A friend of mine recommended Choeng Mon in Koh Samui for a beach holiday.
My wife and I were reluctant to return to Koh Samui because although we loved Thai culture and the stunning beaches we found Chaweng in Koh Samui surprisingly rife with the seedier elements of Thai night life. Nevertheless, our friend assured us that Choeng Mon was different, so we took a chance and went. We were glad we did.
The first thing to note about Choeng Mon is that it is conveniently close to Samui Airport. The taxi driver seemed reluctant to take us such a short distance as it limited his ability to ask for outrageous money.
When we got to Choeng Mon I immediately knew that our friend had been correct. There was no central strip of go-go bars and Indian tailors. There was nothing except a few resorts on the beach. This was what we were looking for.
We found a nice little budget place near the beach called Choengmon Buri Hotel. Our room was clean and had an air-conditioner, TV, fridge and hot water.
We couldn’t get many channels on the TV, but that wasn’t a problem because we don’t go on holiday to watch TV. There was also a communal pool at the hotel. We didn’t use the pool very much because Choeng Mon has an excellent beach which is ideal for swimming.
We loved the beach. It had soft white sand and didn’t have a big tidal variation. The bay was free of boat traffic and irritating jet skis and the beach was also free of irritating locals plying drinks and massages.
For a couple of days we rented motorbikes to do some sightseeing. We were surprised how close the famous Big Buddha statue was. Also the boutique area of Fisherman’s Village in Bophut was only 15 minutes away. It seemed like we had found a peaceful haven in the heart of the busy area of Koh Samui.
It was just what we were looking for. We bought our friend a souvenir and we instantly made the decision to return to Choeng Mon the following summer.
