Thailand - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 782

town at 5 Th Taladmai. Surat's best travel agency is the
reliable Phantip, in front of Talat Kaset I at 293/6-8
Th Taladmai ( T 077 272230 or T 077 272906), where you
can book bus-and-boat, train and plane tickets.

Chonvithi, which is paralleled by hanon
Taweeratpakdee (or Route 4169), the
round-island road.

Maenam
he 4km bay of Maenam , 13km from
Na hon, with its leafy, relatively
unadulterated beachfront set well away
from the ugly round-island road, is an
attractive location for a day or two of
swimming and relaxation. Here, a
number of quiet, cheap beachside
accommodations, offering great views,
make Maenam a popular destination for
budget travellers. On hursday evenings,
the pier road at the centre of Ban
Maenam village becomes a pleasant
walking street , with performances, cheap
souvenirs and lots of food stalls.

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
There's a large night market on Th Ton Pho between Th Si
Namuang and Th Ban Don, which displays an eye-catching
range of dishes; a smaller offshoot by Ban Don pier offers
less choice but is handy if you're taking a night boat.
Ban Don Hotel 268/2 Th Namuang T 077 272167. Set
above a basic but good Thai-Chinese restaurant, most of
the very clean rooms here, with en-suite cold-water bath-
rooms, TV and fans or a/c, a re set back from the noise of
the main road. Double B250
Milano Opposite the night-boat piers on Th Ban Don. This
place has an authentic oven turning out very tasty and
reasonably priced pizzas, though its home-made pasta is
less successful. Also serves breakfasts and espresso coffee.
Daily 10am-11pm.
My Place 247/5 Th Namuang T 077 272288, W myplace
surat.com. A recently renovated spot near the night
market in the town centre with wi-fi. The cheapest rooms
have shared facilities and plus her e n-suite options are
available for B120 more. Double B199

10

Bophut, Bangrak and Choeng Mon
he next beach east of Maenam is
2km-long Bophut . he beach here is
wider and has welcoming clear water, but
the area is becoming steadily more
upmarket and now has hardly any budget
accommodation. Its narrow beach road is
surprisingly quaint, however, with a
number of attractive, traditional hai
wooden buildings in what's now tagged
“ Fisherman's Village ”. At night, the village
is a pleasant place for a stroll, with a
concentration of good restaurants; on
Friday evenings, it hosts a walking street
very similar to Maenam's.
Bangrak is also known as Big Buddha
Beach, after the huge Big Buddha statue
on a small island at the east end of the
bay, which gazes down on the sunbathers
populating its less-than-perfect beach. A
short causeway leads to a clump of
souvenir shops and food stalls in front of
the temple, and ceremonial dragon-steps
take you to the terrace around the statue,
from where there's a fine view of the
sweeping north coast.
After Bangrak comes the northeastern
cape and beautiful, laidback Choeng
Mon , whose white sandy beach is lined
with casuarina trees.

KO SAMUI
An ever-widening cross section of visitors,
from globetrotting backpackers to
suitcase-toting fortnighters, comes to
southern hailand just for the beautiful
beaches of Ko Samui , 80km from Surat
hani. At 15km across and down, Samui
is generally large enough to cope with
this diversity, except during the
Christmas and New Year rush. he island
was once the destination for paradise
sands fringed with palm trees, but
development behind the beaches is
extensive and often thoughtless, with
girly bars by the main beaches beginning
to rival those of Phuket. At least there's a
local bylaw limiting construction to the
height of a coconut palm (about three
storeys), and there are still a few pockets
of bungalows for backpackers.

Na Thon
he island capital, NA THON is a frenetic
half-built town that most travellers use
only for stocking up with supplies en
route to the beaches. he three piers
come to land at the promenade, hanon

Chaweng
For sheer natural beauty, none of the
other beaches can match Chaweng ,