Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 7th April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui has a blue sky and sunshine this morning. Clean up and repair work is continuing. Current temp at 7am is 27.5C

As before, it's difficult to get my hands on repair pictures form a distance but in the course for this coming Saturday I should be back on Koh Samui again.

News from the Chaweng Cove Resotel in Chaweng is that the hotel is open, only the Beachfront Pool Villa and the restaurant are closed after flooding and will remain closed during renovation until 30th of June. They will serve the food in other areas of the hotel. Please get in touch with the resort for updates, this information according to Elina's blog.

Yesterday saw a nice and sunny day all day long. Max temp reached 29C

Yesterday I received donations from Dan, Connie, Gilly and Simon. Thanks guys, it's much appreciated! The amount of mails and comments that I responded to in my spare time is reaching over 400, a bit overwhelming to say the least so keep the donations/beer money coming!

De-foresting on a steep hill on Koh Lanta, a landslide disaster in the making!

Yesterday the current PADI IDC on Koh Lanta has been completed and today the two day PADI IE is about to start. Once this program is completed tomorrow, the next day, Saturday I'll be on my way to Samui!

Koh Lanta beach view

Koh Lanta is having a good morning with an almost clear blue sky and a current temp at 7am of 25.6C

Yesterday saw a dry day on Lanta but most of the day there was a light cloud cover but still allowing plenty sunshine to break through. Max temp reached 32.6C

First flights have started again to Nahkon Si Thammarat but Surat Thani is still dealing with flooded roads. Read The Nation.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 6th April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui is looking forward to more sunshine today, the morning sky is blue and the temperature might heat up soon. Current temp at 7am is 27.2C

Yesterday saw a variety of weather around the island, the morning started out blue pretty much all over Samui, around 10am Bophud has about two hours of rain but the afternoon saw blue skies and a hot afternoon with a max temp of 30C. Last night there was rain again, however nothing like it was last week!

Yesterday I received another donation by Steve, much appreciated and this is one of the things that kept me going! Over the last couple of days I've answered well over 300 mails and messages, an unbelievable amount of correspondence in such a short time frame. It's been a difficult time for many people, first of all for all the people on Koh Samui, especially the less fortunate who lost their properties or belongings but also for all of you out there who were planning stress and hassle free holidays on a sunny beach and for people like me who were not on the island and worried about their loved ones from a distance! Things are on the up again however!

Any support of my blog is appreciated and keeps my spirits up, a donation button can be found on top of the page, left hand side and keep hitting the beer allowance buttons by a big search engine!

Chaweng beach has many uprooted trees, picture from a few days ago! Picture by Joe Clasby

Please keep in mind that I do not have news about the current state of affairs of individual hotels! Please stop asking me about updates on specific hotels, I do NOT have them! If I do get updates from individual hotels, I will post them here! If any hotel managers read my blog, feel free to get in touch and let me know how your respective resort is doing.

As before, right now Samui is in full clean up and repair mode but soon it will be back to business as usual!

The clean up work is in full swing and with the current, normal weather conditions with plenty of sunshine, the repair work should be able to progress rapidly!

The South of Chaweng has been hit the hardest, Lamai was also hit very hard but they're working everywhere to get things going again! It's a lot easier to get the shocking pictures but pictures of relatively 'boring' clean up work are a lot harder to come by!

Here's an email of Centara Grand Beach resort that was sent out yesterday about their current state of affairs;

Re: Samui and the South flooding update review for Centara Hotels and Resorts

As promised herewith is our update report on the situation as it impacts Centara Hotels and Resorts.

Centara Grand Beach Resort, Samui

The resort area of Chaweng remains less than ideal as the clean up continues both land and beach side.

As such we have taken the decision to delay accepting new guests to our resort untill check in 11 April 2011 and onwards

For check in up to and including 10^th April, we continue to offer the opportunity to move to any other Centara resort in Samui or indeed any other grand resort in Thailand, subject to availability for the guest duration.

Guests have the further option to relocate back to Centara Grand Beach Resort on the 11^th April for the remainder of their stay, if they so wish.

As before there will no additional charge for staying in other resorts, the contract rates of Grand Samui will be used for all stays.

All other Samui Resorts

For all other resorts in Samui, we are now operating as normal and as such no alternative options are needed or offered.

Finally, may I clarify the situation on Phuket and Krabi as we have received several requests.

All our resorts are operating at normal levels and today I am delighted to inform that the sun is shining!

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. Chris Bailey

S.V.P - Sales & Marketing

CENTARA HOTELS & RESORTS

25^th Floor, Centara Grand at Central World,

999/99 Rama 1 Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

T: +66 (0) 2101 1234

F: +66 (0) 2101 1235

E: reservations@chr.co.th

Saladan scene on Koh Lanta

Koh Lanta is doing just fine, waking up under a blue sky, it looks like it's going to be a hot day here! Current temp at 7am is 25C

Lanta has been spared by the bad weather, there was one day with 45mm of rain last week but besides that, all is fine and dandy and sunny here! Strange considering that the province of Krabi, of which Lanta is part, had so many problems with flood and especially land slides.

Yesterday saw a sunny and hot day on Koh Lanta with a max temp of 32.6C

My courses are all finishing up here, yesterday the EFR Instructor course was completed and tomorrow the PADI IE starts, Saturday I will be on my way to Samui again, at last this time around!

Camille

Chaweng beach; The Beach, before and after the floods!

Chaweng beach; The Beach, before and after the floods!

Many requests have come in over the last couple of days regarding the conditions on Chaweng Beach, the amount of debris and the general state.

As already mentioned in previous, everybody on Samui is working hard to get things in order again and clean up work is in full swing all over the island! This includes the beaches, please see the following pictures how it was a few days ago and how it is now!

This is also re-assuring for all people asking for info and updates about the Centara Grand Beach hotel in Chaweng. The pictures are either taken in front or near the Centara and the hotel is up and running and business is as usual!

All pictures taken by Joe Clasby.

The amount of debris was stunning on the beach!

The water had the color of mushroom soup a few days ago! Now the water is getting clearer day by day!

A lot of sand was washed away, staff is working to stabilize trees and fix steps down to the beach

For traffic jams, stay on the left side of the cone!

Chaweng Beach in front of Centara Grand Beach Resort yesterday, the transformation completed!

Hope this settles everybody's 'nerves' who was worried about the beaches and especially the Centara Grand Beach Resort since I received most questions and inquiries about this hotel.

Some beach parts may still be dirty but in front of the hotels I would expect clean beaches!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 5th April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui woke up under a nice sunny sky this morning! Some deliveries to the island go slow, due to the bottle neck and floods in Surat Thani. Eggs and milk are very expensive. The clean up and repair work is full swing though and most of the water has receded from the roads on the island. Current temp at 7am is 27.5C

Yesterday saw plenty of sunshine and besides cleaning and fixing things, laundry was also a welcome option to many, clothes could dry again afterwards in the sun! Max temp reached 29.7C

More donations were received by Sean and Adam, keep the beer money coming people and also keep hitting the right buttons! It's much appreciated!

Recovery begins as rains ease by the Bangkok Post but Surat Thani is still critical.

Bt6.1bn relief fund as toll hits 51 dead, 29,000 ill by The Nation. Train travel remains suspended south of Chumphon, especially in areas from Thung Song to Surat Thani, where railway tracks remain under flood water.

A Public Health Ministry update yesterday gave a death toll of 51 for people drowned or otherwise killed in the two-week flooding crisis. The ministry said 29,414 people had become sick, including 227 suffering from stress or requiring counselling.
The number of people affected by the floods, updated yesterday by the government's ad-hoc relief centre, has reached 2,009,134, from 581,085 households. Those evacuated number 40,981, including 35,651 in Surat Thani. Around one million rai of farmland is flooded and 20,000 crew members of fishing trawlers are affected.

The Reggae pub a few days ago in Chaweng

A few people have asked how the situation is with respect to disease outbreak after the flood, a very good question. Samui should be fairly fine but large parts of South Thailand are badly affected.

Illness - mostly from respiratory problems - has struck more than 20,000 residents in flooded provinces in the South. They are seeking or receiving treatment at government clinics, hospitals, or from mobile medical units, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said yesterday.

Land encroachers are blamed for the landslides in Southern Thailand, let's see if anything will be done to them in time to come!

Jack hammering the rock

Koh Lanta woke up under a nice blue sky and it looks like it's going to be a hot day! Current temp at 7am is 24.3C

Yesterday saw sunshine all day long and it was warm. Max temp reached 30.5C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 4th April, 2011

Today's weather;

At last Samui woke up under sunshine, this morning! Clean up work is going on and repair work started everywhere. New pictures pop up everywhere and I try to give you some idea how mad it was and how things are right now. Current temp at 7am is 26 C

Thanks to Wieslaw for your donation, much appreciated, it helps to keep the spirits up and keep the blog going!

Yesterday saw a tiny bit of rain in the morning on Samui but sunshine during a hot afternoon! Max temp reached 29C

Some excellent pictures can be found on the My Home Koh Samui blog.

Many people keep asking about the condition of the beaches around Samui, well, here's a picture of Free House Bungalow on Bophud beach by Oh, from 2nd April. Later today I hope to get some picture from the beach near Centara hotel in Chaweng.

An aerial picture of Phun Phin, where Surat Thani's railway station is located, 4 meters of water were reported here, picture from the Bangkok Post.

On a good note, apparently highway 44 between Krabi and Surat Thani is open again so my gateway to Samui is open, now I can get to Surat and just need to find a way to get to Donsak and take a ferry to Samui come the 9th April.

How it was, bridge in Chaweng near Ali Baba, picture by Joe Clasby.

Parking

Sunset yesterday on Koh Lanta

Koh Lanta also woke up under a blue sky with a current temp at 7am of 24C

Yesterday saw a nice and hot day on Koh Lanta, max temp reached 32,4C

Camille

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

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 3rd April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui woke up with another dry day to look forward to and although the sun isn't out right now, it should come out later today. Food is coming in, Big C and Tesco Lotus Chaweng have been re stocked and the markets have fish again because the fisherman are going out fishing. Current temp at 7am is 24.3C

Yesterday saw a dry day with some sunshine and repair work is in full swing, see yesterday's post. That's a good thing and I hope to be able to give more updates on clean up and repair work in progress soon. Most roads are dry or are drying up now. Max temp reached 28.6C

Thanks Joanne for a donation made!

Jet skis downtown Chaweng, roaming beach road, no jet ski scam recently on Samui!

The land roads to Samui are still blocked however and highway 44, between Surat Thani and Krabi, my gateway home has collapsed bridges and the old road north of Phuket is not an option since 4 meter floods are reported in Phun Pin, where Surat Thani's rail way station is. It may be possible of getting to Samui by making a big detour over Ranong. The roads from Chumpon to Surat is packed however by 100's of cars that can't move on and people are parked at the side of the road and on gas stations. It's going to be interesting to get back home again!

Flooding by night

Dear readers of my blog, I appreciate very much that you check in and that you are concerned about your upcoming trip and holiday to Koh Samui but please;

-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! 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!

Flooding in Khanom late March 2011

-As before, please support my blog with either donations, hitting the beer allowance buttons or keep booking your future hotel stays on Samui and around Thailand on my Samui hotel recommendation blog or Thailand hotel recommendation blog. Please bookmark them.

Koh Tao evacuation, picture by Neil van Niekerk

-For information about Koh Tao, check out Ayesha's blog on Koh Tao, she claims that all is fine on Koh Tao and they never had food or drinking water shortages and should be up for diving and business as usual later today!

For Koh Phangan updates check out the 'My Jungle life' blog for updates.

For Phuket updates, check out Jamie's Phuket weather blog.

On the HTMS Chakri Naruebet, evacuation from Koh Tao picture by Neil van Niekerk

Koh Lanta woke up under a lightly clouded sky but I expect the sun to burn through rather quickly and it should be a lovely day! Current temp at 7am is 24.2C

Koh Lanta has been lovely yesterday. During our dive trip of the current IDC on Lanta we had a flat ocean and got slightly sunburned in the face or if you weren't careful, your whole body. Max temp reached 29.3C

Camille

Welcome to April 2011

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!

Clean up work near Nathon hill, towards Maenam

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

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 2nd April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui is waking up under a thin cloud layer but I expect the sun to break through later today. The situation is improving all around and for all week there's hardly any wind and just minor rainfall predicted, just what Samui needs right now! Current temp at 7am is 24C

Yesterday saw some sunshine in the morning and more cloud formations during the afternoon with bits and pieces of rain but nothing too serious.

All supplies are coming in again, gasoline, diesel, food (Big C was partly stocked again yesterday). There was only 6mm of rain yesterday!

Unfortunately I've now news on one resort on Samui that's more or less destroyed by a Banyan Tree, if anybody knows the name of the resort, please let me know. Thanks.

Nakhon Si Thammarat and the small town of Phun Phin, the railway station near Surat Thani town are worst hit. Currently all roads between the Andaman side and the Gulf coast are closed according to Thai TV due to floods or flood damage.

A great picture, floating around with a brewski in their hand downtown Chaweng, making the best out of a bad situation

I received a few more donations, the beer funds is doing well, thanks to Andrew and Joseph this time around and a big shout out to Peter in the UK who donated 500,-$ with the message "Please assist those displaced by the floods - I have a house in Dhevatara Cove and we have been most fortunate". Thanks Peter, just talked to my wife and she knows people who pretty much lost everything, so your donation will be well spend and will be of great help for some who are in dire need right now.

A shop that just 'fell' into a big hole in the ground in Samui, photo by Raymond Day

Koh Lanta woke up to a lightly clouded sky and sunshine is expected later today. I'm out on the dive boat today for some Open Water dives as part of my current IDC on Koh Lanta.

Yesterday the sun broke through occasionally on Koh Lanta but there was also one short but heavy shower around 4pm.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 1st April, 2011

Today's weather;

Things are definitely on the up, Samui woke up under sunshine this morning! Motorbikes are moving around again in front of our house in Plai Laem on a road that had unprecedented levels of water on it. The current temp at 7am is 24.7C

Most roads around Koh Samui are fine again, some have a few puddles on it and some are still flooded, overall though, things are improving and especially having a forecast with 7 days of more or less sunshine will definitely improve things around all three Gulf islands.

Yesterday saw some bits of rain but just 8mm over the last 24 hrs. Max temp reached 25.5C

Wading and swimming in the water near Donsak

For all people contacting me, last night I answered emails and messages on my blog for over 5 hours, from 18.30 onwards last night. A lot of the questions are very repetitious and I must first of all thank you all for showing support, especially David and Peter for their generous donation and Robert as well.

-However, 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.

-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!

-The weather forecast for the next 7 days is good, with plenty of sunshine, no wind and just a few occasional drops of rain. I can only hope that the weather will be as it usually is during April and that's HOT!

-Due to the overwhelming amount of mails and messages, I won't be able to answer each individual mail or message anymore at the rate they're coming in, please accept my apologies for that but please read the above, it should answer 99% of all questions! Questions out of the ordinary I will definitely answer.

-As before, please support my blog with either donations, hitting the beer allowance buttons or keep booking your future hotel stays on Samui and around Thailand on my Samui hotel recommendation blog or Thailand hotel recommendation blog. Please bookmark them.

-For information about Koh Tao, check out Ayesha's blog on Koh Tao, she claims that all is fine on Koh Tao and they never had food or drinking water shortages and should be up for diving and business as usual later today!

For Koh Phangan updates check out the 'My Jungle life' blog for updates.

For Phuket updates, check out Jamie's Phuket weather blog.

In the meantime, Koh Lanta woke up to a lightly cloudy sky and it looks like more sunshine may be ours later today and yesterday saw actually bits and pieces of sunshine with a few rare drops of rain, the dive boats went out yesterday! Current temp at 7am is 24C and max temp reached 28.2C yesterday.

The biggest concern right now is still the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and all of a sudden the province of Krabi with it's landslides.

So far 13 people have been confirmed to have died as a result of the recent weather in Southern Thailand.

Especially the Ban Ton Harn Ville in Khao Phanom district has been hit hard. Luckily there has also been a feel good story, at least partially!

I'm looking forward to a speedy recovery for Koh Samui and all affected areas and that rebuilding may lead to a good job done and will prevent unnecessary and avoidable flood situations.

Camille