Chaweng Beach in Koh Samui, Thailand

Chaweng Beach, located on the northwest coast of Koh Samui Island, is the island's most developed, crowded and active beach.

It also has the nicest beach. The beach itself, enclosed by rocky headlands on either side, consists of five kilometers of white dust sand, and borders on crystal clear azure water. Beach chairs and umbrellas are available for about 100 baht.

It is not a quiet beach, however. Numerous venders roam the beach hawking everything. They can be distracting but they are a good source of food and drink if one doesn't want to seek it out oneself.

One service beachgoers might want to take advantage of is the Thai beach massage, which is offered at most locations on the beach.

If one wants to participate in water sports, there are numerous venders, particularly on the southern end of the beach, ready, willing and able to rent the necessary equipment for jet-skiing, catamaraning, kayaking, windsurfing, parasailing, water skiing and so forth. Of course, some of this equipment can make quite a bit of noise, but it is part of the "natural" environment of Koh Samui and many people enjoy these activities.

For those who would like a quieter place to enjoy the sun, the northern end, "Chaweng Yai", which is shallow, is best. There is also an area on the sourthern end called "Chaweng Noi" which is less crowed and has good swimming. The beach road doesn't extend there. It tends to be dominated by expensive resorts although the beach is supposed to be open to all comers.

Chaweng Beach Nightlife

Unlike many other areas of Koh Samui Island, Chaweng Beach has a very active nightlife, aside from the many eating opportunites available.

It is centered on Chaweng's main road, the beach road, where many entertainment venues are found, and on the sois or small streets that branch off of it.

These sois are the locations of numeros bars of various sizes and types.

The largest concentration of night life is to be found on and around Soi Green Mango in central Chaweng and Soi Reggie. Most of the bars in Chaweng fall into the category of "beer bar" or "pub", but there are some that can be classified as go-go bars or discotheques. The four best go-gos are said to be:

• Dream Girls on Soi Mango
• Moulin Rouge on Soi Reggae
• Chalies Angels on Soi Sound
• Polo Coyote heading out of town toward the ring road – the road that circles around Ko Samui Island

Among the bars which could be considered discotheques, based on their emphasis on dancing, and hip-hop and techno music, are Sweet Soul, Solo Club, Sound, The Green Mango Club, and Q Bar.

Shopping on Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui

Being a fairly large place, Chaweng Beach has lots of shopping and dining opportunities. Street stalls and small shops are everywhere on Beach Road and sell the usual variety of tourist oriented paraphernalia: T-shirts, CD's, toys and so forth, much of it counterfeit. The "in" counterfeit item on sale now is supposed to be sports shoes, which are quite high in Thailand when bought from a reputable dealer.

There also seems to be no shortage of tailor and optical shops. What makes Chaweng different from most of the other places on the island is the presence or nearness of Western shopping centers. Big C, Lotus Tesco and Makro have stores located midway between Chaweng and Bophut Beach, and there is a Tops supermarket in central Chaweng.

In addition, there are other shopping malls featuring western stores – mainly clothing stores - such as Khun Chaweng Shopping Center on the beach road in central Chaweng. Two Thai shopping centers, Samui Hot Club and Udomg and Findig, are also worth checking out.

Chaweng beach road

Restaurants

For those who like or need to eat, there are plenty of places to do it. There are numerous places owned and operated by expatriates. These places usually specialize in decor and ambience, and a specific cuisine – Italian, Mexican, French, British, Irish, French, Scandinavian, Australian, and so forth.

Of course there are also a few Japanese restaurants. Many of these places are actually right on the beach. Some of these places are: Chez Andy, Captain Kirk, Olivio, Vecchia Napoli, Gringo’s Cantina, Spice Island, Zico's, Hagi, Will Wait, Baan Boran and the list continues.

There are many more Thai restaurants and food stands serving Thai items and one can save quite a bit of money – and enjoy some good food – eating at these places. A problem, however, can be the menu, which sometimes is written only in Thai.

Diners should be careful, however, at Thai restaurants specializing in seafood as this can be quite expensive. Those who prefer western food NOT prepared by highly trained and specialized chefs can eat at McDonalds, which is located in the central of town, opposite the popular Tropical Murphy's Irish Pub or Burger King, which is in the middle of Chaweng on the beach road, next to the Green Mango Pub. There is a Pizza Hut nearby. There is also at least one Subway restaurant in Chaweng.

Accommodation - Resorts - Hotels

There is a lot of accommodation in Chaweng Beach, but it tends to be expensive, generally starting at 1,500 or 2,000 baht a night and rising fast. The more expensive resorts dominate the nicer parts of the beach going toward the Samui Yacht Club, and are often almost on the beach.

Budget: Among places said to charge under twenty US dollars a day are Embassy Guesthouse, Panupong Apartment, Nid's Bungalows, and Ko Kheaw 40. Charging from 12.00 to 20.00 dollars per day are said to be Moon Light Hotel, Baan Ram Mai, Samui Beach Apartments, Sayer Guest House, Lucky Home Resort, Chaweng Residence, Sunny Guest House and Penzy Guest House, Jungle Club and Chaweng PR Guest House.

These places tend to be small and farther from the beach than the more expensive accommodation. Prices, of course, can't be guaranteed and it is always possible that the cheaper rooms might not be "available".

These accommodations are also not as safe and secure as those at the more expensive resorts. In recent months many cheaper accommodations have been victimized by theft.

As noted above, theft appears to be somewhat of a problem in Chaweng Beach - according to internet chat room bulletin boards, anyway. Those staying in cheap accommodation should be especially vigilant, both while out of AND while sleeping in their rooms.

General Advice

All visitors should take precautions against pick pockets and bag thieves – they try to rip shoulder bags from walking travelers, often while riding motor cycles.

Visitors to Chaweng should also beware of changing weather patterns. Due to deforestation and overdevelopment, Chaweng Beach can't handle the heavy rains of rainy season and sometimes suffers from severe flooding.

Hospitals

Hopefully, those visiting Chaweng Beach will not need the service of a hospital but there are a few to choose from in the event of necessity:

Samui International Hospital on the beach road in north central Chaweng (Chaweng Yai Bay).

Bangkok Samui Hospital near where the beach road ends and intersects the ring road (where Chaweng Noi Bay begins).

Brandon International Hospital and Thai International Hospital, both a short distance away on the ring road.

Video of Chaweng Beach in Koh Samui, Thailand

Beach road in Chaweng