SawasdeeKrub! We, our couple on tour, are here again. This is another trip that we will travel to the sea but it is much closer to Bangkok this time. We are going to Samae San Island. Samae San Island is known for its crystal clear water and beautiful abundant corals. Well, the original plan is to go to Khao Khitchakut as we have done this every year for the last four years. Then we would like to travel to somewhere nearby so we have ended up going to Samae San Island. The accommodation on this trip was at my relative's house in Pattaya at first but I have got a gift voucher by redeeming my points on Readme.me, therefore; we are going to stay in a resort instead. Please stay tuned to see how nice this resort would be! Then I would end this travel review by summing up all travel expenses.

This trip is from 2 - 3 April 2016.

The travel plan of this trip is as follows.

Friday 1st April 2016: Depart from Bangkok around 9 PM to Khao Khitchakut

Saturday 2nd April 2016: Maephra Patisonti Niramon Church - Nang Phaya Hill Scenic Point - Lek Ahan Pa Restaurant 2 - Z Through By The Zign Luxury Romantic Villa Spa & Resort - Thepprasit Market

Sunday 3rd April 2016: Snorkel at Samae San Island, relax on Look Lom Beach, and go back to Bangkok

All photos are taken by Nikon D5300 18-140 and GoPro HERO 4 Silver.

And you can watch this video firstly in order to see an overview of this whole trip. Even though it is a short trip, there is so much fun.

We depart from Bangkok around 9 PM to Chanthaburi directly. We have arrived at Wat Phluang almost 1 AM. There are not many people today compare to previous years I visited. So, we don't have to wait on the line for the pickup truck for too long. Our turn is around 3 AM.

All pickup trucks guarantee an exciting ride up in the mountain. You need to get 2 rides at 50 THB each.

We have reached the starting point to walk up to the top of Khao Khitchakut. There is quite a lot of people up here but the weather is pretty nice so it is going to be an enjoyable walk. Let's go!

The magical of arts

We have arrived at the Buddha's Footprint after a 45-minute walk. There are even more people here. We are going to Paa Daeng (Red Cloth) area next.

The traffic on the path to Paa Daeng area is totally busy. It is full with people.

It is dawn already after our stop at Paa Daeng area so we will start to walk down right away.

The ride on the pickup truck on the way down is even more exciting and our driver makes this ride quite extreme. hahaha

We have arrived back down at Wat Phluang and we are ready for breakfast here. The food is 40 - 60 THB per person per meal.

We leave from Wat Phluang around 8 AM to go to Maephra Patisonti Niramon Church which is not far. It is only about 30 kilometers from here. The church is just opened when we arrive so there are not many people yet.

We don't forget to take a photo of us two, our couple on tour. hahaha

The church is beautiful both inside and outside. We have walked around not long though before continuing our journey.

The next stop is at Nang Phaya Hill Scenic Point. I have been here a few times before and the view from this corner never disappoints me. It is almost 10 o' clock but the weather is still not too hot.

Let's zoom in!

Let's zoom further in!

Then we are heading to Pattaya. We will stay overnight there tonight. My original plan was to go and stay with my relative in Bang Lamung but I have got a gift voucher for a complementary stay from Readme.me through point redemption. So we are going to stay in a resort, only my friends that will stay with my relative. hahaha I am sorry but my stay in a resort is limited to 2 persons only. Anyway, we are going for lunch first at Lek Ahan Pa Restaurant 2 in Bang Lamung. My relative will come and join us as well. You can find the location of Lek Ahan Pa Restaurant 2 through this link Google map Lek Ahan Pa Restaurant 2

Let's have a look what are for lunch today!

This one is stir-fried with cashew nuts. It is so good. Please don't forget to order!

I am telling you that all menus are delicious and they are served in a good timely manner. The foods are not expensive either. It is around 1,300 THB in total and this meal is for 6 people.

I am sleepy a bit after lunch because our trip started since last night. My girlfriend and I then get separated from the group and go to Z Through By The Zign Luxury Romantic Villa Spa & Resort directly. The resort is in Bang Lamung area, in Naklua Alley. It is not difficult at all to find the resort since there are clear signs along the way.

Once we arrive, the staff approach us right away. They help carrying all of our belongings to the Lobby. Then we start with the check-in process.

This stay is complementary. I hand over the voucher and need to sign some documents. You will be asked for a credit card in order to guarantee your stay for any incidental charge. I guess they just make a photocopy of my card. You can also guarantee your stay by cash deposit at 2,000 THB which will be returned upon departure.

Then the bellman escorts us to the room. He also brings our belongings along.

We are staying in a room called "Emotion" this time. It is about 5,000 THB per night as I asked. Let's go and see how it is! Look! This is right in front of our room. You can jump into the pool directly and we have pool chairs nicely set by the pool as well.

The room is spacious equipped with everything.

This is so nice and I love it. There is even a glass floor where you can look trough a part of the pool. It offers you similar feeling when being on a boat with a glass floor that you can see the corals down below directly. hahaha

The bathroom is huge. It is as big as the bedroom and it comes with a large bathtub. There is also a window by the bathtub as well as the TV.

My body is very sticky so I will take a shower and sleep for while. It is around 5 PM when I woke up. The sunlight is not strong anymore which is perfect to go for the pool.

The water inside the pool is refreshing cold but the pool is not that deep, I wish it was a little bit deeper.

This is totally relaxing.

We stay in the pool until it is dark. Then we get changed and will go for a walk at Thepprasit Market. Thepprasit Market is one of the most famous markets in Pattaya full with people and foods. That's why we choose to come here for dinner together with a walk. Well, I don't have a chance to take any photos but I can assure you that there are so many yummy foods here. After that we come back to the resort. The resort looks spectacular at night so I can't help but take photos right away.

This walking path is so pretty. It is almost 9 PM and it is very quiet here. I think people are still out for dinner and haven't returned yet.

The room on the left-hand side on the lower floor is where we are staying.

Can you spot 2 stars in the sky?

This is the view from our room overlooking the pool.

Well, we don't normally have a chance to stay in a luxury resort especially the one with a bathtub so we are going to make a use of it. We have ended up using it for not long. Our time has been spent on making the bubble mostly. hahaha

We slept so well last night. It is a pity that we need to wake up very early to go to Samae San Island today. I also feel that I didn't treasure it enough because I redeem my point for this stay. hahaha Anyway, let's just go for breakfast! Z Through By The Zign Luxury Romantic Villa Spa & Resort offers a buffet breakfast with so many kinds of foods.

They all look tasty.

There are way too many foods and I don't even know what I should eat. I have some bacon, sausages, and some fried rice in the end since these are simple and simply delicious.

The breakfast is available very early from 6 AM and it seems to me that we are first people here today. We have got to say goodbye to Z Through By The Zign Luxury Romantic Villa Spa & Resort right away after breakfast. Therefore, I would like to sum up our stay here as follows. It has been a wonderful stay here and I am very impressed with everything. I am not sure whether this is because I don't normally stay in a luxury hotel or not. That's why I like it here so much. I can't really think of anything negative about this place but no view. Z Through By The Zign Luxury Romantic Villa Spa & Resort offers such a beautiful designed room and facilities perfectly for families and couples. The room that I stay is about 5,000 THB per night but if you want to come and stay here, please don't forget to compare the room rate in different websites in order to make sure that you have got the best one.

We leave Z Through By The Zign Luxury Romantic Villa Spa & Resort around 6.30 AM and we are on our way to pick up 2 more friends from my relative's place in Bang Lamung before going to Samae San Pier. Actually, we would be too late to go to Samae San Island because there is a long queue at the pier. People normally come to line up from 5 - 6 AM in order to make sure that they have the spots on the boat to go to the island. This is similar to our previous trip to Koh Kham that we arrived at the pier around 7 AM and we couldn't get a spot on the boat. As a result, we had to stay overnight and came to queue up at 5 AM the next day. Luckily that I have a friend on this trip from Rayong, he is so kind to come, queue up early, and get tickets for everyone. That's why we can get to the pier late. The ticket for the boat is 300 THB these days.

The foods on Samae San Island are pretty expensive so we buy lunch boxes from the pier on the main land. We get these lunch boxes from the restaurant run by Thai Navy at 40 THB per box. Our boat departs at 9 AM which is the first round but we are on the second boat because there are so many people.

I would say that Samae San Island is nicer than Koh Kham. First of all, it is not far from the main land. It is about 10 - 15 minutes only by boat. Anyway, I will talk more on why I think that this island is nicer than Koh Kham later from time to time.

The mountain you see right in front of you is the mainland where the pier we take the boat earlier is. I guess you can tell how close this island is to the mainland now. It consumes such a little time to travel to Samae San Island so those who get seasick easily won't have much problem. Comparing this to Koh Kham, it takes quite a long time to get to the island. The boat can't go fast either because there are so many people on the boat. The boat was very wobbly last time and there were many people throwing up. In addition, to go to Koh Kham you need to transfer to another boat. This is very time-consuming on both go and return trips. On the other hand, you can get to Samae San Island directly with one ride.

We have finally arrived at Samae San Island. All tourists need to gather together firstly in order to be given the island's introduction. This is done by Thai Navy officer. Samae San Island has 2 beaches including Thian Beach and Look Lom Beach. Tourists can go snorkeling and chilling on both beaches. The boat will arrive at Thian Beach. On the other hand, Look Lom Beach is on another side of the island. Tourists can get to and from Look Lom Beach by complementary shuttles. Therefore, you can create your own itinerary. You can play around on Thian Beach before going to Look Lom Beach or another way around. You can also ride a bike or walk through the n ature trails. As you can see, there are numbers of activities you can do here, unlike Koh Kham. Furthermore, there are 2 beaches here so tourists are not all stuck on only one beach.

I choose to go to Look Lom Beach first. I heard it is the most beautiful beach on the island. So, we don't hesitate to jump into the pickup truck and go to Look Lom Beach straight away. It is only 5 minutes to get to Look Lom Beach by car. I shout out Wow! when I have arrived because it is so pretty. The beach is totally white and the water is crystal clear. I would say that the water is as beautiful as Koh Kham.

I will walk around taking photos before going into the water. Luckily that there are not many people here yet since we are almost the first group to arrive.

When I don't know how to pose for a photo shot, I always do this which is just like the signature pose of Bao Vee, a Thai country singer. I think this pose can be done anywhere and anytime. Well, the sunlight is very strong but luckily that there are some refreshing wind always.

I will go on a boat with a glass floor to explore the corals before snorkeling. I would say this program is very good for those who don't like to snorkel. I am not sure whether this is available on Koh Kham or not. For your information, this activity is available only on Look Lom Beach not on Thian Beach.

I always need a couple shot in order to maintain the concept of the couple on tour.

The water color is beautiful as you can see.

I guess we have enough photos so let's go and register for the boat ride and snorkeling trip! It is 20 THB per person for a tour on a boat with a glass floor and 50 THB for snorkeling trip including snorkeling gears. This registration will allow the staff to control who would go first for an instance. This is good because there is only one boat with a glass floor available. For snorkeling, there will also be a queue. An inflatable boat will take you to the snorkeling point from time to time. I would say they have a very good tourist management. This is also good for us as the tourist because there won't be too many people doing the same thing, at the same time, and at the same place. Moreover, if you want to deposit your belongings, lockers are available at 30 THB per locker. Snacks and drinks are also available here. You can even rent a beach chairs.

We are actually the first group of tourists to register so it is our turn to go right away. We all wear the life vests while on the boat.

Wow! This is not bad at all. This is also actually my very first experience with the boat with a glass floor and I found it very interesting.

Please concentrate only on the corals down below, not something else! Hahaha

It is nicer and clearer in real. I just can't take a good photo out of it due to the glass reflection. You have got to see this with your own eyes.

Over there is the station where the boat will drop you off for snorkeling.

The tour on a boat with a glass floor has completed so it is time for snorkeling. There is an instructor giving you an instruction on how to use the snorkeling gears basically including some snorkeling techniques. This is done on the beach before boarding to the boat. Everybody is ready so let's go! I will use GoPro HERO 4 Silver from now on. I put Nikon D5300 18-140 in the locker already. For your information, you can go for snorkeling on both Thian Beach and Look Lom Beach area. However, if you want to do that in both places, you need to pay 50 THB twice. I will snorkel only on Look Lom Beach area this time. That means I have paid 100 THB so far, 20 THB for a boat with a glass floor trip, 50 THB for snorkeling trip, and 30 THB for a locker.

Go Go Go!

These are all my companions. The photo is a bit blurry because there are some water on the housing.

Let's jump!

It is time to explore the underwater world on Samae San Island.

I am telling you that it is as beautiful as those places in the southern part of Thailand.

Clown fishes and sea anemones

Even though corals are not as big as those in the southern part of Thailand, they are all so pretty. I can't compare this with Koh Kham though because I didn't snorkel there last time.

It is noon when we finished snorkeling and coming back to Look Lom Beach. I will take some more photos around here before taking the pickup truck back to Thian Beach.

Even though we didn't snorkel for long, we get tanned already. What! My girlfriend's face looks somehow strange.

She looks like a Hollywood star. I mean only the color of the face. hahaha (Photo of Charlize Theron, Credit: Google)

We are very tired from snorkeling and also hungry so we will have lunch on Thian Beach. We buy some Papaya Salad to eat with our lunch boxes. I spend sometime swimming after Lunch and have found that Look Lom Beach is more beautiful than Thian Beach. I would say that we have done pretty much everything and spent such a good time here on Samae San Island. Therefore, we are taking the boat back to the mainland. It is almost 2 PM now. We will take a shower and get changed after arriving back at the pier on the mainland. We have ended up finishing everything almost 3 PM. Then I get separate from my friends from Rayong and drive back to Bangkok directly. And we all arrive home safely in the end.

Expenses Summary

LPG Gas and Petroleum------------------------------ 1,000 THB/ 4 persons for about 800-kilometer journey

Parking fee and Tollway fee -------------------------- 50+60+60 THB/ 4 persons

Pickup truck service fee-------------------------------- 200 THB

2 Meals at Khao Khitchakut -------------------------- 120 THB

Lunch at Lek Ahan Pa Restaurant 2 ----------------1,300 THB/ 6 persons

Dinner at Thepprasit Market -------------------------- 80 THB

Boat fare to Samae San Island ---------------------- 300 THB

Boat with a glass floor ---------------------------------- 20 THB

Snorkeling ------------------------------------------------- 50 THB

Lunch box and foods on Samae San Island -------60 THB

There are also some little expenses on making merit at Khao Khitchakut and some snacks.

All in all, it is about 1,300 - 1,500 THB per person on this trip.

One more trip has just ended. This trip has been nothing but fun. I also would like to use this opportunity to thank Readme.me for giving me a space to share my experience and useful information to everyone. In addition, Readme.me gives me a chance to collect the points in order to redeem for a gift voucher for a complementary stay and many more.

Thank you for all your kind supports and for more of my travel reviews please go here เหลี่ยมพาเที่ยว

A couple on tour will see you again next time and please stay tuned for where we are heading next!

Traveling through Thailand with Toyota Vios!