Glad you had a fantastic time, look forward to reading your report on the imperial boathouse as we are looking to book for next April

what about a small mini report? What did you enjoy about KS? Did you find any good restaurants you could add to our BKK restaurant thread?

We found that Koh Samui was an excellent location for us as a family. The Boathouse was in a superb setting and we could not fault the service by all the staff. We loved the fact that we could spend quiet evenings at the beach restaurants (so relaxing) or catch a taxi into Chaweng for a more lively evening combined with lots of shopping (so many bargains!).

The food at Bongoes on the beach near to the Boathouse was lovely and such good value - 3 course meal and 2 drinks for around £4.50. The staff there were so friendly and really made us feel welcome and special. Enjoying a cocktail under the stars with the sea lapping nearby is something everyone should put on their 'must do' list. Our children enjoyed themselves so much, from swimming to kayaking to collecting shells and crabs! If you go make sure you try the corn on the cob cooked fresh on the beach every day - lovely.

All in all a fabulous place, can't wait to go back.

Brings back memories - can still taste that corn on the cob. More please.

ah- corn on the cob! Did you also try papaya salad? Here was our seller!

Stop it Fiona [well at least it's good news for us tonight]

sounds bliss

Hi we got back thursday night (reluctantly!) had the best holiday ever. Stayed in Bangkok for 2 nights which was very tiring and extremely humid but glad we did it as it is an amazing place. (the king was celebrating his 60th anniversary of the coronation while we were there which was really special to see.)
Must admit was happy to leave and get to the beach which was beautiful (chaweng) everything I could have dreamed of and more! Everything is so cheap and we had loads of fun haggling with the shopkeepers and beach sellers. Had some spectacular thunderstorms as well but only at night fortunately! I would not hesitate to reccomend Koh Samui to everyone except I wouldnt want to spoil the lovely 'desert island' feel it seems to have!

tell us more!

what would you like to know? I could talk about Thailand all day but Iam sure that would be very boring for the poor readers of this forum! does anyone have any specific questions? or want to know anything in particular? if so I will do my best to answer them as I know I had loadsa questions and queries before I went.

You wouldn't bore me Stace!! Right- let's see- which questions??
What were the celebrations in BKK?
Tell us more about your hotels( and of course you must do hotel reviews for us! )
any restaurant recommendations in BKK and KS?
Best buys?
things to do?
How is that for starters?

O.K here goes (ive done a review of the Chaba Cabana.)
The celebrations were for the kings 60th anniversary of his coronation and the people obviously really love there king. They were all wearing yellow Tshirts with I love the King written on them some in english some Thai (thought maybe it was some weird Elvis fan club at first, ) Naturally I had to buy one of these T-shirts!They gathered in huge crowds and lit candles in front of huge shrines to the king and sang songs etc it was on every T.V station as well and they closed a lot of the city because the king was passing through.
On friday evening we went to Patpong night market, and had my first haggling experience which is great fun but a bit addictive I ended up with loads of stuff I didnt really want!Patpong has got to be the definition of seedy! but it is fun with it and I never felt unsafe or pressured at all.
We used the water taxis to get around which are great fun and very cheap and also used the skytrain which is very easy and quick, only 100baht (about £1.40) I think for a day pass and ours had pictures of David Beckham on them. (Bonus!)
All in all I loved Bangkok and the temples are a must see although the Grand palace was closed for the celebrations which was a bit disappointing. I did find Bangkok to be a bit overwhelming as it is a very busy city and also very smelly and dirty in places. I wouldnt want to put anyone off going tho as it is definately worth it but I think 2 days is enough.
Koh Samui is definately my favourite place in the world so far! we hired a taxi to take us around the island (2500baht) between 6 of us! and saw the Big Buddha (massive!) also went elephant trekking which was amazing as it is something I have always wanted to do. The taxi driver took us to the highest point on the island where the views are spectacular and also went to Lamai beach (not as nice as Chaweng in my opinion)
On another day we took a boat over to Ko Phangan, where we hired a speedboat and its owner! who took us around the island. We stopped off and did some snorkelling where there were loads of fish that we fed whilst in the water and he also took us to a secluded beach which was beautiful. Then we went to another beach where we took a hair raising ride in the back of a pick up truck to a beautiful waterfall.
The only negative point I can think of about this holiday (apart from coming home!) is the men with the animals on the street that want you to have your picture taken with them. There was a baby monkey, an eagle, a snake and an iguana it upsets me to see animals exploited in this way and I was also concerned about the amount of stray dogs on the island and did worry about their welfare a bit. Although to be honest they seemed O.K.
Right I am going to stop rambling on now as you probably wish you hadnt asked! although i probably wont stop talking about this holiday for a while!

Shame you didn't get to see the Grand Palace- but you can always visit it the next time!
Re the dogs on KS- I actually was a little scared a few times when there were dogs down on the beach- one used to growl at everyone. For the most part though I found the state of them quite depressing and sad. There is a charity there( or was when we were there) who went round strays to neuter them.
Re the King- one of our guides told us you rarely get to see the King as he is usually speeding past in his car and by the time you have bowed he is long gone!

and here is your hotel report for others to read. Thanks Stace

Oh those corn cobs... I'm hooked on them after eating one every day for lunch in Koh Samui. I now make them at home now on the bbq. Just put oil in a bowl, add salt and chillie powder, mix, and brush on the corn and throw on the flame side of the barby. Nearest thing to being back in Samui. Cheers Geri