My take of Koh Lipe Even though Koh Lipe is hard to get to from mainland Thailand (but easy from Malaysia), it certainly isn’t a quiet little island.  It has a lively centre with lots of eating and drinking. I only noticed two small places in the flesh trade, which is very sanitised for this […]

Above:  A couple of PromptPay QR codes. International QR Pay Travel in Thailand has become so much easier money-wise now that the Malaysian Duitnow (QR Scan and Pay) has been expanded internationally to neighbouring countries. In the case of Thailand, it is particularly godsent because: Banks here charge a hefty THB200 (NZD9) per cash withdrawal […]

Leaving Langkawi I’m feeling more myself after a day spent largely indoors yesterday in Cenang Beach to attend to “to-do” lists.  My afternoon swim yesterday, planned to coincide with the tide unfortunately coincided with rain and was therefore shortlived. My room had come with two breakfasts per day, available from 0700 to 1100.  My idea […]

Token sightseeing Having been to Bangkok three times in recent years, I didn’t feel like doing any sightseeing.  But as Kim hadn’t been here (in earnest) for a while I thought I should show him the nearby sights. We set out after breakfast at 0930.  It was stinking hot when we walked to the Chao […]

Saying goodbye to Samui I said goodbye to Samui last  night after a good cheap dinner in the open-air markets nearby.  For a change, food was good and also good-value..  A very meaty chicken panang was only THB70 with rice and a meaty chicken kebab only THB40.  Juices were only THB45. To avoid getting ripped […]

Our paradise We’re really pleased with our selected location, at Lamai Beach and also with our property.  We are close to the beach and a few minutes walk from food.  The hotel is very quiet and so is much of the Lamai Beach area (and the whole of Samui); apparently it is low season. Our […]

Getting going Today we travel from Chiang Mai to Koh Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand.  We had organised a hotel car to take us to the airport at THB160 instead of Grab’s rate of ~THB200, which was a surprise. With breakfast starting at 0730, we organised a pick-up at 0750 to allow […]

Kim spent the day attending to pressing business from home while I did some admin.  We didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything Chiang Mai had to offer.  The idea of going to see elephants or patting tigers weren’t that novel at our age. After a massage in the evening, we went out […]