Plus: Cool, powder white sand, clean clear sea. Funky basic, bungalow hotels. Cheap.
There is a big choice of beaches, each with a couple of little low-rise hotel operations.
Rampant development, noise and builder's debris are mostly the province of other islands.
Excellent sea food is available, along with all the other hedonistic necessities like cold beers and warm deck chairs.
It's not a package people place[no monster hotels], nor very kid oriented [almost no swimming pools].
Romantic? Yes. Young, stylish people? Yes. Girlie bars? No. Night clubs? Not really, limited dancing. Drugs? Not apparent. Butt-uglies with Pattaya girls? A few. Packaged people? Some on Wong Duan. Old folks? Mostly on Wong Duan.
An easy 3/4 hours from Bangkok by [mini] bus and boat.
Minus: It's a little tatty in places, with ratty power cables and occasional careless garbage visible if you care to look. This is not Hawaii! [And neither are the prices]. There is only one swimming pool on the island [at by far the most expensive hotel, Ao Phrao Resort].
Weekends and festive seasons can see the island packed. At the Thai New Year in April accommodation is impossible to find. Book in advance!
6 km long Ko Samet [aka Koh Samed] was the biggest surprise in Bugbog's December on-the-ground evaluation of Thailand's seaside offerings.
Although it is one of the country's oldest resort islands and easily accessible from Bangkok without flying, Ko Samet retains a level of comfort and tranquility that is missing from most other Thai islands with reasonable facilities. A lot of this is due to its National Park status restraining development, including roads in the interior.
The cheapest bungalows are generally the furthest from the two main landing points [Na Dan Pier and Wong Duan Bay], so backpackers should be prepared to walk a while.
Previously we got the impression that Wong Duan would be the best beach/hotel area on the island, but were disappointed by the narrow strip of sand, smelly boats clustering in the small bay and platoons of visitors landing on barges as if every day was D-day.
