Lamai Beach is Samui's Second largest resort area after Chaweng. It is quieter and less bustling than its big sister, but still with plenty of accommodation, dining and shopping options to be found, and some great spas and tourist sites to explore. In terms of popularity, the tourist facilities and the quality of the beach itself, Lamai comes a close second to Chaweng, but with a less frenetic ambience.
The general atmosphere is laid back and Lamai has slightly older, and by extention cheaper tourist facilities than Chaweng, although there is some indication that the area is slowly being rejuvenated. Along with the rest of Samui, there is a steady trend away from the 'cheap and cheerful' toward smarter, high-end accommodation and dining facilities and new resorts in Lamai such as The Pavillion, The Renaissance and Lamai Wanta bear testament to this upgrade.
While the central part of Lamai can seem a little 'single-male-orientated', especially at night, there is often a fairly mixed crowd of Westerners hanging out in the town. The older European ex-pat scene centres around the beach-road beer-bars, with backpackers and health-seekers staying on the fringes, catered for by spas and cheap bungalows. Due to its relaxed atmosphere, Lamai is also great for families and some resorts such as Jungle Park and Buddy Beer cater well for kids with good swimming pools and shallow, safe beach front areas.
Lamai is a much more manageable size than Chaweng, so a daytime stroll along the beach or an evening walk on the main strip can take in most of the sights. Lamai is also bordered by lush jungle, with secluded bays, small quaint villages, temples, Spas, mummified monks and phallic rock formations all close by. Lamai is also a living, working Thai village with a tight-nit local community centred around the cultural hubs of the temple and daily market. There are still quite a few old-style wooden houses raised on stilts and local people sell fruit from their garden, take in laundry and do clothes repairs or run small grocery stores from the front room of their house,
If you are based in Lamai, the surrounding areas may be of the greatest interest. |
