Samui Explorer
This month the Explorer team set out to find out what is it really like to be retired and spend two months a year in Koh Samui? In order to bring you the answer to this question we had an ice cold shake and a chat with John Emery, a regular visitor to Koh Samui and here is what he told us.
I am a retired 65 year old lawyer and have spent most of my working life as a Solicitor and a Company Secretary to and a Director of a volume house building company in the UK.
My only daughter Suzanne has lived and worked in Thailand for almost eight years. Consequently myself and my wife have spent numerous holidays here on the island and in Bangkok and in Koh Tao. We often visit our daughter on route to Australia where my parents, now deceased, and my only sister and her family live. Three years ago our daughter and I decided that we would build a house on Koh Samui. This was for several reasons, Suzanne wanted a more permanent home on the island, my wife and I thought it would be nice to have a house to stay in during our visits and obviously Samui has become a great investment potential. Having done a lot of research we chose to build a house on Samran Gardens in Maenam. Once the house was completed I decided to take an extended holiday each year and for the last two years have spent Christmas, January and February on the island. These two months are very cold back in the UK and generally hot and sunny in Koh Samui so it's a great time to come and stay.
I love the island and its beautiful beaches, its wonderful coconut groves, banana plantations and hill forests. I particularly love the islands very friendly people. Koh Samui also has some wonderful restaurants serving both local and international cuisine and the prices are far less that you would expect to pay back in the UK. One of my favourite places for dining is Bophut Fisherman's Village with its numerous beach style restaurants and bars. Maeman also has some good beach side bars on its wonderful beach and has some great village restaurants.
Now Samran Gardens has been completed it is a haven of tranquillity set in fabulous landscaped gardens. I spend many an hour just relaxing at home or tending to our garden. We have many tracks and trails leading into the neighbouring hills and forests. For a birthday present last year, my wife and daughter bought me a mountain bike and I now spend a lot of my time here cycling the many quiet roads and tracks in the hinterlands if the island. .
My favourite things:
Beach walk - Maenam beach. Go left or right on the beach at the end of the pier road and walk to the headland and back approximately 4 kilometres round trip. If you go to the left the Santiburi beach side café is an excellent stop for coffee or lunch.
Cycle route - Soi 1 Maenam to Lamai. Some pushing may be required on the steep sections.
Restaurants in Maenam - You and Me; Food Stop; La Trattoria; Santiburi Golf Club restaurant for lunch and superb views. The best chicken wings on the island are to be found at the Thirsty Moose.
Restaurants in Bophut - A Garden; The Happy Elephant; The Shack; Fifty Six; Seaweed and Villa Bianca.
Restaurants elsewhere on the island - Tapas night at the Mangrove Bang Rak; Lunch at the Tongsai Bay beach restaurant and Rocky's in Lamai.
All time favourite restaurant - Zazen in Bophut beach.
Favourite hotel for visiting friends and relatives - The Smile House, Bophut.
Other Favourites - Wednesday quiz night at the Frog and Gecko Bophut; fresh bread from Angela's bakery in Maenam and early evening drinks at the Chill Out bar on Maenam beach. For a great hair cut I always use Joy, you can find her salon by the car park on the road into Fishermen's Village. The garden centre just after Soi 5 in Maenam is well stocked and the staff is very helpful.
Great places to visit - The Magic Statue Garden in the middle of the island, accessed by the military road. The Butterfly Garden and the bird show at the Aquarium. The National Marine Park and in particular the Emerald Lake, I always book my trips through Ek and Porn who have a travel agency opposite the Samui Palm Beach Resort on the way from Maenam to Bophut. Ek was born and raised on Koh Samui and is a great source local information and speaks excellent English.
For a visa run you can't beat a trip to the Andaman club, the drive across the mountain pass between the Gulf and the Andaman Sea is quite stunning; the roads are excellent and it's a great way to see the 'real' Thailand. The best hotel in Ranong is undoubtedly The Royal Princess which has a superb restaurant set around its swimming pool; it's immaculately clean and very reasonably priced. Five minutes from the hotel by car are the Hot Springs which are well worth a visit.
Khao Sok National Park on the main land is another wonderful place to visit and worthy of a two or three day stay and not to be missed on the way to the park is the beautiful Ratchapapa Dam.
My verdict on Koh Samui! It's a wonderful place for a retiree to spend the first two months of the year beach and mountain walking, cycling and dining on the finest Thai and International cuisine.
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