Why Koh Samui? A Monsoon Out of Season

I want to tell you about my trip, similar to many others, but this year a little more troubled; I would also like to make an analysis, useful for those choosing Thailand for the first time, about the tourist resort of SAMUI. For four years I have been spending the winter in Thailand, at least two months: I flee from the cold that I cannot stand. Why Thailand? From my analysis it is still the warm country, among the low-cost ones, the most peaceful and safe in the world. This year I only stayed 6 weeks; I left late, and so I decided to see Samui and its surroundings, also because, as all the guides say, March is the most suitable month weather-wise....... Well, I ran into the only out-of-season monsoon in living memory. But I will talk about that later, for those interested.

In Thailand you can do various types of tourism, precisely because it is a hospitable country, with cultural and social attractions of all......kinds, with very little crime and a good level of healthcare. After 15 days in Samui I could not make sense of the situation, of justifying its fame. Large luxury hotels on the seafront privatise what are probably the most beautiful beaches of the island; but they are like tourist villages that are ends in themselves. Almost all the few swimmable beaches are covered by hotels or resorts, with their equipment. On most of the island's beaches you cannot swim because for hundreds of metres the water is 10 cm deep, and only when the tide is high..... Everything is concentrated around Chaweng and Lamai, but the tourist facilities are poor and provincial, both by day and by night. The nightlife is limited to 2 small soi, around 2 nightclubs.

The roads always run inland, and rarely offer sea views; the vegetation is lush, but no different from all of Thailand. Why Samui? In the end, I think I understood... THE TOURISTS... In Pattaya and Patong almost all the tourists are men and the tourist organisation is aimed at them. Here no, here there are many girls and many boys, young couples, boyfriends and girlfriends, especially from Northern Europe, Australia, Canada, who find each other, organise their parties, their raves, so that men do not get involved in the bar and sex tourism, which remains a folkloric sideshow... Here it is like in Romagna, where the 'escorts' stay on the trunk road for the unlucky ones, but the party is among tourists.

Here they meet at happy hours, at night parties on the beach, they meet in the places where they play live music (about twenty, much more than in Patong), where they show football matches, and where flirts and adventures begin.... I don't know, maybe there are other similar realities that I don't know (Karon? Kata? Krabi?), but I have formed this idea. And it seems to me a good idea, I like this Thailand different from the classic stereotypes; many people think that Thailand is only sex tourism.

THE MONSOON. For 8 days a tropical rain without a break brought the area to its knees. Half the country flooded and half hit by landslides, houses (euphemism) under water and mud or collapsed, roads covered with earth and water, bridges destroyed, rivers overflowing, rough sea, islands cut off...rightly so..... Between Lamai and Chaweng the road was blocked for 3 days by a boulder (fallen from the mountain) more than 4 metres in diameter and about 100 tonnes in weight. The airport was closed for 5 days, more than 3000 people waiting to leave; in Phangan 1200 tourists were stranded and in Tao another thousand were evacuated by the Navy. On the mainland the situation was even more dramatic, with some dozens of deaths. For 2 days there was no electricity (you have certainly seen what the power lines are like all over Thailand), so no light, no internet, no TV, no water (pressure tank).

When the rain stopped the situation remained critical for another week because of the flooded roads and neighbourhoods, whole areas without electricity, beaches full of debris. The sea after 15 days was still murky and full of rubbish. I got off lightly, because I was in an exceptional resort, equipped even with a generator that guaranteed electricity and services. I want to say a couple of words, also by way of thanks, about this hotel, the 'MARCO POLO', run by Lydia and Riccardo, two Italians who love their work and this country where they moved a few years ago. If you are no longer 20 years old, and you no longer travel basic, having a little more money in your pocket and perhaps also a partner, I strongly recommend this resort in Chaweng noi. Why? Because, in my view, it balances all the needs of a comfortable holiday with the best value for money. Let me explain.

Do you want to go to the sea? 1 minute on foot and you are on the most beautiful beach of Samui, Chaweng noi. High water, white sand. You don't feel like it? You stretch out in the sun on a sun lounger near the resort pool, in the centre of a wonderful garden of flowers and trees. The resort is right in the middle between Chaweng and Lamai, which you can reach in 5 minutes by motorbike or taxi, or stay in the tranquillity of the resort, where you find excellent espresso coffee, a well-stocked bar and a high-level restaurant (but not in the prices) run by Sasà, a Neapolitan chef who cooks and speaks Italian and Thai. The setting is curated down to the smallest detail, both in the garden and in the rooms and the restaurant, with detailed and refined furnishings.

The creators of this ensemble are precisely Riccardo and Lydia, who are maniacally fussy over every aesthetic and practical detail, including maintenance work. You can find this resort on every tripadvisor site online, where you can see photos and prices by season. If you have to book, though, do not rely on tripadvisor, but call Riccardo, you will pay a good 20% less. Unless you want to go like everyone else in August and at Christmas!!!!!!