Goodbye to November 2010

Goodbye to November 2010

And a memorable month it was. For many personal (=work) reasons and for the torrential rain that hammered Samui!

The personal reasons were that I hardly spend any at all in Samui, only about 5 days! During these 5 days Samui had a nice weather spell which was lucky for me. The reason I didn't spend that much time on Samui was because I was teaching IDC's outside of Samui, pretty much all month long; first an October/November IDC on Koh Lanta, than an IDC in Kao Lak and now I'm back on Koh Lanta again and just started a new program yesterday.

The other reason this month was memorable was the torrential rain that hit Samui during the beginning and middle of November and more or less continued with monsoon rain all month long.

My blog had over 16.500 visits and over 51.000 page views, an absolute record. Right now I'm still getting about 250 visits per day, an average of more than 100 than usual. It shows that there are plenty of visitors to Samui who are understandably worried about there holidays or are we all rubbernecking primates?

The post that had almost 3.500 page views involved some video's about the flooding, a good second with well over 1.400 page views involved early pictures of the flooding and more pictures and video towards the middle of the month did the trick for 3rd spot with almost 1.300 views. Stunning figures for my blog. Thanks for checking in folks, thanks for the comments and especially thanks to all the people that contributed with pix and/or videos.

The 2007 November was rough but not as bad as this year, 2008 was average with rain and flash floods but nothing spectacular and 2009 was stunning with hardly any rain at all!

I managed to visit some good and new restaurants, like the Red Snapper on Koh Lanta or the Mala Dim Sum in Kata, Phuket.

This year's Loy Kratong I celebrated in Kao Lak and it was very nice indeed.

My Food on Wheels series saw two more entries and there are a few more lined up for next month.

Please check out the usual suspects of my fellow Thai bloggers, I was too busy to check in on a regular base and hope to have some updates on them next month!

I did create another page however, with information on how to get to or get off Samui!

Take care and looking forward seeing you you again in December.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 30th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui has some very dark clouds this morning and it's raining again. Today and tomorrow could see a lot of rain. Current temp at 7am is 25.4C. The first batch of dark clouds have already swept over and are replaced by brighter ones.

Koh Lanta is also covered under clouds but they're not as dark although I wouldn't be surprised to see some rain today. Current temp at 7am is 25.3C

Samui saw rain at various spots around the island but the Plai Laem area stayed dry, however, around 4am my family woke up from the thunder and lightning which was ferocious and lasted for about half an hour. Max temp reached 30C

Lanta was nice yesterday with some afternoon sunshine and a beautiful star ridden sky at night. max temp reached 29.7C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 29th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is very cloudy this morning and it looks like some rain is in the making. The forecast for this week is also not looking that great with the wind picking up and more usual monsoon rain seemingly on it's way. Current temp at 7am is 26.8C

Koh Lanta where I am right now is similar, very cloudy and rain is not unlikely. Current temp at 7am is 26C

Yesterday saw a cloudy day on Samui with marginal amounts of rain at some parts of the island. Max temp reached 29.3C

Driving from Kao Lak to Koh Lanta yesterday, there was almost a constant drizzle all day longand even a few bursts of sunshine near Lanta. Max temp reached 31.5 on Lanta.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 28th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui has some dark clouds hovering over the island and it looks like some rain will be coming down later in the day. Current temp at 7am is 27.3C

In Kao Lak the weather seems to have made the mark and it has been nice since a couple of days, with the rain having moved on. Current temp at 7am is 24.4C

Today I'll work on an EFR Instructor course and after lunch time I will drive over to Koh Lanta, to start the last IDC of this year.

Yesterday saw a nice start on Samui to be followed with rain during the afternoon. Max temp reached 29.6C

Kao Lak had a sunny day and we enjoyed a lovely days diving on the Boonsung wreck here, just a few nautical miles off the beach. Max temp reached 33C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 27th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui has a nice morning with sunshine. Current temp at 7am is around 26C

Kao Lak looks beautiful with a blue sky shaping up. Current temp at 7am is around 24C

Yesterday saw a nice day on Samui with plenty of sunshine and warm. Max temp reached around 30C

In Kao Lak we had a sunny day yesterday and we finished the IDC as well. Max temp reached just over 30C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 26th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui looks like some sunshine is going to warm up the island after it burns through the clouds. Current temp at 7am is 24.6C

Kao Lak has a few more clouds than usual this morning, it's still sunny though and the current temp at 7am is 23.8C

Yesterday saw plenty of sunshine and no rain on Samui with a max temp of 29.9C and Kao Lak saw almost no rain for a change with a max temp of 30.7C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 25th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Koh Samui is having a cloudy sky this morning and it looks like it will rain sooner or later. Current temp at 7am is 25.8C

Kao Lak is having it's usual nice blue morning sky, just wonder when the rain will start today! Current temp at 7am is 23,5C

Yesterday had rain in Samui during the morning and some sunshine during the afternoon. Max temp reached 28.5C

In Kao Lak it was the usual pattern, sunshine and nice in the morning, rain in the afternoon. Yesterday the rain started early, around noon and than it was on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Max temp reached 31.6C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 24th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is having a cloudy sky and rain is predicted again. Current temp at 7am is 25.5C

Kao Lak has a beautiful blue sky, as usual but I expect rain in the afternoon, as usual! Current temp at 7am is 23.4C

Koh Samui had a day with on and off rain, mainly in the form of a drizzle but with some harder rain in moments as well. Max temp reached 29C

Kao Lak had a nice morning and when I arrived back from Phuket it was raining again. Phuket had a lovely sunny day by the way. Max temp reached 31.6C in Kao Lak.

Camille

Mala Dim Sum Restaurant in Kata Beach on Phuket

Mala Dim Sum Restaurant in Kata Beach on Phuket

Upon meeting with a friend of mine in Phuket, he suggested a Dim Sum place in Kata to get breakfast. As it turned out, it was just around the corner of the small hotel that I stayed at.

It's located at an intersection of a road that runs parallel to the Kata Beach road, on the crossing of the road that houses the Centara Kata hotel. Outside you may be able to spot this yellow sign.

The ordering is interesting, since all the dim sums are deep frozen and you walk up to a couple of freezers at the entrance and start ordering. A lot of the dim sum's are really small and cost just 10 or 15 THB per order. Dim sum is a Cantonese term for a type of Chinese dish that involves small individual portions of food, usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate as the picture above shows. That the breakfast for the two of us.

This picture shows the freezers with the various dim sum's on offer and the steamers in the background.

It's a rather big place and well maintained and clean and it opens around 6am but closes in the early afternoon. Plenty of local people were around when I visited today and my friend who lives in Phuket since a few years said that this was typical, so it seems that the place has a good reputation. I can only vouch for that since our breakfast was excellent.

A view from the outside. It's very likely that I will be back to this place, especially considering that I'll be back on Phuket on the 10th and 11th December for a PADI IE, most likely staying just around the corner!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 23rd November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui has a bit of a mixed bag, sunny patches of sky and dark cloudy ones as well. Current temp at 8am 25.6C

Today I find myself in Phuket, yesterday evening I left Kao Lak and drove through a lot of rain to Phuket, today some electronic shopping needs to be done. The sky is also mixed here, blue parts with fluffy clouds. Current temp at 8am is 25.3C

Yesterday saw nice days in Samui and Kao Lak, the latter being very sunny and warm in the morning but during the evening and night plenty of rain between Kao Lak and Phuket. Max temp reached 28.4C on Samui, 31.5C in Kao Lak and 32.6C on Phuket.

Yesterday the IDC was half way, hence today a day off for shopping.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 22nd November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is dry again. A nice sky with some clouds in it is shaping up. Current temp at 7am is around 25C

Kao Lak has an almost blue sky shaping up. It looks like a very nice day, especially considering we're going to complete the Open Water dives for this current IDC. Current temp at 7am is around 24C

A big Krathong on the river, during yesterday's Loy Kratong party

Yesterday was dry on Samui, although cloudy. During the evening the clouds disappeared though and a beautiful view of the full moon was visible. Max temp reached around 29C

Kao Lak had a dry day with plenty of sunshine although during the afternoon plenty of clouds showed up. Max temp reached around 30C

Camille

Loy Kratong 2010 in Kao Lak

Loy Kratong 2010 in Kao Lak

This year I'm in Kao Lak during the Loy Kratong celebrations since I'm teaching an IDC here and have to float a Kratong on behalf of my family, since in Samui there was no celebration this year in the local Wat Plai Laem.

Loy Kratong ลอยกระทง takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.
"Loi" means "to float" and a "krathong" is traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk.

In Kao Lak there was however a big party on next to small river and a wooden construction was build so everybody could get close to the rive and float his or her Kratong.

The water was relatively rapidly moving which worked out great for the Kratongs and they were swiftly taken with the current after being launched.

There were plenty of Kratongs for sale at various stalls and the average price was around 50 Baht.

This is a picture of my Kratong this year, but this was the second version, since the first version was a very small Kratong made out of a lotus flower and was very cute, but after I added some of my hair, a small piece of my nail and 9 Baht in coins, it was off balance and unfortunately capsized immediately, so it was time for a second Kratong. This one floated just fine!

At the party ground all kinds of activities were going on with lots of food and goods for sale and in a corner near a big stage I found some very big Kratongs, made by hotel staff and students of the local schools, which looked like a competition. Above shows a proud student from a local school with an over sized Kratong.

That;s it for this years Loy Kratong, if you were in Thailand, I'm pretty sure that you participated in the festivities and if you're outside Thailand and know Thai people there, you may well have participated in a local festivity and otherwise, I hope you enjoyed these pictures.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 21st November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is sunny! Exactly like the predicts forecast, at last! Current temp at 7am is 23.7C

The same goes for Kao Lak this morning. although there are some clouds but it looks like a nice day is brewing up. Current temp is 23C

Today is Loy Kratong ลอยกระทง and it's time to get the Kratong's out! More on this in a post tomorrow or later today!

Usually I celebrate this with my family but this year I will have to float my own Kratong.

Rainbow over Kao Lak in just before the evening started yesterday

Yesterday saw a day long of rain and drizzle in Samui, not a lot of rain came down but it was all day long! Max temp reached 25.8C, a rather 'chilly' day.

Kao Lak continued it's own pattern; sun in the morning and during the afternoon we had a heavybut short shower. Max temp here reached 32.3C

Camille

Food on Wheels; Chicken out

Food on Wheels; The chicken is out

A new entry on the Food on Wheels series is due and in Kao Lak where I currently am, the mobile version of KFC is every day at the same location.

This picture show the goodies on offer and most of the food on display is some form of chicken. The breast, wings, liver, heart etc. The only thing missing is the chicken feet, which the Thais seem to love!

The big blue bucket is filled with small plastic bags of the sticky rice or Kao Niao ข้าวเหนียว. My tip; the sticky rice actually tastes very good if you BBQ it!

The BBQ part is on the side of the side cart, with a keeping the food warm tower just in front of it on the left side of this picture (although looking from this angle, the keeping it warm tower is behind the BBQ). The pan on the right side is for deep frying chicken.

The side mounted car makes this a perfect sample of food on wheels! The chicken assortment gets turned over quickly so the food is fresh at all times. That's another tip, always check if many people buy food from a place, this means a high turn over and consequently fresh food.

Enjoy your culinary Thai fast food experiences, they're all over the place and enjoyable and tasteful.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 20th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is back to it's rainy days. This morning saw some hard rain with a drizzle right now. Current temp at 7am is 24C

The sun is out and about in Kao Lak although there are some clouds as well. Current temp at 7am is 24.2C It's rather chilly here during the night!

Yesterday saw rain in Samui during the morning and early afternoon, which eased up in the afternoon. Max temp reached 28.3C

Kao Lak was nice, cloudy with some occasional sunshine and a big but short shower late during the afternoon. Max temp reached 31C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 19th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is undergoing another bout of rain this morning, most likely to continue into the late afternoon. Current temp at 7am is 24.7C

Some flash flooding is to be expected again.

Kao Lak is following the usual procedure, it's partly cloudy with plenty of blue sky and sunshine. Current temp at 7am is 23.7C

Yesterday saw a bit of rain during the Samui morning but soon this turned into a lovely day with plenty of sunshine. During the night it started to rain again and it rained all night long into the current moment. Max temp reached

Kao Lak had a great day yesterday with sunshine all day long! Max temp reached 31C.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 18th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui has a bit of cloud cover but it looks like the sun will break through rather soon. Very early there was a bit of rain though.Current temp at 7am is 25.4C

Kao Lak is starting out nicely again, a fairly blue sky with plenty of blue and sunshine is above us and the current temp at 7am is 23.3C The nights are relatively cold here! I hope the weather remains like this and no rain will spoil the day during the afternoon.

Kao Lak mountains yesterday after the rain, covered in clouds

Yesterday saw a very nice and sunny day on Samui with a max temp of 29.7C

in Kao Lak the day started out great with sunshine but around noon the rain came and there were some periods with strong and heavy downpour and even some thunder thrown in for good measure. During the evening it became drier again. Max temp reached 30.4C

Yesterday also saw the start of the first IDC program I teach in Kao Lak.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 17th November, 2010

Today's weather;

All my readers can relax, Samui has sunshine this morning after yesterday's rain. There are still some clouds but it should be a nice day today. Current temp at 7am is 25.8C

Yesterday was once more a travel day for me and I drove from Samui to Kao Lak, pretty much all day in the rain. Later in the afternoon it was dry around Kao Lak and this morning there's a near perfect blue sky with plenty of sunshine. Current temp is 23C and max temp yesterday reached 31.3C.

In Kao Lak I will start once more an IDC today.

Samui saw another 50mm of rain yesterday and some areas flooded briefly, mainly in Chaweng but once the rain stopped the floods quickly disappeared. Yesterday's max temp in Samui reached 29C.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 16th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui woke up to some lovely sunshine but right now it's a mixed bag, a drizzle and sunshine together! Current temp at 7am is 26.5C

In a moment I'll be on my way to Kao Lak and after that to Koh Lanta again for more IDC's!

Aftermath of the rain at my son's school, there used the a food place under the cover!

Last night I woke up at around 3am by a massive thunder stroke which at the moment I thought was shaking the whole house, this was followed by rain. Yesterday was cloudy but mainly dry with a max temp of 28.9C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 15th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is experiencing an overcast sky and a bit of early morning rain. It's a mix of constant drizzle to rain but nothing as torrential as during early November. Current temp at 7am is 24.4C

Yesterday saw a nice and dry day with occasional sunshine and also lot of threatening, (dark) grey clouds as well. Around 2am I woke up from hard rain and thunder and it looks like it rained all night long, the total count this morning was 45mm. Max temp reached 29.7C

Tomorrow I'm off to Kao Lak for my next IDC adventure, immediately followed by an added program on Koh Lanta.

Camille

Hotel bookings and reviews on Koh Samui

Hotel bookings and reviews on Koh Samui

Sometimes it is difficult to make a choice on hotels, especially if it's the first time you are going to visit a place. For instance Koh Samui! As a result I'm being asked many times about specifics of certain hotels or information in general about Samui hotels. As a long term local (I'm living now since 12 years on Koh Samui) and due to my work in the tourist industry on the island, I get to visit many different resorts all over the island and can give an unbiased and honest review about many hotels and resorts on Samui. I can tell you why I like a resort but can also give you some ideas on potential issues that aren't mentioned in a travel guide! For instance the distance away from any shopping or the state of the beach.

For this occasion and for repeat visitors to Koh Samui, I've got a separate 'Camille's Samui hotel recommendation blog', that has plenty of reviews of hotels and resorts all over Samui. The good thing about it is that I personally know all these resorts and plenty of times you will see my own pictures of said resort being posted for a review.

The blog covers plenty of areas all over Samui and reviews hotels and resorts in various price classes.

Have look and book your rooms through my site, that way you help me out keeping this blog going as well!

I also run a 'Thailand hotel recommendation' blog that works along the same principles as the Samui blog and covers plenty of cities and areas around the Kingdom. Please have a look there as well.

The two booking sites I recommend are listed below; Hotels Combined and Agoda.

Hotels Combined an excellent booking site I can highly recommend

The well known Agoda booking site, well established and efficient

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 14th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui woke up under a cloud cover although right now the sun is battling it out with said clouds. Current temp at 7am is 25.5C

Yesterday saw a 2nd sunny day in a row only around 8.30pm there was some rain and the forecast for today and the rest of the week is looking very good with little rain and plenty of sunshine coming up. Max temp reached 28.8C

We went around the island yesterday and all roads are in good shape, there are very few spots where there is still water on the road and only in front of Chaweng post office on the ring road is some structural damage to the road. It is still wise though not to get too close to the side of the roads, especially if they're covered in water and you can't see if there's a hole or not, let alone how that hole may be.

It seems that Samui has recovered rather swiftly from the unusual torrential rain at the beginning of the month.

Camille

Nang Sabai, German bakery, Saladan, Koh Lanta

Nang Sabai, German bakery, Saladan, Koh Lanta

The third and for the time being last restaurant or food update originating from my recent visit on Koh Lanta. This time it's the Nang Sabai German Bakery I visited and write about and it's a must visit place, even if you're not German.

The location is a few 100 meters outside of Saladan, direction South on your left hand. There's clear signs outside and it will be very difficult to miss. There's also plenty of parking space for motorbikes and cars alike.

Bread and cakes are baked fresh every day, the owners have early days and starts their days around 3am, baking away!

They recently relocated to this fairly new place, after having grown out of their original place. Just like the Red Snapper restaurant owners, they're since 7 years on the island, first just as holiday makers and than later on as expats after they relocated from Germany.

Herrentoast

The menu is the right size, not an overwhelming assortment to choose from but just enough to make it interesting and once I laid my eyes on my choice; the Herrentoast -> 1 rye bread with pork, mustard and baked with cheese I was pleasantly surprised once I received my dish. This is easily one of the best meals I ever had in a bakery in Thailand! Obviously this dish comes highly recommended by me.

Apfelstrudel

Upon walking in you can't miss the big fridge placed on your right hand side entry and just looking at it I knew I had to get a dessert. My choice was the Apfelstrudel with ice cream and whipped cream. An excellent choice and once more highly recommended. Come in early since by noon the Apfelstrudel for the day was gone and finished!

A very fine bakery and well worth a visit. Enjoy!!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 13th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is a different island since I'm back! The sun was out a few times already today and although there's some overcast, the sun is fighting for space as well! Current temp at 10am is 27.7C

The forecast for the next 7 days is grand, plenty of sunshine and not much rain at all.

The late post is due to an internet problem this morning and by the time the connection came on again I had left the house.

Today we drove around the island and there just a few places where a marginal amount of water is still on the road. I didn't see many water pumps, in contrast to other years. Daily English newspaper The Nation claimed that the Thai Government is to spend another 840,-Million THB to improve the drainage systems on Samui.

Yesterday's sunshine in front of Tesco Lotus in Chaweng

Yesterday saw a lovely day, almost all day long sunshine and the heat slapped you in the face, the way it should be! Things are back to normal! Max temp reached 28.5C

Camille

Red Snapper restaurant, Klong Dao, Koh Lanta

Red Snapper restaurant, Klong Dao, Koh Lanta

During my stay on Koh Lanta I had dinner here twice and this place definitely rocks! This is the second restaurant review out of three that I promised yesterday, although I'm not sure if the Food on Wheels contribution I made yesterday counts as a restaurant, I would say we count that as food!

The Red Snapper, run by a Dutch couple who live on Lanta for 7 years now, is located at the Southern part of Klong Dao or long beach. It's opposite a road that leads onto a T-crossing at this point, the only big road going off the main road for a few miles to both sides.

Mixed order with plenty of tapas

The restaurant is open air! There are three seating areas which allows you to pick where to sit and have more or less intimacy, whatever you need or like at that moment.

A great cold platter with a nice assortment of meat

The menu is really great, it has loads of tapas and just a mixed order of a few of these will fill you up nicely, not to mention the nice home made food. Although of the latter I would've hoped for more!

Meatballs, just yummy

We ordered the home made pate as well which is delicious, plus a few other bob and bits that I didn't even get around to taking pictures of, they were eaten that fast!

Cheese platter

Together with a nice bottle of wine, the food goes down very well and all the ingredients make it very rich, it's nice to taste the olive oil and other good stuff they use.

If you're in for a treat or want to have a food adventure just slightly different or want to surprise somebody, this might be a very good place to start the evening or night!

If you can't get enough, they also rent a hand full bungalows at Red Snapper and they even have a sandwich shop near the road although rumor has it that this may stay closed this season.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 12th November, 2010

Today's weather;

It's good to be back home again, even if it's just for a couple of days, arrived safely yesterday and drove without problems from Nathon to Plai Laem. This morning Samui is having some serious cloud cover but there are also minor blue patches around and it's dry. It seems everything is definitely going back to 'normal'. Later today I'm planning to look around a bit and I expect a few pumps will be up and running to deal with flooded areas and the run off from the hills and mountains around the island.

Current temp at 7am is 24.9C

Yesterday I had an easy and swift trip from Lanta to Samui, only interrupted three times by rain, during which I took my foot off the pedal. In general the roads were dry and in good condition although on the 44 interstate road between Krabi and Surat Thani there was a flooded area next to the road which also had various houses near to or just about being flooded.

Samui experienced an almost (rare) dry day and the max temp reached 27.2C

Camille

Food on Wheels; Khanom Waan

Food on Wheels; Khanom Waan

Now that the situation on Koh Samui is stabilizing again (I arrived back on the island today and drove from Nathon to Plai Laem without problems) it's time to catch up on some other topics again and the first one to kick off a series of 3 Koh Lanta food related topics that are coming up is from the ever popular Food on Wheels series.

Today's pictures are from a well known early evening vendor, the 'Khanom waan' or the sweets vendor. I caught him near Saladan, the main village on the North of the island, where the car ferries arrive and depart.

These vendors usually pop out in the very late afternoon and early evening all over Thailand it seems and sell their assortment of sweets to all who are interested and that's not just kids but plenty of adults come to see him and spend their money on some sweets.

The assortment is sweet indeed! It's well worth trying out the various sweets or khanom waan on offer but be aware, it is sweet indeed. Better not have dentist issues when you dig in to these.

Soon more updates on an excellent restaurant and a German bakery on Koh Lanta. Stay tuned!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 11th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is very clouded right now but still dry. Current temp 7am is 24.5C

In a few moments I will leave Koh Lanta and start to make my way back to Samui today, I hope for good road conditions!

The weather forecast for the weekend changed a bit for the better, still a bit of rain but the wind seems to have gone away.

Koh Lanta had some drizzle around 6.30am but is dry at the moment and the sun is breaking through! Current temp at 7am is 24.7C

Extreme conditions on Samui ask for extreme measures; extreme ironing on Chaweng streets

Yesterday saw a relatively nice day on Samui, no sunshine but also not that much rain and a lot of the previous days flooding went down again. Max temp reached 28.3C

Lanta on the other hand had a lovely day with some sunshine and no rain, the evening brought a very nice sky with loads of stars to gaze at. Max temp reached around 29C

Yesterday the PADI IE was completed successfully by my candidates so there's no reason to stay for the time being and I'm looking forward going home today.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 10th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is fine at this very moment, no rain and wind, a lull in the beating it's getting. Yesterday was a different story, more on that later. Current temp at 7am is 25.3C.

Today and tomorrow look nice, which works out fine since I'm planning to travel back to Samui tomorrow. The 16th November I'm leaving again to Kao Lak for another IDC there.

Koh Lanta is also doing fine, especially compared to Samui! It's dry but cloudy with a current temp at 7am of 24.8C, not sure if it will stay dry today. Tomorrow is looking really bad around here with strong wind and lots of rain but nice the rest of the week.

Nest to where I stay at Klong Nin, just about 400 meters away the Koh Lanta Metereological Station is based

Yesterday saw Samui flooded again, see my earlier post today with pictures and a video from around Lamai. A whooping 285mm of rain came down during the day! Max temp reached 26.7C

Koh Lanta started out promising yesterday with some occasional sunshine at times but towards noon darker clouds came in and it was drizzle and rain from there onwards pretty much all day with a drier evening. Max temp reached around 28C.

Camille

More flooding on Samui yesterday, pictures and video

More flooding on Samui yesterday

Yesterday the flood gates were opened again over Samui and in many places the roads were flooded again, in Chaweng, Lamai and Bophud a lot of water made many roads impassable again.

After my initial posts with videos and pictures from flooding earlier this week, here are some more of pictures and a video of Lamai yesterday.

The forecast looks good for today and tomorrow but Saturday strong wind and heavy rains are predicted again.

Lamai

Lamai 7-11

Lamai

Thanks to Marat for the video

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 9th Novembeer, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is in for a fairly big one again today! Just today though! Fairly strong wind and plenty of rain and than finally it should ease up! Right now it's drizzling but plenty more is to come today. Current temp at 7am is around 25C

Koh Lanta looks rather promising, there's overcast but I do expect sunshine later today. Current temp at 7am is around 25C

Today the PADI IE is starting on Koh Lanta, check my dive blog for updates and yesterday we had a great days diving at one of Thailand's top dive sites; Hin Daeng and Hin Muang.

Yesterday saw plenty of rain during Samui's morning but the afternoon dried up and the sun actually came out for a bit but than it rained all night long including a short powercut as well. Max temp reached around 29C

Koh Lanta on the other hand started out great, even with some early sun but during the day the clouds took over and around 7pm it was raining hard for a while. Max temp reached around 29C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 8th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is relaxing now just to get ready for what seems to be another stormy three days, building up today, highlighting tomorrow and slowing down again during Wednesday. After that things should really ease up, although there may be some rain here and there since it still is the rainy after all. Current temp at 7am is around 25C

Koh Lanta is dry but cloudy and I'm not too sure if the sun will break through today, maybe for short moments. Current temp at 7am is around 25C

Yesterday saw hardly any rain at all on Samui, just a drizzle throughout the day with a max temp of around 28C and Koh Lanta had a few moments of sunshine during the afternoon and it was dry all day until about 7.30pm when a drizzle started here. Max temp reached just over 30C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 7th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui seems to be back to normal and despite a big windy and rainy bump in the road this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, things should be fine and picking up the pieces and repairing the damage will be the main priority. Right now there's overcast but it wouldn't surprise me if there's some sunshine later today. Current temp at 7am is 25C

Koh Lanta is waking up under a partly blue sky and I expect more sunshine during the day. Current temp at 7am here is 25.5C

Yesterday saw a merely dry day on Samui with maybe a trace of rain and a max temp of 28.8C and Koh Lanta saw overcast pretty much all day with an occasional drizzle as well and a max temp of 29.8C

The current IDC on Lanta finished yesterday, with an EFRI course taking place today and a day's diving to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang scheduled for tomorrow!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 6th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is going back to normal, this morning it was dry and the sky looked bright although there was no sunshine but also no rain. Water is receding all over the island but there's a lot of damage amongst other to the road surface, especially in front of Chaweng post office on the ring road.

Electricity is back on at my house pretty much non stop now but some parts still had some power cuts. Tomorrow should see a nice and fairly dry day with some sunshine! Currently Wednesday looks like a rough day again with some strong wind Current temp at 7am is 25C

Koh Lanta sees a light cloud cover today but I wouldn't be surprised if we see some sunshine later in the day! Current temp at 7am is 25.5C

Today is the last day of the IDC here!

A tree felled by the storm at Hua Thanon's 7-11, by Richard ten Brinke

Yesterday saw Samui starting on the recovery path, there was some rain but nothing like the past couple of days. I hope all my friends are ok! Everything starts or is open again, ferries from/to the mainland are back on schedule as well. Max temp reached 28.7C

Koh Lanta saw some clouded skies all day long yesterday with an occasional drizzle but no outright straight rain. Max temp reached 27.8C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 5th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is doing a lot better today. This morning has some strong wind but no rain and all night there was electricity. The forecast for today is still a bit of rain and than a few days with hardly any rain and actually some sunshine. Time to do laundry! Current temp at 7am is 27.3C

For everybody planning to travel to Samui in the near future; It's not an all clear yet, the aftermath of this storm will require a lot of cleaning up and some roads will need to be fixed but right now most important thing is to keep an eye out on a depression that's forming over Vietnam and Cambodia and hope it's not coming Thailand's way! Things are easing up though for right now although more rain is predicted early next week.

Koh Lanta, where I'm about to finish an IDC, two more days to go, including today, has overcast and right now it doesn't look like we'll have a lot of sunshine here today. Current temp at 7am is 24.8C

Yesterday saw massive improvements around Samui, a lot of the flooding receded, most shops are open again although some shells are emptying out quickly, ATM's were working again and the airport was in full swing, trying to get to grips with the backlog of passengers. Very important to many people was that their electricity was back on again and that the rain stopped pouring down like it did the previous days. max temp reached 27.2C

Koh Lanta had a nice and sunny day. Max temp reached around 31C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 4th November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui's situation should start to ease up as of today. Almost all night there was electricity and although currently it's still raining and the roads at lower parts of the island are still flooded, the rain and wind should slow down essentially in the course of the day and I would expect water on the flooded roads to recede accordingly.

One of the problems that occurs each year with rains like this will be the run off water from the hills which may continue for days after the rain has stopped. Current temp at 7am is 24.7C

Yesterday saw Big C, Tesco Nathon and a few others open their doors again, the difficulty was in getting there! Many 7-11's were closed though, especially during power outages.

The amount of rain that came down yesterday was a bout a third compared to the previous day, 'only' 107mm.

Another blog where you can see loads of water and rain pictures is Elina's Samui blog.

The airport opened again yesterday at 3pm and the the forecast would allow the ferries to pick up their services very soon as well. Max temp reached 27.2C

It's been difficult being away from Samui during these times but I'm glad that I can have very regular contact with my wife and children and also with many other people on Samui and even Koh Tao.

The real problem areas in Southern Thailand are around Hat Yai and my thoughts go out to the people that are affected by all this water and the flooding there.

It's been amazing how many visits my blog had, just over 1.000, two days in a row with well over 4.600 page views and loads of enquiries and comments. If you're happy with my blog and updates and the information you receive, feel free to leave some beer tokens! Thanks to all who visited and left messages, keep coming back when Samui starts to turn to 'normal' again.

Airport road, with thanks to Richard ten Brinke

Getting back to my situation on Koh Lanta which is in total contrast to Samui! My IDC is coming along nicely and weather conditions are just fine here. Although a lot of rain is predicted for today, there are plenty of blue spots in a partly overcast sky. Current temp at 7am is 26C

Yesterdays sunset at Klong Nin on Koh Lanta

Yesterday morning started out with rain until about noon when it cleared up and the remainder of the day was sunny and agreeably warm and people came out to hang out on the beaches. Max temp reached 31.2C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 3rd November, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui is recovering after having been in the news a bit yesterday. Right now there's still rain but the wind is slowing down and electricity has been on almost all night long, to the relief of all residents. Current temp at 7am is 25.5C.

The forecast is looking a lot better as of this morning, today subsiding winds and still a lot of rain but than slowly the wind and amount of rain goes down pretty much each day to be over by the weekend and the sun might pop out again!

It's interesting to look back at some pictures from the November 2008 flooding, which wasn't anywhere near what happened this time around.

My family is doing fine so far and we're in steady contact.

The ring road in Lamai yesterday

Koh Lanta is wet this morning, Phuket and Phi Phi, which you can see most of the time from here, where covered and white clouds but in front of Lanta were some dark clouds and they're shedding their water weight right now. Current temp at 7am is around 26C.

Today my IDC continues after having had a day off yesterday.

7-11 Lamai at ring road yesterday

Yesterday saw 263mm of rain come down on Samui, yesterdays posts with pictures and video tell the story pretty much and today has another glimpse on conditions around the island.

Things are slowly getting better now though and by the end of the week it all should be back to normal. Just hope the island can be restocked with food etc very soon and the ferry schedule will be resumed soon. Max temp reached 27C

Besides Samui, it was Songkla and Hat Yai that really have been hit bad, a lot worse than their last flooding 10 years ago with water reaching a 3 meter height at some parts.

Koh Lanta on the other hand had some really hard storm condition around 5.30am but by 7.30am it was dry again and by noon the sun was out and it remained dry pretty much the rest of the day. Max temp was around 30C

Camille

Samui flooding November 2010, some videos

Samui flooding November 2010, some videos

Here some more recent videos that I found on You Tube, pretty impressive flooding.

All banks, Big C, Tesco Lotus etc are currently all closed down, ferry traffic has been stopped between Don Sak and Samui and the airport is closed and apparently is being opened right now at 19.30.

Apparently Don Sak and Surat Thani have also some serious flooding problems and it's not sure when somebody can actually reach the ferries.