The charm of Ko Samet: an island less than 3 hours from Bangkok

My last and only visit to this island, which is quite close to Bangkok, was already more than 10 years ago!

I had been thinking about returning to Ko Samet for a long time, because it is clearly an island that we had more than flown over during our previous visit. The fault lies in a last-minute organization, by deciding to make a one-night stopover there, while we were returning to Bangkok after an equally brief visit to Chanthaburi.

The worst part of all this was that it was June, so the rainy season had already started. Needless to say, I couldn't really appreciate the beauty of this island since we had a grey sky and a rather rough sea.

Every time I was managing my photo galleries, I told myself that those of Ko Samet were very sad and few in number, it was time to remedy this shortcoming and make an update with photos worthy of the name, in order to highlight Ko Samet which always deserves a visit.

Relaxation less than 3 hours from Bangkok

Of course, it's not the closest, since for that, you have Ko Larn, off the coast of Pattaya, accessible via a 2-hour drive then 20 to 40 minutes by boat, or not even a 3-hour journey to sunbathe.

Even less "picky" about beaches, the closest island to Bangkok is Ko Sichang, off Laem Chabang (a large industrial port where cruise ships also arrive).

The latter is accessible after just 1h30 by road then 45 min by boat, or just over 2 hours.

In the case of Ko Larn, it is an island that can easily get crowded, due to its proximity to popular Pattaya, where people go for day trips.

For Ko Sichang, forget the heavenly beaches, the interest of the island is more historical (this is where the teak wooden palace now in Bangkok, Vimanmek, originally stood) and with its proximity to the port, the landscape is dotted with oil tankers and other large merchant ships.

So, Ko Samet can be an excellent alternative without having to go too far from the capital (otherwise there is the trio Ko chang, Ko Mak et Ko Kood further east). And above all, I want to emphasize it so much, I rediscovered this island, I was very pleasantly surprised by the fineness of its sand.

In terms of white sand beach, you will be well served and thanks to its status as a national park, Ko Samet remains protected from any high construction.

Getting to Ko Samet

Ferries depart from the small town of Ban Phe, 20 km south of Rayong. There are several docks there to get to Ko Samet, depending on the company you choose.

In our case, I had spotted a new company offering a good compromise between price and speed: Koh Kaew Phitsan, which uses a brand new ferry and connects the mainland to the island in just 10 minutes for 150 baht.

There are certainly cheaper options, since I saw prices at 60 baht, but hey at least it was fast and efficient so no complaints. The idea was to leave to catch the 11:30 ferry and be on Ko Samet before noon. So we took off from Bangkok around 8:30 to give ourselves a little margin (the road being 2h30). After a coffee break, quick snack, we finally arrived at 11:25…

Normally the website says you have to be on board 15 minutes before, but luckily it's Thailand so they're not that strict.

We were therefore able to buy the tickets in time, to save time, a motorbike with a sidecar dropped us off directly at the end of the platform (and in the end, we were not the last so we left a few minutes late).

Regarding parking, if you come by car like us, there is one directly at the end of the quay here:

On the other hand, it is better to go there during the week, or arrive very early in the morning. Arriving around 11:30, when it was a Thursday, it was almost empty so it was easy to park. On the other hand, when returning, the following Sunday, it was a mess and packed.

The fare was 60 baht per day, the guy taking the payments asks how long you are staying on the island and charges you accordingly, for us it was 3 days so 180 baht.

On the way back, they help move the cars to let you go (in Thailand, as a reminder, the parking lots are packed by placing more vehicles than the normal capacity, the car then being parked without a handbrake so that it can be moved if it is in front of another located in a normal space).

View from the quay.

Ko Samet view from Ban Phe.

Arrival at Ko Samet.

Rent a scooter on Ko Samet

I would like to remind you that it is normally necessary to have an international license, but also the French motorcycle license A (for the 125cc box to be stamped, otherwise, this is not the case, to see the details, see my article on the driving in thailand).

For once, I'm going to be more flexible and not insist on this rule, for one simple reason: I myself didn't follow a basic rule that I normally don't break elsewhere. No helmets... Well, to be honest, not many rental companies offer them and 90% of people on the island don't have one, including the police, who let it happen...

The scooter rental company is on the right of the photo (out of frame).

If I allowed myself to do so, it is also because I am familiar with driving in Thailand, including two-wheelers, and secondly, the rental company simply did not offer any (afterwards, I could have asked in absolute terms). Afterwards, the configuration of Samet makes driving proportionally less dangerous than other islands or destinations in Thailand.

Apart from the green pick-ups, the alternative transport if the scooter is not for you, there is almost no traffic (apart from a few vans for work on the island) and overall, you drive slowly since there are speed bumps literally every 200m-300m.

Where to stay in Ko Samet

The next step was obviously to get to our hotel, and for this return, it was Tok's Little Hut that I had set our sights on. The resort is located on Ao Hin Khok beach, next to the main Had Sai Kaew, where we were last time. If I have to summarize, there is good and bad.

++ On the positive side, the location of the hotel, with the beach just across the small road, the proximity to the main beach where you will find many options for eating out in the evening and the overall appearance of the room, which is spacious.

— On the downside, the cleanliness was not impeccable, especially in the bathroom, with handprints (greasy?) on the walls. You can hear too much music from the neighboring bar (the Naga Bar), which fortunately stops at midnight. There is no breakfast included. The deckchairs are not even available but have to be paid for extra (like any other person in fact).

What really exasperated us the most was not the hotel itself, but its restaurant. The nonchalant behaviour of one member of staff in particular, who spent more time on her phone on a table in the corner than looking around to see if she was needed.

The latter had the audacity to think that we had ordered/forgotten badly and to denigrate us (her look said it all) rather than admitting her wrongdoing and apologizing (because it's not a drama either).

To understand a little how I select my hotels, you have to see that I first look at the ratings, and it is rare that I choose an establishment with a rating below 8/10.

I can make an exception where I go down to 7,4 (which is still very correct in fact since it is still 15/20) if the options are really limited. The other criterion being that on an island, I obviously have a preference for having a hotel by the sea.

That's how I chose Tok's Little Hut. If you look at my rating on Agoda (where I forgot to write about the music in the bar, which no one mentions by the way), it's 7,2. So by my own criteria, I wouldn't have chosen it.

But in summary, it's not catastrophic, it's still correct. The score is mostly average, because I take into account the cost of the room, around 2 baht (000€ all the same), knowing that overall, the island is quite expensive in proportion to the quality of the establishments.

Because when I made my reservation, I hesitated a lot, I offer you two alternatives:

• Samed Villa Resort, located on the neighboring beach of Ao Phai, it was a little more expensive but I think it was ultimately worth the difference. Besides its slightly higher price, I was not a fan of the "cluster" of loungers on the beach in the photos.
• Diamond Beach Resort, a recently renovated hotel, not too charming from the outside but right in the main area of ​​the island and less expensive.

As a bonus, I'm also giving you an alternative that I considered for a while, not on the beach, but therefore much cheaper, with a quality-price ratio that seems interesting: the blue moon.

3 days in Ko Samet

This was the duration dedicated to this stay. As such, more than necessary, because the island remains small, a single day or even two, can be enough. But in my case, as I was going there specifically to travel it far and wide (so rather "work"), I wanted to keep at least one day of relaxation.

Afterwards, just to clarify, I prefer to specify that the primary goal of this article is to make a summary and give my impressions rather than giving details on what there is to see on the island: I wrote a dedicated article for that: Ko Samet Getaway: Explore Its Most Beautiful Beaches in 3 Days

For our first day, in addition to getting our bearings at the hotel and its surroundings, we devoted it mainly to exploring the north coast of Ko Samet, in order to start the visits and slowly soak up the island.

A warm-up which, while the sun was already beginning to set, announcing the end of the day, left me with two thoughts in mind.

The first is that until now, I was really unlucky, because the sky had remained gray all day, which gave me a feeling of déjà vu…

The second is that with this first day, I had still seen more than during our previous stay in Ko Samet. In summary, I remain rather satisfied, but it is nothing compared to what awaited me the next day!

And indeed, I was going to be served. If we started this 2nd day quietly with the only beach on the west coast, Ao Prao, I was already delighted by the weather, finally being able to appreciate the colors of Ko Samet.

I was later won over by the small beach of Ao Nuan, a superb cove with a magnificent setting and colours. It is the first beach where I come across trees that are typical of the island, which also gives it its name, cajeputs (Samet in Thai), which can be found right on the seafront.

We then continued with Ao Chor, also a beautiful beach, then the large bay of Wong Duean, where there is a concentration of hotels, making the area with the most shops after the main village. We then stopped on a piece of Ao Thian beach, time to sip a drink.

We deliberately skipped the part where the Tonhad Bungalow and the Horizon Resort are located, which is more lined with rocks than with the beach. Continuing our route further south, we passed the viewpoint known for its sunsets on the edge of the cliff. We are then about halfway on the tip of the island.

We had to skip Ao Kiew beach, as it has apparently been privatized for a few years (the entire space is occupied by the Paradee Resort). Further on, we admired another lovely beach, Ao Wai, also lined with cajeputs.

Arriving on the southernmost beach of the island, Ao Pakarang, it was finally time to take a break to eat. After this meal by the sea, we finally arrived at the end of the island, where you have the choice between the spot on the left, for the sunrises, and on the right, to admire the sunset.

Well, given the time, we won't see either of them, but we enjoyed the evening, with champagne and cocktails on the beach, after a good massage of course.

After this beautiful day, I had less pressure on the photos to take the next day. Therefore, for this last day, it was more relaxed. I took some more photos of the main beach of Sai Kaew, taking advantage of the fact that the sun was still there.

We had also decided to go and make a donation at the only temple on the island, located at the main village. Also to take advantage of the good weather, I decided to go back and take some photos on the north coast.

We had lunch on Ao Klang, before going to the little café opposite, which was disappointing (the Brown Cabin, nice setting, but for the caffeine dose, it's not so good). So, we decided to come back for a good coffee at the one we tested the first day (for info, it's the Lamoon café).

Jitima wanted to settle down and work a bit, so I left on my own with the scooter to go back around the island. It was especially an opportunity to take pictures of the main road running through the island, and I came back to go all the way to the southern tip after Ao Pakarang.

Originally, I thought I wanted to at least get a sunset, but the island is so small that even with lots of photo stops, it's not even 16pm when I get to the end...

And the cafe where I left Jitima closes at 17pm anyway... So I went back to pick her up and headed back to the tip of Laem Toei, where we were able to watch a very beautiful sunset.

This concluded the stay in style, not without a meal on the beach with cocktails, while attending one of the many “fire shows” of Sai Kaew.

As short as this little trip was, it was on the one hand sufficient, given the size of the island, but it was above all a particularly enjoyable experience. I came back absolutely enchanted by Ko Samet, seduced by the incredibly fine sand, its beaches with undeniable charms, with turquoise waters that have nothing to envy to its most famous islands of the Gulf of Thailand (Ko Samui, Phangan or Ko Tao in mind).

Obviously, the fact of having been able to enjoy this place without Chinese tourists and limited Russians, is certainly a plus, but I remain convinced that it is possible to find peace there, even in normal times, and that does not detract from the appeal of the island.

In short, a real favorite, even though I was going with a rather negative a priori (proximity to Bangkok, Pattaya, small island where I was afraid we would be on top of each other), in short, go take a look, you'll tell me what you think!