FOREIGN visitors to Thailand with days to spare in the vicinity of Bangkok, and with a longing for a tropical island, can take a lesson from native Thais and head for Koh Samet, an eight-square-mile island in the Gulf of Thailand about four hours southeast of the capital. Unlike Pattaya, the overbuilt mainland resort nearby, most of Koh Samet has been protected as a national park since 1981, with a ban on new building, and hotels and bungalows largely hidden behind trees.
Shaped roughly like a miniature South America, Koh Samet has as its main attraction a series of bays, separated by rocky outcrops, that dot the length of the island's east side. Each has its own characteristics, but all have fine, squeaky white sand and azure waters. The island gets almost equal numbers of Thai and foreign visitors, and so it also provides a taste of how Thai people vacation sanuk-style -- ''sanuk'' being a Thai word that loosely means fun. On Koh Samet, it generally means crowds of families or students, appointed with hats, guitars, picnic baskets, whisky and all the flotsam of a stay at the beach. Many of them stay at family-style resorts at the most popular beach, Hat Sai Kaew, or camp out along the coast.
Koh Samet (koh means island in Thai) also holds a place in Thai literature as one of the settings of the epic ''Phra Aphaimanee,'' written in the early 1800's by Sunthorn Phu, one of Thailand's greatest poets. It follows the odyssey of Phra Aphaimanee, a prince who plays his flute so sweetly that he is kidnapped by a giantess; thus follows a series of adventures peopled by sages, mermaids and princesses. A concrete mermaid surmounts the rocks at the south end of Hat Sai Kaew; for years she had been losing chunks of her anatomy to the elements, but she recently was restored, and has been joined by a statue of Phra Aphaimanee.
Our first visit to Koh Samet, in August 1995, was a lesson in how not to go there. Our main problems were that we went in the rainy season and took too much baggage, all of which had to be trundled into a Bangkok taxi (90 minutes of gridlock), onto a frigidly air-conditioned bus (three hours of shivering), off the bus at the mainland port of Ban Phe, down a long rickety pier and across a dizzying chasm between a makeshift ramp and the rocking deck of a small ferry.
Our arrival at Na Dan, Koh Samet's main port, was even more awkward: My husband and I hauled all the baggage, plus our two small children, across two boats docked broadside to ours before jumping to the pier. Once there, we found that all the song thaews -- flatbed trucks, with benches on the back, that serve as taxis -- had already filled and had left for the beaches that begin about a mile away. We ended up walking, carrying luggage and children, in the rain.
At the height of the rainy season, mosquitoes come in two varieties: huge and voracious, and small and vicious. There were also mean and sneaky sand flies. The seas got rougher, as did the weather. We finally decided to beat a retreat.
The next time we visited Samet -- in late February 1996 -- we packed much lighter. Getting on and off the ferry was still a bit wild, but this time we managed to catch a songthaew for Ao Hin Kok, the second beach down the coast. The weather was ideal -- hot, breezy, cool at night -- the mosquitoes were few and the sand flies nowhere in sight. The seas were mild to occasionally frisky, and the sand was perfect for building and sifting. Colorful butterflies skipped through the air. We swam, slept, ate seafood and ice pops, and socialized with the other tourists. In short, it was a lovely beach idyll.
The big question for first-time visitors to Koh Samet is, which beach? Hat Sai Kaew, the northernmost and the longest, tends to be crowded with group tours but has the widest range of activities. Ao Hin Kok, the next beach down, has mostly budget bungalows, and a nicely proportioned arc of sand. A dirt road here passes between the lodgings and the beach; with traffic averaging one motorcycle or pickup truck every five minutes or so, it's not a huge bother. A bit down the road is Ao Phai, which is technically a different beach (hat means beach in Thai, ao means bay), but is separated from Ao Hin Kok only by a small jumble of boulders. At Ao Hin Kok all the bungalows were full, so my husband reconnoitered down the beach and found a place big enough for all of us at Ao Phai Bungalows, where we stayed for the first few days.
The bungalows here -- fairly basic, with beds, table, fan, bathroom and a veranda with table and chairs -- are scattered across a red-dirt hillside shaded by tall trees. We enjoyed Thai and Western food at the restaurant, which served an especially good breakfast, accompanied by the BBC World News on a couple of televisions. The beach is good for swimming, with no coral near shore, and a gradual drop and gentle waves that make it lovely for children.
At the north end of the beach was a commune of Thai hippies who live in tepees and wear colorful home-dyed clothes; they seem to be unaffected by, and to have no affect on, the tourist activity around them, other than occupying the small wooded headland. At the south end of Ao Phai, marked by a huge and ancient tamarind tree, the dirt road turns inland, continuing to the island's west side or down the middle to beaches south.
One morning, we caught a song thaew to cross to Ao Phrao on the western side of the island. Also called Sunset or Paradise Beach (many beaches on Koh Samet have more than one name), Ao Phrao in just seven months had grown from a rundown sort of place to a very spiffy one, with a new resort at the north end of the beach; at the south end, a place called Paradise Beach had newly renovated bungalows and new management. We made ourselves at home on the beach there and rented snorkeling equipment.
The bay is so shallow here for such a long distance that it's easier to get completely wet by lying down in the water than by walking out to sea. There is coral offshore, and blessedly, an absence of jet skis, which theoretically are banned from park waters but which nonetheless plague the most popular beaches. After we had snorkeled a bit, the restaurant delivered sandwiches to picnic tables at the edge of the beach, and we finished them just as a songthaew pulled up to take us back to Ao Phai.
After four days at Ao Phai, we explored the rest of Samet. It's possible to walk around the entire island in a day, with stops to eat or swim, but some of the hiking involves strenuous climbs and descents, or picking one's way across rocky headlands. We took a 15-minute songthaew ride through dense jungle down a dirt road that nearly bisects the island, to Ao Wong Deun, another beach popular with tour groups and young Thai professionals. From there, it was a short walk along a shortcut across a headland dotted with casuarina trees to the next beach up -- Ao Cho, we hoped, would be quieter and less crowded.
And so it was, the first night. Undaunted by the less-than-effusive staff at our hotel, the Wonderland Resort, we moved into an odd sort of musty Italianate room, one of four in a small whitewashed building, and for two days we admired the view of the little cove, swam in the crystalline waters, and visited Ao Wong Deun, the next beach down, with its resorts, rentable inner tubes, soccer games and mini-marts, for pizza and people-watching.
The peace was shattered in the middle of our second night when a neighbor, an elderly woman, drinking heavily, went berserk and broke the window of our room. I'm sure it was a freak incident, but it was still upsetting. The staff seemed unsure of how to handle such a violent eccentric. We decided to move.
The next day we walked three bays south, up and down trails that in some places required scrambling on all fours, to Sametville, a resort that occupies its own bay, Ao Wai. Here the rooms were twice as expensive, as was the food, but sanity reigned. The concrete-and-wood duplex bungalows are built simply but thoughtfully, in quiet gardens behind a fringe of trees; our bungalow had a couple of double beds, a few tables, a closet and a spacious, well-appointed bathroom, as well as a veranda we shared with a delightful neighbor, an emergency room nurse from Bangkok who had made Sametville an annual vacation. Our view was of dazzling white sand and a stretch of luminous blue-green water bounded by gray-white rocks, with a small island and maybe a boat punctuating the horizon.
There was an indoor dining area near the reception desk, with solid teak tables and chairs and navigational maps of Samet and its environs, but for lunch and dinner most guests chose to dine at round mushroom-like tables outside, beneath tall trees with a view of the water. The food here was excellent, and at night white fairy lights illuminated the trees. The isolation and the slow pace allowed for a fair amount of conversation with other guests, who turned out to be largely repeat visitors.
A brisk wind and threatening clouds sent us on our way after two days, determined that the next time we were in Bangkok with time to burn, we too would find a way to return to this halcyon place.
On a tropical island
Getting There
Because of the precarious boat transfers -- and the bumpy rides on a songthaew once you arrive -- a trip to Koh Samet would be difficult but not impossible for a handicapped person.
The ferry from Ban Phe is $1.20 each way; boats go to Na Dan, the island's main port, or to several beach resorts. You may return from a different beach and with a different boat company, in which case a one-way ticket is best. Many of the better resorts book packages out of Bangkok that include bus and boat transport, accommodations and, in some cases, meals.
For foreigners, admission to the park is $2, $1 for children over 12. Free maps are available from the park ranger at the entrance, where there is a small visitors' center with displays about marine ecology. A songthaew ride from Na Dan is about 80 cents to Ao Hin Kok, and about $1.20 from there to either Ao Wong Deun or to Ao Phrao on the island's west side. Rates vary depending on whether the truck is full and how badly the driver wants the fare.
Where to Stay
Rates are for the high season, December to March. None of the hotels have fax numbers.
On the longest and busiest beach, a favorite is the Diamond Beach Resort, Sai Kaew Beach, Koh Samet, Phe, Rayong 21160, telephone (1) 239 0208, at the northernmost end. The rooms are clean and well kept, the beach is fairly quiet and the management is friendly and efficient. Its 100 rooms range from $4 for a basic hut to $40 for a three-bed bungalow with television, refrigerator and air-conditioning.
At Ao Hin Kok, the next beach down, clean, fairly basic bungalows are $4 to $12. Naga Bungalows at the north end has a bakery and sells fresh pastries, pies and whole-grain bread.
At the neighboring Ao Phai, Ao Phai Hut, Ao Phai, Koh Samet, Phe, Rayong 21160, telephone (1) 353 2644, has 70 rooms ranging from $6 for a small bungalow with bath to $60 for an air-condtioned place that will sleep 10.
Samed Villa, 89/4 Ao Phai, Koh Samet, Rayong 21160, telephone (1) 239 0223, at the other end of the same beach, has a hillside of bungalows, as well as some new and nicely furnished rooms with two queen-sized beds, at $24 a night.
Across the island is the new Ao Phao Resort, Ao Phrao, Koh Samet, Phe, Rayong 21160; (38) 651 814. Rooms with fan or air-conditioning are $48 to $60, which includes service charge and government taxes, as well as ferry transportation to the resort, breakfast for two and welcome drinks and fruit basket. Rooms have small terraces, satellite television, hair dryer and bathrobe and slippers.
On the east coast, accommodations south of Ao Phai are mostly unimpressive. The resorts at Ao Wong Deun, the second-busiest beach, fail to live up to their brochures. The one standout, farther south on this side, is Sametville, Koh Samet, Phe, Rayong 21160; (1) 321 1284. Rooms are comfortable, if not luxurious, and the attentive service, excellent food and tranquil ambiance make for a pleasant stay. A double costs $28 to $36 a night; package deals that include room, transport and all meals are $32 a person a day. (There is no other restaurant within walking distance.)
The southern end of the island has good snorkeling but can be reached only on foot or by boat. M.S.O.