht for the plane, 2100 baht seems like an easy fee to pay for the speed and security of flying. Anyway, I’m not going to bore you with my complaints about the bus trip to Phuket, but if you have the option, don’t do it.

Bangtao beach was another great disappointment. The beach was dead. I know it’s low season, but it’s ALMOST high season, so there should be at least a few people. Given, our hotel was undergoing massive rennovations (the Sunwing) so it’s not like they were gunning for business yet… anyway, the beach was pretty empty. The hotel was terrible. The Sunwing is a disaster. Like I said they’re going through a lot of rennovations right now but it’s ridiculous. Our internet didn’t work, the phones didn’t work, the showers trickled, the drains were clogged (already!), the restaurant was disgustingly overpriced, the swimming pools needed cleaning (although there were 5 of them), there’s no motorbike rental through the hotel, there’s no store to buy little necessities for a mile in any direction… the list goes on and on. Bob was really unhappy and I felt bad because I was the one who booked the hotel and tried to keep a positive attitude about the hotel. On the positive side the hotel leaves a little book about 7 ways to live a happier life, providing Buddhist insight into mindfulness and breathing techniques. It was good reading and I kept it.

Bob went back to Koh Samui on the 30th (flew) and I headed off to Patong Beach, the main beach on Phuket were all the action happens. I stayed at the Leelawadee Boutique Hotel which was pleasant although a bit far from the beach and the bars (a good 15 min walk or 5 min motorbike taxi ride). The had wifi and the pool was sufficient. The sun was great though, so I baked myself out there almost everyday for a couple hours, testing out my new Hawaiian Sun Tanning Oil recommended by Bob.

On the third day I took the recommendation of some nice Aussie girls I met at an Aussie bar on Bang-La Road (the main strip) and headed off to Phi Phi on a big snorkel tour. Man oh man, there were hundreds of tourists on this tour, about 8 speedboats each taking 20-50 people. Phi Phi was awesome though! The beach from The Beach has some of the most beautiful beach sand I’ve ever EVER seen. Stunning. Too bad about the hundreds of tourists marring the views. We all got to do about an hour’s snorkeling around in the bay there, I think it’s called Maya Bay or something like that. Good snorkeling, although not as good as the little island snorkeling Bob and I did off of Bangtao Beach. Oh yeah, I didn’t mention that snorkel trip. That was the highlight of our Bangtao Beach experience… anyway, back to the timeline.

It was great to spend a day in a boat, hopping out to snorkel, swim, relax, etc. Good times. I didn’t meet many interesting people however, just one Aussie dude and his family. They were nice and we had a good chat about gun laws in the US, Oz and Canada, but other than that… well, meh. Everyone else in my end of the boat (the front) was Russian and spoke almost no English. I met some Italian dudes at lunch and communicated well enough with Spanish/Italian going back and forth but again, meh.

Monkey Beach was probably the highlight of the Phi Phi tour. The boats can’t get very close to the shore because of the coral so everyone hops out about 100 yards from the shore and, snorkeling or not, attempts to not drown while getting themselves cut up but the viscous coral that goes for about 80 of those 100 yards no deeper than 1 metre with the points coming all the way up to about 6 inches below the surface. Essentially it’s best if you (having gloves even more preferably) grab the coral and pull yourself along. Look behind each outcropping before you grab it though, there were tons of sea urchins and their 11” long, black and blue spikes ready to cut you, cause you to panic and thus kill you by drowning. Yes, I’m being dramatic, but that’s what I was thinking as I carefully breaststroked my way across the surface of the beach: if I get cut and start panicing, no one’s going to save me because no one can swim out to get me. I’m screwed… luckily I swallowed the panicy feelings and, after detouring through the coral and making the 100 yards about 180 yards, I made it to the beach. And there, on the beach, among the hundreds of other tourists who’d wagered their life in the coral (and carrying plenty of cuts and nursing sore feet to prove it) were HUNDREDS of monkeys! They were awesome! Super friendly, if a little lacadasical and fat in their banana fed, semi-tamed glory. I love monkeys.

At the end of the Phi Phi trip they take you to a tiny little island that consists of two long beaches, a rocky shore, three huts serving ice cream, alcohol and souvenirs and pretty much nothing else. Supposedly there were sharks in the region which I guess put off a few of the younger snorkellers, but it was a pretty cool atmosphere. No jungle or trees or anything, just beaches sticking out of the water. The locals have put up rows upon rows of beach chairs and umbrellas and you have to pay 150 baht to take one, but they’re worth it. We got about an hour’s relaxation there at the tiny island before heading back to Phuket under the setting sun.

That was a nice day.

Otherwise I spent the rest of my 6 days alone in Phuket working my ass off. I’m working on Bob’s and my business stuff, plus two other web projects going on for clients back in Spain. Lots of work.

Yesterday I got picked up and shipped back to Koh Samui here (another horrible horrible scarring trip - I swear if enough people take bus trips around the south of Thailand you won’t see any non-flying tourists in about a year’s time), so here I am on Koh Samui, again, sitting in AKWA, working away, watching the rain. Tonight is the full moon party. Yesterday was the king’s birthday so they put off the full moon party by one day. Everyone I met on the bus yesterday was heading for the full moon party on Koh Phangan. I was going to go until this damn tropical storm Durian moved in here this morning. I’m guessing the full moon party will be pretty much a bust this time around. Tonight I’ll head out to the Green Mango instead, I met a whole swack load of Canadians today, so I’ll meet up with them.

Alrighty, ciao for now and thanks to Tom for getting me back into it here.

4:30am - Cell phone alarm clock goes off. Jump out of bed and hit the shower while guzzling Red Bull

4:49am - A lady calls to say the bus has been waiting for a while. I tell her I still have 10 min before the bus is supposed to arrive. She says no, I’m late, again, just like two days before. I run downstairs and the bus driver bitches me out too.

5:20am - Bus has collected all of it’s passengers and heads for Nathan ferry station.

6:05am - Bus drops us off and we’re hurried to the ferry. Bob is waiting and kinda pissed that we almost missed the ferry.

6:25am - Sun comes up over Koh Samui, it’s very pretty. Everyone takes photos. We pay the lady 1300 baht (supposed to be only 1200 but I don’t complain) and fill out a lunch request slip consisting of a selection various “fried something and rice”, replace “something” with every meat in existence.

7:05am - Reflect on lack of dolphins in Thailand. Start feeling sicker with watery eyes and runny nose. Bust out toilet paper and start a long day of nose blowing.

7:35am - Ferry lands and we hop on a different minibus. Set out for Ranong.

9:10am - Pit stop, buy Kleenex, have a quick smoke, start to resent having gotten up so early. I avoid coffee as I don’t want to have to use the toilet paper for its original purpose if at all possible.

11:11am - Sleep is very disturbed by getting tossed back and forth. Minibus driver drives like a psycho (I hear it’s part of the job description). Bob is anxiously watching out the front windshield and wants to talk. I want to sleep again.

11:35am - Arrive at shitbox immigration office, queue for departure stamp.

11:41am - Believe my passport has been stolen from my bag and begin causing a rucus. To my embarassment I find it moments later when someone suggests I re-check ALL my pockets.

11:59am - Give passport to some Thai guy, get back on bus which heads over to the dock.

12:10pm - Arrive at the dock, everyone heads for the boats. Emily calls but it wasn’t good timing as the lady starts handing out lunches. I sit down and open my styrofoam lunch box just in time to be told we’re getting on the boat. Close lunchbox and get on boat. Some fat drunkard falls off one of the boats required to traverse to get to our boat. No one laughs. I chuckle inside. I give one of the guides $20 USD (they match the bill’s issue number to your passport numbers to facilitate the Burmese visa process) for both Bob and I and sit down, squished by the double seat made for Thais which fits about 1.5 farangs when Bob and I sit. Diesel fumes fill the interior when they close off one side of the boat to prevent it from taking on water from the wake.

12:45pm - Land at Kawtheung, Myanmar (Burma if you ask me), follow the line to the shitbox immigration office while admiring the golden roofs of the Burmese temples lining the shores of the islands. Really beautiful. Start wanting to stay in Burma for a bit. Forced to dodge a few touts selling Viagra for $0.45 per pill (I’m sure THEY’RE the spammers we all loath ), cheap cigarettes ($5/carton) among other illicit materials I can’t recall off hand.

1pm - The guide tells me my $20 bill isn’t new enough. It’s the old generation without certain security features. I pull out a $10 bill but to the same response. Shit. Finally we buy two $10 bills from an Israeli guy for 500 baht instead of paying the guides 600 baht for THEIR $10 bills. Assholes.

1:05pm - Get my passport back and start walking into town thinking we have some time to look around and shop and check out the hotel. Someone tells me my passport is already stamped for today’s departure. I can’t stay. Damn it. Bob proceeds to buy a lot of viagra for cheap.

1:10pm - Hearded back on the bus I take my last photos of Burma including the town garbage dump which is boxed on three sides and opens onto the ocean on the fourth side. Horrifiying.

1:14pm - Boat forced to return to Kawtheung dock to pick up the fat drunkard. We’d forgotten him (perhaps on purpose).

1:25pm - Boat forced to go to a check stop. Thai officer boards bus to check for illegal goods but barely looks at half of the people’s open bags. 30 seconds later we’re heading off again. “THAT was easy” smirked the Israeli.

1:35pm - Land back on Thai shores, hop off the boat and head back into minibus to Thai immigration office.

2:09pm - Having queued for our Thai visa/arrival stamps for 15 min I get back into the minibus. Much discussion of Thai inefficiency. A sense of urgency is in the guides’ presence now. We leave for the ferry port again.

2:20pm - As Bob talks about how the driver is doing 160km/h and barely dodging semi-trucks I blissfully pass out again.

4:00pm - A five minute pit stop turns into 15 min as the bus driver refuses to leave until he’s smoked enough cigarettes (or something like that). I buy buns because I’m still hungry.

5:50pm - Minibus arrives at ferry port. Bob declares his hatred for Thai minibus drivers. We walk on to the ferry and try to take pictures of the evening sky’s light on the islands. None of them turn out.

6:45pm - Rain starts pouring down on our side of the ferry as I’m eating my noodle soup purchased at the “shop.” Relocate to other side of ferry where there’s standing room only. Bob checks out the lesbian backpackers.

7:30pm - Ferry docks on Koh Samui’s Nathen port. Say bye to Bob and hop onto minibus to Chaweng Beach.

9pm - I arrive at AKWA, tired and sick but safe and sound with another 30 days valid stay in Thailand. 

Yay. What a waste of a day. I begin to understand the expat cynicism on a new level.

This morning I got up at 4:30am. I showered and packed and drank a Red Bull.

At 5am the streets were surprisingly busy. Plenty of cabs came crawling by to ask where I was going. Lots of scooters with drunken partiers zipped by, heading home from the 13 November Escape House Party on the lake.

At 6am I went upstairs to check the laptop for any messages from Bob as he’d theoretically be picked up first. If there was a problem I know he’d have emailed me. No emails.

I went back downstairs and continued waiting. Finally at 6:30am I gave up. Pissed off but faced with a pleasant Samui sunrise I hauled my bag and myself back upstairs, dropped everything off, changed into my trunks, grabbed my iPod and went for a run along the beach.

The sunrise was indeed beautiful. Super red at first with an icy green sea at low tide. Lots of beach to run on, at least on the main part of Chaweng. The thing is that once you get to the north side of Chaweng Beach the conditions deteriorate rapidly. Garbage, mostly plastic bottles and cups and containers are EVERYWHERE. It’s really a horrible site. By the time I got ot the top of the beach and rounded the corner over to the quieter section where other resorts are I saw some of the hotel staff out there cleaning it up - thank god.

I turned around and headed back soon after and ran by the resort staff sweeping up the beaches. Then, to my additional horror, I saw them digging out holes in the beach, putting their little piles of swept trash into them and then covering it up and packing it down! Jesus christ what an atrocity! I tried to think of Barcelona’s beaches, how they’d get pretty trashed after a good party night too, but I guarantee you that despite the longer wait time while BCNeta got their act in gear with their beach cleaner trucks, they certainly weren’t just burying all that shit in the sand! Ugh! I wish I had pictures for y’all.

McRice burger with chicken! Mmmm, I’m not lovin’ it!

So anyway, I finished my run. It felt good. I highly recommend exercising to the tunes of The Darkness, especially on a secluded beach at sunrise. By this time it was about 7:20am and I was getting hungry. Everything around this end of the beach was closed still, so up I headed, back towards McDonalds and Starbucks. I thought a Starbucks would be awesome, but it turns out they don’t even open till 9am. McDonalds however is 24 hours here. I tried my first McRice Burger. Weird thing with fried sticky rice instead of a bun and a chicken patty in the middle. The chicken seems similar to the McChicken burger but with more fat and less meat. Not highly recommended. It tastes like chinese food.

Bob called me a bit ago. He said the minibus had indeed arrived to pick him up but with 13 people in it! There was no room but they were going to take him anyway - stuffed in who knows where. As I can make out, he refused to go because they said that they’d have to cancel my pickup. He told them to stop by here and at least tell me there were full but who knows what happened. I waited for an hour and a half and they didn’t make it, so pehaps they were THAT late but still came by. I don’t know.

I’m back at the hotel, it’s now almost 10am. I’ll probably head downstairs and grab another breakfast at AKWA. Then I’ll have to call the travel agent to reschedule the Burma visa run.

I seem to be coming down with a cold. Yesterday Bob and I were out bodysurfing for a long time an I got a lot of sea water up my sinuses. Later when I got back my nose was running in a strange way. It was like there were pools of that seawater still sitting in my sinus cavities and when I tipped my head it would spill out - seriously. Suddenly it my nose would gush clear fluid almost like a bleeding nose. Then stop if I tilted my head back. At the moment it’s still kinda plugged up and I’ve been sneezing a lot since last night. Getting only 4 hours of sleep probably didn’t help either.

Heads up, we got lots of new media available on my flickr site. Go check out:

Angkor Wat I & Angkor Wat II

Then head over to Two Days on Koh Samui which is from the last couple days when Bob and I hoped on the scooters and whipped around the south half of the island, near Lamai and stuff. Cool pics with monkeys, waterfalls, tire-swings, spiders and more!

Don’t forget that you can post your comments on there as well.

Tomorrow morning at 5am I hop on a bus, then a ferry, then another bus, then another ferry after which I arrive in Kawthuang, Burma (Myanmar). The Thai town from which we leave is called Ranong on the Thai side of the border. I believe we have to cross from Ranong to Kawthuang on that last ferry, at least according to the travel agent.

Both Bob and I are going, which is good. Anything happens and I believe I can trust him to help me sort it out in the best way possible. I don’t think anything will happen of course, Burma is slowly opening up to tourism and even recently there’s been some real progress. From what I can tell, this specific visa run to Burma is one of the newest ones and is by far the most convenient one to take from Koh Samui here. The ferries are all high speed (as I’ve heard) and from departure on the bus at 5am it’s a 13 hour round trip, putting me back on Koh Samui at Nathon by 6pm. Cost of the whole trip should come in around 1200 baht plus the $10 USD for the visa to get into Burma.

Actually that might change a bit. Both Bob and I want to check out Burma a little bit. Everyone’s talking about how Burma is THE next hotspot, kinda like how Cambodia was, well, last year and perhaps still is this year. We’ve talked about staying a night or two, depending on what we find there. In any case I’ll be leaving my laptop back here at AKWA for the duration (and paying for my room, which isn’t unfair). I’ll have my camera though, and I’m sure the trip will make for some interesting photography.

So, wish me luck and if you don’t hear from me in a couple days… um, called the embassy! :D

So last night I was out for a beer (or two) with Bob, the American also known as SCUBAROB, and he mentioned having to do a visa run soon. ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about my visa’… I exclaimed.

I checked my passport this morning and it looks like I’m valid until the 17th of November having gotten my last renewal on 19 October when I came back from Cambodia (has it been three weeks already?). I had thought that with the new visa rules that came into effect in September that there would be a way to renew my visa from within the country, although preferably without having to go all the way back to Bangkok (anything to avoid Bangkok). Apparently there IS a way to get an extension, but it’s only good for another 14 days. That would put me at an expiry of 1 December, and I need to make it till the 12th. I’ve considered just leaving the visa issue alone since I wasn’t going to be coming back to Thailand for a while (therefore avoiding having to pay the overstay fees of 500 baht/day), but it looks like that’s not an option I want to consider after all.

Talking to my fellow farangs at AKWA here, it looks like the easiest (and probably the most fun) visa run from Koh Samui. Other options include a visa run to Panang, Malaysia, but supposedly Panang is another shithole bordertown with nothing to see. Hopping a plane to Singapore is another option but a hell of a lot more costly.

So, to Burma I go apparently. I’m talking to Bob about grabbing the Burma visa run package from one of the travel agencies and doing it together, probably next week. Yay, adventure! Burma! COOL.

Guesthouse Location:

Right there, there’s the beach. And AKWA is only 50m behind you.

To quote from the AKWA Guesthouse website, it’s located at the quiet end of Chaweng Beach. It’s true, it’s really nice actually. Chaweng Beach can be a pretty crazy place and all that craziness is about a 5-10 minute walk up Chaweng Beach Road (the main road in front). If you’re renting a motorbike on Koh Samui then the whole town is within a 10 minute bike ride (and I do highly recommend renting a motorbike, it’s totally worth the expense and you can get a pretty decent deal (150 baht/day) if you book for a week or more). Within only two minutes walking distance you can find some great restaurants (once you’ve eaten everything on the menu at the AKWA Restaurant) like Poppies and the Indian place up the street and on the left (I can’t remember the name of it).

As for beach action, AKWA is well setup. To get to the beach you walk out the front door, cross the street and stroll 39 seconds along through the gardens of the Seascape Resort. Tim, the owner of AKWA Guesthouse has arranged a deal with the Seascape so that you can borrow their beach towels (although AKWA provides one too), utilize their beach chairs and take a dip in their pool. It’s like having all the good aspects of a bungalow at the Seascape without dealing with thier rude front desk people, the appaling state of their under-acheiving bungalows and lack of security. Chaweng Beach itself is pretty good as beaches go. I’ve seen cleaner beaches, although some have said it’s just because it’s the rainy season that Chaweng’s water isn’t super clear. On a good choppy day you can get in some decent body surfing and of course Koh Samui has all kinds of great snorkeling and diving opportunities.

You might want to print this map out for your taxi driver for your arrival to Koh Samui… or just tell him to take you to the Seascape (across the street from AKWA.

Note that AKWA is relatively new and few, if any, taxi drivers know how to find it. Instead, direct them to the Seascape Resort on Chaweng Beach when you arrive at either the airport or ferry port on Koh Samui. They’ll drop you off at the Seascape, but you can just cross the street to AKWA. The taxi should cost between 150-200. Haggle for this price!

Guesthouse Rooms:

The penthouse suite at AKWA Guesthouse.

AKWA Guesthouse offers two room types, the Deluxe Room and the Penthouse. There’s only one penthouse room available and I had the opportunity to spend one night in it. The penthouse truly shines (maybe because it’s brand new? ) with a huge deck hosting two beautiful wooden sun chairs and a full dining table for four for those lucky enough to be invited along for the views up and down Chaweng Beach Road (it’s one of if not the highest building around) and out to the Gulf of Thailand. The bed offers top quality cushioned comfort from where you can watch a DVD (from the even bigger DVD selection) on the LCD TV and sound system. It’s received the same level of attention to detail as the rest of the Deluxe Rooms at AKWA of course, if not more so. Actually it it’s much more so. Stay at the penthouse, it’s an awesome experience. Note that there are 3 flights of stairs to get there (but with all the lounging around on the deck you’ll do you’ll need the exercise).

The Deluxe rooms won’t disappoint you however. In fact for the price, they’re one of the best deals going in Chaweng. Get here before Tim bumps up the price to reflect the real value!

Check out the pillows! God I loved staying here. I hate to say it, but it made my trip (at least the Koh Samui part of it).

In general, the rooms are where AKWA Guesthouse shines above everything I’ve ever seen in all my travels. The level of care and attention to detail are unmatched by any whatever-star hotel I’ve ever seen. It’s even better than some of the five star places I’ve stayed at, but what separates AKWA from everything else is the personality. It’s described as a “funky popart guesthouse” and that it is; from the Disney-esque but still-funky artwork adorning each wall to the colour to the little helpful doo-dads you’ll find all over your room, AKWA Guesthouse may be the most well considered guesthouse in Thailand. You’ll adore the little kitch accessories. The lamp goes on and off by switching a little, well, dong (that’s North Korean for missile right?).  The big red chairs are shaped like a hand (very Dalí-esque). From the first moment you walk into the room to the last morning you check out, AKWA Guesthouse makes you smile (and not in that pseudo-fake Thai way).

Books (travel and fiction varieties), DVDs, water bottles (with sleeves), business service cards, Koh Samui’s local English-language magazines, notes and reminders, a dirty laundry bag, cloths hangers… the list of little tidbits that exist solely to impress you are astounding. It’s a genuinely welcoming place.

The TV carries all the channels you’ll need, there’s a nice DVD selection (plus more downstairs, just ask Tim), an mp3 player, TWO alarm clocks, well placed lighting, great views over the Seascape to the sea, and the bed… did I mention the bed? The beds at AKWA Guesthouse are all wonderful king sized beds equipped with a total of 11 (yes, ELEVEN) pillows of which 6 are massive, down-filled sleepers, and 5 are of varying shapes for propping yourself up for reading or watching DVDs or playing online games on your laptop. The sheets are 400 count Egyptian cotton and the down-filled duvet would be a wedding gift worthy of your best friend. There’s a stuffed-dog for those of you who miss your special friend from home. If I have one minor quibble it would be that the beds seemed a little springy. A softer layer atop the mattress to cushion from the springs might help that.

Guesthouse Room Bathroom:

The bathrooms at AKWA Guesthouse are nearly perfect (nothing is perfect in this world). Tim’s meticulousness and obsession with clean and care shine through here. No cheap skin-peeling bar soap and dandruff-inducing bottles of cheap shampoo here. Instead you’ll appreciate the ex-foliating glycerin soap’s fruity aromas and refresh yourself with quality shampoo from the conveniently placed, tastefully AKWA branded dispenser. Water pressure is adequate and temperature control seems to be set at three levels on the water heater (in the Deluxe rooms). Two toilet paper rolls and holders mean you won’t have to change the TP roll yourself. The polished glass bathroom counter and sink make you wonder why you installed that horrid laminate back home and they support a reliable, quality faucet. A notable shaving mirror on swivels and extensions round out some of my favourite bathrooms in Thailand. Only two questions remain however: where’s the conditioner and where’s the hand-soap dispenser?

The penthouse suite bathtub looks out over the deck. I took an hour long bath.

Actually in the penthouse bathrooms at AKWA you won’t have that issue. Everything is there for you and set out perfectly including four bars of soap (different colours, different flavours?) and all the little accessories you get in a 5 star hotel (I found out later that Tim’s hotelier experience comes from the Four Seasons chain). Relax and take a bath while looking out over the deck, through the typically Thai Buddhist shrine, towards the sea. There are two shower heads, one soaker and one manual. Everything is pristine.

Guesthouse Cleanliness:

Most of all (certainly most important to me), the bathrooms at AKWA Guesthouse are clean and well taken care of. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been disappointed by the state of mildew culture in the bathrooms of much more expensive hotels in Thailand (I know, I know, the humidity makes the battle so much more difficult). The rooms are well cleaned each morning by the maid service. The halls and stairs are regularly washed down so you don’t have to worry about trekking sand around as you come home from the beach.

Guesthouse Staff:

There aren’t many staff at AKWA Guesthouse, but of particular note is that Tim and/or one of his farang employees are there all the time. Problems explaining yourself in pigin English? Sick of being misunderstood and afraid of making cultural faux-pauxs when you aren’t happy with something? No problem. Talk to Tim, or his wonderful staff of well-informed farangs (westerners). I know, this isn’t that authentic Thai experience you were looking for, but that’s what the rest of your trip in Thailand is for. Instead you get to relax and feel comfortable while shootin’ the shit with Tim and Co, not to mention any questions you might have about Thailand, Koh Samui or Chaweng are sure to be answered honestly, informatively and from a western perspective. They’re also willing and ready to help you organize any aspect of your trip. I was witness to Tim’s generosity of time and sympathy to his guests more than once during my stay at AKWA.

The Thai staff running the restaurant should be noted for their friendliness and charm. It was nice getting to know them, knowing that they aren’t the typical underpaid, unhappy, secretly-resentful-of-the-owner Thais. All their efforts were much appreciated as were the smiles.

Internet Access at the Guesthouse:

The websites state that AKWA Guesthouse offers a wireless (WIFI) Internet connection for its guests, but it should be noted that the signal from the restaurant doesn’t quite reach the the 3rd floor. Tim has informed me that he’s installed an Internet connection in the penthouse at the top of the guesthouse and that its signal should reach the rest of the building soon. I stayed on the second floor and had little trouble connecting. The Internet can be slow at times (perhaps due to the relay connection), but having had to work from my room and the restaurant for a week on my laptop I can’t complain too much. It worked out fine for me and I even downloaded a couple episodes of Brothers and Sisters at night.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the new Internet connection from the penthouse turns out.

Guesthouse Price:

At the moment you’ll find varying prices on the net. Direct from AKWA’s website you can book a deluxe room with up to the minute availability for 1300 plus tax and service charges including breakfast (breakfast is wonderful too by the way). R24/Sawadee offers the deluxe room at AKWA for 1350 baht/night, going up to 2850 baht/night during peak season. The penthouse starts at 3200 baht/night and goes up to 5500 baht/night during peak season. After seeing everything else out there (and I’ve looked!), AKWA’s price comes in just right, particularly for low season rates it’s just a great deal. I’m only traveling during the low season, so I’m not sure what high/peak season rates are like elsewhere, but I can only imagine these prices are very competitive.

Overall Review:

No, it’s not a resort, but it doesn’t try to be. AKWA Guesthouse is just a great guesthouse. After one and a half months of traveling through Thailand and Cambodia it’s easily my favourite guesthouse/hotel/resort that I’ve stayed at. If you’re looking for a beach bungalow at a shi-shi resort then look elsewhere (although you might want to ask yourself why that’s what you’re looking for). But with surprisingly easy beach and resort access across the street, an ideal location, a fantastic restaurant open till late (did I mention they serve Illy coffee? Do you know how difficult it is to find good coffee in Thailand?), wireless (WiFi) Internet access, great big impeccably clean and comfortably furnished rooms and personalised service by Tim and Company, you won’t find a more satisfying stay on Koh Samui, if not in all of Thailand. Show the Thai people what a real smile means.

9.5/10 overall review for AKWA Guesthouse.

Support this review by booking your reservation at AKWA Guesthouse on Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui through Sawadee, offering discounted rates for hotels in Thailand and Asia. I did. They’re the best and cheapest.

For last minute reservations, try booking through AKWA’s website.

Alrighty boys and girls, I’m off to the full moon party on Koh Phangan of 5 November 2006!

Actually I need to shower and eat first, but this is me saying over and out.