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Author Archives: john
Escape – Relax… and get out on the water
Baan Bophut’s abiding mantra encourages prospective guests to escape and relax. And while we continue to discourage those looking for action and adventure (including ping-pong and beach volleyball), I feel bound to inform you of the hotel’s only surrender to the potential for physical activity and the opportunity to exercise.
Lucy snatches a paddle-break aboard one [...]
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This has to be Suratthani’s top destination…after Samui
While I knew of Khao Sok National Park in mainland Suratthani I didn’t know anything about the park until I started to search for a website that I could link for Suratthani attractions in the previous post.
I didn’t know it has an area of 740 km.sq, nor did I imagine it to be the [...]
Posted in Khao Sok National Park Leave a comment
Nok Air cuts the costs of travel to mainland Suratthani…
Photo source: Nok Air
Nok, no surprise given their livery, means ‘bird’ in Thai
From Sunday, Oct. 25, low-cost airline Nok air will start flying between Bangkok and Suratthani, Samui’s mainland province . A promotional fare of Bt555 (US 16 GBP 10) one-way or Bt1,000 return, will operate for the first three months, after [...]
Posted in Nok Air, Suratthani province Leave a comment
Monthly roundup…
Less than two weeks after Gary’s 40th birthday bash that featured Dirty Vegas as previously posted, sadly his Bophut Hills Gecko venue burned to the ground. Gary was briefly hospitalised with smoke inhalation, but thankfully there were no other injuries. Gecko can and will be rebuilt. The overwhelming tragedy is the loss of Gary’s [...]
Posted in Bluechip Wireless, Dom and Fi, Gary Gecko, Lucy, broadband WiFi Leave a comment
We had two fantastic weeks in August…
After our Dubai friends Sam and Chucky put the date of their wedding at Baan Bophut back by a week, we were free to surprise the family by pitching up at my great niece Giada’s combined christening and 1st birthday bash in Italy, which had clashed with the original date.
A rather more different call to [...]
Posted in Island TEFL, WiFi, beach weddings Leave a comment
Full Moon Party… Glastonbury meets Ibiza, every month…
I’ve avoided all mention of Koh Pha Ngan’s notorious FMP in the year since I’ve been writing this blog, simply because I’ve had no direct experience of it, nor a desire to acquire any. But I’ve seen my children, various younger relatives and innumerable hotel guests return from the event, wasted and daubed in florescent [...]
Posted in FMP, Full Moon Party, Koh Pha Ngan 2 Comments
I used to be a bit of a cheerleader for TripAdvisor…
I still believe their repository of guest reviews the best thing that could have happened to independent travelers who can choose their accommodation and build an expectation based on the experience of previous guests. But I was disappointed when TripAdvisor localised Baan Bophut’s ranking and irritated when they didn’t answer my mails asking for an [...]
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Put your money where your mouth is…Samui dentists
Writing about the flossing monkeys of Lopburi and brief reference to my own dental hygiene, are a reminder that for me, my family and many of our hotel guests, a holiday in Koh Samui is not complete without a visit to the dentist.
Thai dentists are renowned as being some of the best in the [...]
Posted in dentist, medical tourism 3 Comments
The Siam Sunray – Thai tourism’s own economic rescue remedy…
Turning to booze for inspiration, Thailand’s tourism authority and its hotel association (THA) have launched a national cocktail to boost the country’s visitor numbers, which have shown a steady decrease since the military coup of 2006. As one would expect, the closure and occupation of Bangkok’s two airports that stranded 300,000 travelers for over a [...]
Posted in Siam Sunray, TAT, Tourist Authority of Thailand, cocktail Leave a comment
Monsoon storms force closure…