Koh Samui

During our year in Thailand, S and I visited Koh Samui twice, once as we were travelling the southern islands, and once more when S’s family came over, for a holiday.
 

 
During our first trip I loved Samui.
The island had everything from beachfront luxury villas to boutique budget and at a first glance showed that it had everything you could need, and after having just come from an island where everything was out of walking distance… I embraced the convenience with welcome arms.
 

 
But during our second stay, I noticed that the ease of convenience had somewhat cost the island.Most of the independent shops were dedicated to selling fake goods, every other store front (or so) was a suit shop and there was 5x more 7/11’s than necessary, on one street.
I felt saddened that an island so beautiful, had lost part of its charm, to make way for convenience.
 

 
Luckily, the feeling wasn’t permanent.
As during a random moped ride one afternoon a few wrong turns took us to a down some very quiet roads, where we came across roadside stalls selling food like this
 

 
And beaches that looked like this.
 

 
And it showed me that although many places in Samui have transformed into tourist hubs, there are still a few spots that still have the rustic charm that I fell in love with.
And whilst Samui isn’t my favourite of Thailand’s islands, I still had the best time.
 

 
But then, I think it’s impossible not to in Thailand!