Koh Samet in Thailand – Silversand Resort Review & 10 Tips on the Island

Koh Samet is an island or ‘koh’ in transliterated Thai. It is close to Rayong which is about 2 hours from Bangkok by private car or taxi. The island is roughly the shape of Thailand itself.

We caught a bus from the Eastern Bus Terminal in Bangkok which is close to the Ekkamai BTS Skytrain Station on Sukhumvit Road.

We went as a group of four and paid 15 baht each from mid-Sukhumvit Soi 22 in a taxi. The bus trip cost 157 baht each. They told us it would take 2 1/2 hours but it was 3 1/2 hours before we reached the Ban Phe Pier which is where our Koh Samet boat was to leave.

The bus stopped quite often to let people on and off. The trip was unpleasant because although it was a reasonable quality of bus, the driver decided to play a TV program blaringly loud. The program was a Thai sitcom or soap opera and it was far too loud to be ignored.

The program was performed by adults but it was so infantile that it was unwatchable. Luckily, either the TV or the DVD player system broke down about an hour into the journey. But it was not long before it was replaced by Thai music which was also played very loudly. The speakers in the bus were arranged in a way
that this noise could not be avoided.

Again luckily I had bought some ear plugs. They were the wax kind that reduce noise the most and they are essential for budget travel in Thailand. I have traveled on Thai buses before.

I noticed a few things in particular on the journey to the Pier. There were a large number of partially completed industrial, commercial, and residential buildings which had been abandoned part way through construction. This represents, of course, a tremendous waste of resources and labour and was very surprising. I think many of them may have been built in the mid-nineties boom period, and then failed through lack of finance.

The building were spaced, in many cases all on their own and not part of a group of buildings or industrial area. This is a very inefficient way to run business because of the extra costs.

Another thing I noticed were vast tracts of land – if you added the individual pieces together – with long grass on them which were carrying no stock at all. The grass was just growing and no one was making any money from it. Another waste of resources, and valuable land. Thailand has some of the most fertile land in the world and as I come from New Zealand, it always seems like a great shame to me; this agricultural waste.

Finally, there were many quite beautiful temples on the trip which occupied choice positions – at least looking from the bus travelling down the motorway. In some cases the temples were on the only raised piece of land in the immediate area, and this fact showed their importance to Thai people.

We got to the Rayong late and quite hungry. After purchasing tickets for Koh Samet – 100 baht each return – we had lunch at the Iier which was ok. The Som Tam was excellent but the bill of 400 baht seemed a little high.

The boat trip was in an old blue twin decked motor boat. It was enjoyable for me being back in salt air again after a long absence from it. Once we reached Koh Samet we had to find some accommodation. After talking to a few people we found that the best beaches which were close were called Ao Phrao and Ao Phai.

There are some good maps at the entrance to the Koh Samet Pier and also an information office with a person who spoke quite good English. Ao Phrao was twice as far as Ao Phai and also more expensive.

Before we had gone very far, the taxi/ute vehicle stopped and an official of some kind appeared wanting 200 baht from all foreigners and 40 baht from the Thais. Frankly, I was disgusted. I have seen this double pricing before at the Sarika Waterfall in Nakhon Nayok.

We had no choice but to pay. It was apparently some kind of National Park fee, as part or all of Koh Samet is a National Park. It was interesting that they did not charge us this at the beginning of the journey as we might have just got on the boat and gone back to Rayong. No, it was charged after we had gone too far to walk back easily carrying our packs!

We agreed on a fare of 40 baht each in a ute taxi to Ao Phrao but got off at Ao Phai. We were charged 30 baht each.

They do not spend any of this money on the roads because the roads were dreadful. Unbelievably bad in fact. Bits of concrete edges exposed, pot-holes everywhere and generally an absolute mess which is strange because the island has one of the lowest annual rainfalls in Thailand.

There were bits of reinforcing wire sticking out of decayed grey slabs of concrete in some places. It was the case all over the island except in a couple of small sections of road.

It is very important if hiring a motorcycle in Koh Samet to check that it has off-road tyres because you most certainly need them. Road tyres on a motorcycle would make riding them impossible, such is the state of the roading system.

We looked at two places to stay; the Silversand Resort and a European-run resort which was some distance from the beach. The tout had told us it was 50 metres from the beach, but it was more like 400 metres. This second place was quite cheap at 800 baht a day including wifi and World Cup Football.

We decided to stay at the Silversand Resort. They told us that every room had wifi internet.

The normal price was 2,500 baht for a room with a sea view. We looked at one of these, and the only sea view was a sliver of water through the gap between the two villas in front of the room we were looking at – no sea view at all.

We should have taken this as a sign of what was to come!

We got a standard room without a sea view at 1,200 baht per night which was discounted from the regular price of 1,500 baht (according to the brochure). The air conditioning worked, but the safe deposit box and the wifi internet did not.

At the office they said there was no problem with the internet. Other people were using it. We approached other people and they could not get internet either. The couple in the room next to us were not able to get internet at any time in the first two days.

Again we were told there was no problem. It was our computers. We tried all the passwords and other
usernames they gave us and nothing worked. We had to go outside the resort where the rates were 2 baht per minute; about double the price in Bangkok. This added considerably to the cost of our rooms.

The Silversand Resort found the next day, they said, that they had given the wrong usernames out to guests. The new ones didn’t work either. They had clearly lied about the wifi system. It was not until our last night of the three nights we stayed that the internet worked.

The staff continued to lie to us and to other guests while usually giggling at the same time in that unique Thai way when they have when they have been caught out.

When we tried to get our bills reduced because of the extra costs we incurred they told us wifi was free and therefore they could not refund those extra costs because we had not been charged for wifi. The fact that we needed wifi and checked before paying for our rooms did not matter to them. It was typical of this third-rate resort.

They Silversand Resort had an internet cafe and for the first day they even insisted on charging us 2 baht per minute for it. The staff member in the internet cafe was very rude, at one point shoving me to get to the LAN cable. We all went outside the Resort for internet. They waived the fee on the second day but I did not go back there because of the staff member.

The food which we ate at the Silversand Resort was very ordinary, and we took most of our meals outside at restaurants. There was a fly problem in the Resort around food. As soon as you got food in front of you the flies came – many and big and aggressive. To eat at the Silversand Resort I had to eat with one hand and wave the flies away continuously with the other. I did not see the state of their kitchen.

The Silversand Resort also had loud music which continued every day until 3 am. It did not end there because there were two construction projects going which started up in the morning including the use of concrete grinders. These noises did not wake me up fortunately but made it less than pleasant to sit outside the room.

The beach was ok, and it was fenced off showing the sandy bottom areas. But I can not recommend this Resort as a good place to stay. We were very disappointed and we would never dream of going back there.

Further down the beach we went to a fire dancing show put on by another resort which was quite spectacular, except for the accelerant fumes. Also, a ball of fire landed in the audience from a misjudged throw – no one was hurt thankfully. It was a show worth going to but sit well back from the big cans of accelerant.

At the entrance to the Silversand Resort, there is motorcycle hire at 400 baht per day for an automatic or 300 baht for a manual transmission. We hired a couple of bikes but we quickly discovered when riding them that they were much cheaper closer to the pier; around 250 baht per day.

We drove all over the island on motorcycles and it was so beautiful. There are many resorts on the island and many different prices. The only let-down was the amount of rubbish which seemed to be scattered around the dwellings of the locals. Other a magic motorcycle ride!

Rooms were also much cheaper away from the resorts. We had not found them on the internet when we searched online from Bangkok. Prices are as low as 500 to 700 baht. It is best to find accommodation in Koh Samet on arrival, especially if it is low season.

If you have not been there before, as we had not, then the temptation to take the first reasonable thing you find is high. It is best to travel to Koh Samet Island early in the morning from Rayong so that you can spend a couple of hours looking around for the best accommodation deals. It is always the panic that sets in – for me anyway – late afternoon and early evening if I don’t have a place to stay.

Near the Silversand Resort is the Ao Phai Travel Agency. In Bangkok you get about 32.2 baht per US$ at the moment. Here we were charged additional fees of 3% to change US$ 100.

Of course you have no option if you have come without plenty of baht. It is best to change money in Bangkok or another mainland centre before travelling to Koh Samet.

Overall, prices were a lot higher than the mainland. Food, accommodation, clothing, and bars were all considerably more expensive. The beaches were nice especially Ao Noina which we swam in first and also where we watched locals digging with spoons for shellfish on the beach.

This was my first time in the water in Thailand and I was very surprised at the warmth of the water. It was very enjoyable, as are most Koh Samet beaches.

Most of the Thais on the Island are friendly and offer a ready smile to visitors.

Koh Samet can be affordable but the budget traveller should consider the following 10 Tips to get the best value from their stay:

1. Get accommodation on arrival. It can be as low as 300 baht per night.
2. Hire motorcycles outside and away from the resorts if you are staying in the resorts.
3. Do not buy clothes, sunglasses or shoes on Koh Samet.
4. Change the money you will need into baht before you travel to the island.
5. Check that the wifi internet operates before you pay for your room. If not, negotiate a lower price.
6. Take your own coffee and tea – our resort had none in the rooms – and no jug either.
7. Take a photo of a motorcycle you hire before you leave on it as proof of pre-existing damage.
8. If you do not like loud music try and see if there is any before you rent your room.
9. Just relax and do not expect Western service standards or the truth necessarily.
10. Avoid the Silversand Resort – not a good place to stay!

For more free information please visit Thailand Travel.

Author: Michael Edgerston
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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