I am sharing images of Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui, Thailand, taken in July 2010. As I mentioned in a previous post about Sairee Beach on Koh Tao, I thought the weather on the Gulf of Thailand side might be better than on the Andaman Sea side in July, so I decided to visit Koh Samui. However, light rain started falling shortly after I arrived on the island by boat from Surat Thani.
I took a public songthaew from the port to Chaweng Beach. Because there were so many passengers, my travel bag was placed on the roof of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the rain became much heavier during the journey. The rain continued even after I got off the songthaew at Chaweng Beach. Fortunately, I found a vacant room at a nearby hotel and was able to check in immediately. However, when I opened my bag in the room, everything inside was soaking wet.
Because of my travel style, I sometimes take motorcycle taxis with my luggage or carry my bag on foot over rough roads. For that reason, I usually travel with a soft-sided suitcase. Situations like this, however, make me envy people who use hard-shell suitcases.
In any case, I think it is wise to protect your luggage from rain when traveling in Southeast Asia during the rainy season.
I almost forgot to mention Chaweng Beach itself. This may have been unique to the time of my visit, but my impression of the beach was that there were a lot of dogs.
