Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 19th August, 2011

Today's weather;

Back on Samui and the PADI IE on Koh Tao was very successful. My busy schedule continues with a late flight out to Bangkok tonight and a vary early flight to Bali in Indonesia where I will be teaching a PADI IDC until the end of the month on Gili Air.

The weather on Samui is not that great this morning, there's some heavy overcast but it's dry right now. Current temp at 7am is 25.5C

View during breakfast yesterday morning on Koh Tao

Yesterday started out hot and warm on both Samui and Koh Tao but around 5pm, shortly after I got back home, a few showers hit the island. Max temp reached 31.4C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 18th August, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui and Koh Tao have nice blue skies with just a few fluffy clouds in it. Current temp at 7am is 26C and it promises to be a hot day!

Today the PADI IE will be completed and it will be back home for me this afternoon, tomorrow night it's off to Bangkok for a short night and the next morning I'll board an early flight to Bali again, starting a PADI IDC on Gili Air 21st August.

View over Koh Tao from my room

Yesterday saw a sunny and warm day over both Samui and Koh Tao. Only difference was that Koh Tao underwent a rain lashing around 11pm accompanied by thunder and lightning. Max temp reached 30.5C

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 17th August, 2011

Today's weather;

Just got back from my favorite bakery on Koh Tao, Zest and it's time to update the blog! Both Samui and Koh Tao have a splendid morning with blue skies and plenty of sunshine. Current temp at 7am is 25.6C

A new traffic circle building in Mae Haad on Koh Tao

Yesterday saw a beautiful, warm and sunny day on Koh Samui and Koh Tao. That is, up to about 5pm when I just wanted to start my first run on the turtle island and the flood gates just unleashed a massive, tropical rain shower for about an hour. Max temp reached 32.5C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 3rd April, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui woke up with another dry day to look forward to and although the sun isn't out right now, it should come out later today. Food is coming in, Big C and Tesco Lotus Chaweng have been re stocked and the markets have fish again because the fisherman are going out fishing. Current temp at 7am is 24.3C

Yesterday saw a dry day with some sunshine and repair work is in full swing, see yesterday's post. That's a good thing and I hope to be able to give more updates on clean up and repair work in progress soon. Most roads are dry or are drying up now. Max temp reached 28.6C

Thanks Joanne for a donation made!

Jet skis downtown Chaweng, roaming beach road, no jet ski scam recently on Samui!

The land roads to Samui are still blocked however and highway 44, between Surat Thani and Krabi, my gateway home has collapsed bridges and the old road north of Phuket is not an option since 4 meter floods are reported in Phun Pin, where Surat Thani's rail way station is. It may be possible of getting to Samui by making a big detour over Ranong. The roads from Chumpon to Surat is packed however by 100's of cars that can't move on and people are parked at the side of the road and on gas stations. It's going to be interesting to get back home again!

Flooding by night

Dear readers of my blog, I appreciate very much that you check in and that you are concerned about your upcoming trip and holiday to Koh Samui but please;

-Please keep in mind that I do NOT have lists of individual hotels and their current state. If I stumble over one or hear about one I will post it here on my blog.

-If you're planning to visit Koh Samui within a week or so, expect a damaged island with a lot of clean up and repair work going on. I'm sure that hotels that aren't affected will do their uttermost best to accommodate you but Samui won't be at it's prettiest! Everybody wants tourists to come back, beach clean ups will also be conducted.

-If you're planning to visit Samui around mid April, I would expect a lot of damage and debris been taken care of and your visit should be fine.

-Anybody planning on visiting towards the end of April or early May or even later, don't worry. Do not reschedule for November, that's usually Samui's rainy season!

Flooding in Khanom late March 2011

-As before, please support my blog with either donations, hitting the beer allowance buttons or keep booking your future hotel stays on Samui and around Thailand on my Samui hotel recommendation blog or Thailand hotel recommendation blog. Please bookmark them.

Koh Tao evacuation, picture by Neil van Niekerk

-For information about Koh Tao, check out Ayesha's blog on Koh Tao, she claims that all is fine on Koh Tao and they never had food or drinking water shortages and should be up for diving and business as usual later today!

For Koh Phangan updates check out the 'My Jungle life' blog for updates.

For Phuket updates, check out Jamie's Phuket weather blog.

On the HTMS Chakri Naruebet, evacuation from Koh Tao picture by Neil van Niekerk

Koh Lanta woke up under a lightly clouded sky but I expect the sun to burn through rather quickly and it should be a lovely day! Current temp at 7am is 24.2C

Koh Lanta has been lovely yesterday. During our dive trip of the current IDC on Lanta we had a flat ocean and got slightly sunburned in the face or if you weren't careful, your whole body. Max temp reached 29.3C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 1st April, 2011

Today's weather;

Things are definitely on the up, Samui woke up under sunshine this morning! Motorbikes are moving around again in front of our house in Plai Laem on a road that had unprecedented levels of water on it. The current temp at 7am is 24.7C

Most roads around Koh Samui are fine again, some have a few puddles on it and some are still flooded, overall though, things are improving and especially having a forecast with 7 days of more or less sunshine will definitely improve things around all three Gulf islands.

Yesterday saw some bits of rain but just 8mm over the last 24 hrs. Max temp reached 25.5C

Wading and swimming in the water near Donsak

For all people contacting me, last night I answered emails and messages on my blog for over 5 hours, from 18.30 onwards last night. A lot of the questions are very repetitious and I must first of all thank you all for showing support, especially David and Peter for their generous donation and Robert as well.

-However, please keep in mind that I do NOT have lists of individual hotels and their current state. If I stumble over one or hear about one I will post it here on my blog.

-If you're planning to visit Koh Samui within a week or so, expect a damaged island with a lot of clean up and repair work going on. I'm sure that hotels that aren't affected will do their uttermost best to accommodate you but Samui won't be at it's prettiest!

-If you're planning to visit Samui around mid April, I would expect a lot of damage and debris been taken care of and your visit should be fine.

-Anybody planning on visiting towards the end of April or early May or even later, don't worry. Do not reschedule for November, that's usually Samui's rainy season!

-The weather forecast for the next 7 days is good, with plenty of sunshine, no wind and just a few occasional drops of rain. I can only hope that the weather will be as it usually is during April and that's HOT!

-Due to the overwhelming amount of mails and messages, I won't be able to answer each individual mail or message anymore at the rate they're coming in, please accept my apologies for that but please read the above, it should answer 99% of all questions! Questions out of the ordinary I will definitely answer.

-As before, please support my blog with either donations, hitting the beer allowance buttons or keep booking your future hotel stays on Samui and around Thailand on my Samui hotel recommendation blog or Thailand hotel recommendation blog. Please bookmark them.

-For information about Koh Tao, check out Ayesha's blog on Koh Tao, she claims that all is fine on Koh Tao and they never had food or drinking water shortages and should be up for diving and business as usual later today!

For Koh Phangan updates check out the 'My Jungle life' blog for updates.

For Phuket updates, check out Jamie's Phuket weather blog.

In the meantime, Koh Lanta woke up to a lightly cloudy sky and it looks like more sunshine may be ours later today and yesterday saw actually bits and pieces of sunshine with a few rare drops of rain, the dive boats went out yesterday! Current temp at 7am is 24C and max temp reached 28.2C yesterday.

The biggest concern right now is still the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and all of a sudden the province of Krabi with it's landslides.

So far 13 people have been confirmed to have died as a result of the recent weather in Southern Thailand.

Especially the Ban Ton Harn Ville in Khao Phanom district has been hit hard. Luckily there has also been a feel good story, at least partially!

I'm looking forward to a speedy recovery for Koh Samui and all affected areas and that rebuilding may lead to a good job done and will prevent unnecessary and avoidable flood situations.

Camille

Koh Samui and Koh Tao flood update, March 2011

Koh Samui and Koh Tao flood update, March 2011

Things are starting to look slightly better again on Koh Samui. As already mentioned, the ferries are up and running, also between the islands the ferries are up and running again and the airport is in full swing. The next thing will be to start cleaning up, especially with clear skies and no wind being predicted for the next week. After that, damage assessment and repair work will start, the mayor expects apparently at least 5 month before everything is fixed and repaired. Be advised that this statement implies all damage, the major problems should be tackled immediately.

Many things need to be re stocked though, currently the island is out of gasoline and diesel, there's a 4km tail back at the Chaweng PTT gas station and at the airport are apparently still around 1.500 people waiting to be flown out. Besides water in various and the usual places, things are on the way up! With the ferries running again, I would expect food supplies to be coming in again and the shelves at the supermarkets should be stocked again in a few days.

The Samui Triathlon, scheduled for 24th April has been cancelled as a result of the current rain damage.

Ring road surface damage, just the tip of the iceberg I'm afraid.

To all people that send emails and left messages on this blog, I've been busy today doing my work, I'm currently in the middle of teaching an IDC on Koh Lanta and come 12th June I'm participating in a half Marathon in Phuket, so my training schedule needs to be continued whenever I have time and this evening it was dry on Koh Lanta, enough to squeeze out an 8km run! I'm a bit surprised by the amount of visits to my blog and also by the amount of emails and messages I received regarding the flooding so please be assured, I will answer all messages, mails and posts and will start in a few moments.

Footage of the evacuation on Koh Tao by Tom Lansford

One for the Dutch amongst my readers, Rik of Riks Restaurant in Bang Rak was on the NOS radio with a live update

Some people donated again, much appreciated Oliver, Jeanette and Sari but two people said they found it hard to find the button, it's now on top of the page, left hand side.

Take care out there and I wish everyone affected in Southern Thailand by these floods very dry days to come soon!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 31st March, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui at last woke up with electricity still running (at least near my house where electricity was cut off over for almost 56 hrs), no rain pouring down, the airport open and the ferries running again. It's still cloudy and roads are flooded and some bits and pieces of rain may come down but it looks like the worst is over. Current temp at 7am is 24C and 'only' 95mm of rain came down over the last 24 hrs.

I'm starting to relax!

On Koh Tao the evacuation of stranded tourists that started yesterday will continue today with thanks to the Royal Thai Navy. 3 seriously ill people from Koh Phangan hospital were evacuated by helicopter.

Yesterday saw still lots of rain but the airport opened up and the ferries started running again and electricity came back on again. Max temp reached only 23.9C

I'm receiving many emails and messages on my blog and I will try to answer them all but it will be later today. Everybody planning a holiday around 8th April or later, you should be fine although the cleaning up activities may still be in process.

Don't forget to hit the donations buttons, with over 5000 visits per day currently, somebody out there must think that this blog is useful, show your appreciation by hitting my beer money or donation buttons here! Thanks!

Koh Lanta is having a light cloud cover, it looks like the dark clouds have moved on. Hopefully there will be some sunshine today! Current temp at 7am is 24C

Yesterday saw an almost complete dry day with mini bursts of sunshine occasionally. Max temp reached 30C

The landslide in Krabi was not as devastating as initially mentioned, only one instead of 7 villages were affected and despite 10 bodies being recovered, only around a 100 people are missing and not 1000. However, landslides are now reported in 4 provinces, including Phuket.

Camille

The situation on Koh Tao, March 2011

The situation on Koh Tao, March 2011

During the last couple of days I received a lot of questions regarding the situation on Koh Tao and it seems that they have been hit even harder than Koh Samui.

The torrential rains have done some serious structural damage and since the island was not reachable by ferries over the last 4 days, food and drinking water supplies were starting to run low.

Today the Royal Thai Navy's HTMS Chakri Naruebet an Offshore Patrol Helicopter Carrier has arrived at Koh Tao and started evacuating people off the island.

Here are some pictures from Koh Tao, partly from the Koh Tao Zone site;

Sairee beach road

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 29th March, 2011

Today's weather;

Samui is waking up under very dark clouds and is about to assess last nights torrential rain damage. Just over 400mm came down over the last 24 hours and 90mm between 1 and 4am. There will be damage to roads and buildings, I just hope it all will be within limits and reason.

Current temp at 7am is still 25C

The tendency is that all long term residents have never experienced anything like the current floods, even the November 2010 floodings were not as bad as the current situation.

The water levels in front of our house on the road between Plai Laem and Choengmon have never been as high as they are now. A lot of problems are caused because the water is 'boxed' in and can't follow it's natural flow to the ocean because of too much construction blocking the way to the ocean.

There are power cuts all over the island, so land phone lines won't work and the batteries on mobile phones will be getting very low soon or are dead already. The power cuts are either genuinely because of over load and are partly on purpose in order to avoid electrocutions. The spaghetti wire above the roads doesn't really look too re-assuring.

Max temp yesterday didn't get any higher than 26.5C

The current prediction is about another 80mm of rain for Samui and surrounding islands until 7pm today and than it's supposed to ease off with sun and no waves and wind starting from Friday onwards.

Good luck to everybody on Samui, hope it will be all good again very soon!

The situation on Koh Phangang and Koh Tao is not looking good, especially Koh Tao seems to have had some serious battering with plenty of structural damage and they must be running low on food and especially drinking water by now. I don't expect the airport to open today, due to wind and rain.

The overall situation in the South of Thailand is very bad, see the chart below. The current death toll is nine. The Nation resports; Flood waters are now wreaking havoc in the provinces of Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Trang, Krabi and Phatthalung.

To date, 13 districts of Surat Thani have been declared disaster zones, with the inundation having damaged four bridges, 11 roads and two temples.

Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat said the flooding had damaged 613 schools in Trang, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Songkhla and Phatthalung.

Bangkok Airways cancelled all 36 domestic and international flights in and out of Samui yesterday, due to the severe thunderstorms hitting the island and the surrounding area. It said affected passengers should contact its ticketing office to rebook their flights at no additional charge.

Meanwhile, just as the floods have been raging in the South, PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey said 47 other provinces were suffering from drought.

Chaweng ring road

Bophud

Koh Lanta's sky is also dark and grey but the amount of rainfall here is just a fraction of what came down in other parts of Thailand. Current temp at 7am is 25.5C an yesterday's max temp reached 27.6C.

Yesterday saw some heavy rain but nothing serious. 'Just' 45mm of rain in 24 hours. All dive boats were cancelled yesterday though and I'm not sure if the dive boats will run today. As far as I know the car ferries are still running.

A next updated is not expected before noon since I'm conducting and IDC on Lanta and won't have time to be online that much.

Keep hitting the right buttons though to upgrade my beer allowance and if you plan on booking hotels on Samui or around Thailand, please use the links provided, all bookings through these sites will help me make more beer money!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 22nd February, 2011

Today's weather;

This morning I woke up on Koh Tao after having visited two PADI meetings yesterday, a Course Director update and a Member Forum. The turtle island has some cloud formations hovering above it but blue spots are creeping in. Current temp at 7am is 27.7C

Later this morning I will take the ferry back to Samui.

Having breakfast in Zest, looking down the main road in Mae Haad towards the pier

Yesterday saw another warm day on both Samui and Koh Tao with plenty of sunshine. Max temp reached 28.8C

Camille

Food on Wheels; Time for Coffee

Food on Wheels; Time for Coffee

More time for coffee or time for coffee again? Before I started the Food on Wheels series, I didn't realise how much coffee is sold on wheels! My first post in this series was about a small and cute motorbike on wheels selling coffee and today we see the same subject return.

Last week when I reported about the Soup on wheels car, I wondered if I could top last weeks sample. Well, I think that I come close this week. Whilst driving around Bophud, I spotted this pretty cool coffee on wheels salesperson and I had to stop him and take some pictures of him.

What I like about his set up is the small miniature version of a Tuk Tuk next to the driver. Nice work! Behind the miniature Tuk Tuk is a big coffee cup, unfortunately not very viewable.

All around though, a good idea and showing some creative thinking again! There are plenty of plain looking food on wheels carts around and this one sticks out!

Another coffee on wheels shot, taken on Koh Tao, this is a manually pushed car, although it looks like permanently parked in front of the 'mother shop'. Just to proof my point that there's an abundance of coffee on wheels.

Hope you enjoyed this entry and the series as such.

Stay tuned for more updates in this series.

Camille

The coconut monkey at work!

The coconut monkey at work!

This post is inspired by Khun Boonsong's blog post about a young girl in Isaan that climbs high into palm or coconut trees to get the fruit, a post well worth reading and checking out.

This girl climbed into an Areca nut tree or Mahkaam in Thai, without any help or aid which looked possibly 10 meters high, pretty impressive. In the comment section I mentioned that on Koh Samui this kind of work is only done by specially trained monkeys. It's also becoming a very rare trade and you don't get to see it that often, unless you go to one of the many monkey training schools.

To my big surprise during my recent visit to Koh Tao one of these specially trained monkeys was kicking down some coconuts. This picture shows the monkey sitting high in the crown of the coconut tree, possibly also 8 to 10 meters above the ground.

The monkey has a rope connected to a collar around his neck from which it gets directions from it's boss or trainer. On the ground, the monkeys boss gives directions and comments on which coconuts to throw to the ground.

Many people walking by or on motorbikes had to slow down or wait for a second or two in order to prevent getting a coconut thrown on top of their head. Coming from that height, most likely not a healthy impact and I wonder how many people yearly die or get injured because they're hit by falling coconuts.

It took me a while and various shots were wasted before I could get a falling coconut in a picture. The monkey twists and turns the chosen coconut around and than just lets it fall. Simple and effective.

The monkey on it's way down, he actually got entangled a moment after I took this picture and got to the ground by working the rope in the vegetation next to the coconut tree.

Here's our small hero, after a few minutes of work in the tree. He wasn't too impressed with all the folks taking pictures of him and actually threw a stick to some people. He was also hissing and making some noises whilst waiting for his boss, who took a motorbike with a side car mounted to it which was park a 100 meters away or so, to collect the coconuts and sell them on.

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 20th August, 2010

Today's weather;

Back on Samui after a very successful trip to Koh Tao for the PADI IE. Unfortunately the good weather has disappeared once more and for the next couple of days wind and rain are part of the daily menu, this morning not being an exception. It just stopped raining and last night there was a shower or two as well. Current temp at 7am is 28C

Yesterday saw a nice start to the day but soon enough big and dark clouds were moving in fast on Koh Tao but they barely missed the small island. On the way back to Samui there was some rain though and Samui had rain throughout the day, although it was sunny when we arrived. Max temp reached 30.8C

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 19th August, 2010

Today's weather;

Koh Tao has more cloud cover than I expected this early in the morning but the sun is heating up nicely and will most likely blast it's way through the clouds soon enough. Current temp at 7am is 27.1C

Today is our last on Koh Tao and after my IDC candidates complete the current PADI IE successfully we're off to Samui again in the afternoon. Check my dive blog for updates on their progress.

Yesterday just before sun set on Koh Tao, idyllic or what?

Yesterday saw a warm day on both Koh Tao and Samui. Max temp reached 30.8C

Camille

Food on Wheels; Pancake, the classic!

Food on Wheels; Pancake, the classic!

Yes, the pancake is the absolute classic in my opinion when it comes down to food on wheels in Thailand. They come on a variety of wheels as well, motorised but many times also hand pushed, like this one on Koh Tao.

This little pancake outlet is run by a very nice and friendly Bangla Deshi bloke who lives on Koh Tao since 9 years and he makes a nice little show out of his job and is pleasant and easy to talk to as well. Each day he wheels his cart away and back in place again!

Part of his show is the throwing and smashing around bit of the dough, to be followed by a pizza dough like swirling around during which the dough becomes rounder and bigger. Fun to watch!

The wait whilst the pancake sizzles in the pan, the hardest part of the whole event!

The finished product, my fave is a banana pancake with cinnamon. The person I was with had a egg, cheese, onion and tuna pancake and both were just delicious! A great snack in-between.

Not to forget, my kids love them!

What an invention, the food on wheels. I'm loving it, that's for sure!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update 18th August, 2010

Today's weather;

Koh Tao is seeing some cloud cover but it looks like the sun will burn through it later today and Samui has similar weather. Current temp at 7am is 26.6C

I'm on the rock (aka Koh Tao) because of a PADI IE, check out my dive blog for updates.

Yesterdays sunset on Koh Tao

Yesterday saw a warm and sunny day on both islands. Max temp reached 33.4C

Camille

11th July, 2010

Today's weather;

Koh Tao is cloudy but still has plenty of blue sky to show for. Current temp at 7am is 27.8C

Today or rather tonight is also the big night and game for all Dutch and Spanish football fans when both teams meet in the finals in Johannesburg. Hup Holland Hup, let's get that cup!

Yesterday saw another sunny day over Samui and Koh Tao with a max temp of 35.3C

Camille

24th June, 2010

Today's weather;

Koh Tao has a nice and sunny start to the day and it looks like the weather will improving for thenext couple of days. Current temp at 7am is 28C.

To the early risers and readers of my blog, internet connection just got back on again on "The Rock" aka Koh Tao.

View of Mae Haad harbour, anybody in for diving?

Yesterday saw clouds in the morning with short bursts of sunshine, around 3pm though both Koh Tao and Samui had a lots of rain and Tao had a storm to go along with it. Later in the evening it dried up. Max temp reached 33.3C

Camille

23rd June, 2010

Today's weather;

Koh Tao is under a grey cloud layer with a current temp at 7am of 28C and strong wind.

Yesterday saw merely clouds over Koh Tao and the afternoon also had some rain. Max temp reached 32.3C

Camille

Cafe del Sol, Mae Haad, Koh Tao

Cafe del Sol, Mae Haad, Koh Tao

To catch up on my restaurant reviews, here's one more, this time coming to you from Koh Tao where I just spend two nights for a PADI IE.

The Cafe del Sol has been visited by me occasionally, mainly for lunches and despite good reviews by other people that visited the Cafe, somehow I never got around going there in the evenings for dinner, until two days ago.

We went and had dinner and it was excellent, I had a really superb lamb chop and it was that good that we went the next day again!

Trio pepper pork with gratin

My student during this trip had two days in a row the trio pepper pork with gratin. An excellent choice and the gratin alone is worthwhile going there.

Gnocchi quatro formaggio

Yesterday I had a gnocchi quatro formaggio, which was really nice as well.

The Cafe del Sol is easy to find, coming from the Seatran pier, just walk straight up the road and the second crossing will have the Cafe at your left hand. They also offer free wifi to customers.

Another good addition to Koh Tao's culinary road map. Highly recommended.

Camille