Why Koh Samui has always been my favorite area/island

sunrise in Maenam

Ever since I came here in 1995, Koh Samui has been my favorite island/area. Florence is still my favorite city, but Koh Samui wins the region award. My first morning here, I went for a jog on the beach. Unlike Patong, there were very few people about even at 7:15. I was the only person on the beach except for a couple walking far ahead. The water was calm, perfect for paddle boarding. The smooth surface of the water was broken only by two early morning swimmers and a handful of coconuts. I ran all the way up the beach and back down but shortly beyond "my beach" the sand got too soft to jog so I cut the run a little short. It's so nice to have this gorgeous beach almost all to myself every morning. Even after I discovered the tides had changed so I could no longer run on the beach in the mornings, I still took a nice walk in/along the water.

one swimmer and two coconuts

breakfast street soup

Switching my jog off the beach to the main drag through town was also interesting. The beach may be dead at 7:15 but the main road is hopping. A fair number of cars and twice as many scooters were out and about. Several little stands were spaced out along the road selling noodle soup, jook/congee (I think these might be the same or at least similar...thick rice soup often cooked with meat bones/scraps for flavor, fried food, and of course my fave street food: meat on a stick. Later when I walked by on my way to my massage around 9:40 they had all closed up for the day. Clearly, they know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

meat on a stick

they play the lottery here too

6 numbers so I guess one in a million chance to win

Nan maenam massage

Speaking of massages, I did a little google map search and found a highly rated (by real people not just a bunch of random names with only 1 Review to their name) place. The best part is that it is just 10 minutes up the beach from me (or 18 minutes if I go out to the road)! The very first morning I ran along the beach and checked it out. Even at 7:45 the manager/owner was setting things up and had me book a time since they don't have a lot of masseuses right now. Many workers have had to move back to the mainland with the tourist drought. They are hopeful it will end once Thailand resumes its "Test and Go" program on February 1. Fingers crossed for them!

my masseuse Mae

My masseuse, Mae, was extremely good. I would rank this massage in with a regular massage like massage envy only the room is not private...there are 4 beds that have the hospital curtains around them. It is definitely a step above the typical $35 foot massage/back places in LA or Vegas as all their people are licensed...you can see them all hanging on the wall with picture. My massage was excellent! And it’s even cheaper than Patong, $9.25/hr vs. $10.25/hr saving me a whole dollar/hr lol.

certificates on wall

double massage time

The cat that spurned me

The first day checking out my massage place during my jog I saw a sweet cat sleeping so I went up to pet it, but after a pet or two it pulled away, clearly indicating I was not welcome so I left it alone. However the next day on the way to my massage it decided it wanted and pet and was putty in my hands!

the next day the cat decided he loves me!

my laundry place

Given how hard up they are here with no tourists for 2 years I decided to do some laundry here rather than wait until all my clothes were dirty. I found a place just on the small road leading from the resort. She was very nice and my clothes smelled wonderful when she was done!

my clean folded sweet smelling laundry

looks like the fancy place next door is prepping for fireworks

I had forgotten how good the food is at Maenam Resort. I remember people from the ritzy Sanitburi next door would come here to eat since it so good and about 1/5 the price. Though admittedly I do remember going to the Santiburi for a drink once in 1995. We were so excited to use the bathroom with both hot and cold water (Maenam resort back then just had water, no hot and cold). Incidentally, as I was walking on the beach coming back from my first massage, I saw them setting up for fireworks! I recorded the show on video.

Fireworks on Maenam Beach

fireshow next door where they dance with two pots of fire on chains

Fancy Fruit plate

The prices have gone up some in the last 26 years. My $1.35 fruit plate is now $3 but much bigger. Entrees were mostly priced between $3 to $5. These beach towns that cater to tourists also know that “no spicy” really is no spicy (more on that later in my trip). My favorites were the garlic and pepper fried squid with rice and the mussaman curry with beef soup. Breakfast was good too, especially the jook/congee and the thai omelet. The pad thai with chicken was interesting but good. Not a lot of noodles and served inside a fried egg kinda like an omelet.

Tom Kha Gai and fried garlic and pepper calamari

Rice porridge with pork and a thai omelet

pad thai with egg wrap and my fave mussaman beef

toilet with hose attachment

The toilet paper was thick here unlike the very thin sheets at Hilton. That, along with the trash can you step on to open usually means don’t flush the paper (something that has taken me decades to figure out). No worries. There is also a small hose attachment by the toilet. I have always thought it was for cleaning the floors but the last few years I have been flirting with the idea of bidets so though I have been to scared to try one (in Amsterdam in 2018 and again in Japan just before Covid), I now knew what the hose was for. Not flushing paper led to necessity making me braver. All I can say is it worked and I did not get water all over the place. Now over a week later I love the hose and I’m ready for my bidet!

outdoor shower

maenam beach daytime 2022

my bungalow is in the middle

Nop and her brother

gorgeous sunrise maenam