A bay with a white beach and villas on a green hillside, seen from above A huge boulder on a rock above the sea at sunset, with a wooden walkway to it A beach with granite boulders, palms and turquoise water Leaning palms over white sand and turquoise water A coastal road: a turquoise bay, palms and a rock by the roadside A temple with a golden Buddha statue above a wide staircase

Samui

If you suddenly foundyourself in Thailand

Join the people who now call Samui home. All the best of it is now gathered in one place, with interactive access.

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How much money you need to live on Samui

Dmitry StamikovSamui · since 2017

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Dmitry StamikovI am an entrepreneur, a traveller and a yachtsman, and the author of the “Sudden Thailand” blog

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I first came to Samui in 2017. Back then it was just a trip. But the island pulled me in - I kept coming back, and all in all I have lived here for about three years now. And I still live on Samui today.

Over that time friends and acquaintances came to visit me again and again. And every time it went roughly the same way: I got on a bike or into a car with them and showed them my Samui.

Not just the famous sights from tourist leaflets, but the places you only start to find when you actually live on the island.

Samui Guide is the Samui I once showed my friends.

Now it is open to you too.

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Dmitry StamikovSamui · since 2017

I first came to Samui in 2017. Back then it was just a trip. But the island pulled me in - I kept coming back, and all in all I have lived here for about three years now. And I still live on Samui today.

Over that time friends and acquaintances came to visit me again and again. And every time it went roughly the same way: I got on a bike or into a car with them and showed them my Samui.

Not just the famous sights from tourist leaflets, but the places you only start to find when you actually live on the island.

Where the locals eat. Where the best view is without crowds of tourists. Which beach to go to for quiet. Where to get good coffee. Who to rent a bike or a car from without trouble. Where to look for housing. What is worth a special trip, and what you can safely skip.

At some point I realised that I was putting together practically the same route for my friends every time. And that I was missing a decent, modern guide to Samui that I would want to use myself.

So I started writing down my routes and saving the places I had checked.

Then came the “Sudden Thailand” blog, and after it the idea to gather everything in one place - that is how Samui Guide and the private club were born.

This is not a list of a hundred spots collected from the internet. We drive around the island ourselves, visit the places, check the locations, look at current prices and keep updating the information.

Here is real life on Samui and in Thailand: food and unusual places, beaches and beautiful views, prices and everyday life, bikes and roads, islands and the sea, travel and yachts. Everything you run into once you stop being an ordinary tourist and start getting to know Thailand from the inside.

I keep exploring the island, trying local food, finding new places, counting real expenses and collecting the kind of information you usually only learn once you are here.

And sometimes we will go much further than Samui - out to sea, on yachts, to the neighbouring islands and to new countries.

Samui Guide is the Samui I once showed my friends.

Now it is open to you too.

Get the guide

If you suddenly found yourself in Thailand

The Samui guide

Samui is an island where the best is not found by reviews. The guide gathers what you would otherwise learn only after years of living here: beaches without the crowd, the food of the locals, honest rentals, villas at a fair price, the visa, the licence, money and doctors. Every place comes with a short note from a person who lives here; the places walked in person carry a “verified” mark.

The whole island on one interactive map, by district and by section. Everything at hand on the road: the way to the place in one tap. Start your holiday with the right places, not with the search for them.

  1. Find a place to stay at a fair price
  2. Where to eat and what it costs
  3. Rent a bike or a car
  4. The sights
  5. Money, exchange and banks
  6. Reference (visa, driving licence, internet, medical care and so on)
  7. Community and support
Villa with a pool on a green hillside above the sea

Where to stay

Accommodation

Villas, condos and houses: where to look and what it costs

A Thai street food stall: prawns, noodles, greens

Food and evenings

Cafés and restaurants

Where the locals eat and what is worth the money

An orange scooter under banana leaves

Travel and basics

Getting around

A bike or a car: who to rent from and what it costs

Leaning palm tree over white sand and turquoise water

Beaches and sea

Beaches

Beaches for quiet, for families and for parties

The Big Buddha with its dragon staircase against a blue sky

Things to see

Sights

The Big Buddha, the rocks and the viewpoints with the best view

A jet ski at full speed in a cloud of spray

Food and evenings

Things to do

What to do besides the beach: from Muay Thai to yoga

A night market with string lights and tables under awnings

Food and evenings

What’s on

Markets, parties and music: where the island is alive

The Ang Thong islands from above in emerald water

Beaches and sea

Near Samui

Phangan, Tao and Ang Thong: how to go for a day

Wooden arrow signposts on the beach

Travel and basics

Useful stuff

SIM, money, pharmacies, laundries: settled within an hour

Got questions? I’ll gladly answer

Answers to what people ask most often. If something is missing, write to me and I’ll answer myself.

How is the guide better than Google Maps, TripAdvisor, free chats or a pdf?

First of all, the guide focuses on the best, verified locations that are genuinely worth your attention. Around them: convenient interactive access, support where you can ask a question, and reference notes on visas, finding a home, renting transport, a driving licence, medical care and much more. And we keep it current: new places come in, and those where the service has gone downhill go out.

Is the guide worth it if I’m only coming for a couple of weeks?

Yes, a short trip is exactly the case. A couple of weeks fly by, and you don’t want to spend them searching and sorting things out. With the guide, a route through the best places takes shape in advance, before you even fly.

Who makes sure the information stays up to date?

Me and the community. I live on the island, go round the places, check the prices and keep the information fresh. And the members of the club notice changes sooner than any website and let me know.

Can two of us use it, on different devices?

Yes. The member area opens on any phone or laptop, and you can share your access with a partner and use the guide together.

Can I save places to favourites?

Yes. Mark the places you like: they gather in your favourites, and a route of your own is easy to put together from them.

Can I ask a question right inside the guide?

Yes. You can write to me directly, but better open the member area and start a request under “Help”: nothing gets lost that way, and it is easier for me to answer.

Does the guide cover other islands and cities of Thailand?

Only Samui and its neighbours so far: Phangan, Tao and Ang Thong. Other parts of Thailand may come with time - watch the news.

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What people say about the guide

Reviews from people already using the guide on Samui.

  • Dmytro on a beach by a signpost and a paddleboard

    Dmytro

    dmytro46

    On the island I mostly ride a bike, and the guide is made for that: open the map, pick a viewpoint or a beach, tap Route, go. The beaches for SUP I found there too. I use it every day.

  • Olga in a pink dress lying in a longtail boat on turquoise water among cliffs

    Olga

    olga_tso123

    I am one of those who want beautiful places without the crowds. The guide gathers them by district, with photos and a short note on why to go. The boat trip around the islands came from there, and it was perfect.

  • Five people in Muay Thai gear in an open-air gym

    Max

    max_vegerchuk

    When I trained in Muay Thai, I dreamed of coming to Thailand and training where it all has its roots. I met Dima by chance, before the guide went digital, and his pdf helped me a lot back then. Now I have the interactive guide, and it is another level. Highly recommended.

  • Victor with his arms raised on a lookout over the sea and the islands

    Victor

    victorbobok

    The guide settled the main question of a family holiday: where to go so as not to regret it. The map by district, a route in one tap, all the places checked and marked.

  • Inessa in a yellow shirt on a sandy beach under a green hill

    Inessa

    inessa_england

    I travel a lot around Europe and I am used to gathering the information myself. On Samui there was no need: everything is already on one map, with prices and notes from someone who lives here. The holiday began on day one.

  • Yuriy by a rooftop pool overlooking the sea and the islands

    Yuriy

    yurik_petrenko

    Samui was one stop on a trip around Asia, and there was no time to scout. The guide gave me everything at once: where to stay, where to eat, where to go for a view. The island turned out to be the calmest part of the route.

  • Oleksiy with a tablet in a deckchair on a beach under palm trees

    Oleksiy

    ukrshcherbynaoleksiy

    I do not like preparing for trips, and the guide closed that in one evening. The map by district, prices, opening hours, a route to the place. A couple of questions to Dima, and one of my best trips.

  • Masha and her husband at a viewpoint over the emerald lagoon of Ang Thong

    Masha

    lazorenchikha

    My husband and I are the kind who prepare for a trip the day before the flight. The guide saved us: we opened the map, marked our favourites and went. The islands nearby, the food, the beaches, everything was exactly where it said.

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All of Samui for $29

The interactive guide and the club in one purchase - no subscription, no extra charges.

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