[Written on 6/3 1PM]
I didn’t bring my laptop to the beach, but we have another 2 hours of van time before we arrive in Bangkok, so I’m gonna see how far I can get with typing up a summary of the last 3 days on my phone…
Thailand Days 22-24: Koh Samet / Sai Kaew Resort
There isn’t a whole lot to dig into over the past three days as this portion of the trip was intended to be somewhat celebratory/relaxing as we are in the 4th and final week of the trip. After a 3ish drive from Bangkok, we arrived at the Ao Prao Pier (Ban Phe) to take a shuttle speed boat to Koh Samet, a small island that is the closest (I think) vacation destination island to the mainland.
Traveling by boat to Koh Samet
From Wikipedia:
“Ko Samet is one of the eastern seaboard islands of Thailand. It is in the Gulf of Thailand off the coastline of the Thai province of Rayong, approximately 220 kilometres southeast of Bangkok…Popular with foreign tourists and as a weekend getaway for residents of nearby Bangkok, most of the island (excluding the Na Dan area) is in the Khao Laem Ya–Mu Ko Samet National Park. In 1981, the Royal Forest Department declared the archipelago of Samet, along with nine other small islands, the headland of Khao Laem Ya, and the 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) Mae Ramphueng Beach to be a national park, and thus Ko Samet is under the protection of the National Parks Division of the Thai government.”
This is especially worth noting as we all had to purchase national park passes to 1) actually get on the island and 2) island-hop on our snorkeling day (more on that in a second). After arriving on the island, we took Songthaews to Kai Saew resort, situated on two adjoining beachfronts on the northeast coast of Koh Samet. The resort was lovely, the amenities were nice, and the staff was welcoming.
The first night on the island, we are as 1 large group at Ploy Talay, a restaurant that is quite popular with tourists because it features a nightly show of fire dancers. My brother, Mick, actually spins fire, so it was cool to have a little context for how folks train to spin fire. These folks were very talented (and very fit).
From this point on, it was kind of a “choose your own adventure” couple of days. Most of the resorts offered watercraft rentals, so I took out a stand-up paddle board one day and a sea kayak the following day, while other students got mani/pedis or Thai massages on the beach, explored the town of Koh Samet, relaxed and read books by the pool, and/or booked a fishing excursion.
The last full day on the island, 20 of us chartered a boat for a day of snorkeling and island hopping. Thanks to Noi for getting us such a great deal! Snorkeling conditions weren’t great because we are in the rainy season (lowered visibility) but we still saw plenty of beautiful and interesting aquatic life, and one of the boat guides got in the water with us to point out a bunch of things we would have likely missed without the expertise of a local.
I will have to ask Noi the name of the charter company we used for future bookings—the company’s name escapes for now. I am also blanking on the three islands we stopped at as part of the tour—I would assume that they are all part of the Khao Laem Ya–Mu Ko Samet national park island chain, but none of the island names are ringing any bells.
On the whole, it seemed like students enjoyed themselves on the island and expressed appreciation for having a few beach days to unwind before the end of the trip.
We are now on the way back to Bangkok. We will probably arrive tonight around 5pm, so folks will have a little time to explore the city. Note to self for future trips: I ordered NamTok with rice noodles at our lunch stop and it was another top 5 meal, so I’m documenting for future reference…
Tomorrow is our last full/free day, and the 16 of us returning home on the 5th (12 students and 2 faculty are staying longer for individual travel) have to get Covid tested at an official testing site per U.S. CDC requirements. After we finish testing, I will offer students the option of visiting the Grand Palace complex before we go to Noi’s house for a farewell dinner.
Update 10PM
We arrived to the hotel around 5pm. A small group of us boarded the metro to head back into Chinatown for dinner. Chinatown was packed! We split the group in two. Han took some students back to T&K Seafood, while Kathryn’s and my group opted for Nai Ek Roll Noodle, a street-side cafe. We were packed in like sardines and sort of panicked ordered a bunch of food (family-style) really quickly, and we had a ton of fun! My only regret is that I didn’t take a picture of the menu to remember what we ordered…
Getting down to the final day!!
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