Phuket and Koh SamuiThailand

I'm 58 years old too and living in Bangkok. Koh Samui is a midsized island which is touristy all over. It doesn't really matter where you live there it's all pretty much the same and you can get anywhere on the island in a short motorbike ride. Phuket is a larger island and has different zones. I know of a Youtuber which lives in Kamala. You might want to check out his videos or contact him and he can tell you about Phuket.

I think if you google; Is Phuket a tourist trap? your choice will be easy

No need to explain you're straight or whatever, I'm sure it doesn't matter to people anywhere, or at least shouldn't.

I went to Koh Samui, albeit several years ago, I stayed in the Chaweng Beach area, which had been recommended to me.

Beautiful area, white sands, turquoise sea, plenty to do.

Enjoy

Regards

Simon

    Hello all,
I'm a 58 yrs young Romanian Canadian, living in Vancouver, BC going to Phuket and Koh Samui, for the first time, to enjoy the relaxation on the beach and learn about Thai culture.
Would anyone have the willingness to share which neighborhoods are best to find accommodations and any other "inside" info ?


    -@drgion

Both of those places are just the main islands on either side of the Isthmus of Kra with Phuket in the Andaman Sea to the west and Samui in the Gulf of Thailand to the east. So, as mentioned above, they're among the most over-touristed islands. They are dozens of other islands especially in Krabi, just south of Phuket. They're also popular and maybe over-developed these days as well.

The best thing to do for inside info would be to watch some travel videos online. Just make sure the videos are from this year and not out-of-date.

You should note that it's now the rainy season. There was recently a major landslide disaster with loss of 13 lives in Phuket caused by heavy rains.

SAMUI

Month                Jan    Feb    Mar    Apr    May    Jun    Jul    Aug    Sep    Oct    Nov    Dec

Max. temp            31    32    33    33    31        31    31    31    30    31    31    31

Min. temp            23    23    24    25    25        25    25    24    24    24    24    24

Water temp        26    27    27    28    28        28    28    28    28    27    27    27

Sun hours            280    258    237    231    215        162    108    138    128    176    231    290

Rain mm            38    8    12    62    186    113    143    123    210    260    302    98

Average Rainfall in Phuket:

                Jan    Feb    Mar    Apr    May    Jun    Jul    Aug    Sep    Oct    Nov    Dec    Year

mm    38    24    55    133    324    289        295    272    379    340    181    59    199

inches    1.5    1.0    2.2    5.3    12.8    11.4    11.6    10.7    15.0    13.4    7.1    2.3    7.9

Made a quick overview for my holiday plans in July a few years back