Koh Samui. A review.

 

Koh Samui is an island on the east coast of Thailand and is part of Suratthani administrative region.

The condition of its infrastructure is similar to most of rural Malaysia.
The road condition is bumpy, with cracks here and there, small potholes, but nevertheless drivable and not too uncomfortable.
You do not need a 4WD to comfortably use the road.
I would say the maintenance culture is a bit lacking as is in Malaysia.

The beaches are clean, those that are frequented by tourists or those hidden beaches that only locals know (we make it a point to go to these beaches only and avoid the crowd).
The level of cleanliness is the same as beaches in Malaysia.

They have open warung by the roadside just like rural Malaysia.
Some of the residents even speak Malay with a Kelantanese dialect.
Sometime you forget that you are not in Malaysia.

Overall, life in Koh Samui is similar to rural Malaysia except for one thing.

Their public toilet is cleaner and more well kept.
All the toilets that we have used are all clean and well kept and a pleasure to use.
Either the toilet in the restaurant that we ate, the toilet at the petrol station or at the beaches.
Even the toilet at a roadside warung that we stop for a drink was clean and well kept with no smell and no cockroaches.
These kind of toilet in Malaysia would have been dark and rundown with smell and running with cockroaches.

All in all, when you are in Koh Samui it almost feel like you are on an island in Malaysia, except when you use the toilet.
They are too clean for you to be in Malaysia.
(I do not know if this is the same for Thailand as a whole, but that is how it is in Koh Samui.)

The beaches of Koh Samui is comparable to the many island and beaches in Malaysia. However, if you want to travel a bit further but do not want to break the bank and explore other places with different culture and environment, Koh Samui is recommended.
There are daily direct flights to Koh Samui from KLIA.
I recommend that you rent a car to travel around.
A three day, two nights weekend should be enough to enjoy the island.

For photos of Koh Samui, click the link here to my previous post.