Reset search
Ko Samet, ThailandKo Samet, Thailand
Edit route

Ko Samet, Thailand

February - March 2025
  • Simon and Jackie Annals
For the umpteenth time we are heading to Thailand for some much needed winter sun. After scouring my Lonely Planet guidebook, we decided upon Ko Samet, also known as Koh Samet, Koh Samed or Ko Samed…take your pick! Read more
  • Simon and Jackie Annals

List of countries

  • Thailand Thailand
  • England England
Categories
Beach, Couple
  • 19.4kkilometers traveled
Means of transport
  • Flight-kilometers
  • Walking-kilometers
  • Hiking-kilometers
  • Bicycle-kilometers
  • Motorbike-kilometers
  • Tuk Tuk-kilometers
  • Car-kilometers
  • Train-kilometers
  • Bus-kilometers
  • Camper-kilometers
  • Caravan-kilometers
  • 4x4-kilometers
  • Swimming-kilometers
  • Paddling/Rowing-kilometers
  • Motorboat-kilometers
  • Sailing-kilometers
  • Houseboat-kilometers
  • Ferry-kilometers
  • Cruise ship-kilometers
  • Horse-kilometers
  • Skiing-kilometers
  • Hitchhiking-kilometers
  • Cable car-kilometers
  • Helicopter-kilometers
  • Barefoot-kilometers
  • 22footprints
  • 22days
  • 290photos
  • 90likes
FollowCalendarShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand

    Day 11 - Thunder And Consolation

    February 21 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Woke up after 6.30am, which was marvellous for me. Apparently not for Jackie who informed me she had to hit me 6 times in the night to stop me snoring. Allegedly I sounded like a warthog.

    Outside we could hear it was raining and there was regular rumblings of thunder. Jackie took the opportunity to have a lie-in and catch up on her sleep whilst I read. We also used the time to catch up on a bit of admin including booking accommodation for our 2 last nights on the island, back at Samed Garden Resort.

    We finally left our room around midday and went straight to Flow Beach Cafe for an early lunch or some might say late brunch. Jackie had the hummus again and I had a bowl of yoghurt, muesli and fruit. Out of curiosity I tried to identify how much the beers cost on my phone calculator as they weren’t listed on the menu. After subtracting the cost of the food from the total bill of 790THB the answer was 146.6 recurring THB!!! Today our bill for ordering pretty much the same priced food and another 3 large Changs came to just 510THB, which would have made the beers just 40THB each, which was clearly too little.

    After lunch we returned to our usual spot and were quite perturbed to find that a large area included our spot was taped off. 2 awnings had been erected with tables and containers underneath. Luckily there was sufficient room outside of the taped area for us to happily lay out our mat for the overcast afternoon. It was a mystery as to why the area was taped off and throughout the afternoon there was next to no activity there.

    Just before 5pm, we left the beach and headed to the Gecko Bar for their happy hour. The Gecko Bar is huge open air bar and looks like Jackson Pollack had gone berserk with orange paint. There were no other clients, but we sat down ordered cocktails at just 80THB each. I had two Banana Daiquiris whilst Jackie had a Mojito followed by a Long Island Iced Tea. They were decent cocktails in proper glasses.

    After returning home we changed and went straight back out after a quick Hong Thong. In town we bought a sarong, some mossie spray and a couple of packs of cheap 10THB biscuits, then on impulse stopped at a tiny little restaurant called the Banana Bar. It only had 3 tables run by 2 elderly Thai ladies with an elderly male chef and had a nice bohemian feel about it. I ordered a chicken Massaman curry and rice, whilst Jackie ordered from the Specials menu - the deep fried prawns that didn’t have a price next to it.

    My bloody lovely Massaman came out which I devoured whilst Jackie looked on hungrily. I had finished my curry and we were starting to get that deja vu feeling. Jackie was by now feeling sorry for herself realising she had ‘f*cked up’ (her words, not mine) again. Eventually an enormous intimidating plate of deep fried prawns arrived at the table. Jackie nibbled at a few then declared that she didn’t like the batter, it wasn’t what she was expecting because she had ordered grilled prawns. No she hadn’t.

    I watched on as Jackie attempted to suck the prawns out of the batter, then gave it up as a bad job. I was dreading to find out how much this uneaten meal was going to cost, but I was pleasantly surprised when the entire meal including 4 small Changs came to only 700THB. The same price as a plate of grilled squid!

    On the way home Jackie bought 2 whole mangos because she was hungry, but with little thought to the fact that we didn’t have any cutlery in our room to cut it up with.

    This didn’t have anything to do with drinking a lot of alcohol and eating very little food!!

    Song of the Day - The Ballad of Bodmin Pill by New Model Army.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand
    1

    Day 12 - The Fashion Shoot

    February 22 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We both had a decent nights sleep. The alcohol probably helped.

    By 10am we were on the beach where the mystery of the taped off area on the beach was solved. A fashion shoot with several models and countless cameramen and helpers was taking place at the end of the beach. The awnings were housing a rail of outfits and refreshments for the crew. It provided the entertainment for the morning.

    At 11.45am we went to our usual, Flow Beach Cafe, for brunch. I ordered the smoothie bowl predominantly with mango and banana, whilst Jackie ordered the avocado, pesto and tofu option. Yet again the food was superb and didn’t let us down, however with 3 large Changs it came to just over 800THB.

    During the afternoon we walked up and down the entire beach, where at the very far end of Sai Kaew Beach we found the sand to be literally teeming with tiny crabs. We also managed to cut open and eat one of the mangos that Jackie had bought the night before, using a knife we stole at brunch. It was extremely juicy and we put the skin and stone in a little plastic bag and hung it on a tree like a dog poo bag to dispose of later.

    Unbelievably, a Russian family sat under that exact branch of the tree with the dog poo bag was hanging less than a foot above their heads. Luckily they packed up and left as the same time as us, so we could retrieve it, otherwise it would have been way too awkward to get it with them still sitting there.

    Around 7.15pm we returned to the Gecko Bar to see what it looked like in darkness. Day-Glo was the answer. We thought it would be rude not to have a happy hour cocktail, especially as thunder cracked overhead nearby. We chose a seat undercover near the bar and ordered a banana daiquiri and Long Island Ice Tea. We didn’t realise initially that we were also under a huge speaker pumping out rap music at full volume. Jackie was keen to move seats but I had discovered that the Everton v Man Utd was just about to start on a television behind the bar, so I persuaded her to stay put.

    The cause of the day-glo decoration, or graffiti if you prefer, was by customers buying or being given brushes and pots of day-glo orange or yellow paint to daub the walls, floors or absolutely anything else with. We weren’t offered any, probably because we were too old!

    The game started in a dreadful manner and Utd were soon one down. We ordered a second, not so ‘happy hour’ cocktail, but when Everton scored a second goal I had seen enough so we drank up, paid up and left.

    We went to a little unnamed restaurant virtually next door where we ordered a chicken Massaman curry, a stir fried chicken with cashew nuts and a couple of steamed rices to share. It was all very nice, but in my humble opinion the Massaman curry was not quite as nice as the one I had the previous night. The chicken and cashew nuts dish was the 2nd best that we had had on this trip. Overall, an astounding success and cheap.

    We returned home to catch the end of the football (2-2) and the cricket, which England narrowly lost, had a Hong Thong and went to bed.

    Song of the Day - The Day the World Turned Day-Glo by X-Ray Spex.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand

    Day 13 - Sunday Bloody Sunday

    February 23 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    It was a sleep of 2 halves - a bit like the previous nights football match. Having been awake between 1am and 5am, we finally awoke just after 9am. I had evidently scratched my bites during the night and my ankles looked like a bloody murder scene.

    After showering away the evidence (I’ll explain what evidence is to you another day Alka), I hurried to finish and post my blog. We left the room shortly after 10am and made for our favourite area of the beach. As anticipated the deckchair man had returned after the fashion shoot and had set out his deckchairs with a table and parasol in a much more spacious out manner. They were particularly inviting and we rented the last remaining set for the reasonable price of 150THB.

    Having paid up, we discovered that a leaf beside our deckchairs was riddled with large red ants. The deckchair man took the offending leaf away, but several ants had escaped and were attacking our beach furniture. We took to battering the ants with our shoes, but the little buggers were pretty much indestructible. We eventually took to flicking the ants as far away as possible, which probably appeased any on looking Buddhists!

    During the morning we noticed that the Flow Beach Cafe appeared closed, so we made alternative lunch plans. At lunchtime, we discovered that FBC had just opened but didn’t seem to be functioning properly. Our gut intuition was telling us to try somewhere different, but unfortunately we ignored it.

    Lunch was disappointing to say the least. Our favourite lady was stuck in the kitchen, presumably the chef had a day off. Jackie ordered her usual hummus, veggies and toast, whilst I ordered a mushroom, hummus and veggie wrap. Both did not live up to their usual high standards. It was almost as if they had run short on ingredients. We had 2 large Changs, then they ran out of large beers. The final straw for me was when I went to pay the arrogant son, who generally swanned around all day without getting his hands dirty, took our money without a thank you. This irritated me and we vowed to boycott it from now on.

    We spent an afternoon sat in deckchairs on what was now a very busy, but hazy overcast beach. During our deliberations for our boycott, we went in search of a beer. We bought 2 large Changs from a shop not too far away for half the price of the FBC beer prices. Later in the afternoon, we treated ourselves to a 2nd round of Changs. It was now that we decided to go feral from now on and buy shop bought beers and eat mainly from the beach sellers, whilst renting the exceptionally comfortable deckchairs.

    After the sun dropped behind the trees, we packed up and immediately got ready to go out. We had a quick Hong Thong, then walked along the beach and into town. We had identified 2 restaurants that we were going to try and eat in. The 1st was Banana Bar again, but all the tables were fully occupied. We continued on to Ocean Pizza, that was the first restaurant that you encounter after arriving at Koh Samed port.

    We found a table at Ocean Pizza and ordered 2 large bottles of Chang and a local ‘delicacy’ pizza with spicy minced pork and fried basil to share - Jackie’s decision to share. It was bloody delicious and thanks to Jackie’s sparrow appetite, I had 5 eighths of the pizza.

    We hunted for stubby holders on the way back. We only found the one shop selling them and they wanted 150THB. At that price we were best off just drinking our beer quicker. Instead we bought some sh*t sweets and ended this Sunday with a Hong Thong.

    Song of the Day - Sunday Morning Call by Oasis.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand
    1

    Day 14 - I’m Not Tight OR Grumpy

    February 24 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    It was raining heavily during the night and when we got up just after 9am, it was still spitting. We got ready and sat on our verandah and decided we might as well be back on the beach.

    By the time we were back at the deckchairs, the sun was trying its hardest to burn away the clouds, making for the perfect temperature with just the occasional spot of rain to prevent us overheating.

    We selected our deckchairs and settled in for the morning as others slowly ventured out and filled up most of the other deckchairs. My morning was nearly ruined, when a family with 3 young boys, plonked themselves down directly in front of us. Luckily, literally 2 minutes later, one of the boys ran back to his parents with blood pouring from both knees. Evidently he fallen when trying to retrieve their football from the rocks. With that they packed up and departed never to be seen again, presumably to get some medical attention. I thanked our lucky stars!!

    At lunchtime we decided to return to our very own Tok’s Little Hut restaurant. We had 2 dishes in mind to try for the first time. Annoyingly they didn’t serve either, so Jackie ordered a Pad Thai and I, a fried chicken in curry paste and rice. I added a spoonful of chilli sauce to my dish and to my horror discovered that it contained a hint of fish sauce. Jackie kindly swapped with me and I had her Pad Thai which was served with a tray of 4 condiments to add according to individual taste. To be on the safe side I added just a couple of spoonfuls of sugar and wow did it enhance the flavour.

    During the afternoon I returned to the little shop down the road to buy a couple of large Changs. I was taken back, when the lady (younger than yesterday) asked me for 180THB. I argued the toss telling her I only paid 160THB the previous day. She was having none of it and I begrudgingly paid her what she was asking, vowing not to return.

    My principals were shredded when Jackie was not going to have her holiday ruined by a tight bugger (me) and went off to buy a two more Changs. Jackie assured me that she checked the price of Changs in other shops and they were no cheaper than 90THB each. She is convinced we were undercharged yesterday and that is the end of it!!

    We bought a couple more sarongs from a seller on the beach for what we considered to be a bargain price and returned home gone 5pm.

    After showering, we had a couple of Hong Thongs then went straight back out. We walked along the beach and encountered the end of one of the highly advertised ‘free’ Fire Shows. As the performers came round looking for tips, we disappeared into the town. We walked up to the Banana Bar, but sadly we were confronted by a queue outside waiting to get a table. I don’t know, but I’m guessing that it is recommended in the Lonely Planet guidebook or something similar.

    We did a sit-rep and settled for the same ‘cheap’ restaurant that I treated her to on Valentine’s Day. As soon as we sat down, I needed a wee and had to trek to the public toilets on the other side of the square. A large Chang was sitting on the table upon my return and the waitress was stood over Jackie with her pen posed. It was an awkward next 10 minutes whilst we deliberated from the huge menu whilst the waitress refused to be moved on. Eventually, Jackie chose a pork Penang curry and I went totally off piste with a pineapple curry with chicken.

    Two Asian lads on the table next to us had a veritable feast of seafood including piles of crab and prawn. They were filming themselves eating it, probably for YouTube or TikTok. When their bill came it was more than double what we normally pay for a meal.

    We also had notification that a caller to our house at home had rung our doorbell. We didn’t speak to him but we did at least confirm our car hadn’t been stolen yet!

    Jackie’s delicious Penang curry arrived about 15 minutes after ordering, but there was no inkling that mine was on its way. Jackie had finished her dinner before mine finally arrived after I had enquired as to where mine was. It felt like I was eating a pineapple soup with rice. It was nice, but more like a dessert than a savoury dish. When the bill arrived it was at least 200THB short, so we quickly paid up and departed as quickly as we could without making a scene.

    We popped into the 7-11 for some more Coke Zeros, some Lays and more Hong Thong. They only had litre bottles of Hong Thong costing 413THB, whereas we normally bought the 750ml bottles costing just 294THB. My mathematical brain kicked into gear and I concluded that the litre bottles were overpriced, which didn’t make sense. Instead we bought two 750ml bottles at the regular price from the 7-11 opposite, before walking home.

    It may appear from this blog that I am tight, but I’m not. I just like to get value for my money and I don’t like being ripped off.

    Song of the Day - Rip Off The Knob by The Bellamy Brothers.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand
    1

    Day 15 - Any Port in a Storm?

    February 25 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Had a good 9 hours sleep so I awoke feeling fresh and vibrant, ready to take on any challenges that presented themselves today.

    It was another overcast morning, so we walked down to the port to confirm the last departure of the slow boat on Monday. The times were handwritten on our return ticket but they were not sufficiently clear for us to be certain. We could not afford to miss the last ferry of the day.

    I approached the ticket desk and showed the lady our ticket and I politely enquired “Could you confirm the time of the last boat of the day using this ticket?”
    She replied “It’s written on the ticket”.
    Not impressed, I said “I know that, but it is not clear. Can you confirm it is 4.30pm?”
    The rude woman replied “It’s written on the ticket”.
    Slightly more agitated, I said “Okay, in that case could you tell me the name of the pier that the boat will take us to?”
    She replied “The same pier you got here from”.
    Now irate, “I know that, but I want to know the name of it for the taxi driver”.
    She again replied, “The same pier you got here from”.

    I’d like to say that I smiled and sarcastically thanked her for her help, but I didn’t. I can’t repeat what I said to the horrible unhelpful bitch as I defeatedly stormed off, but rest assured it wasn’t pleasant. Her attitude was enough to make even saintly me grumpy and sweary! This was my first battle of the day which I most definitely lost.

    We walked back into town, got some more cash out (there are no ATM’s on Ko Samet) and made enquiries into our transport options to get back to Bangkok Airport. It would seem the only option is a taxi.

    We returned to our room, changed then headed to the beach with a banana smoothie each. The was only one free pair of deckchairs on the front row, but a couple too tight to pay for deckchairs were lying in the sand immediately in front of them. I was not in the mood for idiots, so we pulled the deckchairs out and sat down so that our feet were just kicking distance from their heads. They initially bloody mindedly continued to lay at our feet, but eventually they succumbed and moved. It was a personal little battle which I felt we won!

    At lunchtime, we went native and bought our lunch from one of the beach sellers. Jackie had grilled chicken pieces and a papaya salad, whilst I had a single pork sausage. Let’s just say it filled a hole and it was an experience, but not one that we will be repeating. In fact the sausage kept repeating on me!

    I walked to the beer shop and bought two Changs which were back to 80THB again, to wash lunch down. I later returned to the beer shop and saw the woman who had charged me 90THB, but she didn’t serve me and I walked away with 2 more Changs at 80THB each. For me it was a second battle won.

    It was cloudy, but still 30 degrees, for the remainder of the afternoon. The afternoon entertainment was provided by a number of newcomers to the beach to watch, but particularly a clearly well off young teenage Thai girl who had an abundance of beach toys. This included an inflatable red heart shaped kite that took over 2 hours of untangling, assistance from do-gooders and running up and down the beach with it dragging behind to actually get it airborne for less than 10 seconds.

    We always say that you still catch it (the sun) through the clouds and Jackie certainly did. We left the beach at 5.30pm with Jackie radiating like a Belisha Beacon. My nose also took a pasting.

    After a couple of Hong Thongs, we headed back into Town. Again, there was a long queue outside the Banana Bar, which we have discovered, probably justifyingly is voted on TripAdvisor as the best restaurant on Ko Samet. We continued on to the Ocean Pizza restaurant where Jackie had agreed that I could attempt a whole pizza as I had eaten little more than my pork sausage and a half a packet of sour cream and onion Lays.

    No sooner had we arrived at Ocean Pizza, when Jackie had a change of mind and decided that we would now share one pizza and a salad. We shared a homemade pepperoni pizza and a green salad with a couple of dressings. Both were utterly delicious and the staff were again super efficient and attentive. It was a very pleasurable dining experience to end our day.

    Song of the Day - Irrelevant Battles by Patrik Fitzgerald.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand

    Day 16 - Disrespectful Arrogant Krauts

    February 26 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We headed to the beach at the usual time and selected our set of deckchairs for the day and pulled them out so no-one could sit in front of us.

    Not much later that morning 3 young German families scattered their towels and sarongs along side us and immediately in front of two unoccupied sets of deckchairs so close that no one else was ever going to be able to sit on them. As the morning progressed, the Germans spread out further putting towels in the shade of the umbrellas and utilising the tables without actually sitting on the deckchairs. I was annoyed for the poor deckchair man, because they were clearly doing him out of his earning potential, but this was not my battle to fight AND in any case I’m not fluent in German!

    Whilst most of them were swimming, the deckchair man finally ventured out to ask one of the women to move their stuff from under the umbrellas. She dismissively snatched a sarong from under one without an apology and denied knowing whose property was under the other. When the others returned from the sea they didn’t move the offending items until the poor deckchair man had to ask them again and then only begrudgingly they did, without a hint of an apology.

    They left all their scattered stuff on the sand, whilst they went off for lunch returning about an hour later, packing up and going. Spookily enough, the deckchairs they were sat immediately in front of were soon occupied after they left.

    All day ‘we’ had just two 80THB Changs each, half a packet of crisps and we ‘shared’ a banana pancake. Jackie claimed she had just 3 crisps and 3 segments of my banana pancake, which is probably accurate. As we left the beach around 5pm, Jackie said she was starving and if she carried on like this, she would be thin enough to enter Miss World by the end of the holiday!!

    After showering, Jackie insisted we get ready to go out. We had several Hong Thongs and did some essential admin. Jackie then rushed us out for dinner and we went to the lovely little shack attached to our beer shop, which I believe is called Mum Aroi Ko Samet Bar and Restaurant. We were served by the Thai lady who I think thought I was one of those sad single old farangs. She had tried to chat me (in Thai) when I had bought the all the Changs earlier. I could see the disappointment in her eyes when she realised that I was married to a future Miss World contestant.

    Jackie ordered a the spicy pork with basil and rice with a fried egg on top, but extra spicy which raised an eyebrow. I ordered a chicken Massaman curry with rice. Both were superb, although we could have eaten literally anything (except fish for me), because we were so hungry. Despite the eyebrow raising, Jackie actually added chilli sauce to her dinner ate it all and finished off my rice. Maybe she’ll have to postpone her Miss World auditions for another year!

    On the way home, a Thai girl, who looked about 12 years old, genuinely very nearly ran us down. She obliviously rode her scooter straight at us. I had to yank Jackie out of the road to avoid being hit. Had it not been for her newly acquired one day old lithe body the scooter handlebars would have empaled her midriff.

    We had a couple of Hong Thongs to erase the memory and went to bed content with life.

    Song of the Day - Miss World by Hole.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand

    Day 17 - Local Dining

    February 27 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Woke up to the birds chirping at dawn. I watched a couple of hours of Netflix on my iPad and finished my blog.

    It was around 9.30am, when we headed to the beach in glorious sunshine. We selected our deckchairs and pulled them out to prevent anyone daring to sit in front of us. The rest of the deckchairs became occupied, without the Germans or anyone else, trying to sit in front.

    It was a hot day, a tad too hot for Jackie, and the tide was high. We took many walks and dips in the sea to cool down. We had a cheeky Chang each, then headed back to Mum Aroi Ko Samet Bar and Restaurant for lunch. I ordered a spicy omelette on rice and Jackie ordered a Pad Thai. Both dishes were delicious and cheap. We probably be returning for lunch most days of our remaining time in Thailand.

    The afternoon was much the same, but Jackie had to retreat into the shade under the umbrella for an hour when the sun was at its hottest. We got our monies worth out of the deckchairs and didn’t leave the beach until virtually 5.30pm.

    We had a couple of Hong Thongs, then headed out. There was one more restaurant on the island that had taken our fancy, that we still hadn’t tried. It was fairly near the port. We passed Banana Bar, which again had a queue of people waiting to get a table.

    We continued on to the restaurant, which has a Thai name, but is a Noodle Bar. It took us a while to get a free seat, but eventually one became available just before we gave up and moved on. We sat down and studied the menu. It didn’t take long there were only 8 dishes to choose from and the descriptions nearly all included the same three words pork, noodles and soup. The pictures of each also all looked pretty much the same.

    We ordered two dishes that were apparently different and sat back with a Chang to enjoy the hustle bustle of the place. It was only now that we noticed that we were virtually the only westerners in the restaurant. Everyone else was either Thai or another Asian nationality, many still in their work uniforms.

    On a dining table behind us staff were chopping up meat which didn’t bear thinking about the hygiene of it for too long. Jackie visited the free salad bar and returned with two small plates of unidentified leaves and accompaniments. The only thing I recognised was some beansprouts.

    Our dinners arrived in bowls with meat, small balls of something maybe meaty, crushed nuts, noodles and an accompanying small bowl of broth. They both looked the same, but mine had darker meat. We were given chopsticks and a small ladle to eat it with. We poured the broth onto our dinner, then the salad. Jackie then poured a ladle of chilli flakes into hers and in the confusion, I did the same, then immediately regretted and unsuccessfully tried to fish them back out.

    Let’s just say it was a fantastic experience and ridiculously cheap. We both left pouring with sweat and with our top lips on fire.

    We stopped at the 7-11 for some essentials, then got home and lay in our air-conditioned room until we had sufficiently cooled down. We had a Hong Thong on the verandah and called it a night.

    Song of the Day - Fire by Kasabian.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand

    Day 18 - Rings of Fire

    February 28 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Woke up at 6.30am and rushed to the bathroom. I revisited a couple more times. I knew that last night’s experience would play havoc with my delicate constitution in the morning.

    By 9.30am it was safe to head to the beach. The walk was disrupted by a travelling brush seller who was pushing his cart along the road at the same speed as us and constantly honking his horn. Jackie threatened to kill Ken Dodd.

    We bought a banana smoothie to settle the stomach and returned to our usual spot. It was another hot sunny day and the tide was high.

    The disrespectful arrogant krauts turned up later, but fortunately they couldn’t find any room near us. They did still manage to later upset the miserable son from Flow Beach Cafe by draping their clothes over his hand painted ‘No Smoking on the Beach’ sign. Unfortunately it was out of our earshot, but when he came out to remonstrate, one of the women clearly said something to offend him and the son then went off on one, ranting at her with lots of gesticulation. It was great.

    We returned to our latest regular lunch spot. I had the old faithful of Pad Thai chicken, but they didn’t have any pork, so Jackie ordered the shrimp with peppers and rice. She left feeling disappointed.

    The afternoon was hot (in the 90’s) and we were grateful for the intermittent fluffy cloud. The occasional cold Chang helped.

    That evening we walked along the beach and caught the end of the fire show. We returned to the Ocean Pizza Restaurant for a salami pizza and salad. We were not disappointed.

    Song of the Day - Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand

    Day 19 - Squiffy

    March 1 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today signalled the beginning of the end of our holiday. We had two more nights in Ko Samet, but we were being forced to move on, because Tok’s Little Huts were fully booked.

    We packed up our troubles in our old kitbags and at Jackie’s insistence we knocked back about two thirds of a bottle of Hong Thong with a spare bottle of Coke Zero.

    Jackie asked a couple of the cleaners / gardeners to carry our large rucksacks down the particularly steep steps to reception. Before I could intervene, Jackie had paid the lads 20THB (about 50 pence) each for their trouble. I have never seen so much joy on their faces, they couldn’t believe their luck. Jackie was happy that she had brought so much pleasure to them and all I could think that there had to be a first time!

    After storing our rucksacks in reception, we headed back to the beach. I felt a little squiffy from the early morning Hong Thongs without food and Jackie even admitted she felt the same.

    The beach was more of the same. We returned to our usual at lunchtime, but it was busy. We sat for 10 minutes without getting served and gave it up as a bad job. Instead we bought a couple of beers and headed back to the beach. We had a late lunch at Tok’s, a cheeseburger and a Pad Thai.

    The afternoon entertainment was provided by the wedding photographer who attends the beach most afternoons with a different couple. What amazes me is that he gets the couples to do a whole range of poses for photos and videos, but he seems to have no awareness that there are loads of other people in the background. I shouldn’t be surprised, wedding photographers, past and present, are a weird bunch.

    It was 5.30pm, when we collected our luggage and took a songteaw (another spelling) to Samed Garden Resort. We had booked a standalone big hut for just £31 per night. The lady remembered us from our last visit (how could they not!) and warmly welcomed us back.

    We ate back at Samed Thanee. Jackie had the chicken and cashew nuts and managed to put me off my dinner of chicken with garlic and peppers by liken a piece of meat to a chicken foot. We were the only diners in the restaurant which was a bit strange.

    We played a game of Top Trumps (I won) with a Hong Thong and then opted for an early night in our almost luxuriously large hut.

    Song of the Day - The Road Leads Where It’s Led by Secret Machines.    Read more

  • Simon and Jackie AnnalsSimon and Jackie AnnalsKo Samet, Thailand

    Day 20 - An Englishman Abroad

    March 2 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    I woke up sometime around 4.30am with a raging sore throat. I thought it was the air conditioning, but later I would realise that I had a cold on the way. Jackie counted her hidden away shekels and mysteriously found an extra 2000THB, which apparently we needed to spend.

    It was after 9.30am when we left our spacious cool hut and embarked on the 2 mile trek to our beach. Bizarrely when we arrived, well after 10am, we were the first people to actually sit down and occupy the deckchairs.

    We purchased a banana smoothie and a passion fruit smoothie. The temperature was 30 degrees, no cloud or breeze. We were hot and bothered. A few walks up and down the beach and multiple dips in the Gulf of Thailand could not cool us down.

    We returned to our usual lunch haunt, where I had their signature Mango and sticky rice, which was purple. Jackie ordered a Pad Thai which was not the best and neither of us even managed to finish. I think we are now officially ‘All Thai’d Out’.

    The afternoon had Jackie with her head under the umbrella and me reading my book with my back to the sun.

    When I wasn’t reading, we amused ourselves watching the endless parade of girls and young women taking constant selfies or getting their partners to take endless photos of them in ‘sexy’ poses in and out of the sea. One woman in a bright orange bikini spent literally the whole day walking up and down the beach posing for photographs taken by her fat friend. Presumably for Facebook, Instagram or TingTongBrides.com etc. The vanity of all these women was just extraordinary.

    Gone 5.30pm, we trekked back to Samed Garden Resort. We were dripping in sweat when we arrived. We changed our sodden T-shirts and went straight back out to C Smile for a couple of Changs and we ate a particularly crispy pork omelette and a basket of chips.

    Later that evening we played Top Trumps with a bottle of Hong Thong. It was still 28 degrees without a hint of a breeze and we just melted on our verandah. It was a relief to get back into our chilly air conditioned room.

    Song of the Day - Vanity by New Model Army.    Read more

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice