Day 23, Tuesday, 26th March - Maret, Koh Samui

Negotiations....... The outcome of negotiations over the third night at Baan Lamai Resort is that we can cancel but forfeit the discount we negotiated. This ends Katoon's concerns but does not solve mine as there is accommodation to book now for the third night. She calls around wasting time this morning with the same old replies; full or too expensive. The only other choice is one I rejected on the first evening. It doesn't have a work space for me to use my laptop but to keep the peace I'm going to have to live with it for one night. That arranged, I have an idea for the main activity today.
Naphat Tour....... We head straight back to Thong Krut Pier and locate Naphat Tour Pig Island Koh Mat Sum and Snorkeling. Yesterday we asked about this island tour but not at Naphat Tour. As soon as we arrive we are offered a tour which works out at 1,400 baht for the two of us or 2,000 baht including dinner. The tour is a speed boat tour which covers snorkeling off Koh Tean and a visit to Koh Mat Sum (Pig Island) taking the whole afternoon. The cost is around the figure I had in mind and given that this is a top attraction in Koh Samui and a must do for my partner, I must join the band of those who wish to get bragging rites in return for seeing pigs. The tour is an afternoon tour beginning at 3.00 pm. However, since it's not yet midday there are more attractions in this area I intended to visit. This means turning back the way we came.
Bang Kao Beach....... Bang Kao Beach is one of the beaches we bypassed yesterday. It's close to Wat Phra Chedi Laem So but is neglected with the usual debris washed ashore. It does have a good view of Koh Tean through. We continue backtracking adding attractions we thought we'd be doing last.
Wat Khao Le Monastery....... Wat Khao Le has an interesting history and is associated with a Phuttabat (Buddha Footprint). The footprint however, located to the south of Road 4170, is hard to reach requiring quite a trek into the hills. The monastery though is pleasant enough, and we are content with that, taking photos of the small chedi in the grounds.
Samui Aquarium & Tiger Zoo....... Samui Aquarium & Tiger Zoo is a zoo and aquarium with Bengal tigers & leopards, also offering bird & sea lion shows. I arrive at this venue and immediately know what this is about. It's an opportunity for you to get bragging rites having your photo taken hugging a drugged-up tiger. For this you will be charged 850 baht up to 1,200 for larger animals. All I will say is avoid it as it's unethical anyway. Let's try something else.
Wat Samret....... Wat Samret is an ancient temple housing the white marble Buddha, which is believed to be several hundred years old dating back to the Ayutthaya period. The temple also houses the 'Secret Hall of Buddhas' containing small Buddha statues. The hall doors are locked and can only be opened by a monk on request. Some structures in the temple have been surveyed and registered by the Fine Arts Department and it is pleasing to see that the history of the temple has been translated into English. The temple is off the beaten tourist route but adds a bit of culture to the island so dominated by tourism.
We now find a restaurant and I don't want anything fancy but end up with an amazing meal proving me wrong that the island is expensive. I guess you need to know where local people eat. We can't add much more now as we find that most of the beach areas in this part of the island has only private access. Now let's get back to the main event of the day.
Koh Tean and Mat Sum Island Tour....... We arrive back in Ban Thong Krut and have to wait awhile in the Naphat Tour restaurant in the heat so there is relief when the speed boat arrives. There are I would say 16 passengers that will make the trip to Koh Tean and Koh Mat Sum. We're soon racing across the waves, driven by two powerful Yamaha engines, towards Koh Tean. It's here that you can go snorkeling. This brings back memories of other trips when I ended up over the side of a boat but it's not for me this time. After an hour we are racing off again, this time towards Koh Mat Sum. Arriving at this island we are given two hours and it's here that you see the effects that a few pigs can have. The pigs that roam freely here are not native to the island. They were introduced by an inhabitant who didn't want to see them end up in the slaughter house. Four pigs apparently from the same family were brought here to add to the chickens he already had. However, the resident soon found out that pigs eat a lot of food, and he teamed up with a local tour operator who provided the food in exchange for a good piece of publicity. So, Pig Island was put on the map and it's now so popular that this island has become a symbol enticing tourists to stop over here. The result is predictable with possibly 500 tourists on the small beach at any one time needing a whole industry to ferry food and drink to the island. As for the pigs they are of different stock to those originally introduced. Some scavenge in the forest but most stay near the beach pampered by tourists to the detriment of their health, so I'm told. For me there is nothing to do here for two hours except take photographs: The price of food and drink is really expensive for which I have no need. The positive is that there's no option but to chill out, something that I'm not used to doing.
The return trip takes us directly back to the pier except that as promised the speedboat stops for a photo shoot as the sun sets. Back on dry land I'm curious to know what dinner will be like. Here they've already spread out dishes on four-seater tables but there are just the two of us. I'm guessing that the food on our table is enough for four but any of the four dishes laid out are individually enough for us, there's that much food. We end up just picking at what we can eat. While not a major issue I note that none of the dishes are spicy obviously aimed at foreigners. It is generally recognised in Thailand that 'farang' cannot eat spicy food but that's precisely what many come for. They have also been careful to be neutral with only chicken on the menu. They don't want to upset the pigs now do they?
As a final thought we were told that it's better for us to be in a group as they put it, to be with friends but there are no other passengers on this boat who are English or even Thai. There are French and Asian probably Taiwanese or Korean and interestingly a family from Ethiopia. At least the head of this family speaks English.
So what an interesting day this has been as we head back to Lamai. We have just one more day here until we depart for the mainland.
Next Page.