Kevin Muldoon

Last Thursday me and Chris left Lamai and headed up to the north of Samui to a quiet place called Ban Ruk. It’s where the boats leave for other islands. It was pretty good but perhaps a little quiet for us as there was only one good pub but even that was quiet most of the time. We did however get a bungalow right next to a good swimming pool so for two days we sat by the pool and chilaxed (I believe this is actually a word now!).

We were thinking about going down the road to another resort which was a similar price but had wifi in the rooms and was closer to more places but we decided to head over to Koh Pha Ngan.

Whilst waiting for the boat, there were many Thai guys going round with flyers and brochures and recommending places to play (I use the word recommend loosely!). I told the first guy we already had a place to stay, Coral Bungalows, which is where I stayed in 2006 with my mates Carty and Dave. But he gave me a flyer anyways for the place Sunrise Resort, which is right in the middle of Haad Rin beach. He offered us a room with air conditioning, Satelite TV, 2 beds, minibar, Wi-Fi and safety box for 1,100 baht. The place looked great and had a pool so we decided to give it a try (I had a great time at Coral Bungalows last time but I fancied trying something new).

We got there and we quickly noticed that the price for a twin standard room was only 1,000 baht. We got showed the room and it didn’t have a Satelite TV or fridge either. The guy told us it was 1,100 baht but we said that we weren’t paying it as it clearly says it’s 1,000. We also pointed out that it didn’t have a TV or fridge and he said that those were only in Superior rooms (which cost 1,600) and that the leaflet was wrong.

We probably would have taken the room without a tv anyways as the place looks good but we were pissed off with him trying to rip us off, even it was only 2 pounds! I just hate when people are trying to rip you off. So we told him to stick it up his arse and walked off. We walked all of 20 metres to the top of the road and the owner of a restaurant came out and asked us if we wanted a room. So we paid 500 baht for a twin room with air conditioning and a hot shower. The room has nothing else but it’s central and has everything you need. Even better, it’s right next door to the Sunrise Resort hotel so we can use their pool on the fly!!!

After having an afternoon nap, we got showered and headed out at 6pm for some food and drinks in Haad Rin. I quickly remembered how quiet and chilled this place is when the full moon party isn’t on. Everyplace we went was dead.

Ironically, there was advertisements everywhere for a pool party at Coral Bungalows, the place I stayed 2 and a half years ago. Coral has changed quite a bit since I was last there. They have built more rooms and the place was 3 times busier than anytime I can remember it being. We had a great laugh and after several beers and a bucket of sang som whisky each we left our wallets and phones with some people we had been drinking with and went into the pool.

It was only around 3am we noticed that we had lost the key to our room, posibbly whilst swimming in the pool (I say we, in reality, it was me who list it!). We couldn’t find it at all so we ended up going back to the main part of haad rin to wait around. I ended up chatting with a nice Japanese guy called Kiro who wanted to improve his English. It was around 6am I asked if he was tired and he said yes but he wanted to make sure me and Chris were ok as he knew we lost our key. It never ceases to amaze me how polite, friendly and genuine the Japanese are.

I insisted that we would be ok and went back to our Apartment, where I found Chris on the balcony trying to sleep on some old towel. Around 7am he headed down the beach to fall asleep whilst I fell asleep on the doorstep of our room, under some illusion that everything would be ok when I woke up. And it was. I woke at 9.30 am with Chris and a lady from the restuarant downstairs opening the room. 2 mins later I was asleep on my bed!

It’s amazing the hassle that can be caused from losing a key. But what did they expect giving us a tiny padlock key to take care of, it really is their fault when you think about it!!

Chris later informed me that he only woke at 9am on the beach because the tide had come right in and were getting him wet. Sorry Chris!!!

I’ve been in Lamai, Koh Samui since last Friday. Me and Chris got dropped in the town centre and whilst walking we found a cheapish place called Bonny Hotel. From the outside the place looks awful, an old grey blocky building that wouldn’t look out of place in communist Russia or North Korea. But we were surprised when we reached the reception area as it was really nice. The woman who runs the place is really nice.

We are paying 700 baht between us (about 3 pounds 50 each) per night. For that we get a twin room with air conditioning, cable tv (with hardly any english channels though) and balcony. We priced a few other places as we wanted a swimming pool but they were all about 1200+ baht for the night. So we are happy where we are : it’s a 2 minute walk to the beach and there is a fancy hotel nextdoor with a swimming pool anyways.

On Friday we found the bar we have been visiting most days. It’s called the swing bar and is really chilled out. Owned by a sound French-Canadian guy, it’s down at the beach and boasts free pool tables, free internet and a happy hour from 4-8pm (with a free bbq twice a week too). The centre of Lamai is really busy so it’s good chilling down there away from all the madness!

Friday was a bit of a crazy night. We ended up going to a club and getting back at 6am. Due to this, Saturday was a washout and we just bought a dvd and stayed in most of the day. On Sunday, with our batteries charged, we rented some skooters and drove around the whole island. We were looking for somewhere quieter to relax but we didn’t find anything. Still, it was a good day out and renting the skooter and paying for a full tank of petrol only cost 6 pounds.

We will probably stay hre until Friday morning and then go to somewhere else on the island, perhaps Big Bhudda beach at the top of the island.So far we have been really poor at taking pictures so I will do my best to get some taken for you all

kevin

I spoke to my friend Chris yesterday. We had spoke about spending some time in Phuket before heading of to Koh Samui but Chris was unable to get a flight down to Phuket so we decided to just meet in Samui.

Before I came to Thailand I visited the Thai Consulate in Glasgow to get a 60 day visa. The default number of days a British person gets arriving in Thailand by air is 30 days so the tourist visa saved me a lot of hassle. I wanted to stay for 90 days but unfortunately that isn’t possible. However, what you can do is get a 60 day visa and then extend it by 30 days when you get to Thailand.

There is no immigration office in Koh Samui but there is one just 20km from Rawai in Phulet town. Without extending it, my visa would expire 6th March so I didn’t want to go over to Samui and then have to head back to Phuket or up to Bangkok to extend it. Therefore this morning I drove my moped up to Phuket Town to find the immigration office.

Equipped with the an incredibly poor tourist map which had very little info except a red dot showing where the office was, I headed off at 9.30am this morning. I don’t know how I managed it but I somehow managed to find the office after only a few wrong turns. I was just lucky with the route I took as I happend to drive pass a monument called Mineral Monument, one of the only things which was on the map.

I wanted to get there early incase I had to wait around a long time. Thankfully, extending my visa wasn’t too bad. Once I got there I had to complete a form with my details, get a picture taken downstairs and then get my passport photocopied.

After getting my passport photos I went back upstairs and took a ticket from the machine. At this point I feared I would be sitting there all day. Holding in my hand a ticket with the number 668 on it I looked up at the machine and saw the next 3 people to be called were 001, 002 and 003 (perhaps that’s what purgatory is supposed to be like).

I quickly realised that the staff were not updating the machine and I was seen shortly afterwards. After paying 1,900 baht for my vsa and 150 baht for my photos etc (about 40 UK pounds total), I had my visa. Even better, it only took about 45 minutes. A friend of mine, Bob, had to travel to Burma (Myanmar) today on a 10+ hour journey just to extend his visa by 15 days so it really has saved me a lot of hassle.

So I now fly to Koh Samui on Friday afternoon. I arrive at 14.40 but I’m going to wait around at the airport as my friend Chris arrives at 15.45. I’m not sure if we will get a place with wi-fi but I’ll try to keep updating this blog as and when I can