Welcome to April 2011
Here's my monthly update to welcome a new month. It's going to be an interesting month, since the end of last month was as unusual as it can get! The floods that caused Samui airport to be closed and the general condition on Samui and Koh Tao are going to have a long term impact on all three Gulf islands and Southern Thailand in general. Lots of clean up and repair work will be under way!
Repair work in Nathon
Samui's mayor talked about 5 months before everything would be fixed and repaired!
Right now I can only hope that the weather will be as April should be, sunny and hot! There was enough rain to help us through a the next rainy season even if that stayed dry!
April will also bring Songkran, the Thai New Year event, on Samui to be held on the 13th, an event not to be missed and yes, it does involve water throwing!
My work will bring me to Gili Air in Indonesia to teach a PADI IDC there come the 24th April.
Keep checking in here and bookmark my Samui hotel recommendation blog and my Thailand hotel recommendation blog, with lots of personal views and experiences on hotel choices.
Keep hitting the beer allowance buttons and donations are still welcome. Thanks to Torkel and Neil for a donation, much appreciated!
Camille
20 comments:
You are most welcome, we will arrive on Saturday, and your updates are very appriciated.
Cheers,
Torkel (with family)
Hello there,
First allow me to congratulate you for your rich blog :) I am planning for 5 nights at W hotel in Koh Samui where I'll check in on April 18th, that would be my honeymoon, and I was always excited about visting this place! I was so depresed when I heared the news, and here I do need your advice! shall I keep my plan on or delay it? your advice is highly appreciated, Regards from UAE,
Please keep in mind that I do NOT have lists of individual hotels and their current state. If I stumble over one or hear about one I will post it here on my blog.
-If you're planning to visit Koh Samui within a week or so, expect a damaged island with a lot of clean up and repair work going on. I'm sure that hotels that aren't affected will do their uttermost best to accommodate you but Samui won't be at it's prettiest!
-If you're planning to visit Samui around mid April, I would expect a lot of damage and debris been taken care of and your visit should be fine.
Hi Camille!
Thank you very much for your blogg. I logg in every hour to reed updates and new comments.
Do you have any words on how Koh Phangan survived the floods?
Me and my mother are going to Haad Yao in exactly two weeks after two days in Samui. It is our first trip to Thailand.
Hi there Camille, just read your latest post.
Can you help us at all please ? or refer to someone who could...
We are flying from Melbourne to Samui in 2 weeks time and heading to Lamai.
We are trying to find out how badly it has been hit by the floods, so that we can determine if our holiday should still go ahead... we dont want to go there if there is mud washed into everything... or muddy beaches...and other things like that.. we love Samui, been many times, love the people and want to support them of course, but we also want to be able to have a great time and enjoy the place ...
hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks
Darren
Hi Darren,
If you're planning to visit Koh Samui within a week or so, expect a damaged island with a lot of clean up and repair work going on. I'm sure that hotels that aren't affected will do their uttermost best to accommodate you but Samui won't be at it's prettiest! Everybody wants tourists to come back, beach clean ups will also be conducted.
-If you're planning to visit Samui around mid April, I would expect a lot of damage and debris been taken care of and your visit should be fine.
-Anybody planning on visiting towards the end of April or early May or even later, don't worry. Do not reschedule for November, that's usually Samui's rainy season!
Hi Camille!
My name is Olivia from Hong Kong; surf on the internet in finding the
update news about Koh Samui coz. I already bought the tickets for a short
trip there on 21-25 April... I don't wanna cancel the trip but have to be
ensure it is safe and accessible to places in Koh Samui. May I know how
the situation of now and do you think everything gets better in 3 weeks of
now? Thank you in advance for your kind advice and looking forward to
hearing from you soon!
Your faithfully
Olivia
Hi Zvalan,
Koh Phangan also had water floods and damage accordingly. Please see my guidelines for Samui, they are valid for Koh Phangan as well.
Hi Camille
Just wanna say thank you so much for your blog it is so helpful..
I check all the time to see your updates.. as we are travelling there on the 18th!
Thanks again and I hope things are looking up for everyone there.. our thoughts are with you all..
Gemma
Thanks Gemma,
Hope you will enjoy your stay on Samui!
Thanks Camille for your prompt reply, much appreciated! =)
Meanwhile, how’s the weather now? I find that it keeps raining the whole week but unsure it’s heavy or just showering which doesn’t affect the clean up works in Samui. I’d like to stick on my plan but I am travelling with my friend as well; hence, I would like to share the “accurate” information as much as I can to her as she worries about the safety and is it worthwhile to spend our first visit to Samui in life this time in end April.
Thank you very much and are you based in Samui? Would love to update you if my friend feels comfortable to travel with me and meet you there for a drink also! ;)
Cheers
Olivia
Hi Olivia,
Today during the afternoon there was plenty of sunshine and clean up and repair work is in full swing.
Yes, I live on Samui although right now I'm not on the island, strangely enough!
Thanks Camille again for your email and just read your blog again with all the latest update as well as the pictures shown! Thanks for the sharing and it indeed valuable information in reading your blog there! Keep it up!
Have a great week ahead!
Cheers
Olivia
Hope to see you soon on Samui Olivia!
Hello Camille,
Love your blog and am a regular reader.
We are due back in Lamai on 15/4/11 but were wondering about condition of the town and the beach.
Can you at some time give an update on this area and whether it is better to stay away so the people can clean up or has the damage been minimal in Lamai.
Thanks
Geoff
Hi geoff,
Damage in Lamai has been existential, it's a low lying area!
However, just like the rest of Samui, clean up and repair work is in full swing and withing two weeks I expect all to be fine again!
Hi Camille,Have been keeping up to date on your blog re Koh samui weather etc and has been interesting to read! We will be coming over on 17th April and I was wondering if there is anything we should be mindful of due to the clean up or even if there is a way to help. As tourist we don't won't to be in the way of locals but still want to enjoy our holiday and the many things that there are to see and do on the island.Regards Nicki
Hi Nicki,
Come the 17th I expect the majority of clean up and repair work to be done and it will be very close to business as usual!
Hi Camille
Sorry, it’s me again! Just find that you posted the flood crisis update and I am wondering where the location of Nora Beach Resort & Spa is (Address: 222 Moo 2, Chawang Beach, Bophut Koh Samui, Suratthani 84320 Thailand)? I have no clue which area is the hotel as it doesn’t shown anything related there. I understand it’s a bit too much in asking one particular hotel from you; I do appreciated if you can advise the location and what I just worried the hotel is in the critical area.
Million thanks again!
Cheers
Olivia
Hi Olivia,
Nora Beach Resort is in North Chaweng and build on a very sloping hill and is pretty much excluded from flooding. The only worry there could be a landslide! So far so good though ;-)
Post a Comment