— Koh Samet, Thailand

Going to Thailand had always been on top of my bucket list, and even though I’ve been living in Hong Kong my whole life – a 3 hour flight to Thailand! – the timing just never seemed to be right. Thailand is a major travel destination for many backpackers and tourists – almost like the Los Angeles or Miami of America. I used my spring break as the perfect opportunity for me to go, a much needed getaway/escape from reality…

“Sawasdee!” – A popular form of greeting that means ‘Hello’ in Thai, and a word that I heard one too many times during my 4 day stay in Thailand. If I could use one word to describe this country and it’s people, it would be ‘hospitable’. Everyone was so so kind, generous, polite, and warm! Definitely made me feel very welcomed. I took a flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok, and visited my brother at the Tower Club Lebua hotel, where he was staying. After a very satisfying Thai lunch by the pool at Bangkok’s most renowned hotel’s sky bar, we jumped into a car and began our 4 hour long road trip to the Ban Phe ferry pier in Rayong. We reached the pier at 10pm on Friday night (24th March), and caught a speedboat to our hotel in Koh Samet, one of Thailand’s less touristy yet beautiful islands. Koh Samet, also known as ‘Koh Samed’, has a total of twenty beaches, and each beach has a resort/hotel. We stayed at Bar&Bed, on Noi Na beach, which was the quieter and more peaceful sides of the island. Saturday morning after breakfast, we rented a motorbike for 400 Baht and biked around the whole island, managing to see/swim/sunbathe/have a meal at all twenty beaches before sunset (!!!) which we thought was pretty productive. We picked one of our favourite beaches amongst them all, Ao Phrao Beach, to watch the sunset and have dinner at. Our last full day, on Sunday, I spent the first two hours after breakfast reading and tanning by the beach. Afterwards, we went to one of the most popular and crowded beaches in Koh Samet, Hat Sai Kaew, from where we took a speedboat to go island-hopping and snorkelling around the smaller, nearby islands. On Monday, this amazing mini vacation was coming to an end as we drove back to civilisation and caught our flights back to Hong Kong at 5pm.

Super spontaneous & short but an exciting & memorable trip! Here is my collection of photos:

Bangkok Views

Views from the 56th at Tower Club Lebua

Pure Bliss @ Noi Na

Bar&Bed Hotel, Noi Na Beach, Koh Samet

Mid-day Indulgences, Koh Samet

Paradee

Ao Kim Na Kok, Koh Samet

Biking around Koh Samet

Biking around Koh Samet

Hengua (Henna + Jagua) hands by Sara’s Henna.

Ao Thian Beach

Ao Cho Beach

Sunset at Ao Prao, Koh Samet

Snorkelling in Koh Samet

Underwater Friends, Koh Samet