Two years ago in early January we caught the tail end of the annual monsoons. This time, however, we've come in late January, and the weather is hot and sunny. We've spent our time bobbing in inner tubes in the gentle surf, taking long walks on the fine white sand, and generally enjoying Choeng Mon beach life. At low tide we can walk to a small island opposite the mouth of the bay. There are small restaurants shaded by coconut palms.
Women offer to corn-row and bead tourists' hair.
Thai therapeutic massage employs centuries-old techniques taught at Wat Po in Bangkok and at other centers around the country. If I were so inclined, I could bemoan the changes, the loss of what Samui was before the airport. But what it is now is also wonderful. Wat Na Pra Lan, the most important Buddhist site on Samui, just west of Mae Nam village. The central chedi, a stone monument constructed 200 years ago, is said to contain the bones of the founding monk.