I thought I would make a bit of stop to Koh Samet Island on my way back to Bangkok from Koh Chang. I visited Koh Samet a few years ago. Of course it has developed quite a bit since then as you can expect, but it is a fairly nice place to visit and only 2-3 hours from Bangkok. I know it is popular on the weekends with Thais and expats living in Bangkok, so I thought it would be nice and quiet visiting mid-week, unfortunately I didn’t realize it was a public holiday – Chulalongkorn Day to be exact. The day is the aniversary of King Chulalongkorn, or King Rama V’s death in 1910.
It seems like many people have even come just for the day. I still managed to find a bungalow for 500 baht a night, even though many places were full.
The main beach Hat Sai Kaew, is busy and probably the worst place to stay – too many jet skis and speed boats runnning around. Any of the beaches south of Hat Sai Kaew are much quieter and it is still fairly easy to walk back to Hat Sai Kaew.
Couldn’t find any places though that had free wi-fi, otherwise it would be nice to stay longer.
