Koh Samui, Thailand - November 2025

After my one night at 21 Carpenter, I headed to Changi Airport on the Monday and checked in to Bangkok Airways. I have no entitlement to use the Qantas First Lounge but I thought I'd ask anyway and they let me in! 

Met the family at the gate, and flew Bangkok Airways to Koh Samui. 

Flight time is less than two hours and we even got a meal!

Easy flight and got a Bolt to the hotel and checked in. I hadn't realised that Bolt/Grab are not allowed in the airport grounds so we had to walk out to the rideshare pickup place. Not far but it was dark and I was a bit confused.

I had booked the same resort as last year - Amari on Chaweng Beach. So nice to be back...

My room is the second from the left on the ground floor...

Looking north...

And south...

And straight out...

I did a work call early the next morning from the Business Centre and this is the view...

Sitting on my balcony...

Each night we picked a different restaurant for dinner...

We went to Prego for Italian one night. I had risotto...

There are a few bars in the main street with live music. This bar generally has a decent live band...

This is the beach out the front of the Amari...

One night we went to a drag show in the main street...

One day Eliza and I went for a pedicure. It was a nice thing to do together. THB300...

Another day we went to a spa/sauna that we had been to last year. Steam, sauna and hot and cold pools...

This is the main road, Chaweng Beach Road, outside the Amari...

Went for a walk along the beach one day and watched the planes come in to land. The airport is close by...

Directly out the front of the hotel...

Had a very nice pad thai for lunch one day...

Checked out a beach club one night, but didn't stay...

This is the beach out the front of the hotel looking north. We have been very lucky with the weather this time...

Ko Tao Island, Thailand - November 2025

We decided to do a tour to Ko Tao, an island I'd heard about, roughly 90 minutes away by speedboat. We were picked up from the hotel at 0745 and taken to a pier, about a 15 minute drive from the Amari.

Leaving the pier...



It was a very bumpy and uncomfortable 90 minute ride and several of the tour group were sick. We were relieved to get to our first stop for some snorkelling...









I sat up the front for a bit as we moved to our next stop, Ko Pha Ngan...

The water is beautiful...

I walked across this sandbar and up some steep steps to a viewing point...

Looking back the way we had come...

The views are beautiful...

Eliza and Callum having a rest...

We got back on the boat for the long ride home. It was a great day but nobody enjoyed the trip out and back.

The Jungle Club, Koh Samui - November 2025

The Jungle Club had been recommended to me by a mate in Hong Kong, so I booked it as a celebration of Eliza's 25th birthday, Callum's 21st, and end of degree for Callum.

We got a Bolt from the Amari to the restaurant which is in the jungle up a steep hill. 

It's a beautiful setting and we had a private table on the edge of one level. It's a gorgeous night, and the view is stunning...

The food was great...

We had trouble getting a Bolt back to the hotel given the remoteness of the location, but the restaurant arranged a car for us. 

It was a great night.