Desination Ko Samui

[George Pill]

I am looking at transportation options from Bangkok to Ko Tao. Despite the horrible murders I find the Bing photos of Ko Samui incredibly attractive. Way better than Hawaii's beaches. Never seen such strange and beautiul rock formations. Reminds me of my James Bond Island boat ride. It isn't until AFTER you go on these trips do you realize it was a fantastic experience. The photos are too few and so I must go there to really see and experience the Ko Tao culture, bars, denizens, transportation means, etc. Will want to visit nearby Ko Samui and its nortorious Moonlight Party. I think a 3-week trip should be enough since the islands are tiny. Since I never renewed my motorcycle license I hope they will look away and rent me one. Better yet I find out if there are baht buses on both islands like Pattaya Beach.

There is no airport to Chumphon so a train ride would be 8-10 hours long. I will prefer a 1st Class bed because it is nice and comfortable and so cheap. If I want to fly I will have to fly Asia Air and pay about Us$110.00. B500 for one extra 20 kg. luggage. The limit is one bag at 20 kg. with a carry-on limit of 7 kg. What the hell. Thailand is so cheeeeeeeep. Why not just splurge. It will be the first time I fly out of Don Mueng since it was the only international airport in Bangkok back in 1972. Bangkok to DMA is only 15 miles and the flights start at 8 AM and added flights are spread out through the day. I like that they have many flights. Originally though the distance was 50 miles! I think the trains leave BKK late at night and arrive in Chumphon too early at 5 AM! Asia Air flight is only 1 hour to Surat Thani! Seems that there is no direct ferry from Surat Thani to Ko Tao. Gotta take another boat from Ko Samui to Ko Tao and back. No big thing. Backpacking to strange destinations is exciting experience. Just like the late Jim Thompson. Wonder why he disappeared? Tiger ate him? Python squeezed him? Aboriginies wanted to taste him? "On the road to Mandalay where the flying fishes play..."

By the old Moulmein Pagoda lookin' eastward to the sea
There's a Burma broad a settin and I know she thinks of me
For the wind is in those palm trees and the temple bells, they say
Come you back, you British soldier
Come you back to Mandalay
Come you back to Mandalay

Come you back to Mandalay where the old flotilla lay
Can't ya hear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay where the flyin' fishes play
And the dawn comes up like thunder out of China 'cross the bay

Ship me somewhere east of Suez where the best is like the worst
Where there ain't no Ten Commandments and a cat can raise a thirst
'Cause those crazy bells are callin' and it's there that I would be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda lookin' lazy at the sea
Lookin' lazy at the sea

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=on+the+road+to+mandalay+frank+sinatra&qft=+filterui%3amsite-youtube.com&view=detail&mid=80C91A19814D3CF70BB480C91A19814D3CF70BB4&&FORM=VRDGAR

Will take a break and continue to research more about transportation plans. Then it's party time in a strange new part of Thailand.

[Rockheart]

I have never been to Samui but hope to go someday. Many say it is not the same since the international airport opened.
Here is lots of information on transport to Koh Tao.

https://bangkokattractions.com/koh-samui-to-koh-tao-best-ferry/

The whole Koh Tao murder thing was really blown out of proportion compared to any other murders, she was young and beautiful so the media jumped on it.
What it did show is that that island and all the island around Samui and Phuket generally suffer from the tourist mafia which makes it very expensive.

At Samui you can also get to Koh Phanagan which is popular for it's full moon parties which have recently come under scrutiny, mainly due to the drugs.
Koh Phanagan is full of young partiers, many of them there to get wasted on anything and everything and party their asses off, there is also some shady goings on here.

Still every time i think of going to Samui or area, i get drawn back to Koh Chang.
Koh Chang's beaches are almost as beautiful but far less crowded and expensive.
Motorized boats and jetskis are not allowed near the beaches and hotels are 1/3 of the price of Samui or Phuket.

https://theladyboyforums.com/asiaboard/forum/the-total-thailand-scene/phuket-the-islands-bars-etc/925107-trip-to-koh-chang-november-2017

[George Pill]

Thanks, Crag. Like I said I was getting bored of BKK and Pattaya. Thought I needed to change to another country, but I have already been to Europe, traveled by car from Los Angeles to NYC for a whole year, and visited 5 Asian nations. Now I that I have seen what Ko Tao looks like online I am still addicted to Thailand. This place looks even better than Hawaii. I have to admit LOS makes Hawaiian tourism average. Yes, young people are silly, drunk, irresponsible, and like to take chances with their lives because they want to have the best fun possible. They may never come here again. Everyday is a brand new day. There are lots of places in America where you can dive into dirty muddy water and so many have cell phone cameras. xBad choices. That is why countries ban selfies. It;s that serious. I still take selfies with a pole and remote control. Nobody's going to stop. So many wonderful things to experience and so little time. In Hawaii we occasional read in the local papers how a young tourist broke his neck and died after diving from a cliff. This just happened in Yosemite on big dome rock a few days ago. The number of these news are indeed alarming. I would love to visit Yosemite, but believe I am too late. Way too many crowds. In another outdoors park a buffalo head tossed a child into the air. Those animals are dangerous! Happened again after that.

Still will research both islands and take photos with lighter cams like my trusty Sony RX100-M3 and 2 Gopros. No Canons or light props. Will shorten my timetable to 5 days each and stop my porn hobby. Need my sleep. Really need to plan to lighten my luggage numbers and weight because there will be 3 transportation stops. Maybe a medium-sized lightweight duffle bag will do the trick. Bigger than a backpack, softer, still easy to throw around. Y'know I am beginning to think these 2 islands are really geared for a weekend trips to one of the many green paradises hidden in Thailand. Just come in, relax on the beaches getting a tan, eat their food, party until drunk, and then just go home well rested before charging into the rat race of making enough money to live and retire. i think I should reduce my LOS trips down from 2 months to 1 months and jet in more often. That's probably why I am getting bored. Am almost to the point where I've been there, seen this and that, experience most of the best and worst ladyboys already. Need some fresh new faces and other.

Thanks for showing the photos of Ko Chang. The more I look at these pics the better they look. You should get a well-paying part-time job for a tourism agency or a government agency promoting tourism. Thailand is definitely going to grown so long as it stays low cost. Be nice if Thailand pays you with all-expenses covered trips all year round and promote tourism to the world what a trip this place is. MIght get a fellowship teaching Katoey history and civil rights in Chulalongkorn U. Here in Hawaii we have a place called Kamanawanalei U. so there may be a possibility here.

[P&G]

You can find fairly easily Air Asia flights departing from Dong Mueang to Koh Samui.
Koh Samui used to be an island with a lot of full moon parties. It has become a wiser place for well off tourists. You will find ladyboys in massage shops in Chaweng beach. I should try to go to Koh Samui too the next time I go to Thailand.

[George Pill]

Yes, I checked that out. After my first ever trip to Thailand in 1972 I read about those female tourist girl(s) murder late at night along the Don Mueng Highway late at night. Every time I checked the HNL-DMA arrival times, it was always around midnight or after that. Very scary. Even thought I might be robbed and abandoned on the highway with no one stopping to help me. Even worried corrupt cops would just laugh at me and not even help me call the consulate. Really spooked me. When I read the news about the recent flooding in Bangkok the news stated that Suvarnbhumi Airport was not closed. Suvarnabhumi Airport??? Never heard of it. After Googling the airport and found out it was a super beautiful airport located west of central Bangkok a fewer number of miles compared to sinister DMA. Suddenly I was gonna see those ladyboys I saw in the online photos and video rentals. My research showed online photos of American and international luxury hotels everywhere. In the early days I could find any info about anything Thailand except in the Lonely Planet books. They did warn me about all kinds of shenanigans like how Chiang Mai taxi drivers would sell you pot and squeal to the cops. Now that I have traveled to Thailand I have to say I am now laughing at myself. The newspapers are so one-sided and unfair. Now I know what is true and not. I am now a semi-expert on all things Thai.

Anyway I did research the highway and the taxi cost is about B500 fo r 17 miles. Didn't realize it was so short. My uncle picked me up many years ago and drove me in the darkness of midnight to his apartment across from the Dusit Park. I remember the Dusit Thai Hotel was located on the other side. Between the apartment and the park was what I later learned was a "klong". Just a pool of water with no circulation. I remember there was a shanty house of stilts with a family living inside. They swam and bathed in this dirty water and even washed their dishes in it. Strange. Really strange customs that can cause disease. in the darkness. I do remember it was spooky and isolated. Rough and not raised up on a concrete highway. Now Thailand is so modern. I have to wonder where so much money came from to help the recovery from the second world war. I was so clueless about Siam as it was called before because all I knew about this beautiful undeveloped country was what I saw in the movies Bridge on the River Kwai and The King and I. Funny. The heavy traffic of motorcycles is now accompanied by Mercedes Benzes and nice Japanese cars. Plus even more motorscooters. I was really impressed at Thailand's economic progress. So many highrises. So surprised there were elevated freeways into Bangkok. Everybody on the street level highways speed like crazy from Suvarnabhumi Airport I thought I was going to die. No cops anywhere so why not put on my seat belt enjoy the ride. LIke being in Le Mans. So far out! Quite an introduction to poor place of monks, temples, smiley folks, spicey Thai foodstuff served from in roadside pushcarts on wheels.

Anyway yes, I am getting closer to visiting the twin islands of Ko Samui and Ko Tao. I don't think I'll be mugged, raped, beaten up, or killed. Why? I'm Asian. I think the reason only ONE girl (surprised she was a ladyboy after I saw her huge feet and hands under the bright fluorescent lights in Pattaya Police Station) attacked me on Beachwalk was because my eyes are slitty like theirs. They think I'm a Thai, too. Already Google mapped both islands and they look stupendously beautiful. Both islands look so undeveloped and green. So much vegetation and bright skies like my home island. But its the beaches that gobsmacked me. This is where some of Thai tourism board's photos of Thailand's best beaches are! This is what is changing my mind about visiting other countries in search of something new and better. I just need to fly south on a plane, catch a large powerful speed boat to Ko Samui, spend 5 days, check out if the Moonlight Parties really is a dangerous place to be, catch another boat to Ko Tao and see for myself these strange new alien rocks all over the place, relax in the sun, find a ladyboy (Are they beautiful or not?). Really want to see those beaches of Ko Nang Yuen. Then I will be closer to filling up my Bucket List Thailand chapter. After 5 days of riding a baht bus everywhere taking pictures I never look at afterwards, I think I'll be satisfied and ready to return to Surat Thani and board a plane home to Bangkok for one or two days rest and swimming in a top floor pool. Then a 1.5 hours taxi ride with the AC on, put on my ear plugs, and my ski cap pulled down over my eyes while I try to meditate to pass the time. Hope my two favorite ladyboys are still in town. Really hate when they disappear back to Isaan when I'm looking for them. OH well, there are hundreds of bars on dozens of streets in this place where old men come to die. Gotta research when typhoon weather if I plan to travel to LOS twice a year. Hate loud noises and heavy rain eroding the brand new sanded beaches.

Chao for now. It's 9:27 PM in Honolulu. Love ya all.

https://pattayatoday.net/thailand-holds-anti-corruption-day-event/

Peek here. See this narrow isthmus on Ko Nang Yuen just to the west off the northern tip of mother Ko Tao Island. Gotta find out how to get there by boat. Can't swim, for sure. Go ahead and click-drag that little man icon from the bottom right corner of Google map and drop it on the narrow strip of sand. This is what I'm talking about. Paradise on earth. Too bad it was cloudy that day. That's why I want to avoid typhoons, loud thunder, and heavy rains full of dogs and cats. Gotta bring raincoat!

https://www.google.com/maps/@10.1161019,99.8141295,3a,75y,327.36h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPRiuH59dYvTyl8CPUiRkS4t8VV3MVXA3Bmj9Bv!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPRiuH59dYvTyl8CPUiRkS4t8VV3MVXA3Bmj9Bv%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-11.623681-ya40.362267-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

[George Pill]

Take a walk down this path to Nirvana until you hit sand. I would definitely fly, ride a boat, and tow my heavy luggage to swim and suntan there. Wish I came here 50 years ago if I had a big trust fund.

https://www.google.com/maps/@10.1150...7i13312!8i6656

go ahead and walk down this path with your mouse. You would be willing to DIE here.

https://www.google.com/maps/@10.1161...7i13312!8i6656