Getting to Ko Samui

There are roughly 3 ways to get there:-

• Flying to Samui itself was roughly 3500 Baht one-way from Bangkok (quite expensive – as Bangkok Air has a monopoly)
• Flying to Surat Thani – and catching the ferry across
• Bus or train all inclusive of ferry price (the bus/train alone can take 12-14 hours!)

Cheapest is (of course) bus (or train) and ferry, but the amount of time to get there is huge and very tiring. Flying to Samui is quite expensive (around 7000 Baht return) as Bangkok Air own the airport and run the monopoly flights going there. Then I realised I could fly to the mainland, costing around 2700 Baht return and taking around an hour. Then take the bus/ferry to the island taking roughly 3 hours and costing in the low hundreds.

The ferry might be 110 Baht, as the net states, but the SeaTran bus from the airport was charging 280 Baht. More than double of what I expected. It still means I got to Samui for half (or less than half) of the price of flying direct with the only airline going.

Here’s the whole trip from Chachoengsao:

• Ekkamai bus 55 or 9901 (from Chach to Suvanabumi airport) – took a little over an hour and 30 Baht
• Purchase 7-11 goodies @ airport bus station and grab shuttle to the terminal – around 15-20 minutes
• Flight to Surat Thani – around an hour in the air
• Bus to Donsak – around 1.5 hours as the airport is a fair distance from Surat Thani (as I discovered later)
• Absolutely crawling ferry to Samui – about 1.5 hours.

For those adding (as I was) that’s around 5.5 hours for my half price fare. Not a bad time period for the cost. The cheaper option of the train/bus/ferry with its 15-17 (plus 1 hour to get to Chach) hour journey just didn’t appeal.

I’ll tell you something though, having one bag (a day pack) was a major bonus. Overall, I was less tired (from carrying less), less stressed (from time and bag worry), and could safely dawdle into the toilets between buses and ferries and still be near the first to board. No rushing, no lines, and no bag scramble. It was fantastic! Not that we can do this “one bag” thing for our big moves, but I’m definitely cutting back our ‘guff’ that we carry around!

I was quite spoilt on the island as my friends picked me up in their car, but there is a songthaew route that passes by. For around 50 Baht (or less) you can travel around the ring road (usually heading to the north beaches first).

That’s it, safely on the island – enjoying the warm sea breeze and clean air!

Children’s Day at Bang Kaew

Little ones, mums and dads came from near and far – some dressed-up for the special day. In a flurry of doing hair and make-up (boys and girls inclusive) we had alternating hurry messages between the stage and the school PA system. After some stuffy speeches by stuffy officials (which in typical Thai style were talked over and mostly ignored), we had some kiddie awards. Then it was on to the main events.

Firstly, we were treated to a traditional Thai welcome dance (sawasdee) followed by the littlest of the school (who had trouble getting up the stairs). They were so cute doing their little dance, and as always there was one in tears that couldn’t move (too scared). After their little dance they each got lays with money stapled to them and money gifts. And so it went up the chain alternating girls of the class/boys of the class.

Some of the older classes did musicals and plays, mostly about Chachoengsao. These were broken up with more dancing numbers.

Strategy for the day

In my hunt for productivity I discovered this handy little blog about strategies that you could take for the day, and realised I use a fair number of these.

Project touching

Touching base and doing actions in as many project as you can in one day. Nothing actually gets completely finished, but the majority of projects take that one step forwards. Perhaps keeping a project tally for the day would be motivating.

Pushing the big project rock

When one project needs launching, finishing or is generally behind, dedicating a nice 2 hr+ block will kick it in the right direction. When times get stuck or boring, a re-evaluation or trying another strategy is called for.

Mosquito zapping

One of the advantages of living in non-quality-controlled Asia is the battery powered mosquito (and fly) zapper. Somehow it’s very satisfying doing that non-toxic bug sweep before bed. A day dedicated to knocking away all those little tasks will reduce your list’s little tasks or mosquito problems, and it feels ever so satisfying to see the greatly reduced size of those lists.

Christmas, not what it used to be?

It’s weird. Knowing there’s all these other holidays that we don’t celebrate, getting involved and witnessing them has somehow diminished Christmas for me (and others around me). It becomes just another holiday that is celebrated somewhere in the world, but not here.

China was the best place for Christmas as they have taken on the commercial aspect like no other. Santas and tinsel are everywhere. But here in Buddhist Thailand, it’s very much a non-event. In fact at school it was decided that the kids are a little behind on their work (and about to be more so with sports days coming) so literally “Christmas was cancelled”. And it’s back to work for everyone.

You might think, orh how sad for you and the kids there, but really they (and we) have plenty of chances to celebrate and have fun on other holidays that are done properly. It’s just that this one… doesn’t count for them.

I was never one for traditions or consistency, so trying new things is like a breath of fresh air for me

I’ll let you know when it’s Thai new year (mid-April), and you can run around throwing water on everyone!