Go Samui?

[PeterUK]

Today's Bangkok Post says locals are the main suspects in the rape and murder of a young Welsh woman on Koh Samui the other day. Just another horrible crime that could have occurred anywhere perhaps, but the letters page of the BP has been full of negative reports on the island recently. Tourists have complained about the dangerous driving of taxi drivers and general rudeness of vendors and others. Expats living there have complained about discos keeping them awake till 6 in the morning; when they have reported the matter to the police not only has nothing been done to cure the problem but the expats have started receiving death threats, which makes some of them wonder whether the police are passing on their details to the disco owners. Municipal corruption there is thought to be extreme even by regional standards. It seems as if Koh Samui is a seriously bad news place to be at the moment. Anyone been there lately and able to provide some impressions? I'm reluctant to form an opinion just based on what newspapers tell me, but this does seem to be more than a bit of disgruntled scaremongering.

[manfarang-old]

My BF was working in Samui for a couple of months early last year and was surprised at the prevalent use of yaba by the locals. He said Samui was "getting scary" and opted to hightail it back home. I'm sure it is still relatively safe for the average tourist, but it definitely sounds as if things have changed there.

Spent a week there last year and saw/experienced no trouble.
Hardly the definitive answer I know, but one more personal experience thrown into the pot! :)

[Dboy]

Yet another good reason to rent, rather than buy, a property in Thailand.

Dboy

[sing_lofty_sing]

Last time i was there it was a charming place. Very relaxing and no hint of trouble. But i was in a 5 star resort.

Newspapers here in Sweden is today reporting that a 12 year old swedish girl on vacation with her parents at Samui have been raped. An employee at the hotel they are staying in have been arrested. He admits having sex with the girl but not that it was a rape. Since the girl is not over 15 he will be prosecuted anyway the police says.

Anyhow, I spent 2 weeks in Samui last year and had no problems what so ever. The only thing I noticed is that things seems to be a little bit more expensive there compared with other tourist places in Thailand.

[Marsilius]

The UK Sunday Times of 8 January had a long article about the number of murders and disappearances in Thailand and other S.E. Asian countries in recent months.

Koh Samui was picked out as a particularly risky place, with locals quoted along the lines of "there's a nasty local mafia (mainly, it seems, focused on the sex trade) and the local police are just as bad if not worse".

The paper suggested that difficulties often arise because (1) visitors flash their money and signs of obvious wealth around too openly, (2) visitors assume that these places are just as safe as at home (e.g. it's just as safe to go walking off the beaten track after dark).

Implied conclusion of the piece was to stay clear - with particular reference to Koh Samui.

sorry to make a trivial point but shouldn't the "Koh" in Koh Samui be pronounced as "Goh", as in Koh Chang or Koh Samet?
I thought the BBC had a pronunciation department for this purpose.

When I was there in January 2005 it didn't seem a very nice place at all - and I'm talking exclusively of the over-sunned loud mouthed Europeans. The typical good nature of locals was really lacking and didn't encounter many other travels that I would want to give the time of day to.

Remember, I did say it was trivial.

I thought the BBC had a pronunciation department for this purpose.

Just because after 50 years they can pronounce "Milngavie", doesn't mean there is a department working on it, laddie. Anything offshore is still a great mystery.

Anyway, this morning they had pictures of the accused. Pretty ugly bunch.