Sunday 3 April 2011

Samui clean up in full swing after floods

Samui clean up in full swing after floods

After some encouraging pictures of clean up work in full swing in Nathon in my 'Welcome to April 2011' post yesterday, here's some more good news. Most roads are getting dry now, especially after this afternoons sunshine and the roads are being cleared of sand.

Remember my post with an update of 30th March, with pictures of the big rocks that fell down on the road between Chaweng and Lamai?

Today they started jack hammering the rocks to pieces, which will take a few days, but the clean up and repair works are in full swing! Did you notice the nice blue skies?

Here today, gone tomorrow

Please keep an eye on my blog for the latest updates on the weather forecasts and clean up and repair activities.

Despite the clean up work on Samui and the sunshine today, here's an update on the overall situation in the South of Thailand by the Nation.

Camille

36 comments:

Fabrizio said...

Hi Camille
I'm a person from Macao (China) and I've just found your blog.
We, me and my family, are planning to arrive in Thailand on 15 April and travel by train
to Surat Thani.
Sorry for asking you this information but it seem that you are very well informed,
in the official page they don't say anything about it.

Do you think it would be possible and safe to take the train
from Bangkok to Surat Thani on 15 of April
and beside that, will be the situation in Samui normalized by that time?

We have been there many times before, so we know what it looks like normally :-)

Thank you very much for your help


Fabrizio

Camille said...

Hi Fabrizio,

Samui should have sorted out the major clean up and repair work by than although I expect repair to continue for a while.

Currently trains stop outside Surat Thani and I have no information if it’s possible to connect to the Donsak pier in order to go to Samui. At this moment my advise is to get off the train in Chumpon and take the ferry to Koh Tao-Koh Phangan-Koh Samui. Total travel time by ferry approx 4 to 5 hrs, possibly shorter than going by train from Chumpon to Surat and take the ferry to Samui!

Céline said...

Camille,
Grâce à vous, je peux voir les dégâts où vit mon meilleur ami à Sumai... il m'a envoyé votre lien.
Merci de nous faire voir la tristesse de mère terre vous fait vivre car elle en a plein les bras.. de ceux qui décortiquent son CENTRE. Bonne continuité a vous et merci encore, je viendrai chaque jour visiter votre blog.. Céline

Camille said...

Merci beaucoup!

Bjorn said...

Hi Camille,

I have been following your blog posts over the last week. I am due to travel to Samui on the 9th of April (currently in hua hin). What's your opinion whether I should travel to Samui or not given the recent adverse weather?
You mentioned in a previous post that tourists should be ok to travel to Samui mid April.
In short, is the island currently too messy for a tourist to enjoy their stay? Also, which areas are least effected?

Many thanks for an excellent blog and looking forward to your reply.

Thanks
Bjorn

Camille said...

Hi Bjorn,

Samui is messy right now and recovering from a major disaster. However, in two weeks time things should be back to a more 'normal' situation.

If you don't want to deal with that, there are plenty of other destinations in Thailand that aren't affected but believe when I say that everybody will be very happy with each visitor!

Céline said...

Je demeure en contact avec vous - vous étiez entrés ds mes courriels indésirables.....
je conserve vos coordonnées.. je ne crains rien de vous.

J'irai sans doute au cours de l'été juillet - août à Samui.

Bonne continuité et ensemble si nous méditons,
mère Terre se calmera..
tous nous devons lui démontrer notre bon vouloir de stoper la polution
et de respecter ce qu'elle n'a plus envie de nous donner : ses entrailles..

Charlotte said...

Thank god. Have found your blog I'm flying out to koh samui on the 22nd of April and have been trying to find some where on the Internet to keep me updated I will be staying tuned into ur blog daily! Hope my hotel is not badly affected and of course other area and peoples homes.

Camille said...

Glad to be help Charlotte and I hope that you will enjoy your stay on Samui!

Chris said...

Hey Camille - really appreciate your web postings - it's very difficult to
get a real take on what's happening there, so you've been a massive help.
Quick question: we're supposed to be heading to Samui on the 12th to
Santiburi. Issue is, my wife and I have three young children - and though
I'm fine with it, I don't want to take them into harm's way. Can you give
me your view? Is it REALLY getting sorted? Do you have any insight into
Santiburi and how it's fared? Seriously, many thanks,
Chris

Camille said...

Hi Chris,

Although I have no information on individual resorts and their current state, I would except the Santiburi to be fine come 12th April. Clean up work is taken very seriously right now nad I would expect the hotel to be in full swing again by the 12th.

Hope you will enjoy your stay, keep an eye out for updates on my blog!

Kenneth said...

Hi Camille,

Really appreciated your information posted on your blog. It helps so much for us to understand the situation in koh Samui. We planned to drive from Phuket to Samui at 12 Apr but we're now a bit worry about the situation on the road whether it's possible to reach Samui.
Wonder if you know whether the route 44 or 415 -> 401 are still passable or anyway we can get to Samui from Phuket? we're also quite worry about the hotel condition as we'll be staying at The Sarann Hotel.
Many thanks!
Kenneth

Sam said...

Hi Camille

As everyone has already said - it's hard to find a proper 'on the ground' evaluation of current events in Samui and the surrounding effected areas. Thanks so much for making the effort in informing the world! Having been to Samui five times now it's very sad to hear of all the trouble that all the locals and holidaymakers are going through.

My girlfriend and myself will be arriving early May and staying on Chaweng. I know it's hard to forecast but do you get a feeling that the storms are going to be continuing throughout April and into May?

I'm keen to get there and help out their economy by being a sensible tourist!


Thanks
Sam

Unknown said...

Dear Camille
Thanks for your update everyday. 4 days ago, i thought that we have to cancel our plan to Samui on 20th April. We were so disappointment, because we go there for celebrating my birthday. Now, we think the trip can go ahead, it's really a good news. Hope everything will be okay.

Camille said...

Hi Kenneth,

Although I have no information on individual hotels and their current situation or state, I'm in the same situation regarding getting to Samui on the 9th April from Koh Lanta. If you keep an eye out on my blog, I have daily updates about this situation and am working to find out what's up with the routes mentioned by you.

Apparently the 44 opened up again today.

Camille said...

Hi Sam,

There should be no storms anymore, this one was out of season as it was! No guarantee but right now very unlikely to happen again until May.

Camille said...

Hi Doris,

Around the 20th April you should be fine in my opinion.

Hope you will enjoy your stay on Samui!

Fabrizio said...

Thank you very much for your so fast replay
my wife is particularly worried, that's why I wrote to you.

Let's see the situation evolving until then
but I'm almost sure it'll be fine
Thank for the suggestion about the round trip, koh tao-koh pangan- koh samui
it would be a possibility

best regards

Fabrizio

Ian said...

Hi Camille we are due to come to samui on Thursday this week stopping in centara grand at chewang been told they are not excepting guests do you know anything about this? It's my first time on the island but coming with friends who have been lots of times I would be really gratefull of any advice you can provide

Best regards
Ian

Camille said...

Hi Ian,

If you have a reservation I wouldn't know why they wouldn't accept you, I haven't heard about this!

Belinda and David said...

thank you for your very informative blog. we are due to com out to Koh Samui in 10 days time and are very ineterested in all your reports. please keep it going!

Belinda and David

Camille said...

Hi Belinda and David,

Thanks for the support!

John said...

Hi Camille
I have been reading your blog everyday, thanku for doing it as no one can give us any real detail on the floods at the moment, We are travelling to Koh samui in 2 weeks and dont know whether it is going to be ok to go or not because again there is no info for us. Could you advise me on how Koh Samui is currently looking and whether you would advise to go in 2 weeks.
Thank you
John

Camille said...

Hi John,

Right now Samui is in full clean up and repair mode but in two weeks time all should be fine and business as usual is expected!

James said...

Hi Camille,

Your blog has been so so helpful.

We are due out in Thailand on 13th April from the Uk and travelling down to Koh Samui and Koh Phan Gan on the 17th April for the new years full moon party.

How bad is it? Will it be cleared up in time with the floods. I only ask because we wanted to do some diving and will of course come to see you for a course if it is possible.

Any advice would be massively appreciated

Many Thanks

James

Camille said...

Hi James,

Everything should be about just fine by the 17th and if anything will be cleaned up and ready for action I would expect it to be the Full Moon Party area!

Diving should be no problem, please contact me for more information if required!

Anonymous said...

Hi there!

I will be staying in koh samui (maenam beach) on the 21st of April and I will actually be getting married! I am e-mailing u as u seem to be knowledgeable about this situation what is the weather like now and what is the forecast for the next 4 weeks?

Camille said...

Towards the end of the month it should be back to business as usual on Samui.

I'm afraid that no one in the whole can give an accurate weather forecast for 4 weeks, including me.

Usually April is just plain hot!

John said...

Thank you so much :-)
You have been more help than any organisation. God bless.

Camille said...

Thanks John, much appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Hey camille, first thing i do every morning is check ur blog! Thank u for keeping us so well informed of the situation. We have a villa booked in lipa noi from friday 9th for 8 days. We have four toddlers in our group, r the roads from samui airport to lipa noi safe? Do u think its ok for us to travel with little ones to samui now? We've been a few times and want to support samui by not cancelling our trip but want to be sure its also sensible to do so with kids too... Thanks again!

James said...

thanks camille,

Have a great day

Camille said...

You're welcome James.

Camille said...

All roads are in working condition now, although minor traffic jams may occur where only one side of the roads an be used (the rock being jack hammered!).

The situation should be fine overall and you should be able to enjoy your stay!

tegan said...

Hey Camille thanks so much for keeping us updated my sister is getting married in koh samui on the 20th and is getting really worried about if its going to be safe for us to travel i have been reading up on the news but doesnt really give you much information. so thanks heaps for this, also do you know if phuket had been affected much where heading there for a few days before the wedding thanks again really appreciate it :)

Camille said...

Hi Tegan,

Phuket was not affected at all!

Enjoy your trip and good luck for your sister.