We returned from our second DIY trip on Sunday. It had taken alot of research and planning and we had an absolutely fab time.
We flew from Heathrow with Etihad. No problem with our flights. We arrived in Bangkok and had plenty of time to find the domestic terminal. We arrived at Koh Samui airport at 10pm. What a quaint airport. We were picked up and taken directly to our hotel - Rocky's Resort in Lamai. It took about 40 minutes. We were greeted at Rocky's by the staff who were extremely welcoming and a cooling cocktail. -
Rocky's is a small resort with only 33 villas and the following morning we found out what a fab resort it was. It had its own small private beach as well as two pools. The gardens were immaculate.
Our room was fab. We had booked the 'family oceanview'. This consisted of 2 large rooms with their own bathroom which were adjoining. Breakfast was fab - the restaurant was overlooking the sea. The staff were so helpful and would go out of their way to please everyone. The atmosphere was fabulous and relaxed. After a couple of days they knew you by name.
Rocky's is a short ride from Lamai - a resort with plenty of restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. We prefered being a short distance from the action so for us this was ideal.
Rocky's had three weddings at the resort whilst we were there. All different and from what I understand tailored to suit the requests of the couple. From what we saw they were fabulous.
We took a trip to the Samui Orchid Resort for the aquarium, tigers and bird show. We arranged this through Rocky's. The aquarium was OK. the highlight was feeding the turtles. Then we saw the tigers. We were able to have our pictures taken with them. I have read reports that these tigers are sedated - I can assure you there is no way they were sedated. My OH and I had our photo taken with an adult tiger. My teenagers opted for the baby. They were asked to sit on a bench and one was given a bottle of milk to hold. They then opened the cage and the baby tiger came out and jumped on their laps and began drinking from the bottle. I know this isn't everyones idea of fun but it was amazing.
Another trip was Mr Ungs safari which I have reported on in another thread.
We visited Chaweng and did some shopping.
We had manicures, pedicures and massages on the beach. (3 manicures, 2 pedicures and 2 leg massages cost £14).
Our next trip was to Phuket. We flew to Phuket with Bangkok airways. After a week of glorious weather in Samui we were disappointed when we saw rain during our descent into Phuket, and became quite depressed when we saw that there was alot of flooding. We learnt that it had been raining for 3 days and 2 nights!!!!!! We knew it was the rainy season but did not expect this.
We arrived at Kata Palm Resort. We had booked pool access rooms. The hotel was very nice, our rooms were lovely although smelt a bit musty on our arrival.
The following morning we woke to glorious sunshine and this was how it was for most of the next 5 days.(except half a day rain). It was worth the extra for pool access and the pool was fab.
We loved Kata. The beach was lovely, the people were lovely but it was within easy reach of busier places like patong and Karon. I have to say we went to Patong twice. We were not impressed-it was busy, dirty and the stallholders/shopowners were grabbing to get you to buy something.
The second time we went to Jung-ceylon (a shopping mall) as it was raining.
We completed our trip in Thailand with a 2 night stay in Bangkok. We flew with NOK air. We stayed at the Somerset Suwan Park again (as recommended by Sunbear last year. Thanks again). This is a serviced apartment in a great location.
On the way back to England we stopped of at Abu Dhabi and transferred to Dubai for 2 nights at Le Meridien Mena Seyahi - 2 days of luxury, chilling and shopping. This broke up our return journey. I would recommend it. I have never been in such a warm sea before - it was like getting into a warm bath.

As it was only our second trip, and it was DIY we were apprehensive about it working out. However we had done alot of research and asked lots of questions. For us ( a family of 4 including 2 teenagers) it works out alot cheaper to do DIY.
Now looking to plan next years - possibly Malaysia - KL, Langkawi and Borneo- with a stop over in Dubai of course!!!!!