Koh Samui Marathon - The Princess Cup

September 18th, 2011 saw the return of Koh Samui's annual Marathon, The Princess' Cup. Several thousand runners joined a multitude of races including a full marathon, half and quarter marathons, childrens' marathon and fun run. The object of this annual event, which began in 2010, is to promote tourism on beautiful Koh Samui island.

The marathon started in Nathon, on Samui's western coast and was offered a multitude of cash and other prizes. Marathon results can be seen here. Well done to all!

Samui Holiday Villa Rental is your portal to Koh Samui Villas, Koh Samui Holiday Rentals and Property Management. Offering Koh Samui beach villas, seaview villas, garden villas, villa resorts and apartments. Owners and managers of Peerapat Villa, a 4 bedroom, sea view, Samui villa for rent in Bangrak on Koh Samui island's busy north east coast.

Paradise Park Farm

I have visited Paradise Farm several times over the past few years and thoroughly enjoyed every visit. Of all the day trips to be reommended on Koh Samui, this is definitely up in the top 3 of the best Koh Samui family days out.

Exceptional views from the Farm's mountain-top infinity pool

Paradise Park Farm is arranged on about 18 acres of mountain-top land, deep in the mountainous interior of Koh Samui and is one of the highest points on Samui at about 600 meters above sea-level. The Park contains many different species of animals including rabbits, Gibbon monkeys, deer, emu, parrots and cockatoos to name but a few. Paradise Park is very well maintained and the animals appear to be looked after very well by the large number of very friendly and helpful staff.

Mountainous jungle Views

As you enter the park, you will be greeted by the Gibbons who are extremely friendly and curious. Soon they will be up on your shoulder or lying down for a tickle. The hardest part of the day is saying goodbye to them as you will want to take them home with you!

Parrots and many more large, colourful birds. Be careful, some of them bite!

Next to the Farm's restaurant you will find many large, colourful birds inlcuding parrots and cockatoos. The staff will let you know which birds to stay away from as some of them do bite!

The Farm's deer

The fenced interior of the park contains deer, emus, goats and avaries containing many species of birds.

Gibbons have got to be the cutest of all monkeys!

After all the hard work and walking around you can relax in the park's restaurant and bar or at the mountain-top infinity-edged swimming pool which must have the best sea views in all of Koh Samui. Paradise Park Farm is a must for all visiting families to Koh Samui. Absoutely fantastic.

For more info, photos and directions click this link to visit the Paradise Park Farm homepage.




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Koh Samui Snake Farm & Show

If you're looking to add a bit of excitement to your trip to Koh Samui, try the Samui Snake Show located in the South of the Island.  Not only will you be impressed by the handler's ability with the Cobras and Pythons, he handles the scorpions and centipedes pretty well, too.

The Thai Cobra

The Cobra pit and handler

After the show you can get to know the snakes better

Scorpions

Most of the action accurs in the snake pit with Thai Cobras, Giant Pythons, centipedes and scorpions. When I asked if they had King Cobras, they replied that they used to, but they were too big so they "sometimes got out during the show".

The handler will show you the snakes, scorpions and centipedes up close and will show you the centipede's jaws as they bite him. He explains that once you are bitten about 50 or 100 times, your body becomes immune to the poison - but the inch long teeth still hurt!

Wait for the finale, invloving the centipedes he ate at the start of the show!

The snakes appear to be kept in relatively good conditions and you can have a look at them all before or after the show in the farm's small Reptile Zoo. After the show, guests can handle the snakes and take photos with the Python.

I really enjoyed my visit to the Samui Snake Farm and would definitely recommend it to visitors to Koh Samui, though I think it's a once in a lifetime type of show and I doubt if I will be back again for a second show!

Visit the Samui Snake Farm homepage for more information and directions.

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Pee Shet Restaurant, Bophut, Koh Samui

Restaurant "Pee Shet" has been a favourite local Koh Samui restaurant of mine for several years now. "Pee Shet" serves some of the most delicious seafood dishes you are likely to find on Koh Samui and is fantastic value for money. Recommended dishes are Soft Crab with Black Pepper (Boo Nim Pad Prik Thai Dam), Shark curry (Blaa Chalam Pad Cha), Steamed yellow curry with seafood (Hor Mok Talay) and believe it or not - the fried rice (Khao Pat) is to die for.

Deep fried crispy pork with fried kaffir lime leaves, pickled garlic and sun-dried chillies

Hor Mok Talay - Steamed yellow curry with egg and seafood, stuffed into a cabbage and steamed

The restaurant is very popular with ex-pats and Thais alike and there are some English speaking staff who can take your order.

You won't find luxury in this recommended Koh Samui restaurant, but don't let the plastic tables and chairs fool you - the food is fantastic .

Don't let the plastic tables and chairs fool you

There are several covered bamboo salas

The restaurant is located just next to the Bophut (Fisherman's Village) traffic lights. As you drive from Fisherman's village, turn right at the traffic lights and the restaurant is immediately on your left (10 metres from traffic lights). The restaurant is open 7 days from about 5pm until late.

See sestaurant location on our Koh Samui Map. Check the "Restaurant" box in the category legend on the right-hand side of the map to see restaurant location.

Samui Holiday Villa Rental is your portal to Koh Samui Villas, Koh Samui Holiday Rentals and Koh Samui Property Management. Offering Koh Samui beach villas, seaview villas, garden villas, villa resorts and apartments. Owners and managers of Peerapat Villa, a 4 bedroom, sea view, Samui luxury villa for rent in Bangrak on Koh Samui island's busy North-East coast.

Hot Pan BBQ Buffet, Bophut, Koh Samui

You will find "Hot Pan BBQ" restaurants all over Thailand and there are several in Koh Samui. This is a Thai derivative of Korean Restaurant style BBQs where you cook your own meats on your own personal BBQ on your own table.

Korean-Style Hot Pan BBQ

The BBQ itself has hot charcoals under a grill in the centre which is surrounded by hot water for cooking vegetable to create a soup. 

Central Grill surrounded by hot soup

You collect your raw meats, vegetables, noodles or whatever else you want to eat and simply cook it yourself at your table. If you can't use chop-sticks there are forks and spoons available in this Hot Pan Restaurant (but some others don't have forks) There are many meats available including liver, intestines and awful  but you can stick with the pork and beef steak if that doesn't appeal. Also on offer, for the less adventurous, is fried rice, spring rolls and french fries.

When you are finished gorging yourself, there is also fresh fruit and ice-cream on offer.

And all this for an amazing 119 Thai Baht per person which is around 3-4 USD.

The restaurant is very large with more than 50 tables

The restauant is located about 50 metres from the Bophut Traffic Lights (near Fisherman's VIllage), opposite the entrance to Bophut temple and is open from around 5.30pm until late.

See sestaurant location on our Koh Samui Map. Check the "Restaurant" box in the category legend on the right-hand side of the map to see restaurant location.

Samui Holiday Villa Rental is your portal to Koh Samui Villas , Koh Samui Holiday Rentals and property management. Offering Koh Samui beach villas, seaview villas, garden villas, villa resorts and apartments. Owners and managers of Peerapat Villa, a 4 bedroom, sea view, Samui luxury villa for rent in Bangrak on Koh Samui island's busy North-East coast.

Rice Soup Breakfast, Bophut, Koh Samui

This recommended restaurant is a great place for the authentic Thai breakfast of Rice Soup (joak). As only breakfast is served, the restaurant is only open from around 7am to 11am every morning. Other foods on offer include "Baton Go" which is a bit like a long, un-sugared donut and Dim Sums, which are steamed in bamboo dishes and served with both soy sand sweet chilli sauce.

Next to the serving area is a table with a selection of Dim Sums so that you can choose which ones you would like to be prepared.

Quick Tip! Rice soup is usually served with meat (minced pork balls) and awful such as liver and intestines, but you can try your best to order without the awful with a lot of gesturing and pigeon English.

You can also try super-sweet Thai style iced blsck tea (cha dam yen), ice tea with milk, coffee or ovaltine (hot or cold). There is also complementary fragrant tea in the teapots on each table..

Breakfast restaurant serving rice soup and dim sums

The best restaurants are always busy

Rice Soup, completely awful free!

Dim Sums are steamed in bamboo dishes

Dim Sums

The restaurant is located on the left hand side, about 100 metres before the Bophut Fresh Market as you are driving from Chaweng.

See sestaurant location on our Koh Samui Map. Check the "Restaurant" box in the category legend on the right-hand side of the map to see restaurant location




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Koh Samui Fishing Tour - A Great Family Day Out

A few weeks ago, myself and some friends who were visiting from the UK decided to go on fishing trip for the day. The weather was fine, the beer was flowing and the fish were biting. Altogether a fantastic family day out and well recommended.

Taking our motion sickness medicine (just in case!) and setting off for sea

We got picked up at the 7-11 in Bangrak around 8.30am, arrived in the Plai Laem dock a few minutes later and then we boarded the boat to set off. The pickup went smoothly and staff very friendly and welcoming.
As we set off, the boat driver gave us a run down of waht we would be doing. The plan was to do some fishing near the big rock between Choeng Mon Beach and Koh Phan Ngan, then eat a prepared lunch on the boat (hopefully with some fried fish!). Next, relax for an hour  and do some swimming on a small deserted beach. The rest of the afternoon would be spent searching for more fish.

Getting the bait on - and getting on the beer!!!

And so, the rods, bait (squid) and beers were brought out and the fishing began.

Soon the first fish were being reeled in. Several small Groupers and a small White Snapper were the catch of the morning and were freshly fried on the boat for lunch. I have to admit that my group and I did not catch any fish in the morning. I think we were on the wrong side of the boat as all the fish were caught from the other side!

We soon stopped for a fine lunch of fresh fish, fried rice, salad, spring rolls and fruit salad and the last of the beer. Then it was off to moor the boat near a deserted beach for some swimming and relaxation.

Deserted beach

Show offs

Soon we headed back out to sea for some more fishing around some rocky outcrops not far from Samui's NE peninsula. Our group got more than a few bites this time and soon we had a few more Grouper fish in the bag.

Soon, it was time to head back to port and we were given an opportunity to buy a tacky printed dinner plate with our photo (I did wonder why they took our family picture as we boarded the boat). I have to admit, I did buy it but I sent it home to my mother in UK to put on her mantelpiece! We were then dropped back off at the 7-11 around 4.30pm with our bag of fish and walked back to our home showing our catch off to our very impressed neighbours. We didn't tell them that we didn't catch them ourselves and showed them off with huge, satisfied smiles.

Our competitors!

Life jackets are available, but may not fit the children!

Our after lunch swim

All in all, a great day out. If you are a serious fisherman, you will probably be disappointed at the size of fish caught - especially when you look at all the huge fish on the brochure. Better you try the night fishing trip where you can catch live squid which you use as bait to catch larger fish including Barracuda, Cobia, Shark, Mackeral, Sailfish, Snapper, Grouper and Trevally. We did see one Baracuda chasing some fish early in the afternoon but these are much more easily caught at night when they feed.

Prices for the fishing trip are 1,500 Thai Baht (around $50 USD) per person including lunch, fishing supplies and soft drinks. Book with us for discounts!

Samui Holiday Villa Rental is your online portal to Koh Samui villas, Samui beach villas, Koh Samui holiday rentals and much more. Visit our homepage here.

Welcome to our Blog!

Welcome to Samui Holiday Villa Rental's Blog. 

This introductory post is designed to give you some quick background information about our company and our aims, ambitions and future direction of our blog.

Samui Holiday Villa Rental is a holiday rental and villa rental company, based on Koh Samui island, Thailand. Our range of quality Koh Samui holiday rentals potrays the definitive selection of villas, beach villas, apartments and villa & duplex resorts available for rent on Koh Samui, Thailand. Our range of holiday rentals start from around $50 USD per night and can reach as high as $3,000 USD per night for a large luxury beach villa in peak season dates.

The main aims of this blog are to give you, the reader, an insight into Koh Samui through my own experiences of living in Koh Samui since 2003 and working in the Koh Samui villas and holiday rental industry. These insights will be travel and tourism based and based on my personal knowledge of Koh Samui holiday rentals.

As the father of 2 children here on Samui,  and a former primary school teacher (in UK and also on Koh Samui) for many years, I also want to use this blog as an opportunity to share my local and personal experiences with local tourism companies such as local Koh Samui day-trip, excursions, dive and fishing-boat operators and also special days and festivals in Koh Samui, Thailand. I will also be adding reviews nd information about local Thai restaurants, as my villa guests often want to eat "real Thai food" and are always asking me for recommended local restaurants.

So hold on to your hat, bookmark this page, sign up to follow us and get ready for the most informative and influential Koh Samui based blog to hit the web.