KOH SAMET: AO CHO BAY Part 1
Just four months after a Thai family holiday in that quintessentially Thai resort of Bang Saen, I joined my wife, my son, my wife’s parents, all 3 of her siblings, her nephew, her niece and one of her cousins for a long weekend on Koh Samet.
Again, I had not been involved in the planning of the trip, but having been invited, I had been happy to go along for the ride. It felt strange not having any say or responsibility in the trip, but I was totally focused on getting my new business established and had neither the time nor the finances to maintain my old three holidays a year lifestyle. It hadn’t been since family holidays back in secondary school that I had just been a passenger on a trip, and now here I was – twice in a matter of months.
Koh Samet was a good choice and I was happy to be returning there. I had been once before a few years earlier. Ironically, it had been my first holiday with Pim. At that time, we’d arrived with my friend and colleague of the time, Thalia, during a holiday in peak season with no reservations. We had managed to find somewhere to stay just back from the main beach, which was beautiful but pretty crowded. This time it was low season and Pim’s older sister, Taem, had arranged everything, including accommodation at a bay called Ao Cho further along the coast from the busy main beach.
The Bang Saen experience had been a very Thai style holiday and completely different to my own travels in Thailand. I was expecting something similar on this trip, but Koh Samet is a perfect example of why many farangs come back to Thailand year after year. It is completely different to Bang Saen with less crowded beaches, a cleaner sea, and only the occasional parasol or deck chair. It felt more like a farang holiday with my Thai family than a Thai holiday with a farang tagging along. Even Pim’s dad had a go at body surfing with us.
We made the mistake of arriving at the ferry port of Bang Phe on time and so had to wait around for others to arrive before we could set off. I’m not a very good boat passenger, especially in small boats, but a large, sturdy ship was docked beside us and feeling reassured I was looking forward to the 40 minute crossing.
Eventually, a young Thai couple and their tiny dog arrived and we were shepherded towards the boat. There were still only 13 of us, so there would be plenty of room on the boat. One by one we boarded the boat, crossed the deck, climbed out through the windows on the far side, and down onto the roof of a much smaller boat that had been easily concealed behind the cunning decoy. Side by side they resembled a cow elephant and her newly born calf. The motion of gentle waves enhanced the effect as the ungainly calf appeared to be rubbing up against its mother for reassurance.
As one of the alpha males of the group, I stayed on the roof of the baby boat and passed bags down while everyone else climbed below and took up their seats. When I too descended, I noticed that everyone was wearing life jackets. I looked around casually, but unfortunately, there were none left. Even 2 and a half year old Tommy was wearing one, although God knows why. It was far too big for him and he would have fallen through it if he had entered the water. I took up a seat along the side with my back to the sea and Tommy was passed to me. I knew that it would be a much more sensible thing to take the life jacket that he was wearing for myself so that if anything happened I could hold both of us above the water. I knew that would be the sensible thing to do but I didn’t do it because I also knew that everyone would glare at me like I was a heartless child killer if I did that. Instead, Tommy sat on my lap like a shy turtle with just the top of his head showing out of his oversized life jacket shell. I resisted the temptation to take the jacket but I had already worked out the quickest way to get it off him and onto me if the boat capsized. I looked around and smiled at the people in their life jackets. Now, let’s go to Koh Samet.
Off we set and it was all nice and smooth. We reached the edge of the harbour, stopped, turned around and headed back. Another eight Thais had arrived just about an hour after the scheduled departure time and we had to go back and pick them up before we could cross. There was no room left in the tiny boat, so after they climbed down below, they squeezed past us and sat on the open front of the boat. Great. Now we were overloaded and an hour late. Still, at least we could finally set off and our holiday could begin.
Once more we trundled along to the edge of the harbour and this time continued out into the open strait between the mainland and Koh Samet. As we left the shelter of the sea wall, a strong wind was blowing and swells rolled in from the side of the boat rocking us like a cradle. As each big swell rolled us, everyone around me whooped with joy. The bastards. Of course they were enjoying it. They had all the life jackets. Spray was coming over the side and we were getting wetter and wetter. Tommy the turtle had snuggled all the way down into his shell and I kept scanning the horizon for rogue waves even though I had no idea what a rogue wave looked like, although I guessed it might have a moustache and be wearing fake designer sunglasses.
No rogue wave came and we eventually made it to Koh Samet where our first stop was the main pier to let the late arrivals disembark. Our group and the canine-loving couple continued on further along the coast to Ao Cho, which was a beautiful and very quiet little bay with a fine stretch of beach and minimal development. It was a classical crescent shape with a rocky headland at either end of the beach. Ao Cho was also accessible by road but it wasn’t a journey for the faint-hearted as we later found out. It’s difficult to say which was the rougher ride, by sea or road, but for now we had landed with a few hours of daylight left and it was holiday time.
Paul Snowdon
Related article – Koh Samet: Ao Cho Bay (part 2)
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