Koh Tao scenes

Koh Tao scenes

After my student successfully completed the Confined water part of his PADI IE in Sairee Beach, I decided to walk back to Mae Haad where I'm staying, a 25-30 minute walk along the beach.

On the way I stopped to make a few pictures to give an impression on island life on Koh Tao.

The small beach road leading from Sairee to Mae Haad, only walking and motorbikes use this road.

Some kids playing in the ocean.

Alternatively you can walk down the almost empty beach.

Working on an old wooden fishing boat.

There's a real laid back feel about Koh Tao and the diving is very good around the Turtle island.

Camille

30th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's looking like another blue and hot day is warming up over Koh Tao. There's a strong wind blowing though, which does cool things down a bit, which is nice! Current temp at 7 am is 26.5C.

Later today I'm heading back home again, to Koh Samui after my student completes successfully the PADI IE on Koh Tao.

Today is also Koninginnedag in the Netherlands!

Yesterday saw a blue and hot sky with colling winds blowing. Max temp reached 34C.

Camille

Goodbye to April 2009

Goodbye to April 2009

There goes another month and it was interesting one!

Weather wise, it started with more rain than you usually get in April on Samui, but during Songkran it was dry again (same as last years Songkran) and stayed dry pretty much the remainder of the month with hot and sunny days although there were some very strong winds blowing at times.

For work I spend some time in Pattaya, conducting Wreck Instructor Specialties and in Bangkok I attended a PADI Course Director update.
Big news for me was the PADI Award for Instructor Development for 2009 that I received this month.

The Beach clean up at Bang Rak was good fun and the event at Chaweng Pagoda was very interesting and I'm glad I didn't miss that.

The turmoil that Thailand went through was not good and I can only hope that this was the last time we saw this happening for a long time to come in Thailand.

All in all an interesting and good month and it's time to start looking forward to May.

See you next month,
Camille

29th April, 2009

Today's weather;

A broadcast from Koh Tao today, since that's where I am for moral and logistical support for my IDC student who's participating in a PADI IE. Now on to the weather on Koh Tao however, it's blue and sunny with a light haze. Current temp at 7 am is 26.1C with a strong enough wind to cool things down a bit.

Yesterday was hot and if it wasn't for the cool breeze coming in from the ocean it would've been too hot. Max temp reached 33C.

Sunset on Koh Tao, yesterday evening.

Camille

28th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's blue and beautiful! Current temp at 7 am is 28C! Off to Koh Tao for a PADI IE with my IDC candidate.

Yesterday was hot. There was a 5 minute shower at 11 pm last night, not nearly enough to cool things down. Max temp reached 35C.

Camille

27th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Once more a blue sky is shaping up although some clouds loom in the distance over the ocean. Current temp is 25.5C at 7 am.

For all those people that ask about the predictions, it's looking good. The strong wind has almost gone although there may be some wind back later in the week. However, all the doom and gloom regarding the weather doesn't seem to be coming through from all the forecast sites. It needs some skill to understand them and read them accordingly. They work in percentages and the likely hood of something happening.
On my blog you get the real world hands on deal though. It has been great, almost too hot even recently and the predictions from Windguru, my favorite site, are good and don't predict any rain at all right now for the next week.

Yesterday was very hot and in the late afternoon it turned dark with a threat of rain that didn't come through, it stayed dry! Max temp reached 34.4C.
The current IDC that I was teaching has also been completed.

Camille

26th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Once more a blue sky is shaping up, making way for another hot day. Current temp at 7 am is 27.9C.
The wind is subsiding and seems to be weaker each day.

Yesterday saw a very hot day with a max temp of 34.8C.

Camille

Beach clean up at Bang Rak

Beach clean up at Bang Rak

Today it was time for the Beach Clean up in Bangrak, which was to take place from the Seatran pier down to the Petcharat pier.
It was organised by the Koh Samui Green Island Dive Operators Association GIDOA but various big Samui hotels were attending and also plenty of volunteers, besides almost all dive shops on the island!

A view from the Seatran pier shortly before the kick off of the clean up!

Some of the hotels and volunteers participating.

More hotels and volunteers.

The clean up in full swing.

Part of the collected rubbish.

There must've have been around a 100 or more people participating and my whole family took part, our two kids, my wife and me.

There was plenty of rubbish to be collected, ranging from loads of plastic bottles, to cigarette butts, tyres and you name it.

The Tessabaan came to collect all the rubbish.

It was great to participate, seeing friends and meet new people and having the feeling that you actually do something for the (local) environment makes me feel good!

I will keep you updated on plans for the next beach clean up, probably in about two months.

Camille

25th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Another blue sky is shaping and this morning the wind is moderate. Current temp at 7 am is 27.7C. a good day to start the beach clean up at Bang Rak beach organised by Koh Samui Green Island Dive Operators Association GIDOA. more to follow later.

Yesterday was once more hot! Max temp reached 33.8C. Did I mention it was hot?

Camille

24th April, 2009

Today's weather;

This morning I woke up to a nearly blue sky with a current temp at 7 am of 28.2C.

Yesterday it was once more hot and sunny. The wind is still there but seems strongest during the late afternoon and evenings. Max temp reached 33.2C.

Camille

23rd April, 2009

Today's weather;

A very blue sky is shaping up with the sun heating up to burn the last white fluffy parts. Current temp is 27.6C at 7 am. It's lovely on Koh Samui!

Yesterday saw another warm and sunny day and the wind is still thee but not as strong anymore. Max temp reached 34.1C.

Camille

22nd April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's bright and clear with a light overcast. Looks like another hot day is starting to heat up. Current temp at 7 am is 27.3C.

Yesterday was once more very hot. There were some late afternoon periods with strong wind but it seems that the general thunderstorms have subsided. Max temp reached 34.8C.

Camille

21st April, 2009

Today's weather;

A blue sky with a few clouds but a very strong wind is reigning over Samui. There's plenty of sunshine but small boats aren't going out today! Current temp at 7 am is 28.8C.

Yesterday was a warm and sunny day but in the afternoon thee were some very strong winds blowing over Samui. Max temp reached 33C.

Camille

Our blossoming garden

Our blossoming garden

It's April and the rainy season is coming on most of South East Asia, including Thailand but Samui usually has the hottest month of the year!
It also means that all kinds of fruit are in season and our garden is having a ball this year.

Mango's or Mamuang in Thai are plentyful in our garden as they are around the rest of the island, they're everywhere, buckets full.

Papaya or Malako, a few hours ago, 8 kilo fell out of one single tree in our garden.

Our Rose Apple trees or Shompoo, are loaded with fruits, just like last year.

We've got banana's growing right now, although they're not seasonally bound.

These Tamarinds or Makhaam, are real good ones, and some of the local restaurants around our house love them, my wife sells them since a week or so for 40 Baht per kilo and a good 20 kilo or so has come down already, with plenty more still up in the tree. It's a massive, old Tamarind tree and at the moment it produces tamarind like there's no tomorrow. The current hard wind helps a lot with getting them out of the tree and makes it easy, you just have to go and pick them up!

These massive Jackfruits or Kanoen are just sitting in a tree and there's plenty of them! Nice fruit and very tasteful.

On top of all that fruit, there are also various beautiful flowers in blossom, like this big red one above, I don't know the name but it looks lovely.

Here's another that caught my eye in our garden and these are just a few.

Frangipani's or Leelawadi are blossoming as many other flowers do right now. It's greta to see this and enjoy the moment.

Camille

20th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's cloudy this morning, as promised by Windguru since over a week and it looks like it's going to remain like this for the next week. Not too much rain, an occasional shower and I'm sure that there will be sunshine. Current temp at 7 am is 26.8C.

The connectivity issues with Blogger have not been completely resolved, at the moment it seems to work flawless early in the morning but not during the daytime. One possibility mentioned on a discussion forum is the fact that there are school holidays and too many kids play online games during the daytime and use up download speed...............

Yesterday saw another lovely and steaming hot day with a max temp of 35C! However, around 5 pm a thunderstorm with very strong wind swept over our part of the island for about half an hour accompanied by some rain. After this half hour it was blue and dry again.

Camille

19th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Time to catch up again, for almost 2 days I had no access to my blogs but it seems that everything is restored again, I can also read my own blogs again. Makes me very happy! It makes me wonder of you, my readers also had problems getting through to my URL's. I'd love some feedback on this.

In Samui a blue sky is shaping up and it looks like it's going to be a very hot day again. The current temp at 7 am is 27C.

Yesterday was steaming hot again, max temp reached 34C. Around 10 pm there was a very strong and loud thunder and lightning mini storm for about half an hour with lots of rain.
The fore casts for the next couple of days show a lot of cloud cover, strong wind but not much rain for Samui. The whole region seems to be covered under clouds.

The Songkran holiday is now officially over and it's very sad but the death toll of this 'mad' week was higher than last year with 5 more victims but injuries and accidents were down compared to last year.

The last two days I've been to Choengmon beach in the late afternoon to swim and play there with the family. The first day upon returning, there was a mini crowd near the new 7-11, near our house. A big snake was lying on the side of the road and a lot of Samui rescue workers were standing around, trying to catch it. I rushed home to get my camera but when I returned the big snake was beaten to death and I could only get this shot in, still dripping wet from the ocean, how they put the death snake into a bag. Very shortly afterwards the snake and it';s bag were taken off on a motorbike, most likely to be transformed in some kind of meal.

It's good to be back and I hope you enjoy my ramblings again.

Camille

18th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It looks I may be back, currently I'm having problems with logging in to my my blogger/blogspot accounts and this is the first time I get through again, so hopefully I can post this!

The weather since the last two days has been stunning, hot and blue skies! Current temp at 19.00 was 30C and yesterday's max temp was 25.1C.

Camille

16th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's looking nice this morning with loads of blue sky above. Current temp at 7 am is 28C.

Yesterday was a very typical Samui April day, steaming hot, although the max temp 'only' reached 31C.

Songkran road accidents' death toll rises to 272 after five days, there are a few more days to follow!

The political unrest seems to be fading out, biggest news is probably the Foreign Ministry revoking Thaksin's regular passport.
A certain degree of normalcy seems to have been restored and Silom and Khao San are wet and wild; Songkran celebrations were wet and boisterous in Bangkok yesterday after days of rioting and political turmoil eased with the end of the red shirts protest on Tuesday.

Camille

15th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's nice again, a blue sky is reigning supreme over Samui. The current temp at 7 am is 26.9C.
The weather forecast at Windguru, my personal fave forecast site, looks really good, strong winds in a week, but hardly any rain at all!

Yesterday was hot and saw some overcast at times but no rain! Max temp reached 32C.

The political turmoil seems to be over, although the Emergency decree stays, all red shirts have stopped demonstrating and warrants are out for Thaksin and the protest leaders.
The whole demonstrations were planned and carried out by Thaksin Shinawatra, the fugitive former PM of Thailand, however Thaksin has been found out, and out-manoeuvred.

It's time for Thailand to pick up the pieces and move on really quickly, away from this destructive path it sometimes takes.

Camille

Songkran 2009 on Koh Samui

Songkran 2009 on Koh Samui

The Songkran edition of 2009 on Koh Samui was a fun affair, once more, just like last year! A good moment to forget about the more serious stuff happening in Bangkok!

Songkran 2009

In the morning we drove around a bit with our car and our children packed inside. This was around 11 am and it was slow goings at that time of the day. We went home and I enjoyed standing at the roadside with my children and throwing water at the occasional lost car or motorbike.

Party time in Chaweng

With my daughter and her cousin, we went to see friends in a bar in Bang Rak, it was definitely busier here, compared to our street and we hung out for a while. It was here that me and Bas decided that it was time to visit Chaweng.

Off we went, after bringing my daughter and her cousin home first.

Baby powder fights galore

Chaweng was steaming by the time we hit town, around 3.30 pm. Long traffic jams leading into the one way system that is always installed for Songkran, but worthwhile the wait for the party revellers. In front of Soi Green mango was absolute party mayhem and loads of water and alcohol flowed freely, although the alcohol bit had to be paid for!
By 6 pm when I left, there was still a very long traffic jam leading into Chaweng, although the party by that time had subsided a bit already.

Always time to pose for a picture

Baby powder fights, cold, iced down water fights (brrrr) and coloured baby powder were everywhere and an ambush was not unheard of.
All day long I saw one single , luckily minor incident, where a car driver lost his patience in front of Soi Green mango and accelerated, endangering party goers. His car was attacked by upset people and he barely escaped, hitting the side walk again a 100 meters further down the road.

A good day was had by all I met and the picture above shows that no one escapes the water fights.

A good thing though that the water fights on Koh Samui are confined to just one day, in contrast to places like Khao San road in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya, where the party rolls on for 3 or 4 days. A tad bit too much for my liking.

See you next year at Songkran 2010.

Camille

14th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's partly cloudy today with a current temp of 28C.

Yesterday was a lovely and sunny day, perfect for Songkran. Max temp reached 31.6C.

On the Songkran downside, 139 road deaths in first three of Songkran's 'seven dangerous days'.

On the political side, things aren't improving at all; The Nation reports of a Songkran Inferno with two killed in clashes between rioters and angry residents. Petrol bombs lobbed at Army HQ, ministry blamed on 'third party'. People in the provinces demand an end to the chaos.

Central Bangkok a war zone; The bloodstained start to Songkran - which transformed large swathes of downtown Bangkok into urban guerrilla war zones, leaving dozens of people wounded - was marked by the first shots around the Din Daeng triangle before dawn.

Camille

Thailand in turmoil again

Thailand in turmoil again

After the demonstrations last year that culminated in closing down the international airport in Bangkok, by the yellow shirt wearers, there's a new wave in town, the red shirt wearers, who are supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.

After the unexpected closure of the Asean summit in Pattaya, this Saturday, now Bangkok is under a State of Emergency and all Songkran acctivities in Bangkok are cancelled.

Last night, the crackdown begun; Troops, firing tear gas and shots into the air, have moved in on protesters at the Din Daeng intersection near Victory Monument.

When a government is afraid, refuses to act, sits idly by and lets a mob terrorise a country, anarchy reigns while ordinary citizens suffer. A very good article about an impotent government letting anarchy reign.

There's plenty more information out there but in general it's not doing Thailand any favours. Let's just hope that this is over quickly and a peaceful solution can be found.

Camille

13th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Sabai dee pee mai, krab or Happy New Year. Today is the third New Year in succession this year, it started off with our traditional New Year, than the Chinese New year followed and today's is Songkran or the Thai New Year.

The weather looks great today, a nice blue sky is shaping up and it looks like the right set up to a have a nice and wet Songkran. Current temp at 7 am is 27C.

Yesterday saw a dry and warm day with plenty of sunshine again. Max temp reached 31C.

In order to deal with emergencies, the Samui Rescue volunteers, together with the police have set up control points all over the island, just like the one pictured above. Songkran is a lot of fun, but each year a lot of accidents happen and unfortunately plenty of fatalities occur. These control points are set up for alcohol controls by breath analzying, which is done only twice per year , during Songkran and during our New Year.
Since they're located at various hot spots around the island they can be quickly at the scene and bring you to a hospital.
Nationwide this is a necessity, since 95 killed, 992 injured so far in Songkran road accidents and it's only day 2.

One of the cars used by the Samui Rescue volunteers.

Nonetheless, have a nice day and hope you enjoy your Songkran!

Camille

12th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Just one day before Songkran or the Thai New Year, it seems that the weather is turning around for the better. Although it's cloudy this morning, there's no rain predicted. Current temp at 7 am is 25.8C.

During next week the two yearly wind change will occur, meaning that the wind will be blowing in to the Nathon side or Western side of the island, giving Chaweng a nice flat ocean!

Yesterday saw a sunny and dry day, after some initial rain very early in the morning, slowly, bit by bit, the clouds evaporated and the sun broke through. Max temp reached 30.8C.

First results of Songkran; 36 dead in road accidents on first day of Songkran

Unfortunately it's time again to give an update on new anti government demonstrations, this time led by the 'red shirts' or pro Thaksin protesters. Big news yesterday was of course the cancellation of the Asean summit in Pattaya, leaders had to flee amid chaos in Pattaya.

The whole situation is a blot on Thailand's reputation and raises the question if Thailand must sink further?

Camille

Easter 2009

Easter 2009

In the Netherlands that means that if you put a garden and coloured eggs together, you have a children's party! That's just what we had today. The Easter tradition!

The weather is playing nicely along and it has remained dry right up till now, let's cross our fingers for more dry weather.

We had a table with some food and the coloured Easter eggs (bottom left on the table), invited a handful of kids and their parents, mostly family, and off they went, looking for the hidden eggs.

The kids love it each year, it's great to see how the Thai kids just join in and enjoy it as much as our kids. 30 some eggs were recovered in no time!

We have been doing this for the past 4 years, including this year, just so my kids get used to the Dutch traditions. The same reason we have a Christmas tree.
Oh yeah, my kids love typical Dutch food like cheese, Thais in general don't like cheese, it's to salty for them and they didn't grow up on dairy products like we do in the West.
They also love typical Dutch food like 'stroop' or apple syrup, stroopwafels and speculaas.


Another 'paasfeest' or Easter done and over with, the kids are already looking forward to their next Easter egg hunt and the fun isn't over yet, since in two days we will have the Thai New Years celebration, better known as Songkran.

Camille

11th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's not as cloudy as the previous days and a weak sun is trying to break through. This morning there was already some rain but right now it looks promising. Current temp at 7 am is 26.7C.

Yesterday saw rain throughout the day, in bursts of about half an hour at a time. There was not a lot of sunshine yesterday, just a bit occasionally. Max temp reached 30.3C.

According to the Windguru forecast, today will still see overcast but as of tomorrow it should start to clear up.

Camille

10th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Woke up with rain about an hour ago at 7 am. Although it's dry right now, it's very cloudy but sometimes a bleak sun tries to glimpse through. Current temp at 7 am is 25.7C.

Yesterday saw a lovely day during the morning and early afternoon, when I visited the Pagoda ceremony in Chaweng. Shortly after we got home around 1 pm it started to rain and storm very hard though and with breaks inbetween, that continued the whole day. A total of 54.7mm of rain came down yesterday!

The coming days it should become a lot better though, it looks like things are clearing up and the rain is about to recede.

Camille

Chaweng Pagoda completed with an opening ceremony

Chaweng Pagoda completed with an opening ceremony

About six weeks ago I reported that the pagoda in Chaweng was almost completed. I've been reporting about this Pagoda now for well over a year. Therefor it was good to be able to attend today's ceremony.
Today there was a ceremony where plenty of people attended, including the Tessaban and the current 'Samui governmental rulers' and plenty of monks.

All scaffolding was removed but on the top part of the Pagoda, a new scaffold was erected to place a sacred object in towards the end of the ceremony.

The typical chanting was not left out during this ceremony and the old man on the left was reciting the chants. There was plenty of food waiting in fronts of the monks and in general there was plenty to eat for everybody attending. Interesting was that everything had to be carried up the stairs to the pagoda, which is quite a climb with some 70 steps or so (just guessing right now).

The upstairs room is now at last completed and a Buddha statue has been erected inside.

Highlight of the day was placing the sacred object (I'm still not really sure what is actually installed) in the tower of the pagoda. According to my wife, sometimes members of the Royal Family are asked to handle this honorable task. Here on Samui it was somebody from the local Tessaban who had the honors.

It must have been an interesting experience to have to walk up the scaffolding, glad it wasn't me who had to put the object inside the small tower chamber.

On the way out, it took a while before we could leave, it was that busy and everybody was funneled into a small passage past the main monks who were handing out small Buddha hangers.

An interesting experience, it's always good to see how the Thais share food during these communal happenings and also interesting to see how the whole ceremony developed, with the (typical and usual) chanting, rolling the white thread around the temple/pagoda and the ending ceremony. Glad I was there today.

Camille

9th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's very cloudy and it looks like there will be plenty of rain today. Current temp at 7 am is 27C.

Yesterday was mainly cloudy but there were sunny moments as well. Around 8 pm last night it started to rain very hard and it lasted a while as well, more than an hour, causing various flash floodings, which subsided quickly though after the rain stopped.
Max temp reached 30.3C.

Camille

8th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Back home on Samui again and it looked rather nice outside, a moment ago, with sunshine. Right now big and fairly dark clouds seem to come in place instead. Current temp at 7 am is 26C.

Yesterday was sunny and hot in Bangkok, with a max temp of 34.6C and Bangkok had almost 30 mm of rain, which I completely missed, or it didn't rain in the part of Bangkok that I was at.

Samui saw sunshine and rain yesterday with a max temp of 28.7C.

Camille

IT Mall Fortune, Bangkok

IT Mall Fortune, Bangkok

The reason for me being in Bangkok this time around was to attend a PADI Course Director Update yesterday, which was held at the Fortune Tower complex, where the IT Mall complex is located.

Just like Pantip Plaza, of which I reported recently, it's an IT center, jam packed with all kind of electronics. The big difference to Pantip is in my opinion that the IT Mall at Fortune Tower isn't as busy as Pantip although it has the same prices as Pantip but most importantly, it's located next to Rama 9 Subway station, which makes access to this mall a breeze, in sharp contrast to Pantip Plaza, which is not so easily accessible.

There are three floors packed with anything imaginable relating to electronics, computers and notebooks in all sizes and price ranges, cables, disks, camera's, you name it, it's there.

There are also loads of other shops for your shopping conveniences, like a Tesco Lotus, restaurants, pharmacies and even loads of massage places.

Next time when in Bangkok and in need for electronics, I can highly recommend visiting the IT Mall in Fortune Tower, over Pantip Plaza, mainly because of ease of access.

Camille

7th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Last morning away from home, later this afternoon I'll fly back to Samui. In the meantime, it's partly cloudy, laced with some smog, in Bangkok. Current temp at 7 am is 25.9C.

Samui is sunny right now and has 26.3C at 7 am.

Yesterday I spent all day inside a conference room in Bangkok, although the day started out nice, it was raining cat and dogs pretty much from about 10 am until about 4 pm. Max temp reached 33.2C.

Samui saw some sunshine again and had a max temp of 30C.

Camille

6th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Bangkok is hot and sunny this morning with a few clouds. Current temp at 7 am is 27.7C.

Yesterday saw a max of 26.6C in Bangkok with a bit of rain.

Samui is very cloudy this morning and it looks like rain. Current temp at 7 am there is 26.5C.
Yesterday max temp reached 31.5C and it stayed dry all day.

Camille

5th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Another very late update. Just arrived in my Bangkok hotel and just gained internet access again for the first time today.
It was lovely in Pattaya today!, Lots of sunshine and very warm! During today's day diving I got sunburned.
On our way over from Pattaya to Bangkok, we went through a few showers.
Right now the current temp in Bangkok is 29.2C.

Yesterday saw sun in the morning in Pattaya and rain after 1 pm. It dried up in the afternoon though. Max temp reached 33.1C.

Samui has a max temp of 29.1C.

Camille

Shabusi Restaurant, Pattaya

Shabusi Restaurant, Pattaya

This is an interesting restaurant, run by the Oishi group in Thailand, the same group that runs the Oishi Express chains, like in Phuket. It's located in the brand new Central Festival shopping mall in Pattaya.

The name of the restaurant is actually a mix of two names of Japanese foods; Shabu Shabu and Sushi, forming Sabushi!

The place is very popular, partly because of the great value, about 280,-THB for an all you can eat buffet.

When I visited yesterday, all the time lines were queueing up outside.
The concept is fairly simple, a conveyor belt brings non stop various plates for your shabu shabu, like meat cuts, fish and vegetables or various kind of sushi. Soft drinks are included as well, as much as you want and various side orders are available, like garlic rice, Sabah fish and for dessert fruit and ice cream.

This is how my eat place looked like. The quality of the food is mediocre, it's more about quantity than quality but it's fun to have done once.

This picture shows the conveyor belt, bringing the plates around. The place had two different belts serving a lot of people, my guess was close to 80 or 100 people.

You only have an hour and 15 minutes to eat as much as you can, than you pay an add on fee for each 10 minutes that you stay.

A fun experience to have done once but I'm not sure if I would visit this place many times.

Camille

4th April, 2009

Today's weather;

A late update today, since I had no internet access in the morning. I'm in Pattaya right now and the weather started out very nice, warm and sunny, however, around 1 pm it all changed and it started to rain. This went on and off for a good 3 or 4 hours and right now 6 pm it's dry again.
Max temp at 4 pm is 25.6C and already over 20 mm of rain came down!

Samui had rain in the morning but sunshine around 4 pm.

Yesterday was warm and sunny in Pattaya with a max temp of 33C.

Samui has hard rain almost all day with a max temp of 30.5C and a total of 28.6 mm of rain.

Camille

3rd April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's back to sunshine and heat again! The sky is almost clear and blue. Current temp at 7 am is 29C!
Later this morning I'm leaving for a Pattaya dive trip for 3 days and a Bangkok work meeting for 2 days. Won't be able to post in the mornings in Pattaya, but will try do so in the afternoons, after the diving. Have a look at my dive blog, I posted some really nice dive pictures yesterday.

Yesterday's weather was a bit strange, sunshine in the early morning, than very dark clouds arrived around 10 am but it didn't rain until 4 pm, than about 16 mm of rain came down in a short burst! Max temp reached 29.8C.

Camille

2nd April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's partly clouded this morning with plenty of blue patches. Current temp at 7am is 27.2C.

Yesterday was a mixed bag, hard and heavy rain early in the morning followed by sunshine and when I went to Chaweng shortly before 10 am, it started to poor down again, heavily! The picture below tells it all, coconut tree leaves that tumbled down, coconuts crashing down etc. A serious mini storm was raging for maybe half an hour. After that it cleared up once more and remained sunny for the rest of the day, with some overcast.
Max temp reached 30.8C.

Camille

Hello to the 2009 edition of April!

Hello to the 2009 edition of April!

April is usually the warmest or should I say hottest month of the year in most parts of Thailand, including Koh Samui.

It's also the month that hosts the Thai New year; Songkran. If you have the chance, try to witness it, it can be great fun but don't attempt to travel or rather drive long distances in Thailand during Songkran, it can be dangerous with all the drunk people on the road. Hence, it seems that this year there will be an alcohol ban during 13th April this year.

If you're still deciding on where to go for April, come to Thailand, the Gulf and Samui are about to get as good as it gets! The diving is excellent, plenty of whaleshark sightings during this month as well!

Hope to see you soon on Samui,

Camille

1st April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's raining on Koh Samui! This is not an April's Fool message! At the moment it's dry but there's heavy overcast and it looks like there will be a bit more rain today. Current temp at 7 am 25.2C.

Yesterday was a nice day, the usual hot and sunny weather until 8 pm when all of a sudden it started very unexpectedly to rain. Than last night shortly before 3 am I was woken up by a massive storm that lasted for about 15 minutes, strong wind and hard rain and in total 13.5mm rain came down yesterday. Very refreshing by the way and cooled everything down nicely!
A strange beginning to the hottest month of the year! Max temp reached 32C nonetheless.

Camille