Hit and Run
BUFFALO FIGHTING IS MORE PEACEFUL THAN YOU MIGHT THINK
Stop Press!
THE FACE OF SHOPPING ON SAMUI HAS CHANGED FOREVER – FOR THE BETTER!
...And welcoming you on May 9th, 2014
THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE THAT REDEFINES THE WORLD OF LUXURY
CRAFTED LIVING SPACES
T H E
H O M E
O F
I N S P I R E D
I N T E R I O R S
Phuket 424 Srisoonthorn Rd. Cherngtalay Tel/Fax: +66 (0) 76 325 419
Samui 9/18 Moo1 Maenam Tel/Fax: +66 (0) 77 247 675
info@oriental-living.net
www.oriental-living.net
A Warm Welcome
Editor
Graeme Malley graeme@siammap.com
Graphic Designer Wunvilai Punnern - Meow
Photographer
Akaphon Phongninlaarphon - Don
Feature Writer Rob De Wet
Feature Writer Rosanne Turner
Feature Writer Colleen Setchell
Webmaster
Seksak Kerdkanno - Klauy
Sales & Marketing Director Nipawan Chuaysagul - Ning 0 898 783 891
ning@siammap.com
Financial Director Kasper Bjørk kasper@siammap.com
Managing Director Henrik Bjørk henrik@siammap.com
Siam Map Company Ltd. 52/6 Samui Ring Road, Moo 3 Bo Phut, Koh Samui, 84320, Thailand Tel: 0 7742 2201 Fax: 0 7741 3523 E-mail: info@siammap.com www.siammap.com
All Rights Reserved
As usual, there’s a lot happening on the island in May and June. But this year sees the added excitement of having Samui Regatta’s 13th anniversary celebrated with week-long racing (and partying) from from 25th to 31st of May (see article on page 78). And whether you’re out on the yachts in the midst of the seafaring action or joining in the après racing fun in the island’s top restaurants and bars at night, it’s sure to be great fun all round.
Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial content in any manner is prohibited without written permision from Siam Map Company Ltd. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication, Siam Map Company Ltd. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Siam Map Company Ltd. 2014
And in this action-packed edition of Samui Holiday Magazine you’ll also find interesting articles about all manner of Samui-related activities and events. Amongst which there’s a fascinating story about the local buffalo fighting contests (it’s OK, they don’t get hurt!). There’s a lot more happening on this tiny little island languishing in the hot tropical sun than anyone would possibly imagine. Hopefully you manage to find the time to read this!
Distribution at Bangkok Airport courtesy of Bangkok Airways. Reservation Center: 1771 Samui Chaweng Office: 0 7760 1300 www.bangkokair.com
Please recycle or pass on to a friend.
CONTENTS
94
54 78 20 Hit and Run Buffalo fighting is more peaceful than you might think.
28 Stop Press! The face of shopping on Samui has changed forever – for the better!
36 We are Sailing Take to the high seas with Sa-Ard’s Watersport Center.
44 Something ‘Neo’ is Happening in Chaweng Experience some unique creations at KC Beach Club.
50 Days Templar Take an outing to one of the most serene and dramatic of Samui’s temples – and it’s right at the edge of Chaweng!
54 The Med Comes to Samui The Cliff continues to draw crowds with its exciting cuisine.
60 Great News for Fashionistas! Fans of NiCol B by Nikky Noodles London will be pleased to hear that she has opened another boutique at the exciting new Central Festival mall.
66 The Tantalising Palate A look at The Palate restaurant, one of Lamai’s brightest places to dine.
70 Hole-istic Fun Football golf is great, but you won’t know how lovely the surroundings are until you try it!
74 Island Connectivity How to make sure you can use your smartphone or tablet on Samui.
78 Sail Away! This year, the Samui Regatta celebrates its 13th anniversary.
84 Hidden Gems A real treasure trove of quality jewellery is to be discovered at Samui Lapidary.
90 Samui Online How to find the information you really need!
94 Beach Independence Why Lamai’s Beach Republic is up there with the best!
100 Turning up the Heat Making your body stretch like toffee with Bikram Yoga
106 Coconut Healing Hansar offers the ultimate escape with Luxsa Spa.
112 Nigel’s Nibbles Nigel Mills is passionate about his catering business.
118 Bookmarks Make a note of The Library in Chaweng – you’ll be coming back again!
124 Behind the Scenes The story of a company which makes hundreds of weddings burst into bloom each year.
128 The Royal Treatment Royal Muang Samui Villas in Choeng Mon is most certainly a palatial property.
136 Is There Such a Thing as ‘too’ Remote? Get away from it all and head to Koh Nang Yuan
Mediterranean Mediterranean Cuisine Cuisine Amidst Amidst aa panoramic panoramic dreamscape dreamscape that that overlooks overlooks the the pristine pristine Crystal Crystal Bay, Bay, The The Cliff Cliff warmly warmly invites invites you you to to aa truly truly unforgettable unforgettable dining dining experience experience on on Koh Koh Samui. Samui.
www.thecliffsamui.com www.thecliffsamui.com
3
, 2013 & 2014
Choeng ChoengMon Mon
Reservations Essential For For reservations reservations call call 077 077 448 448 508 508 Kitchen Kitchen open open 12:00 12:00 pm pm 10:00 10:00 pm pm -- Bar Bar open open 12:00 12:00 pm pm -- 2:00 2:00 am am
Tapas Tapas Bar Bar open open from from 12:00 12:00 pm pm -- 7:00 7:00 pm pm
Neo New World Tapas and Grill KC Beach Club – Chaweng Beach Sharing tapas planks, amazing cuts of imported meats cooked to perfection on charcoal in our Josper Grill. Free pickup available within 10km of Chaweng. See NeoSamui Facebook page for up to date offers and photos. Join us for our weekly Saturday pool party 1pm – 6pm. Happy Hour everyday 5pm – 7pm. 2 for 1 on all cocktails and beers.
Reservation: +66 (0) 77 915 155
www.kcbeachclub.com rsvn@kcbeachclubsamui.com Facebook NEOSAMUI
Island Insight An overall guide to Samui’s towns, villages, beaches and hotspots.
Samui is an idyllic tropical paradise. A blend of traditional Thai hospitality and remote island life has joined hands with modern traveller expectations. But the towns, villages and interior are home to much more than just luxury resorts, restaurants, bars and retail shops. And whilst the main beaches are recognised as some of the best in the world, there are also secluded coves and magical hideaways around many corners – if you know where to look. And this quick guide will point you in the right direction.
Chaweng
Chaweng’s main beach is five kilometres in length and is lined with 5-star luxury resorts, boutique hotels, budget accommodation and great oceanfront restaurants. Behind the resorts, the Chaweng Beach Road is filled with restaurants, bars, spas, shops, street stalls and mobile food vendors. The lake sits to the rear of them and is a wonderful place for an early morning walk or jog. Near the southern end of the lake is the Soi Reggae entertainment area which also has two Muay Thai boxing stadiums, a temple guarded by carved monkeys and the huge Laem Din market complex. All manner of fresh produce is delivered here every day and the adjoining Dow Seafood market is a hive of activity from the early hours.
Lamai
Samui’s second most popular beach is around four kilometres long and the waters are perfect for swimming. There’s plenty of choice in accommodation, restaurants, bars, spas and health resorts. It also has a free Muay Thai event every Saturday and just off the Beach Road there’s a children’s water park. Wat Lamai is home to a cultural centre and museum that houses artifacts of Samui life before the advent of tourism. On Sundays there’s a ‘Walking Street’ along part of the Beach Road. And just outside of Lamai town on the ring-road is the famous Hin Ta-Hin Yai rock formations that has dozens of small local Thai restaurants around it. 14 l www.samuiholiday.com
Mae Nam
Nestled on the northern shores of the island, Mae Nam Beach stretches for several kilometres and overlooks the neighbouring island of Koh Pha-Ngan. High-end resorts and beach bungalows are dotted along the coast and many visitors love it for its peacefulness, soft golden sands and wonderful views. It has seven side streets that meander into the mountains: from Soi 1 you can follow the road over the mountains all the way to Lamai; Soi 4 has a ‘Walking Street’ every Thursday from mid-afternoon and also houses an ornate Chinese temple overlooking the beach and a large Buddhist temple set a few hundred metres back from the ringroad; Soi 5 has a tree-top canopy adventure theme park a few kilometres into the hills; there’s a buffalo fighting stadium a couple of hundred metres off the main road between Soi 5 and Soi 6; an early morning market is also in Soi 6; an evening market near to Soi 7; and the world-class Santiburi Golf Course in the hills above Soi 7. There’re dozens of bars and restaurants in Mae Nam, many of which are on side roads that lead down to the ocean. And at the western end of the beach the Lomprayah ferry takes passengers to the neighbouring islands several times a day.
NathoN
This is the island’s main administrative centre and the major ferry port for boats to and from the mainland. There’re some hotels but it’s more a town you would visit for an afternoon rather than stay in. Beside the terminal, there’s a local food market every day from mid-afternoon until late in the evening. Along what is known as the ‘middle road’ there’re old teak shop-houses and small businesses and a ‘Walking Street’ on Saturdays. And on the one-way road that goes through the town there’re dozens of shops and restaurants. Just off the main road there’s an ornate Chinese temple and garden in Soi 4. And near the far end there’s a renowned open-air duck restaurant – just follow the crowds around lunchtime.
Bo Phut
Bo Phut is best known for Fisherman’s Village. It’s a single narrow street that still has authentic wooden houses that Samui folk have lived in for generations. Parts of it have been modernized but it’s still awash with local foods, international restaurants, bars, shops and market stalls. It becomes one huge ‘Walking Street’ every Friday and you’ll find lots of local delicacies that few other restaurants have. Along with small hotels, there’re several 5-star luxury resorts at the far end and the beach curves around a large bay that also overlooks Koh Pha-Ngan. And small speedboats leave from the village pier heading for the Full Moon parties that take place there every month.
Big Buddha and Plai Laem
The magnificent golden Big Buddha statue that watches over the island from the north-east corner of Samui is one of the first things you see as you fly into Samui Airport. Built on a tiny island (Koh Farn) with a connecting causeway, it’s the most iconic image of the island. Many Thais pray at the temple so dressing and acting appropriately is expected when you enter the site. There’re some very good Thai restaurants and small stores around the temple. It also affords some beautiful views and along the road from it you’ll see another large Buddha image at Wat Plai Laem. Half-way along the road between the temples is a side road that cuts through to Choeng Mon. Down this road there’s access to some quiet secluded beaches, although some of them are through resorts.
Choeng Mon
Choeng Mon lies just 15 minutes or so from the middle of Chaweng but it seems like worlds away. There’s a small town that the road runs through with a couple of dozen restaurants and bars. The beach is a favourite for many locals as it’s quiet, picturesque and safe for swimming most of the year round. There’s every class of accommodation with some old-style beach bungalows at one end. And they all overlook the tiny deserted island of Koh Farn Noi which you can walk out to if the tide is low.
www.samuiholiday.com l 15
Bang Rak
In between Fisherman’s Village and Big Buddha is where you’ll find Bang Rak. There’s a few very good resorts and some private villas for rent along the beachfront that stretches around for several kilometres and has stunning views. Bars and restaurants line the main street and there’re two piers. The one nearest to Big Buddha has daily ferries to Koh Pha-Ngan, Koh Tao and on to the mainland port of Chumpon, from which a VIP bus takes passengers to Hua Hin and on to Bangkok. Start to finish, it’s a 12-hour journey with about half of it on the boat. Just beside the ferry terminal in Bang Rak is one of the busiest fish markets on the island. Local fishermen drop their catches here and the place is bustling with people all day long. At the other end of town there’s a short-cut into Chaweng on a road called Soi Bond Kai (which the locals refer to as the ‘Ghost Road’).
Taling Ngam and Lipa Noi
The south-west part of the island is known as the ‘Virgin Coast’. It’s largely unspoiled with lots of secluded bays, although most of the shoreline tends to be rocky. The west coast overlooks the famous ‘five islands’ and some of the closer islands of the Angthong National Marine Park (which is a perfect getaway for a day’s boat trip excursion). In this part of the island there’re some hotels, private villas for rent, up-market and local restaurants and several temples of note, including two that house a mummified monk. A second car ferry terminal is located in Lipa Noi and, like the one in Nathon, boats to and from Donsak on the mainland arrive and depart every hour from 5:00 am until 6:00 pm (check for details). And inland on the island’s main ring-road there’re several large waterfall sites and a safari park with elephant trekking, animal shows and adventure tours. Further along, next to the Ford and Mazda dealers is a new Butterfly and Insect Kingdom Park.
16 l www.samuiholiday.com
Hua Thanon
This predominately muslim village is home to the descendants of some of the island’s earliest settlers. There’s still a thriving fishing fleet and fish market and a natural coastline that’s survived the ravages of time. Just after the village (coming from Lamai) you can turn off the ring-road to the left and signs will direct you to the nearby Tiger Zoo, Aquarium and Sea-life Show, the Butterfly Farm, the Snake Farm and the local Rum Distillery.
Thong Krut
With its brightly coloured fishing boats and backdrop of small islands to the one side, and coconut plantations to the other, Thong Krut is a picturesque little village. Located in the southwest corner of the island, this is where you’ll come if you’re after a long-tail boat to take you to the nearby islands of Koh Tan and Koh Matsum. Lining the shore you’ll find a selection of simple restaurants offering Thai food, and particularly good seafood, as well as tour operators offering trips to the islands.
The Interior
Samui predominately consists of hills, mountains and coconut plantations. And few visitors make the time to appreciate its hidden beauty. One way to do so is to take the turning into Mae Nam Soi 1. A new road has recently been constructed that goes over the mountains all the way to Lamai. The drive is only about 20-25 minutes over 15 kilometres with a couple of stopping off areas that offer fabulous views. Another way to really get the full picture of Samui is from Tar Nim’s Magic Garden at the top of one of the island’s highest peaks. Built during a 25-year period by a local farmer the stone statues in the garden were sculpted by hand and sit over 2,000 feet above the beaches below.
THE R E S TA U R A N T
Pavilion presents the best in Samui Boutique Resort dining.
The Patio Restaurant serves authentic Italian and Thai delicacies. Experience a romantic meal with outstanding sea views. The Look-Out Bar is the ideal place to unwind with a drink by our beach side pool. Wedding on the Beach Experience the most special day of your life in romantic tropical surroundings at Pavilion Samui Boutique Resort. Select from our Western, Thai and Chinese wedding options. Let us tailor make a celebration for you or choose one of our wedding packages.
Lamai Beach, Koh Samui Tel: 0 7742 4420, 0 7742 4030 Fax: 0 7742 4029 info@pavilionsamui.com www.pavilionsamui.com
Serving an exciting variety of Thai, Italian and seafood from our open, show kitchen with genuine pizza oven. Choose from open air seating on the first floor with ocean view or air-conditioned seating on the ground floor. Live music every night.
Open daily from 5 pm till 11 pm Located on Lamai Beach Road opposite Pavilion Samui Boutique Resort Reservation: 077 424 420
20 l www.samuiholiday.com
HIT AND RUN Buffalo fighting is more peaceful than you might think. This activity really should be called ‘head butting then running away’ rather than ‘buffalo fighting’. The word ‘fighting’ conjures up all sorts of tragic scenes. But there is no red flag, there is no sword and there are no dead animals. This is more about asserting authority than survival of the fittest. First a little bit about the animals. The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo is found throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are especially suitable for working in rice fields because of their large, flat hooves, and their milk is richer in fat and protein than a dairy cow. There are around 130 million domestic water buffalo and you’ll be surprised to learn that humans depend on these creatures more than any other domestic animal. They were domesticated in India over 5,000 years ago and in China over 4,000 years ago. According to the Thai Department of Livestock, in 2009, there were 1.3 million water buffalo in Thailand. They can weigh anything between 300 - 600 kilograms. This is not an animal you want to mess with.
www.samuiholiday.com l 21
Buffalo fighting has been a tradition in Thailand for many years. Considering how much it is loved by the locals, it seems to have kept a relatively low profile for tourists. Perhaps when tourists read the words ‘buffalo fighting’, images of bleeding animals are conjured up - not what you might want to see on your holiday. But wait, don’t stop reading. As mentioned earlier, there are no bleeding animals here, and certainly no dead ones. No, this is a totally natural behaviour that is merely ‘encouraged’. The show is over when one animal runs away, the other is declared the winner, both animals are collected by their owners (one buffalo now suddenly worth several million Baht), everyone cheers and then goes home. 22 l www.samuiholiday.com
Let’s explain how it all works. On Samui, it’s a very popular event and there was a festival held at the Chaweng Stadium at the beginning of February. Each day for around nine days, pairs of hefty male buffalos were pitted against each other. The animals were decorated with fancy ribbons, had gold painted leaves on their horns and they even got blessed with holy water by monks before the fights. And yes, while there was ‘fighting’ involved, it was more of a show of strength as each animal locked horns and head butted the other, to see which one would either fall over, or run away with its head lowered in either embarrassment or submission.
Located on the tropical stretch of golden sands and turquoise waters off Koh Samui’s up market Bophut bay, Beach Bar offers wide variety of cocktails, champagne, wines, snacks, delicious home made ice cream and freshly blended fruit drink
!
Come and join our happy hour as day turns to dusk before strolling down to the quaint cobblestone ‘Bophut Fisherman village’
!
Good things come in three, enjoy our Happy Hours daily at
!
01:30 - 02:30 pm 06:30 - 07:30 pm 09:30 - 10:30 pm
! - buy one get one free !
The ring or stadium that prevents the crowd from getting too close to the excited bulls is made up of frighteningly slim wooden poles tied together with rope. It’s a circular ring and the soon-to-be-cheering crowd are bunched up against the edge, some hanging over the top, others sitting on the top rung, children’s faces peering excitedly through the lower rungs. This really is a family event. Food stalls and cool drink stands are set up around the ring, and people who aren’t hanging over the fence, are milling around talking, eating and drinking, no doubt discussing which animal they think will win.
HANSAR SAMUI 101/27-28 Moo 1, Bophut Koh Samui 84320 Thailand +66 77 245 511 | www.hansarsamui.com
The excitement builds as the start time approaches. A rope is attached between two trees or poles, high enough to hold a long white sheet so that when the two competing buffalos are brought into the stadium, they cannot see each other. We don’t want them darting all over the place until everyone is ready. I might add that at this time, there are people in the ring with the two buffalos who, at the moment, are utterly calm. The crowd is cheering for the sheet to be torn down and you can feel the excitement building. A whistle is blown, the sheet is torn down, the bulls take one look at each other and charge. Sometimes. Other times, they just stand and stare at each other thinking, “What now?” A 500 kilogram solid animal has a certain presence about it and if it does charge, not only does it kick up huge amounts of earth and dust, but it hits the other buffalo with such force that you’d think the other animal would fly right out of the stadium, just like in the cartoons. But, the other animal is approximately equal in size, strength and weight, so the charging from both of them ends with a dull thud as their thick skulls slam into each other.
Now comes the power struggle with each of them pushing and shoving, trying to overbalance and throw each other over. The crowd is going mad, cheering, waving, screaming - anything to encourage the animal that they want to win. The bulls pull away and this time lock horns. A collective intake of breath, followed by more cheering from the crowd. The fight continues in this manner until eventually one bull either admits defeat or gets bored and retreats. Once this happens, the crowd goes crazy, clearly excited by the winning animal. The owners of the buffalos will head into the ring to recover their animals and slowly but surely, the excitement will calm down and the crowd will disperse only to gather again for the next match later on in the evening or the next day. There have been some reports of buffalos breaking out of the ring and disturbing local traffic, but this is not common! You see? No blood and no dead animals. Just one very proud animal and one very embarrassed animal.
Colleen Setchell
24 l www.samuiholiday.com
Romantic views, soothing sounds and classic Italian fare with a modern approach combine to please the most discerning diner. Olivio - a must for visitors and locals alike. Olivio ~ beachfront at Baan Haad Ngam Boutique Resort Chaweng Beach.
Free round trip transfer from Chaweng, Bophut and Choeng Mon. For reservation please call 0 7723 1500
Baan Haad Ngam Boutique Resort & Spa 154 Moo 2, Chaweng Beach, Bophut, Koh Samui, Suratthani 84320 Tel: +66 77 231 500 Mob: +66 81 751 6073 Fax: +66 77 231 520 Email: info@baanhaadngam.com, booking@baanhaadngam.com www.baanhaadngam.com
The Place! The People! The Party! …amazing place for extraordinary people…
KC Beach Club & Pool Villas – new stylish & modern hotel with 42 luxury rooms & pool villas. Great entertainment program in the Beach Club. Open bar & à la carte dining.
Follow us on
: KC Beach Club & Pool Villas Koh Samui
KC Beach Club & Pool Villas Koh Samui on Chaweng Beach Every Saturday & Sunday Pool Party from 12 – 6 pm Weekend Lunch Buffet from 1-5 pm In House DJ Club Music
www.kcbeachclub.com rsvn@kcbeachclubsamui.com Tel: +66 (0) 77 915 155
28 l www.samuiholiday.com
STOP PRESS! The face of shopping on Samui has changed forever – for the better! It’s the biggest thing to happen on Samui since the airport opened 25 years ago, and island residents have eagerly been awaiting its opening. What has caused such a stir, you ask? Well, it’s Central Festival Samui – a themed mall located between Chaweng Beach Road and Chaweng Lake.
www.samuiholiday.com l 29
Some might argue that big malls belong in the city. Now this might ring true had the design of the Central Festival Samui been a multi-storey concrete block, as one would find in Bangkok, for example. But thankfully, CPN Property Development & Investment had the foresight to design a mall that fits in with the local environment, and enhances its surroundings. The gardens, walkways, alfresco food area as well as the buildings of the development sprawl over 37 rai of land, with 90,000m2 of floor space. Central Festival Samui celebrated its grand opening on 29th March and continued with week-long festivities and special offers for shoppers. The new shopping centre features contemporary architecture and is inspired by the vintage ‘Chaweng Port’ theme. As you stroll through the centre, you’ll see decorative themes such as the Sino-Portuguese influence, the Fisherman’s Village and the Old Town Market, showcasing the colonial-style architecture and the ‘East meets West’ fusion. ‘Mall’ is probably not the best term for Central Festival Samui, as it brings to mind images of a concrete jungle. For want of a better word, ‘village’ is perhaps a better way to describe this shopping extravaganza. It was designed to blend in with the environment, so you’ll only find two storeys here, with sections joined by landscaped walkways. In fact, a substantial part of the budget was spent on landscaping – something not needed in CPN’s other shopping centre projects that are of a more traditional mall design. So, to keep it interesting and avoid the mall look, four main areas are linked with the walkways and a central garden. First, there’s the main entrance, which connects Chaweng Beach via contemporary-style restaurants and bars, offering both air conditioned and alfresco dining. This area is known as the ‘Old Port’, and is the first dedicated lifestyle dining and gastro bar landmark on Samui – a great place to chill and hang out.
30 l www.samuiholiday.com
Plenty of space has been allocated so that the shopping centre can host a variety of events, and you’ll find frequent concerts, fashion shows, product launches and other entertainment at the stage area. And for kids, there’s the ‘Pirates of the Mario Land’, as well as a small outdoor play area with climbing apparatus on its own ‘beach’, so kids can let off steam while mum rests weary legs after a day of shopping. And there is also a cinema planned, which will open later in the year. Fashion lovers are spoilt for choice in the Fashion Zone, where boutiques stock both international brand names, as well as local designers, such as Psylo and NiCol B, who’ve chosen to open outlets in this prime shopping location. Interesting elements in the ‘Fisherman’s Village’ area have been used to build a scenic backdrop for the anchor tenants, highlighting Samui’s fishing trade. And then we have the ‘Old Town Market’, an open-air food park designed in a colonial style, combining both Eastern and Western architectural elements. Locals will be particularly pleased with the anchor tenants on offer; the first being the Central Department Store – which houses over 400 brands, including men’s, women’s and children’s wear, shoes, bags and accessories, jewellery and cosmetics, luggage, linen and home-ware. Another draw card for locals and expats is a Tops Market, offering a choice selection of local and international food products and groceries, many of which haven’t readily been available on the island before.
32 l www.samuiholiday.com
B2S stocks stationery and books and Power Buy is an electronics emporium, targeting both locals and tourists alike, while Super Sports will keep fitness and outdoor enthusiasts well kitted out. Aside from these strong anchor tenants, around 200 independent shops and restaurants complete Central Festival Samui, making this a one-stop shopping and entertainment hub. Many locals avoid Chaweng as a lack of parking can make the trip a nightmare. Well, thanks to Central Festival, this problem has been solved. With four entrances and parking for 600 cars and 1,200 motorcycles, there’s more than enough space to accommodate those wanting to explore the new mall. Even better is the loyalty ‘One Card’ which comes in a version for locals as well as expats, as well as ‘Tourist Card’, all of which offer an automatic 5% off purchases at the Central Department Store, B2S, Super Sports and Power Buy, as well as other discounts and promotions, so be sure to sign up for yours if you haven’t yet. So top up that credit card, don your walking shoes, and head down to Central Festival. It’s not just a mall, but is indeed, much more, and has in only a short time, become an attraction for visitors and island residents alike.
Rosanne Turner
BOUTIQUE RESORT KOH SAMUI
WE ARE SAILING Sa-Ard’s Watersport Center is well established on the island, and provides boat hire, boat tours and watersport activities. The business was established nearly 17 years ago, and is named after its owner, Khun Sa-ard Panyawan. He is known in Thailand as a champion windsurfer, having represented the country in both the 1984 Los Angeles and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. He qualified for the national team at age 13 and won gold at the South East Asian games on five different occasions. They have some impressive vessels, and there’s bound to be one to suit your needs. So let’s introduce you to the fleet. Kindred Spirit is a 13m long catamaran that can comfortably hold 15 people and easily sleeps six. There is a bedroom with en-suite bathroom in the starboard hull and two further double rooms in the port hull with a shared bathroom. A large galley and living area with hot and cold water, fridge/freezer, gas cooker and electric oven mean you’ll have everything you need to be comfortable. A CD/DVD player and 28 inch colour TV will keep you entertained, and all cabins and living areas are air conditioned. The pricing structure for this catamaran
36 l www.samuiholiday.com
includes the captain and one crew member and they offer a one night/two day trip to Angthong National Marine Park; a two night/three day trip to Koh Tao and a selection of smaller private sunset trips around Koh Samui. Natalie is an 11.5m long speedboat and can accommodate up to 25 people. There’s a shower and toilet on board and a selection of food and drink can be provided on request. Panyawan, smaller at 6.2m, is also a speedboat and can hold five people. Both boats offer trips around Samui, Koh Phangan, Angthong National Marine Park, Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan. Both are available for private fishing charters and can also be hired for speedy transport to and from the Full Moon Party. They can also be hired on a ‘per hour’ basis.
Take to the high seas with Sa-Ard’s Watersport Center.
www.samuiholiday.com l 37
Sting is a medium sized vessel which can comfortably seat 17 passengers. There is a flat screen TV and DVD player for entertainment if you get tired of the tropical island views. She is easy to moor in shallow waters and makes an excellent dive boat, tour boat, educational touring boat, party boat or private multipurpose water craft. So let’s tell you a bit more about the tours. The tour around Koh Phangan starts with hotel pick up at 8:30 am. You get a chance to swim and snorkel and view some colourful, tropical fish and coral reefs around Koh Ma, then Tong Nai Bay. After working up an appetite you can enjoy a Thai lunch at a small beach restaurant then head over to Than Sadet Beach. If you’re feeling energetic, you can head inland to the Than Sadet waterfall. You can even jump in and enjoy a quick swim. Last to be visited are Paradise Beach or Haad Rin Beach, which is the notorious Full Moon Party beach. This tour includes all water, soft drinks, lunch, snorkelling equipment and hotel transfers. You will arrive back in the evening around 5:00 pm. The tour around Samui starts slightly later at 9:00 am and heads clockwise around the island. It makes a stop at the south westerly island of Koh Taen, known for its beautiful coral reef. After a snorkel and swim, you will be guided along a nature trail on the island which leads to a unique mangrove forest. Lunch is provided courtesy of a small restaurant and picnics are available on request. In the afternoon, you have another chance to explore some deserted beaches, sunbathe or go for another swim or snorkel, before heading back around 4:00 pm. Last but not least, is the tour over to Angthong National Marine Park. The park lies 31km northwest from Samui and comprises more than 40 small islands, making it a wonderful area to explore by boat. Incredible bird life, hidden coves and caves, exotic rock formations and blue lagoons create a magical experience for all ages. You will visit the famous Talay Nai (or Emerald Lake), a saltwater lake on Mae Koh Island. There are quite a few steps to climb but the view is really worth it. The afternoon leaves plenty time for swimming, snorkelling and exploring some of the smaller islands. You will return to Samui around 3:30 pm.
38 l www.samuiholiday.com
www.samuiholiday.com l 39
If you’re willing to travel further afield, how about a snorkelling trip to Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan. Roughly 50km away from Samui, these islands are perfect for diving or snorkelling and are known the world over. Think clear waters, pretty corals, tropical fish and gorgeous stretches of untouched beaches. The speed boat ride lasts around 90 minutes but once you’re there, you’ll be in snorkelling paradise. Lunch is provided by one of the small restaurants or, by prior arrangement, a picnic on board can also be organised. After lunch, the boat will head to Aow Mamuang on Koh Tao where you will have a whole two hours to enjoy the waters and associated marine life. Last but not least, if you’d rather go fishing, they offer fishing tours and all fishing rods and bait are provided. Windsurfing and sailing lessons are available too.
Colleen Setchell
__________________________________________ For further information, telephone 0 7724 7656. www.saardswatersport.com
40 l www.samuiholiday.com
● Largest pharmacy chain on Samui ● Over 4,000 medical & health care products ● One stop service pharmacy and wellness center ● Multi-language assistance ● Refill your personal prescriptions
12 yea r
s
● Free consulting by certified pharmacists
Open from 8 am - 10 pm everyday
Hotline: 0 7741 3298-9
Email: moryapharmacy@hotmail.com
SOMETHING ‘NEO’ IS HAPPENING IN CHAWENG Experience some unique creations at KC Beach Club Back in March this year, something special happened at KC Beach Club and Pool Villas, located on Chaweng Beach Road near the end of the one way system. A brand new restaurant opened offering unique new world tapas and grilled food. After the sun has set, the area above the daytime restaurant transforms into a stylish, modern yet intimate dining area called Neo. Neo is headed up by David Lloyd, whose name is already associated with fine dining on the island. He has consulted in the opening of new restaurants in the past so clearly he’s an expert in his field, and was definitely the right man for this job. KC’s beachside restaurant has a large flat roof and is an ideal place to dine in the evenings. Make your way up the stairs and you’ll find crisp white, comfortable rattan sofas and tables or, if you prefer, tables and chairs. The colour scheme is that of the resort itself - white, blue and gold. The long bar with its tall chairs and softly lit background is a perfect spot to enjoy that pre-dinner cocktail while taking in the beautiful sea views. This really has a unique appeal as does the food offered, which takes the beach barbecue to a whole new level.
44 l www.samuiholiday.com
www.samuiholiday.com l 45
The secret to this barbecue is the Josper Grill. Never heard of it? It is a unique closed barbecue with different levels of grilling, and a front opening door. It is 35% faster than an open grill and has a dual function being both an oven and a grill. It reduces flames which prevents food from drying out or burning, so you end up with the taste of barbecued food that still retains all its moisture and tenderness. So you can imagine just how succulent a Grade 6 wagyu ribeye is going to taste. Or the duck breast, pork rack or lamb cutlets. Oh yes, you can have all this and more. Neo’s menu is interesting and just that little bit different. Predominantly a tapas menu, it offers an extensive selection of 23 different tapas dishes grouped into price categories ranging from 100 - 400 baht. You can go for the simple choices such as marinated Tuscan olives or rosemary focaccia bread and oil, or try the Japanese eggplant with sesame and miso. How about the chicken wings in home-made XO sauce or the chorizo, manchago cheese, dates and crispy bacon? Piri piri lamb cutlets, baby chicken, or perhaps sea bass in a miso glaze with pickled apple. Or does the pork rack with beer pickled onion, apple and ginger grab you? And if not, the wagyu beef gyoza with white onion puree and beef jus surely will. If you can’t decide, they offer something called a ‘plank’ which is a beautifully crafted long, wooden platter with a selection of dishes from the tapas menus. You can have the Josper Grill Tapas, the Salsa Plank for Two, Cheese and Cold Cuts, Mediterranean Plank or the Japanese Plank. You can even have a dozen oysters, any style, chosen from the oyster menu. This might be fine dining but it certainly isn’t difficult dining. As mentioned, oysters are also available, from the raw bar to the cooked versions with spicy tomato and bacon, parsley cream and cheese or the deliciously different cucumber shiso salsa or tempura apricot puree. Or just ask your host for the weekly specials. 46 l www.samuiholiday.com
They have salads, soups and sandwiches available all day. Home-made baguettes with rock lobster, chicken schnitzel or BBQ pork. Certainly enough to keep you going through the day. The tapas and sharing planks are available all day, so don’t worry, you won’t miss out on these if you arrive hungry in the evenings. And you might be rather partial to some fresh fish eaten raw or cured and this is available all day too. Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy that consists of very fresh raw meat or fish sliced into thin pieces. This is available alongside ceviche which is raw fish cured in citrus juices and spices, and served with various sides. And sushi, well you know what sushi is, right? There is a choice between salmon, scallops, wagyu beef, fish, crab and tuna. And don’t for one second think this sounds boring because you’ll more often than not, be blown away by David’s presentation. For instance the salmon ceviche is served under a glass dome filled with hickory smoke. But let’s take a peek at the part of the menu that is only available at dinner time. The mains and the hot stone grill items.
www.samuiholiday.com l 47
48 l www.samuiholiday.com
The mains show off three seafood dishes with whole steamed snapper, whole Canadian lobster or the NEO Josper Seafood Feast. There is a duck dish with foie gras, and three styles of super-tender, juicy Grade 6 wagyu ribeye steaks, cleverly named London, Tokyo and Bangkok, with cooking styles to match. If you’ve eaten enough seafood on the island and are hankering after some meat, perhaps the NEO Josper Meat Grill is a better option for you. Ribeye, pork rack, lamb cutlets and chorizo - all cooked in the special Josper grill of course. The hot stone grill items (a hot stone delivered to your table for you to cook your own meat) use a very special wagyu fillet - a grade 9. This is one of the highest marbling grades of wagyu beef which means this will ‘melt in your mouth’. Also available for cooking on hot stone are AAA grade ahi tuna and Salt Bush lamb fillet. Sides and desserts are also available. So this is really something special. A touch of fine-dining in a beautiful location, elevated above a beautiful pool area, looking out to the sea enjoying the view and eating some first class food. This is what island dining is all about.
Colleen Setchell
_____________________________________________________ For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7791 5155. www.kcbeachclub.com
HAND-MADE JEWELRY MADE TO ORDER. GOLD, SILVER, LEATHER, PRECIOUS AND SEMI PRECIOUS STONES. LEARN TO MAKE SILVER JEWELRY WITH US IN 1, 2 OR 3 DAYS TWO LOCATIONS IN CHAWENG: 1ST: CHAWENG BEACH ROAD, PHONE: +(66)0 7742 2594 2ND: CENTRAL FESTIVAL SAMUI 2ND FLOOR, PHONE: +(66)0 7796 3811 WWW.THAILAND-JEWELRY.COM
DAYS
TEMPLAR
Take an outing to one of the most serene and dramatic of Samui’s temples – and it’s right at the edge of Chaweng!
Did you realise that the nearest part of the airport runway is only a few hundred metres away from Chaweng? Or that, as the crow flies, the temple and famous statue of the Big Buddha is only just a couple of kilometres more? You’d never guess it when you go there by road. It takes ages. That’s because the road follows the coast all the way round, and there’s lots of slow narrow twisty bits. It’s the same with the airport. You can’t see it from Chaweng, but you’ll get a clue when you see how low the planes are when they’re flying in and out. And getting there or back on the road takes a long time, too, and for the same reason – there’s no direct route. Fascinating, isn’t it? But if you’re wondering what this has to do with the price of fish then you’re denying your island education! Your perception of the island (mine too) is mostly based on what you see from ground level.
50 l www.samuiholiday.com
You’ll spend a week or so driving around, or getting taxis from here to there, and form an image of Samui that is actually quite distorted, believe me. Even if you clue yourself into Google maps it’s all still an abstract thing. What you need is a short, easy shot of reality. Nothing that will cause you days of indecision and planning, just a quick excursion out of Chaweng – no maps needed! And while you’re at it you can also tap into a vein of otherworldly spiritualism, take a load of totally stunning photos to whack on Facebook, plus get a sudden jolt of insight into the lay of the land. If you like culture and temples, this will be for you. If temples leave you unmoved, this will be for you too. Because what I’m talking about is the highest part of Chaweng. It shows
you, god-like, just where you are and just how close all the things already mentioned are. And it additionally gives you an objective perspective that you can feel (unlike maps). It’s five minutes away from the middle of Chaweng – and it’s free too. It’s called ‘ Wat Kao Hua Jook’. And if you stand anywhere in the region of Chaweng and spend a moment or two gazing around and upwards, you’ll see it. It the big golden spire on top of the hill that overlooks Chaweng. Plus all of the surrounding area, too. And to get to it you simply head out of Chaweng, whichever way the one-way system allows, and make your way to the ‘Lake Road’ which runs from the only ‘roundabout’ on the island, on theroad that hits the ring-road near Tesco-Lotus.
But you don’t go anywhere like that far. Somewhere close to ‘Ice Bar’ (big signs), you’ll see signs for ‘Q Bar’. Head uphill towards this. And it is a hill! It’s a first-gear ascent, bikes and cars alike. Keep going up and round to the right as you follow the road (no other choice, it’s a circle) and then you’ll finally hit the peak and find yourself outside this little temple. Culture vultures who stay on Samui usually head directly for the well-known but very commercialised ‘Big Buddha’ (Wat Phra Yai) at the end of Bangrak Beach. They then take in the lovely white many-armed statue just next to this at Wat Plai Laem. They do the Mummified Monk (Wat Khunaram) in the south, hunt for ‘Buddha’s Footprint’ in the same area, then check out all the other TripAdvisor spots. But very few of them ever go to Kao Hua Jook in Chaweng. It’s just not publicised.
www.samuiholiday.com l 51
In fact, as a temple, it’s no big deal. But the first thing you’ll notice as you ascend the steps is that all the buzz and hum of the ambient road noise simply evaporates. Make a deliberate stop halfway to the top. Take a few breaths, gaze around, and listen. It’s gone all quiet. A few crickets. A chicken rustling in the bushes. Keep climbing and keep looking around. There are a dozen little cameos off the path as you go – small sculptures – although how the ‘Three Wise Monkeys’ entered into Buddhist legend beats me. Perhaps they were there first. You’ll end up on a platform, in the middle of which is a huge room – on top of which is another level with the giant golden ‘chedi’; within which is a small temple-within-a-temple. Spiritual devotions aside, it will be impossible not to spend time walking around the whole 360 degrees and being entranced by the vista. Somewhere online I read that this hill was just 400 metres high. Numbers and facts have nothing to do with the experience. This is stunning. It’s just like being in the lap of the gods. You can look down on all of Chaweng and instantly realise how small it actually is. You can get a new perspective on Chaweng Lake and see how it fits in. And then there’s the airport. From up here it looks like you could spit on the runway. It’s right next to you! It’s disorientating. You’ll need to cross the platform to check on where Chaweng
52 l www.samuiholiday.com
actually is. Then go back again. And just follow your eyes to the end of the runway – it’s that big golden Buddha in Bangrak, right on the edge of the sea on the north coast. And, somewhere in the middle of all this peace and quiet, way up high, as your perspectives tumble and shift, as your sense of scale and distance changes, you might just hear one of the resident monks tuning in the satellite TV to an American cartoon channel! There is also a relic here, one of the many thousand ‘footprints of the Buddha’ around the world. The notice outside says it’s made of bone and came from India. But there’s no sign of it – just a gold-painted plaster cast in the top pagoda room with a box to put money in. I imagine that all the temples and monks (with all reverence) are dependent on the tourist dollar. But, either way, and Cartoon TV notwithstanding, up here, at Wat Kao Hua Jook, there’s a little bit of Samui that’s been shoved sideways away from the rest of the world outside. It’s your loss if you don’t go and seek it out!
Rob De Wet
54 l www.samuiholiday.com
THE MED
COMES TO SAMUI
The Cliff continues to draw crowds with its exciting cuisine. The Portuguese do amazing things with a wonderful spice called ‘piri-piri’ and combined with prawns, it’s heaven on a plate. But The Cliff offers so much more than that, so grab a seat and read on. They first opened back in April 2004, and have in fact just celebrated their ten year anniversary. That’s quite something to be able to boast about on Samui, with restaurants coming and going faster than the tides. But obviously, the team here got it right and have continued to do so. Owners Bradley Munns and Lionel Helena (who oversees Bondi Aussie Bar & Grill in Chaweng, which they also own), and Restaurant Manager, Nash Ludlow, head up the team here at The Cliff. They have obviously come up with a magic formula, because the restaurant has two sittings every night. Bookings are absolutely essential and if you want to eat outside, they need at least three days’ notice!
So who is responsible for the crowd-drawing food? The Cliff has two chefs, Executive Chef Sergio Martelli and Chef Adrian Torres Palomino. Chef Sergio has been here since the restaurant opened, in 2004. He’s originally from Italy, and after visiting Samui 14 years ago never left! He has worked in some wellknown restaurants in Thailand so is able to use this experience to run a tight kitchen and keeps patrons returning time and time again. His specialty is Mediterranean cuisine and of course, being Italian, creates wonderfully authentic dishes. Chef Adrian began his career in Lima, Peru, and has also worked in Spain, Cuba and New Zealand. From his experience in Navarra, Spain, he has produced the increasingly popular tapas menu that The Cliff now offers.
www.samuiholiday.com l 55
So now you know who is responsible for the food, let’s tell you about the food itself. All their vegetables are organic and flown in daily from Bangkok. There is a wide selection of fresh salads including a ‘Salami and sun dried tomatoes salad’, and being Mediterranean, there is good selection of breads too. Their selection of appetisers is pure deliciousness with a heavy seafood influence. Calamari fried in garlic butter; New Zealand mussels in a creamy white wine sauce; Portuguese piri-piri prawns; lemon and herb prawns; curried prawns; and a seafood platter for; and then there’s the Carpaccio, or the mouthwatering Parma ham with mixed salami, salad, marinated vegetables, olives 56 l www.samuiholiday.com
and French bread. And we haven’t even started on the main courses yet... The seafood section in the mains menu includes most of the same dishes from the appetisers but in larger portions. So if you want to totally overdose on delicious seafood, you can have the starter and main course. Fresh line fish is also available, caught locally and served with a choice of sides. There is also a rather amazing seafood platter for two which includes imported Atlantic lobster, king scallops, New Zealand mussels, calamari, prawns and fresh fish, served with Spanish rice or fries and salad. There’s something special
about sitting just above the sea and eating fresh seafood. The items on the grill menu are just as tempting. The house specialty is Portuguese piri-piri chicken, which has been marinated in their special sauce and cooked on a charcoal grill. Lemon and herb chicken is an Italian favourite, honey mustard chicken is a favourite the world over, and the Thai salsa chicken is subtitled ‘Delicious but not for the faint hearted.’
Their steaks are all Australian and never frozen, so you can be assured they haven’t lost any taste during their journey. All beef is aged further in-house, and by the time it arrives on your plate your knife won’t need to work hard at all - this is how steaks should be. Choose between a plain 200g fillet, a steak fried ‘the Portuguese way’ with a fried egg, a 250g rib-eye, a 250g fillet, a 500g T-bone, or three juicy lamb chops grilled to perfection. You can cover them in mushroom, garlic, blue cheese, pepper, BBQ or mint sauce. All steak dishes are served with button mushrooms and fondant potatoes. And of course with an Italian chef, there’s got to be pasta on the menu. Again, there are some common favourites, but there are some rather interesting sounding dishes too. The ‘Penne all’Gorgonzola’ is with blue cheese and sage, the ‘Fettuccine All’Gambetti all’Cognac’ is with prawns in a creamy, cognac sauce; and the ‘Spaghetti Frutti Di Mare’ again makes the most of seafood in a creamy herb sauce. The tapas menu is available from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm every day and has two distinct sections. Nine different tapas dishes can be selected and combined and include tiger prawns (available in a double portion), scallops, mussels, tuna, anchovies, and calamari all cooked with Mediterranean flair, and with olive oil, peppers, tomatoes and parmesan. But if you have a hard time deciding, there are three set menus that you can choose. And if you have space after all that, there’s the dessert menu. The tiramisu is heavenly!
Colleen Setchell
_________________________________________________________ For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7744 8508. www.thecliffsamui.com
58 l www.samuiholiday.com
BAR & RESTAURANT
Open from 10:00 am - 01:00 am (main kitchen), with pizzas being served until 1:00 am. For reservations and further information, telephone 077 961 648 www.spagosamui.com
Grill & BBQ, Thai Cuisine Fish and Seafood Open from 12:00 am - 01:00 am For reservations and further information, telephone 077 963 213 www.galangasamui.com
www.samuiholiday.com l 59
60 l www.samuiholiday.com
GREAT NEWS FOR FASHIONISTAS! Fans of NiCol B by Nikky Noodles London will be pleased to hear that she has opened another boutique at the exciting new Central Festival mall. “Your dresses should be tight enough to show you’re a woman, but loose enough to show you’re a lady.” – Edith Head. This is one of Nikky’s favourite sayings, and it’s proudly displayed in a frame in her studio. It reflects the NiCol B range well, as all garments are tastefully sexy, designed to flatter the female form. Nikky possesses a real talent for determining what will suit her individual customers. She has a knack for designing garments that show off the strong points and disguise areas the wearer would rather have hidden. You may know the NiCol B range from the boutique in the cosmopolitan Fisherman’s Village in Bophut. But now Nikky has opened another in the ‘Beach Plaza’ wing at Central Festival Samui – a resort-style shopping mall where a birdcage theme ties the fashion boutiques together. At this smaller store, Nikky carries her signature garments, predominantly maxi dresses and jumpsuits. Here, the range is smarter, offering more occasional wear, ideal for a special event. The colour is what first entices you into the store when passing. Bold blocks of colour, in all sorts of combinations which somehow work together. The brand was founded by Nikky and Colin in 2001, hence the company name NiCol B. Nikky and Colin hail from London, and she’s the designer behind the brand. On asking her how she’d describe herself as a designer, Nikky’s reply is, “I am an accessories junkie;
this is the source of inspiration for my creations. My pieces are full of colour and print, some harmonising, and some clashing. Silks, chiffons and leather are my guilty pleasures. My signature style is flirty and energetic, impeccably crafted and figure-flattering. Nikky Noodles designs are eye-catching investment pieces for the haute-hippie.” She’s by no means new to the world of fashion, and having graduated from the prestigious London College of Fashion, Nikky worked her way through the fashion floors as a buyer, merchandiser and stylist. She’s been in Thailand for nearly 11 years now, the last three being on Samui, where she’s built up a solid customer base of locals, expats and visitors. Nikky personally makes each and every garment in her range, and she’s in the studio at Fisherman’s Village, dealing one-to-one with her customers too, meaning that she gets direct feedback as she fits them in the style most flattering to their figure. As she explains, “Nobody has the perfect shape, what is the perfect shape and who actually makes this decision? We need to embrace what we have, faults and all. Designing is all about the cut, this determines the correct fit and therefore the style that best suits you. Once you understand your body shape, you create the perfect shape for yourself with your style.” For this reason, she’ll often try new designs on customers that come into the boutique, putting her designs on real bodies rather than mannequins. And she begins any new design on herself as a model, and starts tweaking it from there. Nikky’s signature garments are maxi dresses and jumpsuits, and in order to create a flattering
www.samuiholiday.com l 61
piece, she believes in starting at the bust, making that fit well, and then letting it skim over the hips to flatter the female form. It’s important to Nikky that her staff at the Central Festival boutique also understand that the female body comes in many forms, and that there’s something to suit all. And do she’s spent a lot of time training them for this very reason. They’re able to make suggestions on not only styles, but also alterations. But it’s Nikky who’ll personally do any alterations and adjustments down at the studio in Fisherman’s Village, which will include a fitting and a consultation with the wearer. Nikky knows that several big events hit the global fashion scene each year, and her new boutique is just the place to find the perfect outfit for events such as Wimbledon or the horse-racing. With Samui now attracting 1.8 million visitors a year, and Central Festival being a major draw card, Nikky’s designs are all over the world. Although many of the top brands are represented here, many shoppers are looking for unique designs that can’t be found elsewhere. NiCol B dresses come in a variety of forms, from mini to maxi dresses, and of course, her fun-to-wear jumpsuits. For a bigger range, visit the boutique in
62 l www.samuiholiday.com
Fisherman’s Village. And as garments can be made to order, customers can choose from 24 designs across a range of 15 colours, that you can mix and match. Prefer the top of one dress but the bottom of another? No problem. And you can play around with colour combinations too, as Nikky has the fabrics on hand in her on-site studio. So she’ll literally wrap you in the cloth and position you in front of the mirror to see if the colour blocks work together. Although she’s open to ideas, as the designer, she knows what works best and will advise you accordingly. All Nikky’s fabrics are imported and she only works with natural fibres such as silk, linen and rayon, and all are tried and tested as her own wardrobe. She chooses materials that not only hang well and are flattering, but also work well in all climates (not clinging to you in the tropical heat). They also wash well and don’t need ironing, making them great little dresses for travelling. Simply roll them up to pack, and hang them up when you reach your hotel. Who has time for ironing when on holiday? NiCol B garments can be dressed up or down, depending on the use of accessories. Nikky carries a few ranges in her boutique, all of which she’s sourced from fashion hubs such as London and Italy. You’ll find handcrafted
handbags by Hookman, as well as handmade ‘African Agate’ bracelets by Happy Annike.. Nikky describes her dresses as having a ‘60s and ‘70s influence – they’re feminine, with a sporty feel, and can be worn day or night. But by far the most interesting range is that of Nikky’s convertible dresses – one piece that changes into something completely different just by her pattern cutting manipulation. Secret inner sleeves, folds in the fabric and clever design mean that you get two equally as beautiful garments instead of one – again, a great holiday packing item. And NiCol B garments are not just for the ‘young’ but the young at mind and heart too. Nikky explains that the 20-to-30 year old bracket only makes up about 20% of her customers, with 40+ being her biggest market. Most dresses come in two forms, the classic, ‘toned down’ version, as well as the more edgy option, depending on your personality and dress style. If there’s an area of your body you’d rather hide such as the upper arms, Nikky will adapt a garment to draw attention away from this area, and towards your best features.
The two boutiques are quite different, so it’s worth popping into both. At Central Festival, a compact boutique carries a select range of the smarter signature styles, ideal for special occasions or a night on the town. The grey and slate interior of the store is the perfect backdrop to highlight the bold colours of the garments. Fisherman’s Village on the other hand, is a creative space – and here you’ll see the designer at work. This store carries a wider range of both the occasional dresses as well as more casual everyday wear. Nikky Noodles designs clothes to make women feel good, because she understands that not all women fit into the stereotypical mould. As Yves Saint Laurent said, “Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.”
Rosanne Turner
___________________________________________ For further information, telephone 0 847 716 948.
64 l www.samuiholiday.com
Iconic Beachfront Restaurant Daily Modern European Asian Cuisine. Oyster Sunday Brunch from noon - 4 pm. With breathtaking views and an unrivalled ambiance, RockPool is an unmissable Samui dining attraction. Resting on the rocks just a few metres above the ocean, the RockPool terrace offers an exquisite beach-side dining experience. Chef Christopher's menu is an a la carte journey embracing an exotic tapestry of the freshest ingredients, delicately prepared to enhance each individual flavour. RockPool is the perfect location for all celebrations, and is equally delightful for a casual, gourmet lunch or a romantic dinner. Sunday Brunch is a long, lazy affair. RockPool is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Samui Royal Holdings Project
RESERVATIONS: 077 234 500 LOCATED BETWEEN CHAWENG AND CHOENG MON. COMPLIMENTARY ONE WAY TRANSFER TO OR FROM YOUR RESORT. Email: info@kandaresidences.com www.kandaresidences.com
www.samuiholiday.com l 65
66 l www.samuiholiday.com
THE
TANTALISING PALATE
A look at The Palate restaurant, one of Lamai’s brightest places to dine. Perhaps I should have titled this ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. Because it’s a big part of the tale. On Samui, there’s only ever been two – Chaweng and Lamai. But somewhere in the ’90s, Chaweng began to grow. Maybe it was because of Chaweng’s long beach road, all 5 kilometres of it. Perhaps it was due to Chaweng being so close to the airport. But, one way or the other, between 1995 and 2005, Chaweng blew up like a balloon, further amplified by Phuket’s sad losses with the devastating tsunami in 2004. While this was happening, Lamai was declining. At the end of the ’90s Lamai had a busy, cheerful, laid-back centre, with lots of budget resorts, shops, restaurants and nightlife. But over the next five or six years businesses started to close. Then, as the surrounding area declined and prices began to fall, so it all turned around again. Big 4 and 5 star resorts appeared, snapping up the lower priced land. And existing hotels smartened themselves up and went upmarket. One of the most notable of these was The Pavilion. The Pavilion Samui Boutique Resort, to use its full title, seems to have been around forever. It’s always been a cut above the other local resorts, but several years ago, the owner, Khun Virach, gave it a complete makeover. Although it already boasted one of the best restaurants around, The Patio, this wasn’t overlooked, either. Already on board was one of the island’s most
capable Thai chefs, having previously been employed by the Amari Group for almost 20 years, having worked all over SE Asia, studied under a dozen eminent Italian master chefs, and ending up as a chef-teacher for the group, instructing other chefs in the finer points of Italian cuisine. He was not only a connoisseur of his own Thai culture but he was also one of the very few Thai chefs who were a master of regional Italian cooking, too. Therefore, when Khun Virach decided to take this outside and into the public eye, his passion, skills and expertise went along with him into The Palate, which opened last year right across the street from The Pavilion, in a blaze of publicity that was well deserved. In this part of Lamai the streets are quite narrow and twisty, village-like, although there’s a car park across from The Palate, next to The Pavilion. But this fills quickly at night. This means there’s a good chance that you’ll probably need to park nearby and stroll a little way. Look around yourself while you do. Make a note of the restaurants you pass. Most are quite attractive and you’ll see more than a few diners ensconced within. But you just won’t be able to miss The Palate. You’ll even feel the vibes before it comes into sight. This is one of the few eateries around that is bouncy, lively and up-key, and yet serves top quality Thai and International cuisine. In the daytime, it seems quite a small sort of place, unremarkable really. But at night, it really beams out.
www.samuiholiday.com l 67
The first thing you’ll notice is the cheery light and colour, with a quirky and offbeat downstairs décor that spills out and onto the pavement. The next will be that it just looks so full! But this is because it has an upper balcony terrace (everyone’s favourite spot, thus always busy!) which overlooks the street. But, as you go inside, you’ll realise this is all actually a kind of facade and it opens out into a big inner courtyard filled with tables and chairs, all rather Mediterranean in feel. There’s a large open kitchen to one side and also a closed room towards the back for those who prefer air conditioning. We all know that Thailand is the ‘Land of Smiles’ but honestly, they must give each of the staff here a happy pill every night. They all seem to be really enjoying their work and the quality of service is notably high. Scanning through the menu reveals one thing right away. All the Thai dishes are made with imported meat from Australia or New Zealand, and you just won’t realise what a difference this makes until you try them. There are the expected Eurostyle starters and mains, most of which display a touch of menu-flair with the enhancement of a Thai sauce or side dish. Here you’ll also find some of the best crispy-base pizzas around. All the seafood is fresh each morning from the nearby fishing village of Hua Thanon, and you can select it live from the display, if you wish. Yet another departure from the norm is the super freshwater king prawns brought in specially from the mainland. While we’re on the subject of the Thai menu, you’ll find some rare and cosmopolitan treats on offer. There is a wide variety of regional cuisine in Thailand, and yet quite often restaurants that cater for tourists simply offer what they think their visitors expect. But not at The Palate. You’ll find Chinese-based duck dishes, Bangkok-style fish balls and the hard-to-come-across crabmeat in a number of dishes – try the ‘green curry crab meat’, it’s just exquisite! But the measure of any chef and his menu is what they offer at the end – no matter how well a Thai chef can emulate western cuisine, he’s usually stumped when it comes to a dessert and just goes for ice-cream or fruit as a stopgap. But here there are cakes and cheesecakes and chocolate and a Samui ‘first’. The ‘Hot Chocolate Soufflé’ that appeared first at The Patio, then here at The Palate, and then spread across the island at an alarming rate. Few chefs of any nationality can claim this! But I think, all in all, there’s just one more stitch that sews up the deal. And one of the comments on TripAdvisor sums it up neatly. The last bit reads, “. . . the quality is like a hotel but the cost is the same as a street restaurant.” Way to go! And that’s yet one more incentive to get your palate tantalised at . . . The Palate!
Rob De Wet
_____________________________________________________ For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7742 4420.
68 l www.samuiholiday.com
HOLE-ISTIC FUN Football golf is great, but you won’t know how lovely the surroundings are until you try it!
70 l www.samuiholiday.com
Once upon a time, there were four football fans from Liverpool. They had dreams of seeing England play at the 2002 World Cup. At that time, there was a famous Dutch footballer who was afraid of flying. His name was Dennis Bergkamp and, alas, he had to drop out of his national team – he just couldn’t fly all the way to Japan. And so the four football fans formed a plan. This plan soon became a mission: they would all set off on ‘The Bergkamp Trail’ (as they named it), forging a route overland to the World Cup as a homage to the great Dutch footballer. This they did – but there’s much more to the tale, as one of those original four fans, Tom Roberts, will tell you. Today, Tom is the owner and manager of Samui’s Football Golf. And part of the story led to Tom now being on Samui. “When we started planning The Bergkamp Trail,” Tom explained to me, “We had no idea what was about to happen. First of all the local paper got hold of it and made a big thing about local lads heading off on the road to Japan. Then the national press turned up, plus TV crews from the BBC and ITV. We thought that was pretty neat but much later, when we eventually arrived in Japan, there was a Japanese national TV crew waiting to meet us! They wanted to make a documentary about the crazy Englanders that they reckoned had ‘walked’ all the way to the World Cup. Quite honestly, by that time we were broke and had only enough to see England’s first game. But the TV station paid our expenses, food and accommodation, and then FIFA picked up on the story and gave us free VIP seats to each game. We ended up staying for three weeks!” And Samui? “Well,” Tom continued, “we stopped off here en route. Within the hour, I knew that I was coming back. It wasn’t just one of the loveliest places I’d ever seen, but it had a feeling like nowhere else. I eventually returned two years later, teaching English to the staff of a big hotel. That was just before the fateful tsunami hit the west coast of Thailand. Then suddenly I was sitting in an empty classroom each day. Samui was swamped with the tourists who’d planned to go to Phuket, and the staff were all run off their feet and working overtime. That was when I knew I needed find new work. And it was also when I realised that I wanted to set up something that was unique – where I had no competition.” Tom’s lifelong love of football goes right back to his childhood, and he remembers playing football games: kicking the ball into a hole in the sand at the seaside, or under a chair moved round the garden. And so, in 2005, he opened his football golf course. But it quickly proved to be too small; people’s games were getting tangled up and there just wasn’t the scope for what he had in mind. He found a bigger and better plot, and in the Christmas period of 2011, began again with the new and vastly superior layout that he has today. Here there’s a total of ten rai (that’s more than three acres) on an intricately landscaped plot that runs uphill and downhill and is full of terraces and hummocks and gullies. The ‘holes’ are very cunningly screened off so you can’t see what’s coming next, like going in and out of a maze – if you’re imagining some kind of flat-level crazy mini-golf, forget it! Playing this course is a constant series of surprises; as you finish a hole and turn a bend, the screen of hedging opens out into another new challenge. Just like a real golf course you’ll see different kinds of grass: the ‘greens’ are neatly manicured whereas the main runs are of a tougher Japanese grass. Plus there’s even a third kind, a big square of ‘Astroturf’, at the heavy-wear areas where everyone begins a new hole.
www.samuiholiday.com l 71
There’s a nursery, too, with a team of seven full-time gardeners working constantly to clear any fallen debris and keep the grass and grounds as delightfully cared-for as any public park. In fact, the only other place on the island I’ve seen such immaculate expanses of turf and semi-parkland like this is on the real golf courses. But as well as being very pretty, there’s also some very clever sub-themes going on. Football is teeming with legends. David Beckham’s amazing ability to bend a ball in the air. Johan Cruyff’s hallmark ‘turn’. Roberto Baggio’s potentially World Cup-losing penalty miss for Italy. These, with another 15 of international soccer’s highpoints, are all a part of the theme of the course, with the manner of progress towards the hole being tied into this. And, at the start of each hole, there’s a neat little thatched sign, with the title of the hole and an explanation of the background to it. On the hole named ‘Baggio’s Penalty’, for instance, you’ll find a real mini goal where you have to finish by kicking the ball over the bar and not into a hole in the ground. (Yes, there’s even something for rugby fans!) Even the surroundings are matched to the theme – just check the screen of banana trees where you have to try to finish with a ‘banana kick’! And no, it isn’t all highly specialised and needing super soccer skills: just listen to the squeals of the family groups as they move around. “It’s just really good fun,” Tom continued. “People approach it at their own level. Mums, kids and grandpas get into it in a different way from groups of young people. You can be competitive and keep score, or just enjoy yourself. And there’s refreshments available – free when you get to the 11th hole! – plus you can hire trainers and socks if you need them.” You’ll find Samui’s Football Golf right on the edge of Cheong Mon. Coming from Chaweng, it’s on the right, immediately before the sharp turn by the Imperial Boathouse resort – just look for the imposing frontage with the coconut sculptures outside. It’s open from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm. And don’t forget your camera – it’s not only fun but it’s really pretty too!
Rob De Wet
_______________________________________________________ For reservations and further information, telephone 0 7742 6600. www.samuifootballgolf.com
72 l www.samuiholiday.com
74 l www.samuiholiday.com
ISLAND
CONNECTIVITY How to make sure you can use your smartphone or tablet on Samui. Thailand is one of the simplest and most straightforward places in the world to get connected. But the first thing for you to know is that the approach here is not the same as you’re probably used to back home. Very few Thai people have a monthly or yearly contract with their service provider. Everyone pays-as-theygo. This is the reason that the Thais have to buy their own phones and pay full retail price for them – there are no tempting promos or deals tying subscribers to a contract. But that also means it’s super-easy to get a SIM card and a number, and phones are not ‘locked’ to any provider. The downside is that most Europeans are shocked that package deals of free call minutes and free text messages don’t exist. And a short SMS to a friend back home will cost them 5 baht a time. What this means is that it’s really straightforward to use your own device in Thailand. But – it has to be unlocked. Many people who regularly travel abroad are aware of this and have gone down this path already. The only alternatives are to put up with expensive roaming charges, or simply to buy a cheap phone locally for the duration of your stay. You can hold onto it for your next visit, or give it to your favourite waiter or cleaning lady when you leave – they’ll be delighted! One thing to be aware of however, if you want to use your own phone - Thailand has a 4-band GSM network and CDMA-based devices won’t work over here. However, these seem to be predominant in the USA and most Euro-based phones will accept Thai SIM cards with no problem. There are three main service providers in Thailand, AIS, True Move and DTAC. It’s very much a case of ‘swings and roundabouts’, with each company regularly shaving pennies off costs with slightly different monthly promotions. These are all directed at the Thai people, however, and not generally broadcast in English. But as you’re not going to be bothered about saving a quarter of a baht-perminute off calls anyway, it’s not of much significance! Generally – and this is true for Samui – AIS and DTAC/Happy have the best coverage, although some of you might miss your 4G: Thailand hasn’t quite got there yet! Unless you’re flying direct to Samui, canny visitors have realised that they can get set up at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport when they arrive. You’ve probably got some time before your Bangkok Airways flight to our island, so head to the 2nd floor of the arrivals hall, near door 7. You’ll find that all of the three companies mentioned have stalls there that are open 24 hours, and they’ll provide you with a SIM that has a Thai number, explain the various voice and data packages available, install the card, activate and check it for you. It’s really very cheap to do as the SIM card itself is usually free and you can preload it with 1,000 or 2,000 baht, which is more than enough to make calls back home for a few weeks. The same goes for the internet connection (i.e. the ‘data packages’), all of which are applied to the same SIM card.
www.samuiholiday.com l 75
Exactly the same facilities are available here on Samui, with the service-providers having zeroed-in on the big supermarkets to place their kiosks. You’ll find that Big C and the branches of Tesco Lotus are the places to go to get set up. And if you’re running around with esoteric hardware, such as some of Apples more unusual devices, you can breathe again as all three service providers stock micro and nano SIMs. But after that, if you need to top up either your voice or data package, head for any 7-11. All of them now have staff who’ll understand your request and program your added hours into your phone for you. But do make certain that you have data credit too; if you haven’t, or it runs out, your time on the internet will deplete your pre-paid voice-call credit at an alarming rate. And don’t forget to save the little leaflet that came along with your SIM card. It contains your Thai number and details of what numbers to call to add or change a data package. Talking about data packages, it’s preferable to opt for one that is volume based (in megabytes) rather than time based (in hours). Doing it this way means that you can stay connected to the internet for email or SMS notifications without using up your time package. Believe it or not, 3G is a comparative newcomer to Samui and was quite expensive to start off with. But now that it’s become established, prices of data packages seem to be dropping almost monthly. The way to go about making changes to your data package is
76 l www.samuiholiday.com
quite straightforward. First work out what package you want and what it costs (details can be found on the company websites). Then go into any 7-11 and top up your phone to more than this amount. Then call customer service and ask them to set up the package, the cost of which they’ll deduct from your balance. Your smartphone or tablet will then function as usual, with the only difference being that you’ll have a Thai phone number associated with it. So if your mum wants to call you, all she has to do is to dial the country code for Thailand (+66) then your Thai number, but omitting the zero it begins with. It’s all really quite straightforward as long as you keep in mind that voice calls and internet access involve different activities, with two combined packages and costs on your Thai SIM card. Once you’ve got it sorted, you’ll realise that worldwide connective on our island is really very easy indeed!
Rob De Wet
Fine Beachfront Dining serving Thai, Seafood & International Cuisine. Chaweng Beach Road Chaweng North Tel: 0 7742 9400 Fax: 0 7742 9498 E-mail: reservation@norabeachresort.com www.norabeachresort.com
78 l www.samuiholiday.com
SAIL
AWAY! This year, the Samui Regatta celebrates its 13th anniversary.
As one would expect, boating is an important part of life on an island – be it local fishing boats, sailing boats or luxury private charter vessels. But come the end of May each year, the island’s boating scene is elevated to a new level, with the buzzword being ‘regatta’.
www.samuiholiday.com l 79
The 13th annual Samui Regatta is set to take place from 25th to 31st of May 2014, and is once again headquartered at Centara Grand Beach Resort in Chaweng. Since its birth in 2002, the Samui Regatta has grown to attract the best yachts in Asia, with over 40 boats and more than 500 sailors of 30 different nationalities participating each year. Also known as the ‘Tropical Island Regatta’, it is a highlight of the island’s social and sporting scene, and is famous around the world for providing world-class racing and putting on some of the best beachside regatta parties anywhere. Tickets to the 5-star Gala Dinner on the final night are highly sought after! The Regatta is organised by Regattas Asia in conjunction with the Samui Yacht Club Regatta, under the auspices of the Yacht Racing Association of
80 l www.samuiholiday.com
Thailand, the Municipality of Samui and the Sports Authority of Thailand. These organisations together have four key objectives: to increase tourists to the island, to increase awareness and participation in water sports in Asia, to establish Samui as a leading sailing destination, and to support youth education and sporting activities on the island. The event also generates an estimated 30 million baht worth of media coverage and over 18 million baht to the Samui economy annually. The first regatta in 2002, started with just 11 boats, mainly made up of beach catamarans, but the event soon gained a reputation for offering great hospitality and competitive sailing. The fleet has grown over the past 13 years into one of the most competitive in Asia, and is the final event of the prestigious ‘Asian Yachting Grand Prix’, a series of 5-star racing events held throughout Asia.
Skippers and yachts are awarded points at all events attended based on their performance, and the ‘Skipper of the Year’ and ‘Yacht of the Year’ are awarded at the last night’s awards and gala dinner, as a grand finale to the Asian sailing season. Following a number of management and name changes, Regattas Asia took over the organisation of the event in 2012 and have brought the regatta back to its roots, bringing back the name ‘Samui Regatta’ and returning the social events to their rightful place, on the beach. Regattas Asia continues to develop this theme with the introduction of a fun stand-up paddleboard challenge for all the crews to join in as part of the daily ‘Regatta Tavern’ activities. Sailing can be a difficult sport for spectators. However, the organisers have done
their best to involve them. Spectators can see the boats and sailors leaving the anchorage in front of Centara every morning, and returning every afternoon. The stand-up paddleboard challenge can also be watched from Chaweng Beach. Racing starts on Monday 26th May and takes place over five days, finishing on Saturday 31st May (note: there’s no racing on Thursday 29th May, as it’s a rest day). Spectators can also join in the victory celebrations, as the opening and daily prize-giving ceremonies are from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on the beach in front of Centara, and are open to non-participants at 1,000 baht per person per night, which includes light finger food and drinks, all supplied by the organisers. Tickets can be purchased at the door, or from the regatta office. Being on the beach, dress code is casual.
www.samuiholiday.com l 81
The closing party on Saturday 31st May is a more lavish affair, in the way of a sit-down gala dinner, located outside (weather permitting) on the lawn at Centara. Food is buffet-style and has a reputation for being a spectacular spread. Add to that free-flow drinks, and the tickets are a very reasonable 1,500 baht per person. Seats are limited and priority is given to sailors and their families, so it’s advisable for non-participants to contact the regatta office in advance to join the waiting list. Those that want to be close to the action and would like to follow the races more closely can buy tickets for a place on one of the spectator boats. Details and pricing will be made available nearer the start of the event, so keep an eye on the website for details. Another highlight of the regatta social scene is the opening party, hosted by Zico’s Brazilian Grill & Bar, across the road from Centara. This will take place on Sunday 25th May, before racing starts on the Monday, and will include the official opening, and accompanying speeches, and of course good food and
82 l www.samuiholiday.com
Fine Beach & Hillside Dining at Samui's Newest Venue Quality Thai, Seafood & International Dishes The Ultimate Samui Dining Experience!
drinks as well as some lively entertainment from the Brazilian dancing girls. What better way to escape the May heat, than to spend some time on the water with the breeze in your face – whether you’re taking part in the races (check the website for boats that are seeking crew), experiencing the excitement from a spectator boat, or just joining the celebrations at the ‘Regatta Tavern’ at the wind-down of each race day. A full events schedule can be found on the website, which is updated regularly, so don your sailing gear, get your sea legs ready. Let’s just hope the wind plays along!
Rosanne Turner
___________________________________________ For further information, visit www.samuiregatta.com.
The Barge Nora Buri's Signature Restaurant Chaweng North For Reservation Tel: 0 7791 3555 E-mail: thebarge@noraburiresort.com www.noraburiresort.com
84 l www.samuiholiday.com
HIDDEN GEMS
A real treasure trove of quality jewellery is to be discovered at Samui Lapidary.. Perhaps that should have read ‘hidden away gems’. Because this is one shop you’re not going to notice on the street. Everyone who’s ever come to Samui has gone away with souvenirs of their stay. But in the last few years, it’s not just been coral beads and hand painted sarongs. Along with all the presents for the family and the cheap and cheerful mementos, more and more people are becoming aware that there are also many quality items on offer. And of these, jewellery comes top of the list. Chaweng hosts several excellent shops where you’ll find gold and silver inset with precious and semi-precious stones. But one of the best of such establishments is off the beaten track. It’s over in Maenam. And its name is Samui Lapidary.
www.samuiholiday.com l 85
It’s a large, modern two-story building, that’s set back a little way from the road. And if you also add the name into the equation, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was probably some kind wholesale supplier of stones or machines and equipment. On the contrary, it’s a showroom, classically laid out in the traditional Thai style with parallel rows of glass-topped display counters, elegant and functional, and with no concessions made at all to the western frippery of window dressing or trendy interior décor. It’s not a place you’ll come across by accident, but that doesn’t matter. If you’re interested in looking around, they’ll provide you with a free pickup from your resort. The owner and mastermind of the project is long-time Samui resident, Khun Lek. She realised the growing potential of Samui as soon as it began building an airport, and so moved here at around the same time. Her family had connections in the Thai gold and jewellery trade and soon she opened her first shop in Chaweng. Over the years, she established four similar outlets, before consolidating them all into the premises you see today. But Samui wasn’t the only
86 l www.samuiholiday.com
place that drew her attention, and in the late 90’s she had similar intuitions about Bali. The result is that she now spends her time between the two islands, and each of her shops sells quality craftwork from the other location. The upper floor at Samui Lapidary is dedicated to Thai and Balinese ceramics, woodcarvings, textiles and other such objets d’art. Initial impressions on walking into the shop are two-fold. The first is that this is big! And the half-a-dozen staff on hand emphasise this. The second impression is that everything looks much the same. And if there’s an observation to be made here, this is probably due to the traditional layout, because nothing could be further from the truth. One aspect that tends to compound this feeling is the huge amount of stock that’s on display – it’s probably the biggest selection on the island. Whereas other similar establishments will display one style of ring, for example, and then let you know that any of nine other gemstones can be used with this setting, here they’ll put all ten of them side by side for you to compare.
Rings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, earrings, in yellow gold, white gold or silver settings: all are available as separates and many come as matching combination sets. Indeed, there are onsite workshops where their experienced gold and silversmiths can add to a combination, alter it for you, or even repair your own items or make matching accessories to your instructions. There are items in the traditional and somewhat formal Thai style, and many more that display a more adventurous approach. And the same holds true for the range and variety of stones and how they are deployed. Thai gemstones are strictly controlled, authenticated and regulated, and with a consistency and precision that other countries can mostly only envy. White and yellow gold comes in 14 and 18 carat grades but doesn’t carry a Hallmark
in the same way as the West, although with reputable outlets such as Samui Lapidary you’ll have no worries. Gemstones, particularly the diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, are carefully rated according to weight, clarity and rarity, with a minimum standard of 0.2 carats being the smallest stone permitted. Semi-precious stones such as topaz, garnet, amethyst, citrine and so on are similarly graded to assure consistency and quality. Here you’ll come across some rare treats, such as the orange sapphires that are specially imported from South Africa, together with other hues that are hard to come across. Black diamonds are always a conversation piece but you’ll be startled at the different presentations and settings here, particularly the matching sets of necklace, earrings and rings, in both classic and modern styles.
Probably the best contrast, when it comes to the classical and the contemporary, is in the case of pearls. In addition to the purity and elegance of the formal dress sets, you’ll be impressed with what can be done with the free-flowing forms of ‘wild pearls’ and the even more dramatic black ones. Indeed, ask to see the combination of pearls and diamonds together. Here, indeed, is a range of quality souvenirs to arouse the admiration and envy of your friends when you return! Khun Lek is canny. Although her lifelong background has been in the sphere of jewellery and gemstones, she also owns a restaurant. The reason? This coast was sorely lacking in good ones! And this one is excellent, named ‘The Farmer’, and it’s right across the road from Samui Lapidary. It’s one of the most tranquil and impressive settings anywhere, with a real rice paddy in the foreground (supplying the restaurant) and with a gourmet menu to die for. Plus there’s also a dining discount available, depending on how much you’ve spent at the gem shop. And don’t forget that complimentary pick-up, too. Samui Lapidary might be a ‘hidden gem’ but it’s really easy to get to!
Rob De Wet __________________________________________ For further information, telephone 0 7724 7845. www.samuilapidary.com
88 l www.samuiholiday.com
SAMUI
SAKYAN
Laung Por Yid Wat Nong Jok
Laung Pu Si Tha Ni yo
Ajarn Panthep
Sacred, spiritual tattoos, or 'sak yant' by Ajarn Panthep, who has studied the scripts as well as the art of sak yant for more than 20 years at various temples throughout Thailand. His teachings, along with the sak yant, will help to balance your four elements of earth, wind, fire and water, and therefore lead a more balanced life. It also opens up the body for good luck and happiness, and offers protection. Maenam Bophut
angkna1@youtube.com
146/43 Moo 4 Thongtakien bay, Maret Koh Samui Suratthani 84310 Thailand www.samuisakyan.com, www.spiritbuddha.com Email: samlek1012@windowlive.com, sam-1012@hotmail.co.th Tel: 0 86 9437464, 0 811 739 232
Nathon
Koh Samui
Chaweng Samui Yacht Club
Samui Sakyan
To Lamai
Lamai
SAMUI ONLINE How to find the information you really need!
Is it possible to imagine life before the internet? I try sometimes. But it’s all blurred, hard to focus on. It’s as if the very thought is so traumatic that my emotional protection kicks in. How on earth did we all manage? It makes me shudder to think of telexes or faxes or phone calls abroad made from licensed kiosks where you had to queue in line. And that’s just communication. I positively break out in itchy lumps at the thought of what we needed to do to collect information. Such dirty words as libraries and encyclopaedias spring to mind, and using these things took weeks to find stuff that was already long out of date. Zooming rapidly into the present, we’ve all now ungratefully accepted the internet. We take for granted its speed and the ease of it all. And we gloss over the fact that most of the time it’s as useless or as frustrating as those ancient encyclopaedias used to be. We believe that Google is the oracle that tells us all.
90 l www.samuiholiday.com
And we trust in what it gives us. But just enter the words ‘Koh Samui’ and then see what happens and where it leads you. However, it really depends what you’re looking for, and why. ‘Koh Samui’, for instance, bizarrely reveals a London fashion house of the same name. And then the rest of the page is littered with flight offers, travel shops, the ubiquitous TripAdvisor, several 5-star resorts on the island, plus the curious ‘Samui Airport Online’. But add an extra parameter or two, such as ‘Samui information’ and things become more interesting. Straight away, you’ll find some of the original ‘all about’ websites. (These sites purport to provide you facts, figures and info about all aspects of life, living, leisure and luxury on Samui.) It’s tempting to go in and explore them. And, in
many instances, the information is reliable. But keep it in mind that these sites are not community resources; their main aim is to generate an income from their sponsors and advertisers. They don’t employ staff to update information about beaches, roads, shops and restaurants in general, and often these pages remain untouched from the day they were authored. To get a ‘feel’ for the island, this kind of ‘catch all’ website is fine. You can enjoy the anticipation of your next holiday whilst sitting in your armchair at home. But experience says that most people Googling Samui aren’t just stargazing, they have something specific in mind. Top of the list here is accommodation. Gone are the days when you just had to cross your fingers and hope that the photos on the brochures were real; many of the resorts today have panoramic websites and a live online presence. In any case,
they are out in the open and under the spotlight – and now we’re talking about TripAdvisor. It’s been pointed out that TripAdvisor had one huge failing: it can’t, and doesn’t, check on the truthfulness of the submissions. It has to rely on people’s honesty. But, that aspect aside, the other failing is that everyone’s standards are different. However, it doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to be aware of this and read between the lines, quickly sorting out the reviews that are spoilt and petulant from the ones which are more easy going and tolerant. At this point you’re probably still in the planning stage anyway, and it’s all a part of the overall fun.
www.samuiholiday.com l 91
Because, you see, there are two aspects to Samui online. Everything mentioned so far has been happening before you come here. There’s plenty of time to do the research, narrow things down and follow them up. The majority of people coming to Samui have been here before, and it’s very much a question of adding to the information they already have – and that, in particular, applies to weddings. As well as the established independent wedding planners, there are so many hotels and resorts now offering all sorts of packages that word of mouth, TripAdvisor and online chat are all vital in helping you make the right decisions. And then . . . that’s it! You’re here. And now’s the time when you really do need to have information that’s up to date! The last thing you need is to read something online, and then make a trip out to a restaurant that closed down last year. And it’s not just wining and dining, either. Samui now has some world-class gift and jewellery shops, too, ranging from hard-to-find ethnic traditional crafts right through to gold and diamonds you could spend thousands on. And those 92 l www.samuiholiday.com
amazing walking streets – where are they and on what days? And have you ever thought about getting some dental work done? Not really a fun topic for a holiday, but sensible, nonetheless, as it’s work of an international standard and far cheaper than doing it at home – plus you don’t need to take time off from work either! There are a dozen websites out there to explore but, so far, only one we know is bang up to date. Most of the information you’ll find online is press releases or adverts or ‘advertorials’, paid for and put there by companies who want your business. But this one website is not only current, but it’s full of entertaining and informative facts and info that’s about as unbiased as you can get. It covers all the topics so far mentioned, plus a host of others – day trips out, hiring vehicles, exploring the interior of the island, detailed information about every local beach, spas, yoga and health, resorts, weddings, phones and going online – you name it. If it’s anything at all to do with Samui, it’s there.
2 Sp dis 0% a cou tr ea nt tm en ts on
Our Siam Ten Senses Treatment focuses on the ten main senses in human body. Restoring body systems and improving the balance.
Green Resort Green Spa Detoxifying and Slimming Program Healthy Thai Restaurant Natural Wing Health Spa & Resort 11/5 Moo 6, Maenam, Koh Samui, Thailand Tel: 0 7760 2111, 0 7760 2112 Fax: 0 7744 7243 Mobile: 0 819 682 796 Email: info@naturalwing.com, www.naturalwing.com
Fine gold and silver jewelry manufacturer with diamonds, precious stones (ruby, sapphire, emerald, etc.) semi-precious stones (blue topaz, amethyst, tsavolite, aquamarine, etc.) and pearls (cultured and South Sea pearls - Tahitian pearls)
Sorry, we hate to be immodest, but this is all true. And I can say so with confidence, because it’s ours! It’s the Samui Holiday website – the product of around 10 international feature writers, who have been doing little else but travel out to discover all about Samui. And so if you need to go online, just Google ‘Samui Holiday’ and take it from there. We think it’s one of the best – how about you?
Tailor-made with modern designs. We also offer professional wood carvings, paintings and local souvenirs. Most competitive prices and best quality on Samui. Open for more than 25 years, we are the largest retailer and producer on the island. All our pieces come with certificate of authenticity.
Rob De Wet
_______________________ www.samuiholiday.com Samui Lapidary, Maenam, Koh Samui Free transport service. Open daily 09.00 - 18.00. Tel: 0 7724 7845-6 Email: samuilapidary@hotmail.com www.samuilapidary.com
Осуществляем бесплатный трансфер ежедневно с 9.30 до 18.00.
BEACH
INDEPENDENCE Why Lamai’s Beach Republic is up there with the best! A few years back Samui was Samui. Meaning that things changed slowly. Sure, there were lots of new projects, but things expanded a bit at a time, and with the majority of resorts all following the same concept. Yes, the styling varied from one to the next. And, with a few exceptions, most of this remained fairly traditional, based more or less around established Thai architectural style – a resort was simply a place for visitors to stay when they came here on holiday. But, along the way, one or two places broke off from the basic concept. They offered something extra – a more up-to-date ‘lifestyle’ approach. And, of these, Beach Republic was just about the first. Beach Republic appeared on the Samui scene in the January of 2009. From the start, it was a gentle adventure in cool, bright modern styling, with very much a Mediterranean feel, if not the outright appearance. The most impressive feature was the roof: an embryonic essay in gigantic suspended and textured curves. Beneath this was a very chic and shady open-plan dining and lounging area, with the white and the bright red accents lending themselves keenly to the contemporary décor. This floor extended itself naturally out from under the roof, around the pool and towards the beach, creating another comfortable and laid-back area filled with immense daybeds, bright sunshades and pool loungers.
94 l www.samuiholiday.com
www.samuiholiday.com l 95
Out of sight from within the dining area, to the right was, another structure that hid behind an enormous rock: it’s a two-storey pavilion in a small area of its own, with a raised deck and an island-style bar. This is one of those marvellous spots that are ideal for a private function, being secluded and away from the throng, yet without feeling isolated or remote. Today, this part of the resort lends itself perfectly to a wedding gathering when there’s dubious weather: the outlook is open and beachside, and yet everyone is sheltered. And more about the weddings in just a moment! Everything here is solid and well-engineered, and these standards are mirrored in the quality of service offered in both the restaurant and the spa. The former runs an all-day tapas menu that’s a constant favourite in the warmer weather. The cuisine exhibits flair throughout, with daytime à la carte offerings that are varied and enticing. This switches to a more fulsome set of selections around about sundown,
96 l www.samuiholiday.com
as the evening dinner menu comes into play. There’s a tantalising variety of starters, soups and mains, with a varied and wide selection of seafood that comes in fresh each day. The pizzas are thin and crispy-based, and hand-made on the spot. The steaks are prime grass-fed Australian beef, and likewise the lamb. Plus, of course, there’s also a full menu of the most popular Thai platters, too. As up-market and satisfying as the restaurant is, the ‘Asian Fusion Spa’ excels itself and is easily the equal of those established dedicated day and resort spas to be found elsewhere on the island. There’s an essentially holistic approach here, with a vein of ‘New Age’ practice running throughout. The philosophy is to evaluate and select the most effective elements of Eastern and Western practices and healing treatments, and blend them into a spa menu that’s right for all individuals, according to their needs. This very comprehensive menu of treatments ranges right the way from straightforward beauty
treatments, through to well-being and pampering packages, rejuvenating processes, and onto the esoteric workings of Ayurvedic healing. Plus there are also packages that offer combined treatments and additionally cater for couples. But first and foremost, Beach Republic is a resort. And there are 39 sumptuous pool villas, luxury suites and penthouses here, all very quietly and privately secreted away on the gentle uphill slope towards the rear part of the lounge-dining area. These really are top-notch: each of the villas and penthouses have their own chemical-free fresh-water pool within a private walled garden, and the fittings come with such modern-day considerations as an iPod dock, flat screen TV with multi-cable network, stereo system, broadband Wi-Fi, and with kitchens (in selected villas) having a microwave and dishwasher. Needless to say, the quality furnishings and décor are as light, bright, fresh and modern as the rest of the resort.
Republic, particularly the secluded functions area and the Spa, we can guarantee that all will go smoothly.” But it’s also worth a note that, whatever you’re planning, you are warmly welcome to drop in for a while, whenever you fancy it. All the amenities are there for you, including the pool, the spa and the fitness centre. The only consideration is that during your stay you’ll be expected to spend a nominal amount while you’re there. Full details of this, plus all the other things detailed here, can be found on their website. With such super facilities and amenities, it’s hardly surprising that Beach Republic has become one of the island’s most favoured venues for weddings. The resort’s Resident Manager, Julie Glover, spends most of her administrative time with the ongoing correspondence leading to their planning. “Sadly,” she told me, “there are only too many other resorts where the vital preplanning correspondence breaks down. They have great packages on paper, but language or communication difficulties cause problems. Samui is perfectly placed midway between the Middle East and Australia to accommodate guests travelling here from within this region. We hold a wedding here every week to ten days, on average and I’m in daily contact with numerous wedding planners and brides-to-be. So far this year we have taken another 22 bookings and there are already half-dozen or so in place for 2015. With our experience, plus the marvellous facilities at Beach
98 l www.samuiholiday.com
So what’s it to be? Are you going to declare your independence and drop in for their cool-vibes Sunday brunch, footloose and single? Or are you thinking of renouncing all of this and taking vows to tie the knot? Or both, maybe! Whatever you decide, you’ll find the answers, and more, at Beach Republic!
Rob De Wet
__________________________________ For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7745 8100. www.beachrepublic.com
CDS 105x159-REV.pdf
1
4/22/2557 BE
10:34 AM
B I S T R O
CHEF’S DINNER SPECIALS “An epicuriean experience one should not miss”
Stephen Jean Dion, Executive Chef Overseeing the culinary team at Hansar Samui, Chef Stephen began his culinary career at Les Halles in Quebec, one of the most outstanding independent restaurants in Canada. A unique opportunity to be the Private Chef to the King of Jordan became a turning point in his career and he spent two years catering for the Royal Family. Stephen spent the next five years at Lebua at State Tower Bangkok. Within a few years became the Executive Chef at Sirocco restaurant. At our beachfront H Bistro Restaurant, Stephen has created a unique epicurean experience for guests where they appreciate the authentic taste of French Mediterranean Cuisine, in addition to a Thai menu.
H-BISTRO at HANSAR SAMUI RESORT & SPA W | www.hansarsamui.com T | 077-245-511
KAYAKING Explore the caves and beaches of the Angthong National Marine Park Offices located behind Bondi Pub in central Chaweng and on Chaweng Lake Road opposite Lake View For reservations please call 0 7730 0615 or 0 878 866 097
www.bluestars.info
TURNING UP THE Making your body stretch like toffee with Bikram Yoga.
100 l www.samuiholiday.com
accepted that the physical postures of yoga can help alleviate many health problems, reduce stress and keep the joints, especially the spine, supple. The postures, called ‘asanas’, stretch or work on certain parts of the body. The stretching allows for better blood flow, and with continued practice, increases the body’s flexibility. Bikram yoga is a special type of yoga which is conducted in a heated room. A set of 26 different yoga postures, along with two breathing exercises, are repeated twice every class. The heat warms your body through and allows you to work deeper into your muscles, tendons and ligaments. And there is a Bikram yoga studio right here on Samui, located on Chaweng Beach Road just above Dr Fish. Celebrating its fifth anniversary this year and called simply ‘Bikram Yoga Koh Samui’, it is owned by Lola Lavaud, and her husband, Alex Prestwich,. While the business is jointly owned, they split their time between two businesses, Lola pursues her passion of teaching yoga and Alex runs the popular Dr. Fish downstairs. The benefits of Bikram yoga are numerous: increased flexibility, toning and lengthening of the muscles, stretching and strengthening the spine, relieving and preventing back pain, releasing stress, ridding your body of toxins; improving your skin, breathing and respiratory system; improving your focus and patience, weight loss, improving your balance and coordination, balancing your metabolism and stimulating your auto-immune system, increasing your energy and stamina, sleeping better and basically enjoying an overall improvement in the quality of your life. The heat allows for a deeper and safer stretch, it increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients into the body’s cells, which in turn generate more energy. It burns calories (hence the weight loss) and builds endurance.
HEAT
Yoga is like a secret service, it works in the background without you even knowing. And suddenly when you least expect it, you suddenly find you’re stronger and more flexible, and realise that your body was working out the whole time. The ultimate goal of yoga differs depending on who you ask, but the same underlying theme is the quietening of the mind in order to see the true self or spirit. But apart from the spiritual aspect of yoga, it is now widely
If this all sounds too good to be true, why not stop by the studio and talk to Lola, or take a class and feel the benefits yourself. The classes are a whopping 90 minutes long (which is great value for money) and they certainly deliver. Class sizes vary between ten and 25 and the large studio is more than capable of holding larger classes throughout the high season. But beware, it’s a vigorous, cardio workout which will have you sweating out toxins in no time, so make sure you’re well-hydrated before taking part. Make sure you wear fitted clothing like shorts and sports bras/T-shirts, because anything baggy combined with sweat, is going to get tricky. www.samuiholiday.com l 101
102 l www.samuiholiday.com
Samui Discover authentic Indian Cuisine
Noori India Restaurant - Chaweng Center Chaweng Beach Road, opp. Chaweng Buri Noori India Restaurant - Chaweng South at Chaweng Cove Resort Noori India Cooking Center - Chaweng South Soi Colibri, opp. Centara Grand Beach Resort For reservation (English) - 0 867 407 873 or 0 7741 3108 For reservation (Thai) - 0 813 960 283 E-mail: nooriindia_samui@yahoo.com www.nooriindiasamui.com
NiCoL B by Nikky Noodles
Anyone can take part; you don’t have to be experienced, supple or even flexible. Yoga is a very personal thing, everyone’s bodies are different and you only need to do as much as your body is able. The large mirrored wall enables you to see your form, and Lola is always on hand to help and spends the entire class talking everyone through the postures. What to look out for, what to be careful of, how to breathe and, the most important, how to motivate yourself to keep going. But fear not, just because the same postures are repeated every class, doesn’t mean boredom sets in. Each class you attend will find you in a different frame of mind, and you’ll find your body reacting differently each time, with Lola always on hand to help. You’ll be able to see and feel your body getting stronger and you’ll be able to work that little bit harder each time.
LONDON
SHE FINDS COLOR IN THE DARKEST PLACES S H E F I N D S B E A U T Y I N T H E S A D D E S T O F FA C E S
ACCESSORIES & FASHION DESIGN STUDIO K O H S A M U I B R A N C H , F I S H E R M A N S V I L L A G E , B O P H U T, S A M U I M O B I L E: 0 8 4 7 7 1 6 9 4 8 , FA C E B O O K: N I K KY N O O D L E S EMAIL: NIKKYNOODLESDESIGNS@GMAIL.COM
104 l www.samuiholiday.com
The first 55 minutes are standing postures and after doing some warm up breathing exercises, you complete a few warm up postures, move on to some challenging balance postures, some forward stretches and triangle pose, to tree pose and toe stand before relaxing back in corpse pose to prepare for the next 35 minutes of floor postures. Some hip-opening, then spine strengthening, then back stretches and finally some breathing exercises to get rid of any toxins in the lungs. It truly is a full body work out. Because it’s a full body cardiovascular workout, Bikram yoga attracts a lot of men, but this workout appeals to everyone. Lola even has a 73 year old woman who attends regularly! Bikram yoga concentrates on the workout itself, there is no focus on the spiritual side of yoga you won’t find burning incense or statues of Hindu deities here. Classes are available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 am and 5:00 pm (note, this has changed from 6:00 pm), and Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00 am and 5:00 pm. Bikram Yoga also offer two yoga retreats per year at Kalyana Villa in the south of the island. A total of 14 classes are offered in a custom heated studio, one in the morning and one in the evening. Personal corrections and guidance are offered to improve your yoga practice and all meals are prepared by a private chef. Afternoons are free for you to relax by the pool, on the beach or go out and explore the island. They also offer a range of yoga clothing at their studio called ‘Mad for Yoga’ so if you find local supermarkets lacking, this is the place to stock up on some suitable yoga outfits.
The restaurant where every evening becomes a memorable occasion.
So come on, give Bikram Yoga a try. Maybe it’s just what your body needs.
Colleen Setchell
______________________________________________________ For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7796 0511. www.bikramyogakohsamui.com
For reservations please contact: Anantara Bophut Resort & Spa, Koh Samui Tel: +66 (0) 77 428 300 Email: bophutsamui@anantara.com Skype: bophutsamui
SCL International School
International Education from Pre-school to Secondary Educating the Mind Nurturing the Soul
Small classes Individual education plans Fully qualified teachers A family atmosphere
With these qualities, it’s not hard to see why the children at SCL are achieving so much A warm welcome is extended to anyone who wishes to visit the school
SCL International School
206/26 Moo 4 Maret, Lamai, Koh Samui, Surat Thani 84310, Thailand Phone: 0 7741 8789 Mobile: 0 810 910 714 Email: emma@sclinternationalschool.com www.sclinternationalschool.com
106 l www.samuiholiday.com
COCONUT HEALING
Hansar offers the ultimate escape with Luxsa Spa. In recent years, coconut oil has shot to superstardom in the world of health. Celebrities are using it, nutritionists are recommending it, and patients are praising its many virtues. Some claim that it can help with diabetes, cancer, kidney and liver function, vitamin and mineral absorption, digestive problems, immune function, weight loss, as well as neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s. From all the glowing reports, coconut oil appears to be a super-food with a multitude of nutritional and medicinal uses. So, with the skin being absorbent, it makes sense that the benefits of the humble coconut and its flesh and oil can
be used not only internally, but externally too in the way of body treatments. Hansar Samui resort uses as much organic produce as possible, not only in its kitchen, but also in its Luxsa Spa – in fact, many of these ingredients are grown right there in the hotel’s own organic vegetable and herb garden. And with Samui boasting more varieties of coconuts than anywhere else in the world, it makes sense that a spa that prefers to use local products has developed a range of treatments and packages based around the coconut.
www.samuiholiday.com l 107
108 l www.samuiholiday.com
So if you’re looking to pamper yourself (or someone else) while on the island, do try the Luxsa Spa’s Coconut Healing Package. Here’s why: The two-and-a-half hour ‘Coconut Healing Package’ (3,500 baht ++) starts with a relaxing floral footbath using essential oils, followed by half an hour in a herbal steam room. When you’re all hot and steamy and your pores have opened up, sink into a deep, aromatic bath with floating petals, and sip on a pot of herbal tea to rehydrate and cleanse from the inside. Lie back and let the herbs and balmy water do their job of opening up your pores even more and preparing your body and mind for the treatments to follow. Just as you feel ready to doze into dreamland, you therapist will ring a little bell, letting you know you have five minutes left until she returns for the next stage of your treatment. Next you’ll be scrubbed and polished for an hour with a homemade coconut body scrub, removing dull surface skin cells, rejuvenating the skin, increasing your blood circulation, leaving you soft and tingling all over, and heightening your senses. The coconut fibres do a great job of gently exfoliating, while the rich coconut oils prevent the skin from drying out during this process. Luxsa’s therapists are expertly trained, and apply just the right amount of pressure during the body scrub, concentrating on areas such as elbows, knees and heels where there’s rough or dead skin, but being more gently where the skin is tender, so this is a relaxing and painless process.
Welcome to Sa-ard’s Watersports Center on Koh Samui. Where everyday can be an aquatic adventure – above and below the crystal clear blue waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Join us and discover what r eally makes these islands so very special. Our brand new catamaran Fountaine Pajot Belize 43 “Kindred Spirit” can comfortably take 15 people on a day trip and sleep 6 people on over-night excursions. The starboard hull has a double stateroom with ensuite bathroom and living area. There are also two double state rooms in the port hull with a shared bathroom. You’ll also find a large galley and a living area with CD/DVD player and a 28 inch colour TV. All the cabins and living areas are fully air-conditioned. Sa-ard’s Watersports Center also offers Private Speedboat tours to the beaches and snorkeling destinations of the surrounding islands.
A wash under the high-pressure rain shower is next to rinse the coconut scrub. Now your skin is ready to absorb the rich coconut cream during your hour-long massage, when all your tension and stress melts away under the expert touch of your therapist. Prior to your treatment, you’ll be asked by the spa manager how you prefer the pressure during your massage, and at any time if you’d like the massage a little firmer or softer just let your therapist know. Coconut oil and cream are excellent for massage, as they are an effective moisturiser on all types of skin, including dry skin. Should you not have the time for the full package, or prefer to have only a massage, there’s the option of a 90-minute coconut cream massage (2,800 baht ++), so you can still unwind and enjoy the benefits of the coconut with this shorter package. What’s unique about Luxsa Spa is that the treatments are customised for each client based on information given on the pre-treatment form. According to Thai medicine and healing, the four body elements of earth, water, air and fire need to be balanced throughout life. Spa Manager,
Manager and Skipper is Sa-ard, one of Thailand’s most celebrated windsurfers. He took part in the Olympics 1984 in Los Angeles and 1992 in Barcelona, was a long time member of the Thai National Windsurfing Team, has been Asian Champion and 5 times Gold Medal Winner in the South East Asian Games. You simply could not be in better hands!
Khun Jern, works out which is your element, based on birth date as well as other factors and this will determine which herbs, spices and other products are used in order to benefit the most from the treatments. In the case of the Coconut Healing Package, this will be in the form of the herbs used in the bath as well as the steam room, and also in the herbal tea served. If you’d prefer your spa treatment with the breeze in your hair and a view of the beach, then try out the new ‘Luxsa Spa Beach Menu’, which can be enjoyed, as the name suggests, alongside the pool in a sala overlooking beautiful Bophut Beach. You’ll find various massage options available, as well as a foot scrub to make feet ready for summer sandals. Highly recommended is the ‘Beachside Signature Massage’, which is a pre-sun tanning massage using Samui virgin coconut oil. It’s a perfect way to start your holiday with a top-to-toe circulation boost, and helps to prevent sunburn, overcome jetlag and relieve stiffness and aches and pains from travelling. It’s a gentle and soothing massage that brings together elements of aromatherapy and lymphatic massage, combined with the therapeutic qualities of oriental aromatic essential oils. It’s designed to strengthen the body’s vital energy and leave you with a renewed spirit. Like the rest of Hansar, Luxsa Spa is tastefully decorated with a minimalist look using natural elements and an ‘Africa meets Asia’ feel. Attention to detail is noticeable, such as fragrant oil burners, iPod with relaxing music next to the deep floral bath and bowls of floating flowers under the face opening of the massage beds, so you’re not staring at the therapist’s pedicure. Add to that, candles and subdued lighting, thick fluffy towels, gowns and slippers as well as impeccable service, and premium spa products, and you can see why Luxsa Spa has become one of the spas of choice on Samui for the discerning spa-goer.
Rosanne Turner
____________________________________________________ For reservations or further enquiries, telephone 0 7724 5511. www.hansarsamui.com
110 l www.samuiholiday.com
S A M U I
ENJOY THE VIEW • FEEL THE QUALITY • LIVE THE LIFESTYLE
Beach
Acces s
Pub l
ic R
oad
PLOT 1 PLO T2
(SOLD)
PLOT 3
LD)
PLOT 5 (SOLD)
(SO
PLOT 6
4
Under Construction
Royal H ol
dings Ro
PLOT
PLO T 15
PLO T 14
2
Sea
16
B Acceach ess
ad
PLO T1
PLO T1
PL OT 9
(S
1
Samui
8 OT ) PL OLD
PL OT 10
L
(SO
PLO T 13
T7 PLO D)
PLOT
(SOLD)
EXCLUSIVE BEACHFRONT AND SEA VIEW LAND, TOTALLY 16 PLOTS, 10 PLOTS REMAINING FOR SALE
S A M U I
PLOT 9 PLOT 18
PLOT 17 SOLD
PLOT 10
SOLD
SOLD
PLOT 11
SOLD
T 19 PLO PLOT 7 PLOT 8 SOLD SOLD
SOLD
PLOT 6
SOLD
PLOT 15
SOLD
PLOT 13
SOLD
SOLD
PLOT 2
PLOT 4 PLOT 3 SOLD
PLOT 12
PLOT 16
PLOT 1 PLOT 5
Canal
mer
or Tranf
SOLD
SOLD
PLOT 14
19 SEA VIEW PLOTS FOR SALE (14 SOLD), 5 BEDROOM VILLA & SEPARATE GUEST VILLA FOR RENT OR SALE
Plai Laem Soi 8, Choeng Mon, Samui, Thailand
PLOT 3
Contact : Mr. Yo 081 537 3088
PLOT 2
PLOT 1
Completed Villa
sales@naraikiri.com yochaweng@hotmail.com o
LUXURIOUS 6 BEDROOM MAIN VILLA WITH 360 SEAVIEWS AND SEPARATE GUEST VILLA FOR RENT OR SALE & 1 PLOT FOR SALE
Pub li PLOT 1
PLOT 12
ad Ro
PLOT 11
PLOT 10
PLOT 6
Public Road
14 SEA VIEW HILL SIDE PLOTS FOR SALE, STARTING FROM 1.6 MILLION BAHT
ad
SAMUI ROYAL HOLDINGS SKYLINE RESIDENCES HILLSIDE PROJECT
PLOT 9 PLOT 8
PLOT 7
c Ro
PLOT 13
PLOT 3
PLOT 5
www.samui-ultimate-samui.com
PLOT 14
PLOT 2
PLOT 4
www.naraikiri.com
NARAI KIRI RESIDENCES
KOH SAMUI
112 l www.samuiholiday.com
NIGEL’S NIBBLES Nigel Mills is passionate about his catering business.
You either cook or you don’t. And if you do cook, you either do it because you have to or because you really enjoy it. If you fall into the latter category, you probably enjoy experimenting and making up dishes with all sorts of different ingredients. When you’re on holiday, the last thing you want to do is worry about cooking. After all, this is your ‘relaxing’ time. So what better time to take advantage of has become a popular catering service on the island? Nigel Mills was born and raised in Venice Beach, California, on the west side of the city of Los Angeles. He’s lived on Samui since 2003, after becoming one of many who fell in love with this tropical paradise. Back in the US, Nigel slogged away at his desk for 16 hours a day working for an IT company, and it was only when he visited Samui for the first time that he began to question his career and lifestyle. Luckily fate stepped in, and after a company reorganisation, Nigel was free to return to Samui where, after recently learning about frisbee golf in America, established his own course on the island, in 2005. He started preparing barbecues to attract people to the frisbee golf course and that was when the magic started. News of his tasty barbecues spread quickly and soon he was being contacted by people asking him to cater for their private parties, and so Nigel’s BBQ and Catering was born.
www.samuiholiday.com l 113
Now a successful (and busy) business, Nigel caters for pretty much anything and everything. He is dedicated and passionate about his business, and this is evident when he describes how he makes his ‘beer chicken’ or how he makes all his own spice rubs and dips. He buys everything from the market on the day of the event so you can always be sure that everything is freshly prepared just for you. He makes all his own salads too and along with the favourites such as potato salad, coleslaw, and pasta salad, he can also prepare some more creative salads such as a pomelo salad with toasted peanuts and a Thai dressing. His prices include pretty much everything so you don’t have to worry about getting a nasty surprise when the bill arrives. All preparation, food, white linen table coverings, waiting staff (who always look smart in their uniforms of crisp white polo shirts and black aprons), crockery, cutlery, and napkins are included – you’ll need to provide your own tables and chairs though!
114 l www.samuiholiday.com
Your One Stop Chill Spot
www.impiana.com 91/2-3 Moo 3, Chaweng Noi Beach, Koh Samui, Suratthani 84320 Thailand Tel: 66 (0) 77 448994
A big part of Nigel’s business is catering for weddings. He has four packages available - Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Don’t for one second think that the Bronze package has snack food and the Platinum package is an excessive buffet. The difference is in the variety of dishes, and it can be anything from simple canapés to mixed seafood or a spit-roasted pig. If you view his packages and want something added or taken away, don’t hesitate to ask, Nigel prides himself on being flexible. He is no stranger to catering for large groups of over 100 guests, so no matter how big or small your group, call first and Nigel will do his best to accommodate you.
Fax: 66 (0) 77 448999
Email: info.kohsamui@impiana.com
Enjoy the beauty of the underwater world the easy way. Seawalking is the newest and most innovative attraction to hit Koh Samui. It is the safest underwater adventure and fun for all the family
Nigel also caters for birthday parties, anniversaries, celebrations and staff parties - in fact for any event, even children’s parties. He also does cocktail parties with a selection of wines, cocktails and finger food which are great for smaller gatherings or staff parties. His passion for cooking means the finger food won’t be something as simple as sausage rolls, but rather tasty delights such as mini roast potatoes served with crème
Just stroll along the seabed in 10 feet of crystal clear water and observe the sea life as it swims around you. You need no lessons or swimming ability. For more information contact Tel: 0901 650411 www.underseawalking.com
fraiche, caviar and lemon zest or perhaps a wonton basket with fresh tuna, sushi sauce, wasabi, avocado and toasted sesame seeds. Nigel goes out of his way to provide nothing but the best for his customers. He can travel to anywhere on the island and can also hop across to Koh Phangan for you, and even went to Phuket for one event (but obviously his costs are adjusted to include travel). At Christmas time, if you give him enough notice, he will prepare a turkey or ham for your Christmas lunch; complete with sides of stuffing, creamy mashed potato, broccoli or cauliflower cheese, cranberry sauce ... you get the picture. And when he’s not working for his catering business, he’s cooking food to keep his frisbee golf guests entertained. The course meanders through a large plot of land amidst shady trees and coconut palms and consists of nine baskets (holes) to challenge you. Once you’re finished your game, you can then relax with
116 l www.samuiholiday.com
at Akyra Chura Resort open noon - 22.00h reservation 077 915 100 www.theakyra.com www.facebook.com/Theakra
Magic Alambic Rum Distillery on Samui
another one of Nigel’s magic creations - pizza! Yes, he offers pizza, chicken wings, drinks, and sandwiches here for you to enjoy before or after your game. If you call up first he can even do his famous barbecue for smaller groups. So if you’d like to combine a party, frisbee golf and a delicious barbecue, then give Nigel a call. It’s guaranteed to be a day of fun.
Colleen Setchell
__________________________________________ For further information, telephone 0 816 767 754. www.kohsamuicatering.com
Choeng Mon
Pure alcohol made from a selection of fine fruits and sugarcane brewed French-style. Visit our Garden Bar for tasting and buy some bottles of rum. Tel: 0 91 816 7416, 0 7741 9023 E-mail: ludovic.trantoul@gmail.com www.rhumdistillerie.com
Nathon
Taling Ngam
Koh Samui Magic Alambic
Baan Thale Baan Bang Kao
118 l www.samuiholiday.com
BOOKMARKS Make a note of The Library in Chaweng – you’ll be coming back again! Time passes. Things change. Chaweng’s moved on from the days when smiling hippies populated the beach huts. And it really doesn’t matter whether you cling longingly to the past or just adore the present. This is Samui today. It is what it is. And one of the facets is that its food and drink direction has been changing too. Not so long ago the whole central area of the beach road was littered with cheap places to eat, right on the street. It was cheerful enough but it surely wasn’t classy. Few of these have survived. Now there are bistros and sports pubs that offer quality upmarket food. And then there’s The Library, which is way out in a genre all of its own. Mind you, you may not even notice ‘The Library’, but that’s mostly on
purpose. It’s actually a beachside resort, very discretely tucked away down a side-entry that’s just a burger’s throw away from McDonald’s. And it’s very cool and laid-back. Not in the party sense – it’s all far too stylish and refined for that. But the interesting thing is that this up-market example of décor and design is actually a minimalistic phoenix arisen from the ashes. Because, once upon a time, there used to be a group of little beach huts on this site; the land has been in the same family for generations. The family’s eldest son, Khun Pang, came out of university with a degree in accountancy and marketing, and in 2007 (after three years of planning, research and construction) opened the doors on what is still one of the island’s most impressive resorts.
www.samuiholiday.com l 119
Nearly all of Samui’s Chaweng-based resorts have tried (mostly very successfully) to fit the maximum number of bungalows into their plot. The result is a characteristic and attractive jungle of riotously-tropical greenery that effectively screens and blends with the closely-placed buildings. Thus, it comes as something of a shock to enter through the portals of The Library. It’s an essay in the tranquillity of space – of which there is a great deal. Everything is simply geometric at first sight - the huge rectangular lawn through the centre, the neat clean lines and tones of the suites and studios that form a fringe on the boundaries. This is echoed by the pool, the restaurant, and the glass cube of the actual library (yes, they do have one!). But it’s like Pandora’s Box. Within
120 l www.samuiholiday.com
each of these simple cuboids, there teems a world of individualistic and quirky design elements that constantly play aesthetic games in counterpoint to the simple exterior geometry. Probably the best way to experience what I mean by this is to drop into the ‘Drink Gallery’. It’s outside, on the main road; a big expanse of raised wooden decking fringed by studio-shops, and with a gigantic cube of glass to the left of this. It’s a two-floor construction but – as with all that space in the resort itself – there’s only one floor inside, endowing the entire volume with a floating sense of lightness and space. The two
www.samuiholiday.com l 121
vast inner walls are of raw concrete, with the one behind the bar-counter dominated by an immense painting of a young oriental woman’s inscrutable face. Beneath this, the bar shimmers with the stacked hues and shapes of many of the rarer blends of bourbons and ryes, these contrasting warily with the strange twists of the almost alchemical shapes of the cocktail apparatus. The tables and chairs don’t match: yet each is a small masterpiece of design flair, and this is what provides unity in their disparity. The cutlery is placed vertically on the tables. The cocktails here come in cans, tubs, enamel mugs, bottles and glasses of every size and shape, from test tubes to laboratory flagons. The drinks are carried over on slabs of slate or driftwood and the food is served on a whole range of different bold and chunky handmade studio ceramics. At first glance, you just won’t take it all of this in. But every few minutes you’ll spot something different and smile to yourself. Which is all very well, but not worth a bean if this is just window dressing and there’s nothing of substance to back it all up. Cocktails are found everywhere on Samui. And so is good food. But not like this! The food is simply exquisite. It’s gourmet quality (big portions, too) but without pretension. The cocktails warrant (and have already had) a series of articles in their own right, each being individually designed by the internationally famous mixologist, Dhasan ‘Golffy’ Prabhananda. And both of these superlative elements, the food and the drink, now come together on one great mini-menu – ‘Pairings’.
122 l www.samuiholiday.com
Basically, this is a set menu with choices. It goes ‘Starters’, ‘Lead Libations’, ‘Mains, ‘Master Concoctions’, ‘Dessert’ and ‘Ending Brews’. In other words, drink, eat, drink, eat, drink again and so on! Essentially, you get to eat three dishes from a choice of seven and three cocktails from a choice of six. And to give shape to this, consider as an example the ‘Pan Seared Salmon Fillet with Asparagus, Capsicums, Zucchini and Sweet Pumpkin’ wetted by the ‘Unconventional Hickory Smoked Manhattan’ – a dynamite blend of Makers Mark, Cherry Heering and Angostura Bitters, mixed and blown into a sealed bottle with hickory smoke which comes packed in ice in a dinky little galvanised tin tub. But everything goes up one more notch again after dark. This is when you need to make your way through and down to towards the beach and the resort’s fine-dining restaurant, ‘The Page’. I’ve set the tone already in terms of décor, style and quality – but an evening at The Page is positively velvety. And the one thing to aim for, amongst many, is the ‘Tenderloin of Wagyu Beef MBS 9+ served with red wine sauce, cream mushroom sauce and pepper corn sauce and complemented with vegetables, salad and Parmesan cheese’. It is simply out of this world, and that amazing marbled beef is so juicy and tender that you’ll only need your fork to cut it. The quality and standards of eating out in Chaweng have been rising steadily over the years and you’re now spoilt for choice. But if you want to get yourself really spoilt, then you’ll head down towards The Library. Don’t forget this – bookmark it right away!
Rob De Wet
_______________________________________________________ For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7742 2767-8. www.thelibrary.co.th
This is the original health destination on Koh Samui offering only the best Vegetarian, Raw and Healthy Thai Food. Listed as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world. Over 17 years serving the freshest mouthwatering healthy food. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Daily @ both locations 7:00 am until 9:30 pm. Radiance is a part of The Spa Resorts.
BEHIND
THE SCENES The story of a company which makes hundreds of weddings burst into bloom each year.
124 l www.samuiholiday.com
When you weigh the costs of a traditional wedding in Europe against the cost of tying the knot in Thailand, there’s just no contest. In fact, it can cost less to pay for your close family and friends to go away with you. The usual thing is that they’ll pay for their flights and you’ll foot the bill for their accommodation for a week or so. Plus, of course, you’ll be throwing pool parties, paying for the drinks, funding beach barbecues, and even hiring Thai masseuses for sessions round the pool as part of the deal. And the price of all this enjoyment and fun, on a wonderful tropical island, is still no more than the (now gigantic) cost of a traditional church wedding in Europe, counting the reception, plus the catering, DJ and party afterwards. This has led to several things. One is that almost every quality hotel and resort now offers various wedding packages. Another is that quite a few independent wedding organisers have also sprung up. There are even well established companies that are based abroad – in Europe and Australia. These companies are thoroughly experienced and know the pitfalls involved, how to avoid them, what’s needed and how to find it, plus all the legal ins-and-outs. And they have a reliable set of contacts on Samui to help organise all of this, including accommodation packages, the resident celebrant, the catering and entertainment, photography and flowers. Speaking of which . . .
www.samuiholiday.com l 125
Flowers and floral arrangement never really come high up on the wedding-shopper’s list, yet few would dream of a wedding going ahead without them. Which then rather poses the question . . . have you ever given a thought to how this all happens? I mean, just check out that vase of flowers on your balcony. And so that floral arch, the colour-coordinated bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids, the sprigs of orchids on every table, plus the vases and bowls of fragrant blooms that are dotted about – they don’t just suddenly appear. They’ve not only had to be worked on, created and arranged, but the flowers don’t even grow here! They’ve had to be ordered, stored, put together to your design, then stored again, to be delivered on your wedding day. And all of this is quite
an exercise in experience and skill, not to mention forethought and logistics. Just like every other element of putting a wedding together, this happens in the background. The bride (usually!) orders these things and then the organisers make sure they happen. There’s no need to know more, or to think any further than this. But for those who are quietly making sure that all runs according to plan, there’s a whole world of non-stop activity buzzing under the surface. And that’s why you’ll very often see the blinds down, but the lights still burning in the early hours of the morning, at OK Flowers Samui. Khun Jew was born in Bangkok. On leaving school, she found work as a trainee florist in a big 5-star hotel.
She liked the work and there was a lot to learn. Flowers, and their arrangement and display, play a big role in quality hotels, from breakfasts to banquets, in the rooms, in the lobby and around the hotel. Khun Jew learned her art in this way, not just helping to maintain the ambient décor of the hotel, but creating displays for VIP functions and royalty, too. Three years later an opportunity arose on Samui, and she moved here to become the resident florist at the 5-star InterContinental Samui and then later, at Four Seasons Samui. And some time after this, she set up in business on her own in Maenam. Today she works in association with not just individual resorts of all sizes and shapes, but with the big wedding organisers on the island, too. She is pleasant, super-organised, but humble with it, refusing to boast about her big-name clients or claim any credit for their functions. “I love working with flowers and I love to think that I’ve played a part in somebody’s very special day,” she told me. “That’s all I want. Sometimes I’ll get several weddings at the same time and my family help out, often staying up and working for 30 hours at a time and taking naps on the floor when we have to. It’s the most satisfying thing I can imagine, knowing that the work I love doing is adding to someone’s happiness and enjoyment.” But it’s not merely hard work; it also requires experience, reliable contacts and a flair for organisation and planning. She orders from
126 l www.samuiholiday.com
...living by the sea... Ease yourself to the sound of gently lapping waves and enjoy the breath-taking sea views. Savor Mediterranean bistro culinary delights & modern Thai specialties, for a unique beachfront dining experience.
Peace Resort 178, Moo 1, Bophut Beach Koh Samui, Suratthani 84320 Thailand Tel: +66 77 425357 | Fax: +66 77 425343 www.peaceresort.com | seawrap@peaceresort.com
suppliers in Bangkok, well in advance of the functions, and has to organise all the delivery schedules to be right on time for when they’re needed. Hence the refrigerated room where fresh blooms are stored beforehand, and then again, when made-up into wreaths or arches. (She also stocks beautiful dried flowers and natural woods for alternative arrangements.)
Le Jaroen “A Secret World”
Probably the most enchanting restaurant on the island for an unforgettable romantic evening. Induldge your senses with an exquisite 5 course Chef’s Signature Menu or 4 course Thai Degustation Menu.
And she’s well versed in handling Thai and Indian weddings too, as well as the usual avalanche of Euro occasions. “Europeans are more informal and every wedding is different,” she explained. “They usually ask for the sort of flowers they want by name, and the arrangements and layouts are all individual. But Thai and Indian weddings are based on tradition. Here the colours are the most important thing and they don’t really mind what the flowers are. One way or another, it’s all in a day’s work!” So now you know. It not just a question of someone heading off to the local market on your wedding morning! There’s an entire world of talent, skill and planning that has to all come together at the same time, just for you, on the day you get married on Samui. And, just like with Khun Jew, nearly all of this goes on behind the scenes!
Rob De Wet
_________________________________________ For more information, telephone 0 860 323 516. Facebook: OK Flower Samui
S ECRET R E T R E AT S
Tel +66 (0)77 962 198 info@thescenthotel.com www.thescenthotel.com The Scent Hotel 58/1 Moo 4 Bangrak Beach, Bophut, Koh Samui, Suratthani 84320, Thailand
THE ROYAL TREATMENT
Royal Muang Samui Villas in Choeng Mon is most certainly a palatial property.
128 l www.samuiholiday.com
There’s something quite special about the Muang Samui resorts. First, the original Muang Samui Spa Resort in Chaweng impressed guests with its meandering free-form swimming pool that snakes its way through the resort.Its main restaurant, Samui Seafood Grill & Restaurant, has long been impressing diners with its top quality seafood menu, as well as traditional Thai and Italian cuisine. So when the island started seeing a work crew on Choeng Mon Beach, and a dramatic structure started emerging from the ground, news got around that it was another Muang Samui property, and expectations were high. Over the next two years, Muang Samui Villas & Suites unobtrusively continued construction, until finally, a masterpiece emerged. Now, whether you pass by on the Choeng Mon road or along the beach, it’s hard not to notice this impressive building – from the tower on the roadside, to the manmade ‘cave’ (which houses the Rai Ra Spa) next to the enormous beachfront swimming pool, something is bound
to catch your eye and draw you in. In 2014, the resort’s name was amended, quite fittingly, to the ‘Royal Muang Samui Villas & Suites’. The resort places a strong emphasis on its ‘Thai-ness’, from its architecture, to the hospitality of its warm and friendly staff, which Thailand is so famous for. Uniforms are traditional ‘60s Thai-style, and in keeping with the royal theme, the Thai menus at both resorts have been designed by Ajarn Amintra Dinakara Na Ayuthaya, once chef to the Royal Family and owner of the famous ‘M.L.Puang Cooking School’. Locally, she’s well known as a celebrity TV chef too, and with skills in Royal Thai Cuisine, the Muang Samui resorts are proud to have her as their culinary advisor. Samui Seafood in Chaweng has been open for more than ten years, one of the first ‘seafood market’ display type restaurants on the island – their phad Thai (Ajarn Amintra’s recipe) is very popular, and is a good introduction to Thai food.
www.samuiholiday.com l 129
At the Royal Muang Samui Villas in Choeng Mon, the Spice Zone restaurant is located alongside the swimming pool, looking towards the beach. Outside guests are most welcome to enjoy Ajarn Amintra’s recipes here, where the focus is on Royal Thai Cuisine and seafood, although there’s a delicious selection of international dishes too. Those in the mood for Italian, can head towards the roadside Ciccio’s Ristorante & Pizzeria and watch their authentic Italian pizzas being made in the wood-fired oven. Relaxation plays a big part of most holidays, and here, an expansive free-form
130 l www.samuiholiday.com
swimming pool takes centre stage in a lawned area overlooking the beach. Both the pool and the many loungers surrounding it, and along the beach, are for exclusive use of the hotel guests, but the beachside bar welcomes passers-by for a drink. The Rai Ra Beach Spa is the perfect place to unwind, and offers a comprehensive list of packages in the manmade cave, with its waterfall cascading into the swimming pool. Inside, you’ll find five treatment rooms, each with its own bathroom. Meandering through the softly-lit cave to your personal
NEW SCHEDULE STARTS APRIL 1ST 2014
5
treatment room really makes you feel like you’re in another world – and you’ll feel like you’ve been to heaven after your massage or body package, where expert therapists practice authentic Thai and Asian rituals and techniques to help melt away stress, or rid the body of impurities and reverse the signs of aging. But it’s in your room where you really feel like royalty – with the level of luxury and space usually assigned to presidential suites, being standard in all rooms. Even the more ‘modest’ terrace suites offer spacious private
balconies as well as in-room Jacuzzis. The pool villas are most impressive – as who would have thought that individual swimming pools could be built on the third floor? Here, an expansive patio houses a private swimming pool, as well as an outdoor kitchenette and seating. Leading from here are two pavilions, one appointed as a bedroom, and the other a living room. Bathrooms are impressive, with rain showers, double vanities and of course, the Jacuzzi – just what you need to feel pampered. Flat-screen TVs with DVD can be found in both the bedroom as well as the living room of the pool villas. Décor is elegant, with Thai elements, yet offers all the modern amenities one would expect from a five-star
132 l www.samuiholiday.com
resort, including Wi-Fi throughout the resort. Both Muang Samui resorts offer wedding packages, with their own in-house wedding co-ordinator ensuring every detail is to the bridal couple’s specifications, whether it be a beach wedding, Western ceremony or traditional Thai wedding. Anything can be arranged, with no request being too much trouble – here, they understand how important this special day is and staff do their utmost to make it as memorable as possible. With banquet and meeting rooms available, larger functions can also be hosted with ease.
KHAO SOK
The Cliff and River Jungle Resort
Come and Relax with us at The Cliff and River Jungle Resort in magnificent Khao Sok. Enjoy the natural beauty and fresh air at this Scenic Riverside location. Sightseeing Info - Canoeing - International Restaurant Luxury Recreation Facilities - Elephant Trekking
for more information and reservation please call 0 872 718 787, 0 812 721 221, 0 7791 3050 Fax. 0 7791 3099 www.thecliffandriver.com
P. CHAWENG GUEST HOUSE
100 ISLANDS RESORT
Located at the end of Soi Colibri, opposite Centara Grand Beach Resort. Thai owned and managed, offering the beauty of Thai style architecture combined with European comforts.
The first boutique hotel in Suratthani. Reasonably priced with friendly service and a family atmosphere. Relax by the pool or ease your tensions at the luxurious spa.
Some resorts, although beautiful, could be anywhere in the world. At the Royal Muang Samui Villas & Suites you truly know you’re in Thailand.
Rosanne Turner
_____________________________________________________ For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7742 8700. www.muangsamui.com
Recommended by Lonely Planet
Tel.: 0 7723 0684
Tel.: 0 7720 1150-8
PROPERTY CLASSIFIEDS
House for Sale - Lipa Noi Description: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, air con, fully equipped European kitchen, water, electricity, telephone, swimming pool, car park, perimeter wall with main entrance gate, access road, outside terrace. Full insurance, monthly pest control, swimming pool maintenance contract with Desjoyaux. Land size 1092m2 Price : Baht 9.5 million Contact : 0 828 069 449 or 0 813 703 776 marclandgraf@yahoo.fr or marc.landgraf@outrigger.co.th
Guesthouse for Sale - Chaweng
Villa for Rent/Sale - Yupa Villa 1
Guesthouse for sale with freehold land in Soi Green Mango. 5-storey building with 20 recently renovated rooms. Irish Pub and restaurant on ground floor with 4 pool tables and wide screen projector for sporting events. Chanote land title with limited company.
5 fully furnished bedrooms with air-con throughout. All bedrooms ensuite, one with jacuzzi. Living area fully furnished with TV and internet. Thai/Western kitchen. Swimming pool, remote control gate, security camera around house, safety box, parking area, garden.
Contact: 0 818 921 990 Email: info@mobydick-guesthouse.com
Tel: 0 818 917 912, 0 897 636 032 E-mail: cr@chawengbayviewsamuiresort.com www.chawengbayviewsamuiresort.com
House for Sale - Bang Por
Villa for Rent/Sale - Yupa Villa 2
Thai style house located in peaceful residental area of Bang Por. Family home with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, spacious living room and kitchen area. Private swimming pool and large mature garden. Drive in garage and storage area under the house. Private sale by owner.
3 fully furnished bedrooms with air-con throughout. All bedrooms ensuite, one with jacuzzi. Living area fully furnished with TV and internet. Thai kitchen. Swimming pool, remote control gate, security camera around house, safety box, parking area, garden.
Price: 12,000,000 Baht Land title: Chanote Land: 1,000 m2 House: 200 m2
Tel: 0 818 917 912, 0 897 636 032 E-mail: cr@chawengbayviewsamuiresort.com www.chawengbayviewsamuiresort.com
Contact: 0 818 921 990 E-mail: tuulakohsamui@hotmail.com
Private real estate 180-Degree views
with
incredible
The actual view from this house is the picture above. This 4-bedroom house has been built according to European standards on 972 sqm. It is centrally located near Nathon and only 500 metres from the main road in a small, warm and tidy community. Priced very competitively, this house is ideal for couples or young families ready to live in paradise. Price: 8 Million THB only
Chaweng - Bar for Rent / Sale Bar for rent in Soi Colibri, opposite Centara Samui Resort. Includes apartment on 1st floor with 2 ensuite bedrooms and seperate access. Price for rent : 29,000 Baht per month 3 months deposit No key money Price for sale: 4.9 million Baht Contact Khun Na: 0892914747 (English and Thai)
Tel: 0 819 709 632 Email: asiatravel_international@yahoo.com
Chaweng - Shophouse for Sale Shophouse for sale in Soi Colibri, opposite Centara Samui Resort. Ground floor ideal for office space, retail shop or small bar/restaurant. Apartment on 1st floor with 2 ensuite bedrooms and seperate access. Price:
4 million Baht
Contact:
Graeme 0 860 193 166
Profitable Established Business for Sale 18 hole, concrete tracked, mini golf course. Member of the World Mini Golf Federation (one of only 2 in Thailand). 3020 m2 of land including 2 storey house with foreign ownership. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 extra apartments. Sale includes well established, profitable Thai Limited Company. Location: Near Choeng Mon
Contact:
134 l www.samuiholiday.com
0 817 879 148 www.minigolfsamui.com
Samujana Villa 17
Aqua Samui
Combine nature and luxury at this spectacular, contemporary residence built right into the Samui hillside. Situated just ten minutes from the island's airport, Samujana 17 crowns a brand new development on Koh Samui's northwest coast and offers the ultimate in secluded luxury living. The award winning design features flat, planted roofs, open-plan living spaces with natural rock features and tropical landscaping.
A unique opportunity to own a private residence or a high end investment property on the idyllic island of Samui. Aqua was designed by award winning architect Gary Fell. The location of this exclusive boutique development could not be better nestled in the hillside looking over Chaweng Bay and along the east coast to Lamai. Prices start from: 8.9 million THB for a 2 Bedroom Villa 10.9 million THB for a 3 Bedroom Villa (Type A) 15.9 million THB for a 3 Bedroom Villa (Type B)
Price: US$1,800,000 Tel: 0 811 901 540 Email: narisa@punrai.com Website: www.punrai.com
Web : www.aquasamui.com Email: office@aquasamui.com Telephone: +66 (0) 77952288
LH0012: Bangmakham 2 Bedroom House Located in the up and coming area of Bang Makham. Two double bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, infinity pool, high specification Kitchen and fittings throughout. Good off street parking and easy access to the beach, less than a kilometre away. Stunning sea & sunset views. Land area 1,120 sqm, Chanote Title. Priced to sell at 15.8m Thai Baht. Tel: Email: Website:
0 811 901 540 narisa@punrai.com www.punrai.com
Bophut - Whispering Palms Private Pool Villa House for rent/sale 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms with shower and bath tub. Living room with furniture, TV, DVD and UBC. Fully fitted kitchen. A/C throughout. ADSL, telephone line. Private swimming pool. 24 hour security & CCTV. Land size 440 sqm, floor size: 240 sqm. Locatied in Bophut (near Sunday Resort). Rent from 55,000 baht per month (yearly contract), sale 9.7 million baht.
Contact: Steve 081 452 5895, Pop 081 832 5895 Website: www.dsdsamui.com Email: info@dsdsamui.com
RH0015: Samujana Villa 19
Chaweng – Holiday Villa Houses for rent/sale
Located in the desirable Choeng Mon area overlooking Chaweng Bay & Koh Matlang is the up market Samujana Estate. Villa 19 has 4 double bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, massive infinity edge swimming pool, great in door outdoor flow for dining and living, fully equipped Media room with Sono’s surround sound system indoors and out. Fully specified Kitchen, Jacuzzi, BBQ area, ample pool deck space and fully furnished. On-site staff, maid quarters. The estate has a doubles Tennis court, full CCTV and manned security patrols and only a stone’s throw to the beach. Just move in! Priced well at USD2.5m.
2 storey villas with 2/3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with shower and bath tub. Living room with furniture, TV & DVD, fully fitted kitchen. 4 A/C’s. ADSL, CCTV and 24 hour security. Landscaped garden with swimming pool, pavilion and waterfall. Private jacuzzi and whirlpool. Located in Chaweng (near Tesco Lotus). Rent from 25,000 baht per month (yearly contract), sale: 4.5 million baht. Contact: Steve 081 452 5895, Pop 081 832 5895 Website: www.dsdsamui.com Email: info@dsdsamui.com
Tel: 0 811 901 540 Email: narisa@punrai.com Website: www.punrai.com
Samujana Villa 11 A contemporary design home with 3/4 bedrooms, with stunning sea views across Koh Samui's east coast toward Chaweng Bay. Stylish & unique this beautiful villa is a highly specified build, residential project in the desirable Choeng Mon area, just 10 minutes from Chaweng. Sale US$1.5 million, rent from US$250 / night Tel: Email: Website:
0 811 901 540 narisa@punrai.com www.punrai.com
Bophut - Whispering Palms Resort Houses for rent/sale (2 BR) 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with shower and bath tub. Living room with furniture, TV, DVD and cable. Fully fitted kitchen. 3 A/C's. ADSL, telephone line. Communal swimming pool, sauna and steam room. 24 hour security & CCTV. Located in Bophut (near Sunday Resort). Rent from 25,000 baht per month (yearly contract), sale: 4.2 million baht Contact: Steve 081 452 5895, Pop 081 832 5895 Website: www.dsdsamui.com Email: info@dsdsamui.com
Chaweng - Chaweng Pattana Townhouses for rent/sale
LH0013: Bangmakham 3 Bedroom House Bang Makham, less than a kilometre drive from beach & restaurants. Presentable 3 double bedroom, 2 en-suite bathrooms, 1 separate bathroom, large living, dining & kitchen, maids quarters, ample off street parking. Sea & sunset views. Ample room on 1,560 sqm site for renovations, pool etc to make this a very desirable property. Chanote Title. Priced to sell at 11.7m Thai Baht.
2 storey townhouses with 2 bedrooms and bathrooms. Living room with furniture, TV, DVD and cable. Fully fitted kitchen. 3 A/C’s. ADSL, telephone line. Landscaped garden with communal swimming pool and pavilion. 24 hour security. Located in Chaweng (near Tesco Lotus) Rent from 15,000 baht per month (yearly contract), sale: 2.2 million baht
Tel: 0 811 901 540 Email: narisa@punrai.com Website: www.punrai.com
Contact: Steve 081 452 5895, Pop 081 832 5895 Website: www.dsdsamui.com Email: info@dsdsamui.com
LH0015: Bang Por 1 Bedroom House Bang Por - 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, living & dining room. Great sea view. Land size 140 Tarangwa. Chanote title. Price: 3 Million Baht
Tel: Email: Website:
0 811 901 540 narisa@punrai.com www.punrai.com
Bophut - Whispering Palms Resort Maenam - Baan Suan Neramit House for rent/sale 2 storey house with 3 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.Living room with furniture, TV, DVD and cable. Fully fitted kitchen. 5 A/C's. ADSL, telephone line. Landscaped garden with private swimming pool and pavilion. 24 hour security. Located in Maenam (opposite Maenam post office). Sale 5 million baht. Contact: Steve 081 452 5895, Pop 081 832 5895 Website: www.dsdsamui.com Email: info@dsdsamui.com
www.samuiholiday.com l 135
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS ‘TOO’ REMOTE? Get away from it all and head to Koh Nang Yuan. Many people come to Thailand to escape the hectic pace of their lives back home. To get away from the crazy hustle and bustle of cities and their associated noise, flashing lights, traffic and constant bombardment of advertisements, television and mobile phones. So they head to a remote island where they can have some peace and quiet, enjoy some sunshine, fresh air, good food and maybe a few relaxing activities thrown in. So how about you? How remote would you go? Koh Samui could be considered by some to be remote but at least here we have ATMs, banks, supermarkets, hospitals and even an airport. Maybe you’d like to go one step down the ‘remoteness’ ladder and head to Koh Phangan? You won’t find an airport on this island (yet!) and even though there is a hospital, it lacks some facilities and you could easily find yourself on a speedboat back to Samui for anything they can’t handle. ATM’s are also few and far between. Does this scare you or does it appeal to your need to ‘get away from it all’?
136 l www.samuiholiday.com
www.samuiholiday.com l 137
So, what if I told you, you could escape to a small island that is just west of the island of Koh Tao and can only be reached by boat. It has just one bar, one resort, a rule banning plastic bottles, and reputedly has the best snorkelling in Thailand. Would you believe me? Yes, it does exist. It is called Koh Nang Yuan and is a very small island (or rather three small rocky blobs joined by strips of sand), is privately owned and there is an entrance fee just to set foot on the sand. It takes roughly 15 minutes to get there from Koh Tao depending on your mode of transport. Speed boats, and even catamarans, offer package day trips, but the best option is to charter a longtail boat from one of the many available the island. It shouldn’t set you back any more than 200 baht for a return journey.
138 l www.samuiholiday.com
It is possible to take day trips from Samui, but because of the distance involved it won’t really leave you much time to see anything before it’s time to head back again. The island is mostly known for its diving, snorkelling and relaxing on the beach. As far as accommodation is concerned, you have but one choice - The Nang Yuan Diving Resort. Bear in mind, because it’s the only resort, rooms will fill up quickly so you’ll want to book well in advance. There are no telephones, no room service and intermittent TV. There is also no night life. There are DVDs available for rental from reception. Well, you wanted remote …
B Smart B Smart Sys. Co., LTD has been providing top level security solutions, lighting control systems, CCTV systems, access control, fire alarms and WiFi solutions since 1999. B Smart has quickly earned the reputation for being one of the most progressive and innovative system integrators in Thailand. Along with high quality products and a very knowledgeable work force, you can be confident that B Smart Sys. Co., LTD will meet and exceed your expectations.
Hotline: 0 815 631 685 Email: bsmartsys@gmail.com For Taxi: ร้านตั้งอยู่ตรงข้ามโรงแรมนภาใส แม่น้ำ�
ZAZEN If you are looking for something wonderful and different, Zazen restaurant is the place for you to discover. Their master chef emphasises the use of healthy organic ingredients while infusing dining participation. Zazen is truly one of the most romantic and serene beachside dining restaurants on the island. Every night this charming establishment lights up over 100 candles to set the ambiance for you to experience.
Tel: 0 7742 5085 Email: info@samuizazen.com Website: www.samuizazen.com
Samui Every conceivable Indian dish is on offer here – and they are all delicious! Conveniently located in Central Chaweng, the restaurant is open from 11:00 am – 11:30 pm. For further information, reservations, and take-away orders (free delivery in Chaweng area), telephone 0 7741 3315.
Asia Travel Asia Travel is the most popular travel agency on Koh Samui. Established 15 years ago, they are well known to provide updated travel information reasonably priced for all international and domestic needs. Their second to none consultancy service will help you with all aspects of long or short stay requirements such as visa, work permit or company registration and finances. Asia Travel is well known for their quality services as mentioned in The Lonely Planet. Tel.: 0 7723 6120, 0 7742 1342 Fax: 0 7742 1185 Email: asia_int@samart.co.th For Taxi: ร้านตั้งอยู่ที่ถนนหน้าทอน
Simply the best
Brite Smile The Original BriteSmile Centre from Hollywood’s Professional Teeth Whitening. . One Hour . One Visit . One Dazzling Smile Offering other new services: Painless dentistry, depigmentation with laser and dental implants, as well as a wide range of dental hygiene and care.
Bangkok Samui Dental Clinic Open daily from 9:oo - 20.00 Tel : 0 7742 9500 www.DentalSamui.com
Tel.: 0 7742 9500 Website: www.DentalSamui.com For Taxi: ร้านตั้งอยู่ในโรงพยาบาลกรุงเทพ
ถนนรอบเกาะ เฉวง
So what is there to do? Besides the wonderful diving and snorkelling along the beautiful reef, you ask? Well you can chill out and relax on the beautiful beaches because after all that’s why you came here, isn’t it? To get away from it all. If you feel the need to partake in some sort of activity, you can try the experience offered by Goodtime Adventures - zip lining! It’s a unique half-day adventure trip which includes a scenic walk, visiting a view point on one of the islands, a guided snorkel on one of the reefs and an amazing zip-lining experience between the islands. They work on a ‘first come, first served’ basis with new groups leaving every hour. Places are limited places so make sure you book first. 140 l www.samuiholiday.com
Zico's is an electric combination of colourful calypso, vibrant carnival rhythm and dance. A unique party experience not to be missed! Every night is fiesta night at Zico's. The beat goes on, and so does the dancing. Tuck into a superb selection of all you can eat grilled seafood and meats, prepared just for you, complemented by large salad bar. CHAWENG BEACH : OPPOSITE CENTARA GRAND BEACH RESORT SAMUI T : 077 230 500-10 | E : zicos@chr.co.th Open daily : Bar 17.00 - 01.00 hrs., Restaurant 18.00 - 23.00 hrs. WWW.CEN TARAHOTELSRESORTS.C OM
So if you’re looking to really escape, relax and really chill out; if the thought of no internet, no telephone signal and no clubbing doesn’t frighten you to death, then maybe a visit to Koh Nang Yuan needs to be added to your ‘to-do’ list.
Colleen Setchell
Santib
Santiburi Beach Resort Golf & Spa
Rim Talay Restaurant at Santiburi Beach Resort, Golf & Spa
Premier Pool Villa at Bo Phut Resort & Spa
Sala Thai Restaurant at Bo Phut Resort and Spa
buri Resort
Bo Phut Resort & Spa
FEATURING THE OUTSTANDING 18 HOLE CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF COURSE FOR YOUR PLAYING PLEASURE, THE SANTIBURI GROUP WELCOMES YOU TO EXPERIENCE OUR FINE DINING AND THE HOSPITALITY OF TWO EXCEPTIONAL BEACH RESORT GOLF AND SPA.
12/12 Moo1, Maenam, Koh Samui, Surat Thani 84330 Tel: +66 (0) 7742 5031-5 Fax: +66 (0) 7742 5040 E-mail: info@santiburi.com www.santiburi.com
12/12 Moo 1, Bo Phut, Koh Samui, Surat Thani 84320 Tel: +66 (0) 7724 5777, +66 (0) 7743 0201 Fax: +66 (0) 7724 5776 Email: info@bophutresort.com www.bophutresort.com
Sales Office: 245/7 Sukhumvit 31, Klongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Tel: +66 (0) 2260 2530-5 Fax: +66 (0) 2260 7570